Are Britons and Americans still moving to France? Latest data
We look at number of cards issued and also the number of people ordered to leave the country, and for what reasons this could happen
Many Americans enjoy the lifestyle in Paris
Guzel Gashigullina / Shutterstock
For a second year running, more Americans received first-time French residency cards than Britons, the latest provisional immigration figures for 2023 show.
Americans were the fifth largest nationality for 2023, after three North African countries and Chinese people.
It comes after 2022 figures placed Americans fourth, following the North African nationalities.
Britons were in 10th place in 2023, after Indians, according to the statistics, published by the Interior Ministry's Direction générale des étrangers en France.
In total, 12,153 Americans received their first residency cards in 2023, 1.3% down on 2022, compared to 14,602 Chinese people and 9,261 Britons.
The latter did not need residency cards to live in France prior to 2021, a year which saw many card applications from Britons in France as they sought to secure their post-Brexit rights. As of December 31, 2023, 166,314 Britons are recorded as holding a valid residency card.
Overall, the largest category of first-time issues in 2023 was for students (one third), up 6% compared to 2022, to a total of 108,375 student cards.
Among other recipients, those coming mainly for ‘economic’ (work) reasons are higher than those coming for family reasons, with the latter being slightly down compared to 2022.
Numbers of ‘visitor’ residency cards, which are notably for retirees and early-retirees, are up by 0.9% to 13,192.
These provisional figures relate to a total of 336,215 first-issue residency cards overall in 2023, and are indicative of the numbers of people who have recently settled in France.
Visas issued up by 40%
Official Interior Ministry figures for visas (as opposed to cards), meanwhile, show that 2.4 million in total were issued in 2023, up from 1.7 million in 2022 – a 40% increase, though this is still below the 3.5 million issued before the Covid pandemic.
Read more: Hopes rise for simpler French visas and residency after new decree
The largest category was short-stay visas, for nationals who do not have a 90/180 days visa waiver to visit the EU, such as Russians, Chinese and Indians.
How many people were ordered to leave?
According to figures from EU statistics body Eurostat, among the 137,730 foreign non-EU nationals ordered to leave France in 2023, 130 were British (compared to 75 in 2023 and 45 in 2021) and 90 were American (compared to 95 in 2022).
However, only 10,623 foreign nationals are listed as actually having ‘returned following an order to leave’ in 2023, including 50 Britons and 20 Americans.
Orders to leave, known as OQTF (obligation de quitter le territoire français), are frequently not enforced, a situation criticised by the political right and far right.
The reasons for issuing an OQTF include those living in France ‘undocumented’, ie. without a valid visa or residency card, or those who no longer fulfil the requirements of their visa/card.
The latter could apply, for example, to someone who came on a self-employment visa but has not managed to set up a viable business, or someone on an employee’s visa who no longer has a job and has exhausted their unemployment rights.
It can also include those breaking their residency rules – such as someone on a non-working visa who undertakes undeclared work – or someone who is deemed a public danger.
Reasons for not enforcing an OQTF, meanwhile, may include successful appeals against the orders, administrative delays, or practical blocks such as if the person’s country of origin does not want to ‘take them back’.
