FORUM

It was good to see this published by the French Government yesterday:

“Paris, 1 September 2020

The situation of British nationals wishing to make short trips to France following the transition period (currently 31 December 2020), for example to visit their second home if their main residence is in the UK, is not covered by the withdrawal agreement but by the future relationship between the European Union and the UK, which is being negotiated.

If no agreement comes into force following the transition period, the situation of British nationals will be covered by a regulation adopted at European Union level, which provides for British travellers to be exempt from short-stay visas (lasting up to three months), provided the UK reciprocally grants short-stay visa exemptions to all European Union citizens. British citizens will, however, need long-stay visas for stays exceeding three months.”


https://uk.ambafrance.org/Brexit-measur ... of-no-deal

The Britsh Embassy in Paris has a weekly Q&A session on facebook. I thought that this was a helpful reply to one of this weeks questions containing as it does one or two useful links:

Question

Can you help please? We have a 2nd home in the Alps. Are we going to be restricted on how days we can spend there every year?

British Embassy Paris reply

I’m afraid that there will be restrictions on how long you can stay at your second home. The EU has legislated that UK nationals will not need a visa for short stays in the Schengen Area of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. This is a rolling 180-day period, so could mean up to two 90-day visits in a year. The EU’s short-stay calculator → https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what- ... r-crossing is a useful tool for calculating permitted length of stay. There is also an online user's guide → https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites ... ual_en.pdf, with practical examples. Further information is available on the European Commission’s website.

Does anyone know if you get a visa for a year whether you can then go back and forth to France as often as you like in that period?

Yes you can, in theory. It’s called a visa long duree or something similar. Here’s what I understand about it:

1. You must apply for it whilst in the UK by approaching the french embassy.
2. You’ll need to provide proof of adequate means to stay in the country (about £65 per day I think).
3. You’ll need to provide proof of adequate health insurance (this costs about €1200 pa per person).
4. You’ll probably have to go through some kind of interview.
5. It lasts a maximum of 12 months, after which you must apply for another.
6. It costs about €120.
7. You’re not allowed to work in France.
8. Visa issuance is entirely discretionary so, if the French Govt is having a hissy fit, you might be waiting a long time for a response.

Alternatively you might like to argue that it is your ‘legitimate expectation’ to be able to continue to travel to, and live in, your home - deploying the same argument that Ursula Von L is over access to UK fishing. But, then again, it’s perhaps better to knuckle under and start that paperwork trail

Thanks. The financial side of it seems steep! I wonder if the UK will reciprocate.

I noticed this in "The Local"

https://www.thelocal.fr/20201218/france ... om-january

We began the online process today, thinking that this might be a good time to do it - before we need our passports for visits.

First off, you can’t do it at the moment because of the Covid restrictions. TLSContact, the organisation in charge of organising appointments will only allow bookings for a very few exceptional categories of application.

So, with that said, here’s what else we’ve discovered.

There are two online stages which are separate. Firstly, make your visa application using the link provided above. You can add multiple people to your visa application after you’ve filled in your details.

There’s some cause for head scratching even at this stage. If you indicate that you’ll be travelling with the others on your application then it’s not clear whether the visa will be valid if you then try to enter France on your own. I’ll try to clarify this.

After you’ve completed your online visa application you must then go to an entirely different website (tlscontact.com) to book a visa appointment. The choices are London, Edinburgh or Manchester.

YOU SHOULD DO THIS USING FIREFOX OR CHROME. Apple Safari isn’t on their list of acceptable browsers.

You also need a passport issued within the last 10 years - with 2 consecutive clear pages in it.

Once Covid restrictions lift, you’ll need to go to the interview centre in person twice.

First to deliver your passport in person. There is no option for courier delivery but you can pay for courier return.

Second, to attend an interview in person.

Thank you so much Graham!