So You're Thinking of Moving to France

Endorsements

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐An Ideal Reference Guide Lee Freeman

A sensible, straightforward and practical handbook about venturing out to a New Life. I'm so pleased we found this book as it provided valuable insight, answered so many of our questions and put us at ease with the prospect of moving countries. It was obviously written from personal experience and is interlaced with humour which makes it an easy read, either cover to cover as we did or to dip in and out as required. It gave us the confidence to plan out all aspects of our move and we are sure that the detailed A-Z of everyday things will doubtless help us settle in, smooth our transition to a new life and act as a perfect reference guide when we are there. It was money well spent.  25 Jul 2023

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Excellent Sharon Watson

We so enjoyed reading this excellent book. It is indispensable to anyone who is contemplating moving to France or has recently moved and wants to learn the ropes.

David combines a great deal of useful information, to navigate everyday life and formal situations ,to help the reader become acquainted with particularly French ways of doing things. It has several humorous tales as well as a wealth of well researched detail to take the stress out of dealing with the unknown.  21 Jan 2023

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Indispensable Chelleing

We, like many others it seems want to follow our dream of moving to France. Where to start? What do we need to do? And more importantly what do we need to remember?

David in this book helps you along with it all in a honest and clear way. We love it, read it cover to cover but still dip in and out of it as a reference point.   13 Sep 2022

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A fantastic source of tips and information Moi

I bought this book as part of research for our retirement and move to France in Spring 2022. We have picked up so many useful tips that will help us plan our move and this book will be my bible when we finally make the move. Well written, interesting and informative. Highly recommended for anyone thinking of making the move, whatever your circumstances.  18 Sep 2021

Introduction

Why write this guide?

When my wife and I eventually moved to France from Essex back in the summer of 2016 it was the culmination of almost 4 years effort. We knew we had done a lot of research, both in terms of where we wanted to live and the process we would go through to get there. We moved into a newish house – it was only 6 years old at the time – but since then we have encountered numerous pitfalls and potential problems that had to be overcome with both the house & life. None were insurmountable but it has been very much a voyage of discovery since and in some instances we have found out things the hard way as ‘Strangers in a Foreign Land’.

I didn’t move here with the intention of writing a book, although I have written over 250 different reviews on Google & TripAdvisor read by some 150,000 people. It’s very easy to get complacent with your environment in life so I think it is important for you to challenge yourself every so often and do something that takes you out of your comfort zone to see what you are capable of. For me two weeks volunteering in the Olympic Stadium during the London 2012 Paralympics watching both competitors and spectators certainly reinforced that notion. Be it to switch careers, to take up a new challenge e.g. to learn how to parachute jump or scuba dive, become proficient in a new language, take up a new technical skill, or overcome a fear of public speaking etc. In my case writing a book achieved that, although I’d had the previous benefits of writing numerous detailed & lengthy business cases, executive/sponsor’s reports and staff guides in my professional life, to do so would be a personal challenge both to write and to publish.

Since arriving here in France, we have certainly experienced all manner of problems/ situations, most of which were unexpected; and these all involved different interactions some of which I expand on in future sections (see brackets) that required speaking at least some French so I think they make me reasonably well qualified to write such a guide, for example and in no particular order:

Buying cars from both a garage and a private individual (10.18.2);

Buying various electrical appliances in store (10.104);

Dealing with wasp infestations in our roof (10.154);

Understanding/getting familiar with all manner of new tools (11);

Having to find an emergency dentist 2 days before Christmas;

Explaining to an Insurance company ‘Expert’ what happened after we had an (above ground) swimming pool ‘burst’ (10.140.1);

Getting quotes to replace an unsafe veranda/deck;

Getting quotes to replace weatherboarding on the house;

Applying for 3 separate Déclaration Préalable’s from the Mairie to authorise certain building works;

Ejecting a three generational family from our garden after they climbed over a fence to steal chestnuts and then reporting it to the Gendarmerie (Annex G-3);

Ordering 27 tonnes of stones from a quarry for resurfacing and then telling them their invoice was wrong;

Returning to find our car badly damaged while we had been having a picnic whilst watching horse-racing (Annex H-1);

Suffering storm damage to the house and having to claim on the house insurance;

Having to recover data from and subsequently replace a damaged hard-drive on my laptop;

Being summoned to the Tax Office to answer queries on our tax return;

Separately attending the local Finance Publiques and then returning to the Tax Office to setup an online tax account as my setup code was blocked for some reason and could not be resolved locally;

Being in my car and breaking down on an unlit elevated urban dual carriageway late on a Saturday night to find my phone didn’t work;

Arguing with local chasseurs about incursions to our garden (8.5);

Needing to trap Coypu Ragondin (10.33); and

Removing fallen trees from our small lake Etang (11.15).

Consequently, I thought about writing this book and also because various friends and ‘friends of friends’ had asked me about the different aspects of moving here so I just aggregated and expanded all my advice in one place. It is the sort of guide that, had it been available at the time of our move, I think would have helped us enormously to prepare, settle in and to understand a range of things that are not immediately apparent until they happen to you; and dare I say I would have found it indispensable! The guide is centred around helping someone move to a semi-rural location (on the mainland) like us (although it can’t cover every situation in every département) rather than being a guide to big city life, but if that is your objective even then I hope there will be certain nuggets that you can take from it and use. It is based on our personal experiences but where relevant it also draws on some (anonymised) friends’ experiences with selecting and settling into their French properties before enjoying ‘La Belle Vie’.

As such I hope it is full of useful ‘Hints and Tips’, simple distilled common sense-statements, sometimes of the blindingly obvious (which is easy in hindsight) and practical suggestions and insights that will hopefully smooth your transition into a different culture, a bygone age almost. As it’s one that people living here in rural France say is like how the UK used to be 40-50 years ago. Don't move here and continue living to work, the French work to live and live in a far more relaxed manner.

Where applicable, and as you will have noted already, French words/phrases are included in this format unless it’s in a heading. Although note that if you encounter a French word that is spelt as you would find in English, it will invariably be pronounced differently.

What it is and what it’s not!

First and foremost this book is about emigrating to France, rather than about buying a second home here (although undoubtedly there will be many elements that overlap). It is based on our personal experience of integrating into French Life and is my understanding of things having lived here. In it I set out some of the problems that we encountered in so doing and in other instances I highlight the sometimes frustrating French bureaucracy you will encounter, but above all it’s written with a smile.

It no longer covers chapter and verse of the twists and turns of the Brexit process, the Withdrawal Agreement and Transition as did earlier editions but it does reference them as they do impact the ability of you to fulfil your dream and move to France.

As to what it’s not; it is not a handbook on for example how best to establish one’s fiscal residency or how to apply for your Carte Vitale as part of accessing the French Healthcare system once you are here. There are many comprehensive guides out there which explain just that. Equally there are those many publications that talk about making the most of one’s retirement etc. etc. I do not intend trying to compete with these guides similarly I will not look to tell you where to go or what to do as there are many tourist type publications out there that are far more detailed and up to date than I could hope to be. Besides, that is outside my scope and you’ll find out all that in your own good time when you are good and ready.

I will generally leave anything that requires technical or specialised knowledge well alone. Research those things elsewhere and where relevant find a suitably qualified expert with proper professional indemnity as necessary. Then look in here for the practical implications of doing or using same.

Neither is it a treatise on how to restore or renovate an old house. It is not something I have done and would not care to offer anyone advice about it other than use your common sense, draw up a sensible plan for so doing, don’t set impossible deadlines and budget accordingly.

Finally, I do not intend making lots of recommendations as to what to buy or where to buy it from, nor endorse specific products, that is not what this book is about.

About the author

I was born and brought up in North London before moving to somewhat greener pastures in mid-Essex in the early eighties. After a brief but unsuccessful flirtation with the military I left school and studied Computing before pursuing a career in that field working initially as a Computer Programmer and then as a Systems Analyst, subsequently moving into Project and Programme Management and then Consultancy. After I was made redundant for the second time I setup my own Private Service Company and worked on my own account providing Programme, Project Management and Business Change Consultancy to a range of public and blue chip private sector clients for 20 years working with businesses to transform their operations and improve productivity and profitability by rationalising their property portfolios and introducing new ways of working supported by technology enabled change; a need that will doubtless increase post pandemic what with more people working from home. I then opted for early retirement and spent 18 months assisting a friend of my wife with her newly acquired Travel Franchise, introducing rigour into her quoting and booking processes, improving her social media focus and increasing her followers through creation of a publicity video, individual You Tube Channel and a weekly newsletter.

I am married to Joanne, a reiki master and former gift shop proprietor who had never found a Gift Shop selling exactly what she wanted so opened her own, and spent the next 20 years being the Chief Fairy in her own Curiosity Shop. We have five children between us, and now five grandchildren and live in a small village/commune of around 900 people in the Corrèze, one of 3 départements that comprise the Limousin Region, part of the new administrative area of Nouvelle Aquitaine (created on 1st January 2016).

We live here with our two dogs: Alfie a 12-year-old Border Collie, the ‘Black One’ who we’ve had since a pup, undisputed leader of the pack, a sometime neurotic, ultra-protective mummy’s boy who will run all day if it means chasing sticks or rapiettes (the small Wall Lizards common to Southern France) and the temperamentally different Keno, the ‘White One’, (a former street dog who we rescued over 6 years ago) an 8-year-old Berger Blanc Suisse crossed we think with Labrador/Retriever. Inquisitive, hyper alert, and 6 stone of now not so youthful excitability, exuberance and occasionally misdirected wayward energy, he loves sunbathing, terrorising hedgehogs and digging holes to try and catch Mice, Mole Rats, Moles and Voles, but more about them in a while. So that is us, since moving to France we have embraced the French lifestyle and our raison d'être has become:

‘Live the life you love and love the life you live’.

1.  Background

1.1  The Trigger

Why did we want to move to France? To a degree it was ‘right place right time’ syndrome. Joanne had spent a number of happy holidays here when she was younger and also when she first had her children. I on the other hand had experienced a couple of enjoyable ‘drive through France with the lads’ type holidays but really fell in love with the country when I was lucky enough to work in Paris for 8 months during the French Bicentenary (which coincided with the Centenary of Opening the Eiffel Tower), and I was assigned to a British Bank in Place Vendôme. It was convenient for me, flying out of Stansted (from what is now the Business Terminal but then the only terminal) into Charles de Gaulle airport on a Monday morning and returning back home on a Friday afternoon.

Shortly after starting there I moved out of the Hotel I was staying in with fellow consultants and rented a furnished apartment in what turned out to be the affluent, leafy and quiet residential suburb of Neuilly, near the business district of La Défense. From my balcony on the fourteenth floor overlooking the Seine I could see the Eiffel Tower off to the South East, in front of me the Arc de Triomphe beyond which the top of the Pompidou Centre was just visible, and off to the left in the hills of Montmartre stood the magnificent white stone edifice of La Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. I felt life couldn’t get any better. Each day I joined the throng of commuters on the No. 1 Metro line and travelled into Tuileries station to go to work. As the months wore on I started staying at weekends particularly during the summer, so captivated was I by the scenery and way of life. I found the city fascinating and my love of France started with that assignment and on my return I seriously looked into buying a second home in France but with a young family funding was problematic so nothing came of it. However, I have subsequently returned to Paris with Joanne on numerous occasions.

Years later, in 2012, after my stint as a Gamesmaker at the Olympics and Paralympics Joanne and I stayed in an old school friend’s farmhouse near Belves in the southern Dordogne for a week. We absolutely loved it, in particular the evening market, and it was here that our two earlier worlds collided. When we returned to the UK we found we both missed France terribly and the following month after a particularly arduous commute home one night I said that I wanted us to move here. During the delayed train journey I had figured out we could easily sell up, live mortgage and stress free, with money in the bank to give us financial freedom, and have a far better quality of life. Luckily Joanne didn’t need too much persuading and so our journey began.

You could think us selfish but our various children had left home and although we were both working at the time and therefore our own boss, we knew we could retire early if we wanted to. Above all we figured that it was now ‘time for us’ and although we might be 7-800 miles away from the bulk of the family, modern technology meant that we could make a telephone or video-call with ease and because of low cost air-travel the children and their families could come and visit us whenever they wanted to and enjoy true quality time in a relaxing environment. More importantly we also didn’t want to look back at a point in life in say 10 years’ time, think of what might have been, wonder ‘What If?’ and have regrets that we never grasped the opportunity to move when we could. We very much wanted to live the dream and live in the moment, and as you only get one life we decided to live it?

1.2  The Layout

After this background section I have laid out this guide as follows:

Chapter 2 covers visiting France and the Visa’s you might need;

Chapter 3 focuses on the Business Plan you’ll need to produce if you intend to run a business here when you arrive;

Chapter 4 starts with the fundamentals behind moving here;

Chapter 5 discusses finding ‘the One’;

In Chapter 6 I talk about how to prepare for your move here;

Chapter 7 concentrates on the move itself;

Chapter 8 offers some suggestions to ease the settling in period;

Chapter 9 highlights some of the traditions you will encounter while living here;

Chapter 10 moves on to address the practicalities of daily living, in A-Z fashion;

In Chapter 11 there is a short discussion of the type of tools that may become everyday essentials, depending on your property;

Chapter 12 looks at those devices that you might wish to use inside or outside the home to simplify life; and

The various Annexes supplement the text with specific detail.

Where I think you would benefit from avoiding the specific

traps that we fell into I use this warning symbol.

Where I think there is something not generally known I

show  it using this symbol.

Any specific tips or suggestions for you the reader

borne out of our (good and bad) experiences are

indicated by these symbols.

1.3  Brexit, Transition and Beyond

1.3.1  Brexit

In previous editions I attempted to summarise the progress (or lack of it at the time) towards Brexit. But it is now firmly in the rear view mirror so I see no point in differentiating the changes to moving here caused by Brexit as I did in those earlier versions. Instead this timeline shows relevant milestones that impacted the overall process.

Some might have called the result the Accidental outcome of an ill-considered decision, otherwise known as the law of unintended consequences!

Whether you wanted to Leave or Remain, the complete omnishambles of Brexit dominated the news headlines for more than 4 years from the minute David Cameron announced the Referendum date on 20th February 2016 through to the UK finally leaving on 31st January 2020. It absorbed millions of column inches in newspapers, overshadowed News Bulletins and polarised society with seemingly endless political wrangling, prolonged debates and prevarication in Parliament. For a while it seemed the country was caught up in a political version of Hotel California – we could check out but never leave! As such it did engender a deeper distrust in the whole political process, parties and politicians, particularly as the one-time central tenet of collective cabinet responsibility fell by the wayside. To a degree it both fascinated and infuriated this former ‘A’ level British Constitution student as it turned past learning on its head with its constant twists and turns, the kind even a Hollywood scriptwriter wouldn’t dare make up!

Of course it wasn’t just the UK that was impacted, irritated and confused by the whole affair, the best way to summarise this section I think is with the French journalist and TV presenter Bernard Pivot who suggested adding the word ‘brexit’ (no capital) into French. He said it will mean: ‘a cacophonous, unsolvable debate, a shambolic meeting, a chaotic assembly’ Example ‘The co-owners meeting ended in brexit.’

1.3.2  Withdrawal Agreement

The UK finally ‘Brexited’ the EU on 31st January 2020. In the run up to and integral to that date the UK and EU forged a Withdrawal Agreement (WA) that safeguarded the rights of all expats living in Europe at the time and any that moved here before the end of the ensuing Transition period.

The agreement protected their rights to live, work and study here in perpetuity with many of the same rights that applied when the UK was part of the EU. Under the WA every British citizen living in France at the time had to apply for a new residence status and a new Residence Title - Titre de Séjour (formerly known as a Carte de Séjour) before 1st July 2020 (then extended to 31st December) or have obtained an official acknowledgement récépissé of their application by that point (otherwise they may not be covered by the WA as pre-existing Carte de Séjour’s would no longer be viewed as valid residency documents). The new Titre de Séjour shows that it has been issued under the WA, it is also known as a Withdrawal Agreement Residency Permit (WARP) thus providing one with proof that one’s rights are covered by it. As it is also a biometric card one had to visit the préfecture to have one’s fingerprints taken before it was issued.

However, there are two things that the WA doesn’t cover which might affect you in that if you subsequently wish to move from France to a different EU country you will now need a Visa whereas previously you didn’t. Related to this is how much time you can spend in other EU/Schengen zone countries, in that respect you will fall foul of the 90/180 day rule as it is applicable to all non-EU residents of EU countries as well. Consequently, you will no longer be able to spend say 10 weeks in Spain in the winter before moving onto Portugal for 4 weeks before returning to France without the need for a Visa as in total you will exceed the 90-day limit.

1.3.3  Transition

After Brexit an equally tortuous and fraught 11 month ‘Transition’ period followed during which both sides attempted to agree their future relationship and trading terms. During this Transition period, the UK was no longer a Member State of the EU, and no longer participated in its’ decision-making processes. A final agreement was cobbled together at the eleventh hour, albeit with unresolved concerns over fishing rights, key labour shortages (fruit pickers, HGV drivers and NHS) and Northern Ireland, and the two parties signed a ‘Trade and Cooperation Agreement’ at the end of December 2020. The agreement governed the rules applying to future relations and in some instances where there was potential overlap, it superceded the earlier aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement. The Trade Agreement that was reached didn’t include agreement on the Services Sector (in which I used to have a vested interest) and in particular Financial Services, that is still to be made.

So, the UK finally and fully left the EU at the end of the Transition period, midnight on 31st December 2020, and British people then ceased to be EU citizens, with all the rights that went with that. Consequently, France applied ‘third-country citizen’ rules to Britons who immigrate from that date onwards and also to visitors and second-home owners, as the principle of free movement of persons between the EU and the UK no longer applies.

All British citizens legally resident in France at the end of Transition

i.e. before 1st January 2021 benefit from the Withdrawal Agreement.

1.3.4  Coronavirus

President Macron when he introduced a health pass (prompting 27 consecutive weekends of protest against it) and the following February changed it to a vaccine pass, but unlike Austria and Germany he didn’t go down the route of threatening the compulsory vaccination of his citizens.

1.3.4.1  Initial impact in France

The virus travelled over from Asia as it continued its relentless move west and Europe took notice when Northern Italy was locked down on the 9th March. Although the UK thought it was badly served the French response to the Pandemic was possibly the most stringent in Europe. President Macron announced an initial 2-week lockdown on the evening of 16th March 2020 and from midday after to go outside without an obligatory piece of paperwork-an exemption travel certificate Attestation de Déplacement Dérogatoire (which listed one of 5 reasons for one’s journey) was risking a 135€ fine. Mask wearing was introduced and exercise in the form of walking, but not cycling, was only permissible within 1km of one’s home. Bars, restaurants, schools and non-essential shops were closed and hunting banned. All sport including that behind closed doors was banned until September. Confinement was subsequently extended by a further 2 weeks and then another month. Some places mainly in Southern France introduced actual curfews whereas for the rest of us it just felt like we were living under one, although that would become a reality in December. That thought was reinforced by the knowledge that should one venture out one may run into a Gendarmerie/Police checkpoint which would ensure you had a valid attestation and were only travelling say to your local supermarket and not one further afield. One possible upside of this was that it did introduce the wider public to the pleasures of working from home. I say this sincerely as working in consultancy it was something I enjoyed on a frequent basis for 30 years or more thanks to enlightened clients, although it did expose the frailties of some people’s mental health.

As a bonus at this time there was little/minimal traffic on the roads, a complete absence of vapour trails in the sky, and in the fields forests and woodland, animals thrived. In particular the national wild boar population grew rapidly during that confinement due principally to a lack of hunting, although warmer weather increased their food sources such that female boar were giving birth to more babies (piglets) and the mild winter contributed to increased survival rates. This caused tensions to grow in agricultural communities as it has been estimated that in the last 5 years their population, especially in the Gard, Gers and Hautes-Pyrénées départements where the wide-ranging pine forests provide them with food, shelter and the ability to travel around under cover, has increased to over 3 million animals.

1.3.4.2  Re-confinement

From Summer 2020 onwards there were varying other restrictions imposed on meetings, locations, numbers etc. Then on the 29th October 2020 France entered a re-confinement period until 1st December, subsequently extended to the 15th, again it was necessary to complete an Attestation, in paper or electronic form, before venturing out. This time, unlike in the initial lockdown it was possible to take your rubbish to the communal tip, after all with nowhere to go many people caught up on all those jobs around the house and garden which created a lot of waste. Also, in recognition of the growth of the wild boar population hunters were allowed to continue their activities. When this re-confinement ended it was replaced by a nationwide curfew from 8pm to 6am until the 22nd January 2021, the only exception being Christmas Eve. In mid-January the curfew start-time was reduced to 6pm to counter the effects of ‘Apéro Time’ and the end date moved to at least 30th January before being extended indefinitely, although it finally stopped at the end of June.

A further (3rd and semi) lockdown was imposed for a month on 1st April, yes really, and the government changed the dates of both département and regional elections, originally due to take place in March they were deferred to mid-June. Curfew start times were extended to 9pm in mid-May and 11pm on 9th June before eventually ending on 20th June (brought forward from the 30th). But amusingly the then Interior Minister (Gérald Darmanin) did ask the Police to show leniency on 15th Jun to allow fans to watch the France v Germany Euro 2020 match particularly if watching outside of their home. That aside as a semi-confinement, rules were less strict than during full confinement, but aimed to limit social interactions and slow the spread of the virus. You could go out within a radius of 10km from your home without an attestation form and without time restriction, apart from the curfew hours but you needed to carry proof of address if asked for by the police. Although similar to the previous Christmas Eve, exceptions were made for travel over the 4-day Easter holiday because as everyone knows, viruses don’t mutate on religious holidays!

1.3.4.3  Conclusion

My analytical and dispassionate view of events is that Covid saw Government’s worldwide apparently stick to a standard narrative & implement a somewhat flawed WHO playbook utilising an experimental and seemingly largely untested drug and imposing censorship and micro-management of their population’s activities unseen outside of wartime as normal life slowly mutated into a nightmare. This is a controversial viewpoint I know (but it has had over 2 years gestation) but no deviation from this path was permitted, the democratic right of free speech seemingly disappeared and anyone who questioned it was labelled a ‘misinformation spreader’ and banned from the various technology platforms as legislatures became enslaved to ‘Big Pharma’ & ‘Big Tech’. Amongst the fallout was the introduction of measures that previously would have been considered draconian as regards Testing, Travel Restrictions and Quarantine and it had populations living in fear. People became bystanders in the complex choreography of integrating government and travel industry requirements which further complicated their lives. Travel between France and the UK was no exception, not least the UK introducing a ‘Passenger Locator Form’, completion of which was a bit like a cross between sitting an exam you haven’t revised for and reading a Franz Kafka novel as the Pandemic caused countries to behave in different ways to protect ‘National Health’. This too was compounded by a series of disconnected, highly illogical and nonsensical decisions on quarantining with the exclusion of business executives, elite sportsmen and politicians from any restrictions. The same restrictions that set family members, friends and work colleagues against each other as Covid became such a divisive topic of discussion; and you had to feel sorry for those people threatened (unjustly to my mind) with losing their jobs if they didn’t give up their bodily autonomy and comply with their employer’s wishes.

The longer it went on the more people railed against the distancing, mask masquerade and prohibition on travel and one sensed it was never about Health & Safety it was more about compliance. People were fed up with the lies, politicking, profiteering, ongoing propaganda and yoyoing response of governments to the crisis, albeit supposedly driven by sound scientific advice, in trying to keep their economies afloat before settling into a darker world of blackmail, bribery and coercion of their populations, which seems now to be morphing into weaponisation of financial systems and cracking down on freedom of speech. Indeed it is difficult to know what the new normal will be with the emergence of new variants? But I don’t want to ignite a debate about Covid as it is such a polarising topic of conversation and like Brexit, it has happened, and irrespective this is a book about emigrating, consequently do check on prevailing conditions and requirements before you travel over to France.

1.3.5  Changes Yet to Come

Certain aspects of life here in France will change in the months to come.

1.3.5.1  Digital Driving Licences

France is trialling the adoption of digital driving licences in 3 representative departments prior to their expected introduction in Q2 of 2024. The digital licence will be ’a certified copy of an administrative document’ and stored in a smartphone app. It is intended to complement rather than replace existing licences.

1.3.5.2  Digital Prescriptions

France is also digitising healthcare records and trialling the introduction of digital prescriptions thereby reducing the risks associated with paper ones. The idea is that doctors will send a digital prescription with its own QR code to the pharmacy who can then scan it and see the relevant details.

n.b. Patients will be able to see a copy in their Mon espace santé (See section 10.90) online login area.

The intention is that the digital prescriptions will:

Remove risks of mis-prescribing due to illegible handwriting;

Avoid patients damaging/losing paper prescriptions;

Enable creation of a central record of a patient’s historical medication; and

Facilitate ready production of repeat prescriptions.

Pharmacies and Surgeries will have until the end of Q1 2024 to order and install the necessary equipment and the expectation is that the system will be operating nationwide by mid-2025.

1.3.5.3  EES/ETIAS

These two interlinked systems were originally conceived to improve security at the external borders of the Schengen Zone, pre-Brexit back in April 2016 as part of the EU’s Smart Borders Package, but their development and implementation has been plagued by successive problems. EES is currently forecasted for implementation at the end of the year followed by ETIAS 5-6 months later, although it is possible both will be deferred until after the Olympics i.e. until Autumn 2024.

a) EES - Entry Exit System

This digital system is one of the most delayed projects in Europe, first announced before the Brexit referendum took place it will track every time a non-EU/third country citizen coming for short stays (or others from ‘visa waiver’ countries such as the US) crosses an external EU/Schengen border, and will replace the current time-consuming manual stamping of passports on entry and exit. It aims to make it easier to detect any travellers using fake passports, keep track of those who have no right to enter the EU, or those who stay in the zone for too long. Entry refusals will be recorded. It should not impact people with long-stay visas and/or residency cards who are also exempted from the 90-day limit. As such Britons who live in France are not affected and will not have to provide fingerprints and a photo for the database.

Passports will be scanned, obviating the need for passport stamps, and identities will be checked against a security list. The passport holder’s movements will be logged, and data such as passport number and date of birth will be recorded. Scans of fingerprints will be required. A person’s first interaction with EES will initiate a photo being taken on entry, so travellers will not need to bring one with them. Data and biometrics such as facial images and fingerprints will be kept for three years from date of recording (unless no exit date is recorded, whereupon it will be kept for five years) before being automatically erased. Anyone refusing this data capture will be denied entry.

Non-EU nationals who are family members of EU nationals will still need to use EES but aren’t subject to the 90 days rule if they stay on in an EU country with their EU partner beyond this (however they do have to apply for a residency permit if staying more than three months). The data of these people will only be stored for one year. Once operational, border control officials will be able to inform you of the remaining duration left on your 90-day allowance and thus identify over-stayers as well as previous entry refusals. EU entry for holders of WARP cards or long-stay visas should be unaffected. ‘Overstayers’ will be highlighted to border control officials and any health/security risks identified will be passed across to the ETIAS system.

b) ETIAS - Electronic Travel Information and Authorisation System

This is an electronic visa-waiver/pre-approval system for travellers from the UK and other countries outside the bloc designed to improve security by requiring all non-EU entrants on short stays to register unless they are from a country that has a visa-waiver agreement with the bloc, e.g. Australia, Japan or the USA.

n.b. Minors will need an ETIAS and their adult parent/guardian will need to apply for them.

Applicants will be likely required to provide their name, address, contact details, parents’ names, passport details, occupation, and country and address of first intended stay. It will also ask for details of any criminal convictions, travel to war zones, and if one has been subject to an order to leave an EU country.

The EU expects approval to take ‘minutes’ but if one’s application is more complex, one might be asked for extra information or to attend an interview, which could take up to another 30 days. Once granted, an ETIAS authorisation will remain valid for multiple trips over a period of three years (providing the total stay does not exceed 90 days in any 180-day period). It is expected to cost 7€ but will be free for children and the over 70s.

1.3.5.4  Votes for Life

Personally I wasn’t sure what the fuss was about as hitherto anybody living abroad for more than 15 years was excluded from voting in UK Parliamentary elections, and if you hadn’t lived in the UK for over 15 years and you lived, worked and paid taxes here in France why did you want to be able to vote back in the UK? Although understandably you might have wanted to influence things if you still had family or property interests there. However, buried in the details of the 2021 UK budget was news that the government planned to scrap that rule. An ‘Electoral Integrity Bill’ was later included in the Queens Speech and promised to introduce ‘Votes for Life’ in the current session of Parliament. The Government’s Elections Act 2022, which removes a rule stipulating that Britons living abroad can only vote in the UK until 15 years have passed since they left the country, received Royal Assent on April 28, 2022 meaning that Britons who moved to France before 2007 will again have a right to vote in UK elections, in what has been called the ‘votes for life’ policy.

People will be allowed to vote in the constituency where they were last registered, or if never registered, then the last one in which they lived when they left the UK, subject to showing proof of having previously been a resident there to officials. Renewal of this right will only be necessary every three years rather than annually.

However, although the Elections Act is now law, its provisions require Secondary legislation (i.e. new regulations) to implement many of the measures contained in the Act. This is set to take place later in 2023, with a view to enabling overseas citizens to vote by 2024 in any general election that might take place then or subsequently.

2.  Visits and Visa’s

A fundamental part of coming to France now, whether you intend to live here or not is to ensure that you comply with new rules because as ‘Third-Country Nationals’ brits no longer have unfettered access to European countries as we did pre-Brexit. From 1st January 2021 any UK nationals visiting France are not protected by the WA and can only stay for a total of 90 days in any 180-day period (and that includes second home owners), and you are liable to have your passport stamped on entry. If you move here or want to stay for more than 90 days then you will need a Visa.

n.b. French law states that stays in the French overseas territories of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion Island, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin, or Saint Pierre and Miquelon, do count towards your 90-day limit in the Schengen zone.

But as with any type of travel double-check the requirements before leaving.

2.1  Visits

2.1.1  General Visiting

Any visit to France of less than 3 months by a UK passport holder does not require a visa but you will now need health insurance protection (that needs to provide a minimum level of cover of 37,500€ for any medical emergencies, hospitalisation or repatriation in the event of death). Thus you can’t just rely on an EHIC/GHIC card, as although they cover emergency care they do not include costs of repatriation if necessary.

n.b. Should one stay beyond the 90-day limit without having obtained a visa then one risks receiving a 198€ fine on departure! But if you make multiple visits during the year the European Commission has a useful online calculator to help you work out how many days you have left in your current quota (See Annex C).

If you intend spending less than 90 days here as a visitor you might still get asked to supply the address where you are staying.

All non-EU residents wanting to enter France for a short holiday are legally required to be able to prove where they will be staying if asked and provide details of your means and travel insurance when passing through Immigration. So strictly speaking now if you plan to stay with your family, or at a friend’s home, your host is required to obtain an accommodation certificate attestation d’accueil from their local Mairie (which will cost them 30€) to send to their visitors to show to border/customs officers if necessary. However, if you are staying in an Airbnb, B&B, Gîte or Hotel you don’t need one.

n.b. This requirement isn’t a result of Brexit but has been in use for non-EU citizens entering the EU for some time, so previously didn’t apply.

2.1.2  Entry Documentation

As a non-EU national who wants to visit France Border Agents or Customs Officers can now ask you to show any of the following on entry.

Proof of Accommodation for your stay

e.g. Airbnb, B&B, Gite or Hotel reservation if you are a tourist; proof of address (utility bill etc.) if you are a second home owner; or Attestation d’accueil (See section 2.1.3) if you are planning to stay with family or friends;

An insurance policy that will cover your health costs, medical/hospital treatment and death including the cost of repatriation if required;

Your return ticket, or proof you have the funds to obtain one;

Adequate funds to cover costs during your stay – on a daily basis this equates to 65€ for a hotel booking, 120€ if you aren’t staying in a hotel or 32,50€ if staying with family or friends; and/or

If transiting through France your