How young Britons in France can get a residency card at 18

Young people from British families who are resident in France need to apply for their first Brexit Withdrawal Agreement card when they turn 18 in order to stay in the country.

The Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (WA) allows young people to get a residency card if they were living in France before December 31, 2020 or if they are a family member of someone who was.

They must apply for it within 12 months of their 18th birthday. This rule is specified in the decree on Britons’ WA rights, so they cannot be obliged to have one before this, for travel purposes for instance.

Read more: Urgent foreign families in France apply for travel document

However, it is possible for people to apply from age 16 if they plan to work in France.

All that is required to use this right is that they submit a written declaration indicating their wish to work along with the Brexit WA card application.

Note that young people with double UK - French/EU citizenship do not need to apply for a Brexit WA card.

All applications must go through the departmental prefecture, which will advise as to the process, however, an in-person visit is typically required.

Young people usually obtain a five or ten-year card based on their own period of living in France (five years or less), not based on their parents’ status (apart from where the parents benefited from a permanent card before living in France for five years).

Nonetheless, applicants are advised to tell the prefecture how long they have been in France, the type of card their parents have, whether the young person is still dependent on them and their current status (eg. student, in work etc).

They should also make it clear that the application is for the ‘article 50’ card for Britons, rather than an ordinary vie privée et familiale card.

If the young person is eligible for a five-year card they must apply later for the 10-year one if they wish to remain in France. 

Required documents

All applicants must provide details of their identity document, eg. British passport and (unless applying under family member rules) proof of living in France in 2020, such as a utility bill, taxe d’habitation statement or lease agreement/rent receipt.

If the applicant does not have these details in their own name because they live with someone else they can give a certificate from the other party, dated and signed, stating on their honour that the person lives with them, along with a copy of their passport or residency permit and proof of address if they do not have an up-to-date address on their identity document. 

Everyone applying for a permanent WA card also needs to provide proof of an arrival date in France more than five years ago. Where the person arrived as a minor they can show this proof for one of the parents with whom they have been living. 

In the case of an adult child of a WA resident who has lived in France for less than five years they need to provide a copy of their birth certificate showing the parental link, translated into French by a traducteur assermenté (sworn translator).

People applying for five-year cards may also be asked to provide proof of status, for example if they are students, proof of enrolment on a full-time course as well as a certificate of ‘assiduity’ from the establishment, certifying that they are following the course on a regular basis.

Special circumstances

Information on the online portal stated that people aged 18-21 who remain dependent on their parents should declare in their application that they are the family member of a UK national and provide details of a parent’s passport or, if available, the parent’s residency card and/or proof they have applied for one.

Adults aged 21 or more who remain dependent on their parents should provide evidence of the support they receive such as a tax statement showing them to be a dependent.

The French government said studying outside France, eg. at a UK university, was not a barrier to obtaining a card where someone maintained ‘habitual’ residency in France, for example, at their parents’ home.

It said these years could be counted for purposes of the five years residency needed for a ‘permanent’ card.

Where applying for a 10-year card, such students can apply in their own right. 

If applying for a five-year card, they can apply as a UK national’s family member and should not indicate they are applying as a ‘student in France’. They should put the family home as their address unless they have their own French address.