A new French decree could be the first in a new wave of measures to simplify visa and residency card applications, with MPs and senators from varied political groups expressing their support.
The decree, issued on July 16, aims to ensure more applications take place online, which it is hoped could reduce the need for second-home owners and others to travel, often long distances, to visa offices for the right to stay for more than three months.
MPs and senators have also told The Connexion they will lobby ministers and push again for laws before the new French parliament to further simplify visa admin.
The new decree lets officials “put in place a system of processing personal data, with the aim of allowing visa applications online” via the website france-visas.gouv.fr.
It also permits data, such as contact and passport details, work, family links, students’ French educational establishments, French accommodation and previous long stays, to be stored for up to five years.
It also says fingerprints could be stored in the same system, but how they could be provided without a physical visit remains to be resolved.
‘Towards less regular visa renewals?’
The Connexion has raised the issue of visa complications many times, as has the Facebook campaign group France Visa Free.
Group founder Steven Jolly said: “When I looked at the decree, I picked up on the issue of allowing online applications and storage of data for five years. I agree it suggests some points we raised have been acted upon, although we need to see what it means in practice.
“Would the role of TLScontact [a partner firm that collects visa applications for the French consulate in the UK] change?
“Could we perhaps only have to have an appointment once every five years?”
A second new decree adds a requirement for all residency card applicants to sign a contract confirming respect for republican values, such as gender equality and the secular state.
Read more: French residency card changes: what is meant by Republican principles?
This was voted in as part of the 2024 immigration bill. The decree does not specify any exemptions but it is unclear how it could apply to Brexit Withdrawal Agreement cards as they arise from an international treaty.
It is less complex than the contrat d’intégration républicaine already required for some cards.
Non-EU nationals moving to France or visiting for up to six months must currently fill in an online form, print it, and take it with supporting documents to a meeting at a visa office.
There are only three such offices in the UK and 10 in the US.
Second-home owners must then apply again in full, including a visa office visit with documents, for each new ‘temporary long-stay visa’. They must also give their fingerprints again.
Automatic visas for second-home owners
One proposal that is resurfacing would see UK second-home owners granted ‘automatic’ visas to visit for up to six months a year. This would require minimal formalities and could last for years.
During debate on the immigration law, parliament voted for an amendment proposed by Senator Martine Berthet (Savoie, right-wing Les Républicains), for UK second-home owners to have an ‘automatic’ visa right for extended stays.
Details were not finalised, but it could involve a simple request for a multi-year document, with proof of home ownership.
It was removed for technical reasons by the constitutional watchdog, but Ms Berthet subsequently spoke to the Interior Minister to see if simplifications could be found by decrees.
Read more: LIST: what was kept and what was rejected in French immigration law
“When the new government is formed, perhaps in August, I will raise this again with the minister,” she said. “It will depend on their outlook as to whether or not they are interested in simplifications by decree. But the decree that has come out permits, I think, some progress.
“Then, I will make the most of a new bill on immigration, whether one is put forward by the government or on the initiative of my Senate group, to propose again my amendment for UK second-home owners if it is not already in the text.”
Britons are the principal focus as tens of thousands bought homes pre-Brexit and previously used them without formalities.
MP Philippe Lottiaux (Rassemblement National), Var, said: “The situation is absolutely unsatisfactory for Britons who spend several months of the year here.
I am in favour of an automatic visa or, at the least, simplifications.” He said it remains to be seen to what extent the new decree will help but that it involves a “revamp to the processing of all visa applications” in general.
“Either way, I will approach the government again about this, as soon as we have a government.”
Philippe Fait (Renaissance) Pas-de-Calais, who previously wrote to the ministry about “frustration and complexity” with current systems, also said he will “pursue efforts on this with this parliament”.
France Visa Free is seeking support from newly-elected UK MPs in the context of Labour seeking a new relationship with Europe.
Online applications
You can already apply for more residency cards online at the Interior Ministry’s Anef site, including cartes de résident permanent.
Some bugs have been reported with using this site in the past but others have welcomed not having to go to prefectures. A new system of renewal reminders is also now in place, see here.
Full details of practical changes planned for the future are not yet available but an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said: “There is a movement underway of ‘digital transformation’ with the aim that people should be able to undertake a maximum number of procedures online to avoid waiting in queues and having to visit officials too often.”
