Wife’s struggle to join Brexit-card husband in France

A British retiree who has struggled to obtain a Brexit With­drawal Agreement (WA) card as her husband’s 'close relative' hopes for a positive outcome after we highlighted the problem to her prefecture.

Lou Corner, 76, remained a UK resident for several years after her husband moved to France in 2020. This was due to the pandemic, family res­ponsi­bili­ties, and her work as a psychoanalyst.

Her husband Peter, 73, obtained a card on the basis of residency before 2021, and close family, including spouses, have a right to join WA Britons if the relationship existed before 2021.

Ms Corner began her application early this year. The prefecture said she could apply online or via email or post.

No acknowledgement slip

How­ever, there is no specific online process. A list of supporting documents is at service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F35032 and people are invited to apply to prefectures.

Having done so with free admin assistance from France Services via email and in person, Ms Corner was concerned not to receive a récépissé official acknowledgement slip for the submission of the dossier. This had led to questions at the border about overstaying during a trip to the UK by ferry.

She is worried about problems returning to the UK to see her mother, aged 99. The prefecture also asked about her reasons for staying in the UK after 2020.

"I got the impression they thought 'why didn't I come at the same time as my husband?'," she said.

Tarn prefecture has now confirmed to The Connexion that it will invite her to receive a récépissé, saying her dossier appears to be in order.

An official said applications can take some time due to the volume of residency requests.

“We’re very grateful,” Ms Corner said. “I will have what I need to travel, which is a relief.”

The rights of close family members are stated in the WA and in Article 3 of a French decree. In this case, there is no need to justify applying 'late'.

'Spouses wait many months'

Justine Wallington, co-founder of the Rift group helping Britons in France, said the récépissé should specify the nature of the card asked for. Check for Article 50 TUE or Accord de retrait.

“The prefecture should issue a récé­pissé immediately on receiving the paperwork, but they often don’t. But getting an appointment for dropping off by hand is challenging, and dropping in does not always work."

She said the correct récépissé is being accepted at the border, and seems to be treated as equivalent to the 'certificate of application' which Article 18 (1) b of the WA says WA applicants should immediately be given and which the EU states can be shown at Schengen borders (tinyurl.com/eu-com-bor). 

"I've had spouses waiting many months to have their dossier dealt with," she said.

WA queries can be sent to contact-demandeenligne-brexit-dgef@interieur.gouv.fr.