Guidance

Voisins Voices: June 2023

Updated 19 December 2023

© Crown copyright 2023

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1. Welcome

Welcome to Voisins Voices!

This edition includes a few words from our Ambassador, updates on residency, healthcare, travel and more.

Please do forward this to anyone you think would find it useful.

You can also sign up to our distribution list by filling in the form with your email address and name. As always, our online Living in France guide has the most up to date information, whether you have lived in France for many years, or recently arrived. You can also register on this page to be notified of updates.

2. What we’ve been up to

2.1 A message from Ambassador Menna Rawlings

The first half of 2023 has been extremely busy

for us here at the Embassy, which is a good sign of the health of the UK/France relationship!

In March, we hosted the UK-France Summit, the first since 2018, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Paris with several British Cabinet

Ministers for a day of talks with President Macron

and his team. The atmospherics were positive: after some difficult years, we were able to look to the future, opening a new chapter in our bilateral relationship – an “Entente Renewed” ,as I told The Connexion in an interview before the event.

I’m delighted that, as part of the agreements reached at the Summit, our leaders committed to making school travel between the UK and France easier, including by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France. We expect further news on this in the autumn – watch this space!

Following the Summit, we will also be working with France on preparations for the new EU Entry Exit System, recognising the importance of fluidity across our joint border. And our two countries will put the emphasis on developing people-to-people initiatives, encouraging mobility, culture, and exchanges, within the framework of the EU-UK relationship.

As you might know, we were also excited to be welcoming Their Majesties The King and Queen to France at the end of March for their first State Visit. This was sadly postponed due to the political and security situation in France at that time, but we look forward to announcing a new date as soon as we can.

Last month, to celebrate His Majesty’s Coronation, we hosted a screening of the event for representatives of the British Community in France, as well as a Coronation dinner with guests including Catherine Colonna, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs. I hope you had the chance to celebrate too! And June has been busy too, with the Defence Secretary joining President Macron and the French Defence Minister to remember our shared sacrifices at the 79th D-Day commemorations in Normandy.

And of course, our work to support British Nationals in France has continued alongside these huge events. We continue to raise with the French authorities cases where the Withdrawal Agreement is wrongly applied to minors, late applicants and joining family members – we know this is a challenge in some prefectures. To help, we are working with the French Interior Ministry to ensure prefectural websites are updated, easy to access, and have a clear process for Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries who want to make an application. We have also sought clarity from the Health Ministry on British nationals’ eligibility for a low-income benefit, following a change in French policy – more details on that below.

I hope you find this issue of Voisins Voices useful – whether you’re preparing to welcome friends or family over the summer holidays, need more information about residency, or are looking for the best places for all up-to-date information for British people in France.

Wishing you a wonderful summer,

Menna Rawlings

3. Ongoing Withdrawal Agreement implementation

The Embassy team continues to monitor implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, especially with regards to residency. Anyone who applied for a Withdrawal Agreement Residency Permit before the deadline of 4 October 2021, should be in possession of their card. If this is not the case, please contact your prefecture to follow up, as the file is unlikely to be considered as still pending unless you take action to make contact.

A number of other French government websites have also been updated to reflect this reality, and respect the ongoing eligibility of certain individuals under the Withdrawal Agreement. The Interior Ministry site remains the most reliable source in terms of general information, and the interactive tool on service-publique.fr has the supporting documents required for joining family, minors and late applicants. For the moment, the process depends on the prefecture, but keep reading this issue of Voisins Voices for more information about France’s administrative digitalisation project, which is likely to change this.

You can find a useful reference on this French website which explains exactly for whom the Withdrawal Agreement remains open without a deadline. This includes children of a Withdrawal Agreement beneficiary reaching the age of 18, where the application must be submitted within one year of the 18th birthday.

Close family members of WA beneficiaries can also join you in the country where you are living. This applies to spouses, registered partners or established partners, dependent children and grandchildren, and dependent parents and grandparents, including those of your spouse or registered partner. Your relationship with them must have begun by 31 December 2020.

If you have, or if you legally adopt, children in the future, and you have custody of them, your children will have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement.

NB: minor children of the beneficiaries of the withdrawal agreement can, on request, be issued a free travel document called “document de circulation pour étranger mineur”.

It is important to highlight that British nationals and their family members (as defined above, as well as the spouses and partners of French nationals whose family ties predate January 1, 2021) may be able to justify the late submission of their application for a residence permit (i.e. after October 4 2021) if they have reasonable grounds. These could include force majeure events, health reasons, difficulties in returning to France due to the pandemic, professional reasons, etc.

3.1 Remember:

  • a confirmation of application (récépissé) should be promptly issued for any such application. Make sure it mentions the Withdrawal Agreement - see example below

  • rights are maintained including the right to work, access healthcare and benefits etc, if you are a Withdrawal Agreement beneficiary, and have the confirmation of application

  • British joining family members do not require a visa, as confirmed on the France Visas website, and should apply within 3 months of arrival in France

If you, or anyone you know, encounter difficulty with any such application, you should refer to the French websites mentioned in this newsletter, and even Article 18.1 of the Withdrawal Agreement if need be.

You can also inform the Embassy via our contact form, but please note we cannot necessarily provide individual, tailored support in every case.

You should also consider approaching the European Commission’s assistance service which provides advice on your rights in the EU country where you live and how to resolve issues with or submit a complaint about a public body regarding your rights.

You can complain to the European Commission about a breach of EU law.

4. Update on ANEF

The website “Administration Numérique pour les Etrangers en France” (or ANEF) continues to be developed to encompass different administrative tasks for foreigners in France.

As a Withdrawal Agreement beneficiary, you can already use this site to register your change of address or marital status, and over the course of the next year, more will become possible. For example, when you come to renew your Withdrawal Agreement residency permit, this process will be incorporated into this website.

This prefecture website gives some helpful background on the system with an outline of a calendar for upcoming developments. We have asked for Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries to also be listed in the calendar.

The main advantages of this online system include:

  • the end of waiting in line (physical or virtual) as it will no longer be necessary to have an appointment at the prefecture to make your application

  • reduced need for visits to the prefecture – only one if you’ve already given fingerprints, otherwise a maximum of two

  • fewer supporting documents to provide, given the principle of “tell us only once”. For example, if you’ve given fingerprints at the consulate for your visa, you don’t need to do it again at the prefecture

  • simplified process and online platform designed to be user-friendly. Compatible with computer, tablet or smartphone, and documents can be uploaded in multiple formats including photos taken with a smartphone

  • professional support for platform users – dedicated hotline and contact form. Technical guidance booths available at the prefecture to help you make an online application

5. Travel advice

Since mid-March there have been protests in central Paris and elsewhere in France.

Protests are likely to take place and could occur with little notice. Some protests have turned violent. The protests may lead to disruptions to road travel or targeting of parked cars in areas where protests take place.

You should monitor the media, avoid protests, check the latest advice with operators when travelling and follow the advice of the authorities.

Read more on our France Travel Advice.

6. Rugby World Cup 2023 and Paris Olympic Games 2024

Starting from September and going all the way to 2024, we have two very exciting sports events happening here in France: the Rugby World Cup 2023 and the Olympic Games in 2024.

If you have friends and family planning trips across the Channel, you can check out the French government’s website for advice on how they can best organise their travel.

We will update our Travel Advice if there is anything specific to be aware of. It is key to check your passport validity and take out travel insurance.

You can also sign up for France Travel Advice updates here.

7. Complémentaire Santé Solidaire (CSS) update

If you are struggling to pay for your mutuelle, you can check your eligibility for help with the “complémentaire santé solidaire” (CSS) on Amelie.fr.

We can confirm that this benefit is once again open to eligible UK Nationals registered within the French healthcare system, including those of you with a UK S1 form.

Please make an application at your local CPAM office. If you have any concerns or questions, contact your CPAM office directly.

8. Healthcare while you travel

If you make social security contributions in France, you should be entitled to a France-issued European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or carte européene d’assurance maladie (CEAM) and should carry this with you when travelling.

All EU-issued EHICs remain valid for necessary care when visiting the UK and other EU Member States for temporary stays. Please be aware that if you travel to the UK and you cannot supply proof of healthcare cover, you may be charged.

We always recommend taking out comprehensive travel insurance when travelling, including health cover, as an EHIC does not cover certain things such as mountain rescue or repatriation. Click here for more information on getting a French EHIC.

If your healthcare is covered by the UK, you should be entitled to a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). Existing UK-issued EHICs also remain valid for necessary care when visiting EU Member States until the expiration date on the card. They do not need to be replaced immediately. Once it expires, it can be replaced with a new GHIC issued by the UK. Please also share this message with any visiting friends or family from the UK to France.

Check out this video to learn more on how to apply for healthcare in France.

9. British Girl Guides Overseas

British Girl Guides Overseas (BGO) is part of UK Girlguiding and is present abroad with units based in many parts of the world, including the Paris region.

Unfortunately, girlguiding UK announced on 19 April that as of 1 September 2023, the Girlguiding UK Board of Trustees has taken the decision to end all British Girlguiding Overseas operations (including in France).

For more information, you can visit the British Girlguides Overseas (BGO) website.

10. Cancer Support France

10.1 Call for Volunteers

Are you empathetic, sympathetic with a “heart of gold”? Then Cancer Support France would welcome your help.

CSF is an Association dedicated to the support of Anglophones affected by cancer. With 16 regional associations throughout France they offer support from diagnosis through treatment to after care. They also provide emotional support with their trained active listeners, language assistance, hospital visits etc. This is provided by teams of trained volunteers and is completely free to their clients.

They are always looking for more volunteers, if you would like to join them please contact: volunteer@cancersupportfrance.org or call their helpline at 0800 240 200.

Or if you need their help or support, contact them using the number above.

Visit the webpages below for more information. The links and contact details can signpost you in the right direction and also connect you to those who can provide support or offer help with technical matters if you need it.

Key websites:

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