Living in France

Residency and visas

You may want to check the entry requirements for France.

After the UK leaves the EU, there will be a new registration system and you will need to change your registration document for a new card.

If the UK leaves the EU with a deal, you will have until at least June 2021 to do this. The agreement on citizens’ rights will allow UK nationals to stay in their Member State of residence after the UK leaves the EU.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, UK nationals living in France on the day the UK leaves the EU will be given a grace period of one year to obtain their residence card. You will have six months from the day the UK leaves the EU to apply for your card and a year to receive it.

During this grace period, you will retain your right of residence, and associated work and social rights. European cartes de séjour that have already been issued will also remain valid. However, whether or not you hold a carte de séjour, you must apply for a residence card under the new system during the first six months of the grace period.

Your status upon applying for the new residence card will depend on which card you should apply for. The categories are as follows:

• UK nationals who have been living in France for five years or more
• UK nationals who have been living in France for less than five years and fall under one of the below categories:
• Salaried worker with a Contrat à Durée Indéterminée (CDI)
• Salaried worker with a Contrat à Durée Déterminée (CDD)
• Self- employed
• During the last year have either graduated in France or worked for at least three months and are now looking for work or creating a business.
• Students
• Family members of British Nationals who qualify for one of the above categories
• UK nationals who have been living in France for less than five years but do not fulfil any of the above categories.

Applications for a residence card will cost €119.

The French Ministry of Interior have detailed this information in an ordonnance and accompanying decree. You can read their question and answers on residency (in French). We have also provided a non-official English translation below. The French Government will shortly be updating their Q&A and will communicate details of the application process. However, in anticipation of this, you should start to gather together relevant documents like bank statements and household bills, to show you have been lawfully resident in France.

Before the UK leaves the EU, you can still apply for a carte de séjour at your local prefecture under the current system. However, if you have not yet had your appointment by the day the UK leaves the EU, you may be asked to begin the application process again. If your residency application is refused or you think it has been handled incorrectly by your prefecture, please contact British Embassy Paris. You should include:

• information about the issue
• when the event took place
• which préfecture (département) it relates to

We will provide feedback to the French Ministry of the Interior and push for improvements if needed.

You can read the French government’s official guidance for UK nationals living and working in France and how to prepare for the UK leaving the EU (in French), or download our non-official English translation.

French Ministry of Interior - Residency information ENG (ODT, 12.7KB)

Passports

You may want to read our travel advice.

You can apply for or renew your British passport from France. If you cannot get a passport in time, you may need to get an emergency travel document or ‘emergency passport’.

Passports and travel after the UK leaves the EU

You should check your passport is valid for travel before you book your trip.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, there will be new travel rules.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the European Commission has said you may not need visas for short stays elsewhere in the Schengen area or the EU. You may be able to stay up to 90 days in any EU country, within a 180 day period, without a visa.

If the UK leaves the EU with a deal, nothing will change until the end of 2020. During this period, you can continue to travel freely in the Schengen area with your UK passport. What happens after 2020 will form the next part of negotiations.

You should read the French government’s website on travel to France after the UK leaves the EU.

Healthcare

You should ensure that you are correctly registered for healthcare as a resident in France, and if necessary, for health insurance. Please read the NHS guidance on who is able to access healthcare in France, and how to register.

If you are legally resident in France, you can get a French social security card for healthcare (carte vitale). To get a French social security card, you will need to register with your local Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM). They can tell you which documents they need for your registration. Top-up insurance cover (mutuelle) also exists to cover the cost of healthcare not covered by a Carte Vitale.

EHIC cards

If you are resident in France, you should not be using a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) from the UK to access healthcare in France.

• You may use an EHIC to access state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in another European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland.
• The EHIC covers treatment that is medically necessary until your planned return home.
• An EHIC is not a replacement for comprehensive travel insurance.
• For more information you can read our travel advice page and advice on foreign travel insurance.

State healthcare — S1

If you live in France and receive an exportable UK pension, contribution-based Employment Support Allowance or another exportable benefit, you may currently be entitled to state healthcare paid for by the UK. You will need to apply for a certificate of entitlement known as an S1 certificate.

You can read the NHS’s guidance on France.

You can read the NHS’s guidance on healthcare and studying abroad.

You should check your prescriptions are legal in France.

You can find information on mental health in France.

Healthcare after the UK leaves the EU

If the UK leaves the EU with a deal, your current rights on access to healthcare in France will remain the same until 31 December 2020, as long as you remain a resident in France.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, your access to healthcare is likely to change. If you are a permanent or temporary resident, you should review the status of your healthcare cover.

Under new legislation, the French government has proposed that UK pension holders that are currently entitled to S1 healthcare will continue to be entitled to healthcare for up to 2 years. This is while arrangements are negotiated to provide similar agreements for French citizens.

Healthcare entitlements from employment in France should not be affected.

Your EHIC may not be valid in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The UK has offered to maintain the EHIC scheme should the UK leave the EU without a deal; however, this is reliant on France continuing to accept UK EHICs.

You should take action now to confirm your residency status and decide what steps you need to take to ensure access to healthcare if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. UK nationals will be able to return to the UK for treatment.

You should read the NHS’s guidance on healthcare for UK nationals in France and how it may change after the UK leaves the EU.

Working in France

You should read our guidance on working in another EU country.

You may need a:

• UK police certificate
• UK equivalent of a casier judiciare
• International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) criminal records check from the ACRO Criminal Records Office to work with children

Working in France after the UK leaves the EU

If the UK leaves the EU with a deal, your right to work will stay the same until the end of the implementation period.

If the UK leaves without a deal, UK nationals living and working in France on the day the UK leaves the EU will keep their right to work for a period of one year whilst their application for a residence card is in process (see residency). If you are living and working in France on the day the UK leaves the EU, this residence card will allow you to keep your right to work.

If you’re planning to start a business, provide a service, or do a job in a regulated profession after the UK leaves the EU, further guidance can be found here.

You can look at the French government’s website on working in France after the UK leaves the EU (in French).

Money and tax

The UK has a double-taxation agreement with France to ensure people do not pay tax on the same income in both countries.

You should read the guidance about: * tax if you leave the UK to live abroad * tax on your UK income if you live abroad. * paying income tax in France by the European Union

We recommend you get professional advice on paying tax in France. Find an English-speaking lawyer in France.

Declaration of assets

All residents must declare any assets held outside France, including bank accounts, securities, rights, insurance, annuities and property. This declaration is separate to the annual tax return.

National Insurance

You may be able to pay National Insurance while abroad in order to protect your State Pension and entitlement to other benefits and allowances.

Money and tax after the UK leaves the EU

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, it may become more expensive to use your UK bank card in France.

Read more about using a bank card, insurance or other financial service in the EU.

The UK leaving the European Union will not change existing double taxation arrangements for UK nationals living in France. You should direct individual taxpayer questions about double taxation to the relevant tax authority.

Pensions

You will need to tell the UK government offices that deal with your benefits, pension and tax if you are moving or retiring abroad.

If you retire in France, you can claim:

• your UK State Pension or new UK State Pension. Please contact the International Pensions Centre to claim.
• your French pension if you worked in France, by contacting your local pensions office (Caisse d’Assurance Retraite et Santé au Travail or CARSAT) – see CLEISS and Sécurité Sociale,
• pensions from abroad, if you’ve worked in other EU countries

You can read the French government’s guidance on French social security including pensions.

Life certificates for UK state pensions

If you get a ‘life certificate’ from the UK Pension Service, you need to respond as soon as possible - your payments may be suspended if you don’t. Or you can ask your local town hall (mairie) to fill in a French life certificate (certificat de vie) (in French) instead.

Pensions after the UK leaves the EU

The UK Government will continue to pay UK state pensions to those eligible in France after the UK’s exit from the EU. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, you can read our guidance on pensions.

If the UK leaves the EU with a deal and you work and pay social security contributions in France, you will still be able to add your UK social security contributions towards your French pension. This will happen even if you claim your pension after the end of the implementation period.

Benefits

You may still be able to claim some UK benefits like child and disability benefits if you live in France. You can:

• read our guidance on which benefits you can claim if you live, move or travel abroad
• use our tool to check which benefits you can claim while abroad and how to claim them.

If you’re abroad for more than 4 weeks, many income-related benefits such as Pension Credit and Housing Benefit cannot be paid.

You can request proof of the time you’ve worked in the UK from HMRC, if you are asked for this.

French unemployment benefit

For French unemployment benefits, you should:

• check if you’re eligible on the French government’s website
• contact Pôle Emploi (in French) to claim

French disability benefit

You should contact the Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées (MDPH) (in French) about disability allowance – there are several disability allowances so it’s best to seek advice from them before applying.

French family allowance

To apply for child allowance, family income support, single-parent allowance or housing allowance, contact the CAF (Caisse d’Allocations Familiales) if you need help applying, request an appointment with the social worker at your local town hall (mairie).

Benefits after the UK leaves the EU

The UK government will continue to pay the UK state pension, child benefits, and disability benefits to those eligible in the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

If the UK leaves the EU with a deal and you work and pay social security contributions in France, your UK social security contributions will be taken into account when applying for French contributions-based benefits. This will happen even if you claim contributions-based benefits after the end of the implementation period.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the French government has proposed that they will continue to take periods of work in the UK before the UK leaves the EU into account when claiming certain French contributions-based benefits. We will update this guidance when an agreement is reached.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The French government has also said that UK nationals with less than five years’ residence who receive the Revenu de Solidarite Active (RSA) prior to the UK’s exit from the EU will be able to continue receiving the RSA benefit for a period of a year. Eligible UK nationals with more than five years’ residence will also be able to continue receiving the benefit during the grace period and beyond.

You can read our guidance on benefits and pensions in a no deal scenario.

Driving in France

If you are a resident in France, you have one year from your date of arrival to exchange your UK license for a French one. You can still use your French licence in the UK for short visits or exchange it for a UK licence without taking a test if you return to live in the UK.

For information on driving in France, read the guidance on:

• Driving licence exchanges and renewals (in French) or driving licence exchange and renewals (in English)
• what you need to drive abroad
• driving rules in France

There are currently considerable delays in processing requests to exchange overseas driving licences for French ones. The Centre d’Expertise et de Ressources des Titres (CERT) in Nantes is responsible for exchanging driving licences. It has returned licences to some UK nationals residing in France and asked them to wait until the new system is in place after the UK leaves the European Union.

Bringing a UK-registered vehicle to France

Read our guidance on taking a vehicle out of the UK.

You should read the European Union’s guidance on car registration and taxes in France. You may be exempt from some of these taxes. If so, you will need certificates of exemption.

Please contact your local prefecture or read the French government’s guidance on driving in France with a foreign licence (in French).

Driving after the UK leaves the EU

If the UK leaves the EU with a deal, driving licence rules will stay the same during the implementation period.

Please read our guidance on driving in the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, and you are a UK national living in France on the day the UK leaves the EU, you will continue to be able to drive in France with your UK driving license under the same conditions as any resident.

French Ministry of Interior - Driving Licenses information ENG (ODT, 7.26KB)

Voting

You may be able to vote in some UK elections. You can:

• check if you are able to vote
• register as an overseas voter to vote

If you’re resident in France, you can vote in local municipal and European parliamentary elections.

Voting after the UK leaves the EU

Once the UK leaves the EU, UK nationals will no longer be eligible to vote in local and European elections.

The French Ministry of the Interior have a website to help UK nationals living and working in France which covers voting, or you can [read our non-official translation]

French Ministry of Interior - Elections information ENG (ODT, 7.45KB)

Births, deaths and getting married

If your child is born in France, you will need to register the birth abroad.

If someone dies in France you can:

• read our guidance on what to do after someone dies abroad
• read our guidance on deaths in France

Find out how you can get married abroad.

Find out about notarial and documentary services in France

You may also need:

• an English-speaking lawyer in France
• an English-speaking translator in France

Accommodation and buying property

Read our guidance on:

• what to consider when buying a property abroad
• legal requirements and advice on buying a property in France

Pets

When the UK leaves the EU, you will still be able to travel to and from the UK with a cat, dog or ferret but the rules will change. You can read guidance on pet travel to Europe after the UK leaves the EU.

While the UK is still an EU Member State you’ll be able to travel with your pet to the EU under the current pet travel rules using your current EU pet passport. If you’re travelling with your pet for the first time you’ll have to visit your vet to get a pet passport.

Read guidance on returning your cat, dog or ferret to the UK. For moving pet horses and other equines read guidance on exporting horses and ponies: special rules.

Emergencies

You can dial the European emergency number 112 in France, or dial:

• 17 for police
• 18 for fire brigade
• 15 for medical

Find the full list of emergency number in France.

If you have been the victim of a rape or sexual assault, you can find guidance on rape and sexual assault in France.

If you’re the victim of a crime, have been arrested, or are affected by a crisis abroad, contact the British embassy in Paris.

Returning to the UK

You should tell the French and UK authorities if you are returning to the UK permanently.

Check if your tax status will change if you return to the UK.

You should tell your local French tax office (in French) that you are changing address and the date you will leave.

If you get a UK State Pension, you must tell the International Pension Centre. If you get a French pension, contact your pension provider.

You’ll need to tell your local social security office and benefit office you’re leaving if you’ve been getting unemployment benefit or child and housing benefit.

Read our guidance on bringing your pet to the UK and importing vehicles to the UK.

Disclaimer

This information is provided as a guide only. Definitive information should be obtained from the French authorities. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is not liable for any inaccuracies in this information.