Reader question: Can I be resident in France and the UK?
We're now approaching the deadline for Brits who were resident in France before 2021 to apply for residency, but there is still much confusion about how the system works.
Question: We live in the UK and have a second home in France where we typically spend around 6 months of the year. We don't want to limit our stays to just 90 days out of every 180, so why can't we apply to be residents of both France and the UK? If we apply for a carte de séjour in France will that solve the problem for us?
Pre-Brexit, there were plenty of people who split their time roughly equally between France and the UK and considered both places home.
The flexibility accorded by EU freedom of movement, coupled with the fact that France and the UK - unusually within the EU - did not require EU citizens to register for residency meant that people didn't really need to spend too much time thinking about which country they were officially 'resident' in.
Sadly, those days are over.
Brits who were living in France before December 30th, 2020 and wish to continue living here must apply for a residency permit - known as a carte de séjour - and must do it quickly. The deadline to apply is September 30th, 2021 - extended from an earlier deadline of June 30th. Find out how to apply HERE.
Brits who live in the UK and own property in France now need to either limit their stays to 90 days in every 180 - find a full explanation of the 90 day rule HERE - or get a visa for longer stays.
READ ALSO How to get a visitor visa for France
But what about those who want residency in both?
Unfortunately, it's more complicated than that. The Withdrawal Agreement carte de séjour is for people who live in France - if you declare residency that comes with other other obligations such as filing an annual tax return in France and consequently the loss of certain rights in the UK such as access to the NHS as a UK resident.
Residency in France gives you other rights such as the right to work and - useful in a pandemic - the right to return home even if the borders are closed to most other travellers.
Residency in immigration terms - ie where you live - is not the same as tax residency. Tax residency can become automatic after a certain number of days in a country, while immigration residency needs to be applied for.
It is estimated that up to 25,000 Brits living in France have not yet applied for residency - people who do not apply within the deadline and continue to live in France become undocumented migrants, with all the associated problems.
READ ALSO What happens to Brits in France who don't register before the September 30th deadline?
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Question: We live in the UK and have a second home in France where we typically spend around 6 months of the year. We don't want to limit our stays to just 90 days out of every 180, so why can't we apply to be residents of both France and the UK? If we apply for a carte de séjour in France will that solve the problem for us?
Pre-Brexit, there were plenty of people who split their time roughly equally between France and the UK and considered both places home.
The flexibility accorded by EU freedom of movement, coupled with the fact that France and the UK - unusually within the EU - did not require EU citizens to register for residency meant that people didn't really need to spend too much time thinking about which country they were officially 'resident' in.
Sadly, those days are over.
Brits who were living in France before December 30th, 2020 and wish to continue living here must apply for a residency permit - known as a carte de séjour - and must do it quickly. The deadline to apply is September 30th, 2021 - extended from an earlier deadline of June 30th. Find out how to apply HERE.
Brits who live in the UK and own property in France now need to either limit their stays to 90 days in every 180 - find a full explanation of the 90 day rule HERE - or get a visa for longer stays.
READ ALSO How to get a visitor visa for France
But what about those who want residency in both?
Unfortunately, it's more complicated than that. The Withdrawal Agreement carte de séjour is for people who live in France - if you declare residency that comes with other other obligations such as filing an annual tax return in France and consequently the loss of certain rights in the UK such as access to the NHS as a UK resident.
Residency in France gives you other rights such as the right to work and - useful in a pandemic - the right to return home even if the borders are closed to most other travellers.
Residency in immigration terms - ie where you live - is not the same as tax residency. Tax residency can become automatic after a certain number of days in a country, while immigration residency needs to be applied for.
It is estimated that up to 25,000 Brits living in France have not yet applied for residency - people who do not apply within the deadline and continue to live in France become undocumented migrants, with all the associated problems.
READ ALSO What happens to Brits in France who don't register before the September 30th deadline?
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