Thanks Kim - exactly the info I’ve been fishing for 
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Ah yes! What my mama used to call ‘the capacious bag’.
Going by train somewhere in Belgium to somewhere else in Belgium my friend started hunting for her ticket. Scrabbling about amongst the ‘thousand things’ was not working. The only option was to upend the bag … lo! there were a thousand things on the platform! - one of them was the ticket.
Dangerous things for peace of mind, these ‘bags of a thousand things’ . I’m a bit doolally with keys and my wallet. A NYC pal, in typical Woody Allen-esque fashion said I should 'Get help - see somebody ’ about this - meaning psychoanalysis, of course.
On a recent ferry trip I thought I’d check the whereabouts of my keys, as I do, repeatedly. Nowhere to be found in the usual places. Anxiety set in. I retraced my steps here and there. No keys. Panic now building. I asked at the information desk “No sir. No keys have been handed in”
Beginning to sweat now. I’d be blocking a lane on the car deck …
Another scrabble in the bag of not many things at all. I did tip the contents onto a table. Barely a dozen things but the bag still had some weight to it … Bingo! In a small zip-up pocket I had never used before, inside another zip-up pocket, the keys.
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Almost but not entirely.
5yr CdS WARP holders can be away/non resident from France for up to 6 months.
10yr CdS WA holders may be away / non resident from France for up to 5 years.
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that makes the full circle, it’s the reason I posed the Q in the first place and the reason i’d like the permanent rights now since my parents in the UK are getting on and may need me over there for periods longer than 6 months
No, you have the right to be out of France for up to 5 years once you reach 5 years in France.
You are confusing your rights with the card you hold and being in France.
Again it goes back to it makes no difference what card you hold it only has to be valid
If you leave after 5 years without a 10 year card then you will need an address to renew your card and to have visited France a few times within that 5 years.
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Thanks Kim. I think it’s best I only take your advice on this subject - plus read the withdrawal agreement… which i won’t 
Article 15/16/17 aren’t very long 
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Possibly because they had already been here for at least 5 years at that point? We both got 10 year cards.
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When I applied for our Warp card, we had only been here 3.5 yrs, by the time the 5 year card was finally received, we had been here for 5.5 yrs and would have qualified for a permanent WARP card🤦♂️
@kim does residence have to be continuous? What if dustyjon was resident under WA rights for 5 years, then he spent a bit more than 1 year in UK, then later wanted to return. Could he apply under WARP rights for permanent residence on returning?
Would it matter in that break period of, say a bit more than 1 year, if he technically became tax resident in UK due to number of days there? Wondering would he need also to continuously remain tax resident in F in order to apply for permanent residence under WA rights having already done 5 years under them, if he had had a break in between.
Until all these things are tested by real life at préfecture level - which as we know varies hugely - all one can go on is what is written in the WA. Kim quoted the relevant articles above.
So the theory is that once here for a proven 5 years then you can leave. And return.
It would be foolish to let your WARP card lapse tho’ as no border guard will bother with you as long as you have an up to date card.
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Seems a bit strange if the CdS WA someone holds isn’t an accurate representation of their rights of residency.
(Article 15 of the Withdrawal Agreement which cross-refers back to Article 16 of Directive 2004/38):
a) you must have been living in France for at least five years.
c) during this period, you should not have been absent from France for more than 6 months (or a single period of one year for important reasons).
Does not being ‘resident in France’ mean living in France for over 183 days in a year? Would an absence of over 6 months not invoke part c) of the article above? Does the absence not make the card, and its WARP protections, invalid?
If a 5yr CdS expires while the holder is not resident in France, does it still automatically extend into a 10yr CdS? Are sporadic visits to France enough to counter part c) of the article, or do these actually need to total over 183 days?
A 10yr CdS has a more generous right of absence (5 years) during its validity but can it be applied for based on residency in France going back 10 years but even if the applicant is not currently resident when applying?
I’m sure as @JaneJones advises, that this will eventually all come out in the wash but I’m wondering if some readers may be at risk by following a road less travelled.
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French residency is not based on being here for 183 days a year.
And yes sporadic visits are adequate
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I read the relevant WA articles 15,16,17. There isn’t much there. No wonder we’re all asking questions
Sometimes dustyjon asking questions early and pushing things when officialdom is not ready, will get you a worse answer. I honestly think this is the case here. A procedure will.be developed and we will hear about it here in due course
I hate this too because due course is not in my nature but it does appear to be very much the nature locally. Who would have guessed with Fadmin generally being a bit of a shock to some of us and brick wall scars are easy to come by here (I have them to prove it)
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Hi Karen, I don’t understand, do you mean spend a year out within the first 5 years or after 5 years.
If 1st one, you can be out of france for 1 year on exceptional circumstances, but other than that the first year is 6 months only each year calendar year.
After 5 years out for a year is irrelevant you can be out for this amount of time.
You are confusing right to residency and resident they are two different things.
If your card expires whilst you are out of France you are going to need an address to register yourself to and make the journey to collect your card.
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I’ve tried to make my answers stand out under your questions as there were too many questions to try and answer and would have got lost at the bottom.
We are anomalies, until the WA there was nothing like it. There is a difference between resident and a right to residency.
Seems a bit strange if the CdS WA someone holds isn’t an accurate representation of their rights of residency.
You are fixated on the card, you are in the official system of when your residency started. Your card only needs to be valid. If you have to provide a 10 year card as evidence then you have exceptional circumstances to ask for an early renewal.
(Article 15 of the Withdrawal Agreement which cross-refers back to Article 16 of Directive 2004/38):
a) you must have been living in France for at least five years.
c) during this period, you should not have been absent from France for more than 6 months (or a single period of one year for important reasons).
Does not being ‘resident in France’ mean living in France for over 183 days in a year? Would an absence of over 6 months not invoke part c) of the article above? Does the absence not make the card, and its WARP protections, invalid?
It depends on why you were away for more than 6 months every year for 5 years
Remember you will sign an attestation that you have told the truth on your application and have complied with the requirements for residency under the Withdrawal Agreement.
If a 5yr CdS expires while the holder is not resident in France, does it still automatically extend into a 10yr CdS? Are sporadic visits to France enough to counter part c) of the article, or do these actually need to total over 183 days?
No it doesn’t automatically generate a 10 year card, you have to apply 2 months before the card expires. If the applicant isn’t in France when they renew their card they will need an address and be able to return to France to collect the card. As Jane said 183 has nothing to do with it.
According to the EU team responsible for the WA in a meeting I attended, yes sporadic visits, holidays etc would be enough to reset your rights. How France will police this and what evidence they would require is the unknown factor.
A 10yr CdS has a more generous right of absence (5 years) during its validity but can it be applied for based on residency in France going back 10 years but even if the applicant is not currently resident when applying?
Not sure I understand the question.
Yes it’s all an unknown as we haven’t reached this point, but you are protected by the WA and if you have followed the rules or are able to explain why you haven’t you have nothing to worry about.
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Thank you for your patience! Fixated, I am.
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Hi everyone,
I also have some queries about absences with these permits.
I currently have a five-year Brexit residence permit which I hope will lead into a ten-year permanent permit next year when I have to renew it.
I do want to obtain the ten-year permit, but I also envisage spending time in the UK over the next ten years as my mother is advanced in age, to care for her.
With regards to the 10-year permanent card and right to be absent for less than five consecutive years:
My questions are, if anyone happens to know:
How does the system log the five years?
Is it based on entry-exit dates at the border?
Or are you supposed to show proof of work for example?
I ask because I am sometimes employed but also tend to have periods of more freestyle living, volunteering for board and lodging arrangements, etc. So I might be in France but not have much to prove it apart from proof of address.
I have also been considering asking for citizenship in order to acquire definitive rights but I’m not sure that my application would be very convincing… I speak very good French, know the country, have done many things there with associations, but don’t have the kind of very settled personal or professional existence that they find reassuring.
So that’s why for the moment I’m thinking the residency card is probably my best best, and want to make sure to follow the rules.
Thank you very much for any information you might have !
No harm in pursuing both paths, which is where my partner and I are at. If you have good French and have the kind of experience of France that you describe, the only likely problem you might have with citizenship is income, which has to be at least at SMIC level, otherwise you should be ok I would have thought… We got to the far side of our interview at the Prefecture and are now well into what could be a looong wait while the Ministry of the Interior considers our naturalisation application. Anything could happen in the current circumstances!