Afraid not and that’s exactly what worries me as that will be my exact situation. Thankfully I have a plan B with an EU citizen wife.
That’s our fallback plan too.
The titre de séjour spécial is proving something of a poisoned chalice at the moment. Husband has one + UK passport and can’t renew his French driving licence because ANTS doesn’t recognise the special TdS. Others in Strasbourg are in the same position.
Well, after all that, good news!
We contacted our mairie yesterday morning and saw the mayor in the afternoon. He had contacted the sous-préfecture and gave us the name of a lady who would see us at 0830 today. Great!
So we were there fifteen minutes early just in case, and went to the desk at 0830. The lady at the desk telephoned our supposed contact, who said that she had never heard of us. Not so great! The desk lady then relented and said to sit and wait. After ten minutes or so, she was back and asked if we had our passports, etc (we had brought two copies of everything we could think of for our dossiers). Then she said that we should go to the tabac nearby and buy two timbres fiscales (getting better, but confusing as we had had neither a rendez-vous nor a successful interview).
Off to the tabac, to be told that we needed a ‘papier’ from the sous-préfecture before timbres could be issued. Back to our desk lady, who sighed, took out a piece of rough paper, stamped it with the official stamp and wrote ‘two timbres fiscales, titre étrangers’ on it. To the tabac again and success - two expensive but essential bits of paper with QR codes. Back once more in the sous-préfecture, we were told to sit in seats round the corner from the usual guichets. A new window opened, our numbers were called immediately and we had a real person in front of us. This charming lady asked us where we had been because the cartes de séjour had been waiting for us since November 30th. ‘Doh’ seems appropriate here. She wanted to see our passports and our personal numbers only - all that paper and time vested (wasted) in preparation of our unwanted dossiers - got us to sign a receipt and handed over the cartes de séjour. It must have taken all of five minutes. And so, after all the angst, we have our cartes and the champagne awaits. If only we had taken those courses in télépathie.
Thank you all for the comments and helpful hints. Our mayor is going to get a big thank you, although, sadly, not our votes.
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Brilliant news.
Flippin’ 'eck what a rigmarole!
Glad you got them though!
I’ve been here for 23years. I am not a second home owner. Nearly all the ex-pat home owners I’ve known have fled back to the UK. My CdeS expired years ago. I went to the Prefecture to renew it: they told me I no longer needed one. I was escorted off the premises when I tried to get a renewal. Like a Frenchman, I pay into all systems French, and have my Carte Vitale and Permis de Conduire. I considered buying the cottage connected to my maternal great-grandparent’s cottage, where my grandmother and mother were born, on the same bed, in the same room, but the second home buyers from NottingHill, and the like, had bumped the price of a Norfolk cottage sky high. So, half my ashes I hope will join Mother’s and Grandparent’s, in Great Grandparent’s grave in the peaceful churchyard in the Norfolk hamlet I’ve loved all my life. The other half to join my wife in our cemetery in the French village where I live. I would have been a second home owner if the boot was on the other foot. Thanks, Boris and Nigel!
I can concurr that pre-Brexshit, if you demanded a Titre de Séjour as it was back then, renewal, the authorities would not always give you one and you had to insist. We let ours lapse for a few years but the children always renewed theirs because it was needed for taking the Bac and their permis de conduire. If you don’thave a CDS currently, I suggest you get an appointment with the prefecture to obtain one otherwise you could actually be asked to quit France as you are now a foreigner. Having french medical cover, permis etc and paying into the system means nothing if you not legally registered with a CDS and it can be demanded at any given time. The Prefecture that refused your application was wrong, they have to give you one if you meet the criteria which unfortunately now, may have got harder. Ask your mairie to intervene on your behalf, they are part of the government machine regarding paperwork but cannot any longer issue the cards like they did back in the early 90’s when we had to obtain our first ones to live in France.
Saying “thank you” will be appreciated.
Our Secrétaire has made it clear… the Mairie and its Maire are there for ALL citizens … and no-one should hesitate to ask for help/advice …
However, I understand that not all Mairies are as helpful…
so I’m glad your Mairie is another of the “good 'uns” 
Thank you, Shiba. I agree with you. As I am 84 in a few days time, I’m going to take my chances and not bother. After all, I could pop off anytime now. They installed a pig’s aortic valve on my heart ten years ago. I doubt I would have survived had I been living in the UK. Anyway, where would they send me without a passport? I’m sure my maire would have someting to say about such a situation, as I am regarded as a tourist attraction in the village. Maybe if I stopped paying my taxes they would take an interest in me. My sons share your views on my situation of course.
I did not know your age so can see your point of view, my dad would have been the same and once told the UK police that if he caught someone in his house thieving, he would do for them with his garden fork and would enjoy a holiday inside with TV and table tennis! I think the authorities are more after Mr Bodget and Scarper types with UK reg vehicles and not registered to work here than a pensioner with years of residency and keepinghis nose clean. Good luck to you and many more years in France x.