Equally, in 26 years of being in different places in France from capital city to hamlet of 60 people I would not say this is universally true at all. What is true to me is that there are people who hate foreign incomers, and may particularly dislike one nationality above others but more likely to hate having a north african neighbour than western europe. Unless of course they have had bad experiences with a particular national group, like where we used to live where there was anti-dutch graffiti.
Round here - theyâd rather have Brits, or indeed any nationality, than Parisians. 
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I think tbere is sonething in it. Decades ago I remember bumping into some American and English girls who said tbeyâd been told to say they were Scottish or even Canadian rather than English or American and got a better reaction. Here I think the French are quite cautious but public enemy number 1 seems to be Parisians, and of course quietly people from the Maghreb and gypsies may get targeted if they know you - because not politically correct to admit to such sentiments.
Same in the UK - people are people. Education, peace and civilisation keep a lot of difficult human attributes under control so that everything works better for everyone but that seems to be what Mr. Tâs efforts are setting about destroying.
Hi, can you expand on how one gets British citizenship âby marriageâ ? I too am French (by birth), lived in UK circa 30 years then married an English (by birth) man in 2002. When I made enquiries about applying for British nationality, it was clear that I didât qualify. It seemed very restricted (eg talent). I think I still have the form somewhere. So I didnât bother to persue. The immigration lawyer suggested there was no need anyway. Of course he couldnât foresee Brexit amongst other changes. We moved to France in 2007, and no prob with carte de sĂ©jour for hubby (so far) but I do now wish I had persevered to try and obtain British citizenship as I would like to be able to return to UK. We came to France to help with my aging mum and stayed as hubby loved being here. I, not so much. Anyway, mum and hubby are unlikely to remain in this world much longer. I know it sounds gloomy but it is what it is. I would dream of returning to UK. Despite my French nationality, I am very British in culture. So do I actually have any special rights linked to being married to a Brit? I have no income at the moment as caring full time for hubby but I will be getting my UK state pension in a couple of years if thatâs pertinent. Thanks for ANY comment.
According to the GOV.UK website, you can apply for British citizenship by marriage if you are UK resident and have been in the UK for at least 3 years before your date of application.
So I donât think you can do it if you continue to live in France.
Info here:
What a shame you were given bad information! As you could have applied then, but not now unless you move back for several years before you apply.
But that might also be possible even if your husband dies, as I think under current rules could then move to UK and eventually gain citizenship.
Thanks Chris and Jane below, (not good at driving links), for responding and so quickly! I havenât had time to go to the site you posted but I will asap. Anyway, at the moment I donât understand how I could be allowed to move back to UK without significant income in order to be there for 3 yrs and then apply for UK citizenship. Itâs a bit catch 22. I would love to work and if not âemployableâ due to age, I could teach being self-employed. Maybe not much but I know I could survive together with savings. I never claimed anything from state in all my years in UK. Anyway Iâll start reading as both of you raised my hope. It would be so good to be near my step family (children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren !). They are not my blood by my only family to speak of. Thanks again.
I fear itâs very difficult unless the EU spouse has settled status and hasnât been out of the UK for more than 5 years, after which settled status is lost.
Thanks John for answering, especially as it is obviously NOT a pertinent subject for most of you on here. I really feel it is difficult to find info for mixed nationality couples.
Do you think if my Brit hubby moved back to UK, I would NOT be allowed to stay with him?
Whatâs your current situation? Do you have settled status and how long have you been out of the UK?
I looked at this a few years ago because my wife is Belgian. She took citizenship before we left as she didnât trust the settled status system.
I think you would, but you might have to prove sufficient income, and not be allowed to work.
When my middle brother Andy married his American wife in 1997, they moved to the UK straight afterwards and IIRC she was not allowed to work for a year after arrival.
She did have her own income though.
Obviously you would have to check current rules as no doubt some things have changed!
âSettled Statusâ: I never heard of this before I left England for France in 2007. I think I heard it as a cosequence of Brexit. Thereâs no doubt I would have got it should I have srayed in UK. But I didnât, thinking I could always go back. Little did I know !
Wise of your wife. I wish immigration lawyer had advised me to do so.
So No I donât have settled status and have been in France since late 2007. The plan was to stay for the time it would take to sort out mum/sister serious issues. It took 3 years and allâs well now but after 3 years hubby didnât want to return to England, liking it so much in French countryside, having always been a towny. I started to hate French system, or rather struggling with it or rather the admin people lack of clarity. Anyway, appreciative of hubby having made the effort to move to France, I wanted him to be happy so decided to persevere with adapting to France. Of course being the bilingual one I was the one dealing with the admin. To keep it short, all became a whole different kettke of fish when hubby got dementia. Thatâs why life has stalled.
Ah yes, the bloody settled status 
. And people complain about the French system!
Look into rules about this as if you were both living in the UK in 2020 and had been for 5 years it âmightâ still be possible even thoâ youâve missed deadline. Do you have anyone in UK who could check this out, even via Citizenâs advice (Cites now I think).
I guess things have changed. We got married in 1981 in India and I applied for British citizenship at the High commission in Bombay there was no problems of any sort.
good luck
dominique
Unfortunately not, since she wasnât resident in 2020 and has now been out for well over 5 years. Thereâs not even any kind of automatic right to return with her husband.
@frenchy, I think your path back to the UK is very difficult, if not impossible, as the current anti-immigrant sentiment in the UK has really tightened up the migration rules, before even getting to citizenship.
The conditions for citizenship through marriage can be found here
Sorry I mis-read âmoved to France in 2007â to 2020! Wishful thinking!
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
More seriously, if only we could swop nationalities⊠one in, one out ⊠itâs more like one out - never to return 