There are eight other countries that border France! Germans and Swiss pop across the border for day trips or to do some shopping. In six years of running a gîte we have had one British family to the maybe 200 other families. There are some parts of France that are more orientated towards the UK of course, but the perspective from here is that they hardly figure at all. But Algerian and Turkish family members are regular visitors - a wedding attracts loads!
Anyway the British only arrive through a small number of entry points…
Actually looking at the letter of this it is impossible for a 2nd home owner who is not French or European to apply for one *at* *all*.
The problem is the justificatif d’identité required - if you are French or European a passport suffices BUT if you are a TCN then only a titre de sejour will do.
So it might now be impossible to have friends stay, though I suspect that in practice mairies and border guards will be pragmatic - but there’s always the guy that is having a bad day…
Sorry by missing my point you have re-emphasised my point…the people from the eight counties don’t have to complete this form…as until recently nor did Brits, they could also “pop across”. Assuming significant numbers will continue to do so to visit family in France …hundreds of thousand family visitors (not to hotels/gites) will create strain, and no other geographical (@toryroo ) European has to…not sure how many Brazilians, S African, Chinese, Argentinian, Indonesian, Russian et al etc want to, can afford to or are able to pop across on a whim!
That made me laugh! The south of France is packed with hugely wealthy Russians, South Africans, and so on!
You miss my point. The United Kingdom brought this upon themselves, but in the grand scale of things these British nationals are not that significant. In most places this requirement can be absorbed into the high volume of bureaucracy that passes through a Marie every week. Although the British may not like the fact that they have to apply a month early, they’ll just have to get us3d to it like other TCNs.
And maybe in a few places the Mairies won’t be able to handle the workload - then all these people will just have to stay in hotels…
Indeed but the problem is the lack of clarity in these rules and the fact that Covid might make the French keener to apply them.
So:
Français(e) wishing to welcome British family - easy, apply for an attestation
EU citizen living in France wishing to have family to stay - apply for an attestation
TCN living in France - apply for an attestation
BUT
TCN (Brit) not living in France wanting to welcome friends or relatives - easy, just present your Titre de Sejour at the Mairie, oh, oops, we don’t have those.
What happens if I want to have friends or relatives use the house when I’m not there?
What happens when my son reaches 18 - does he have to demonstrate resources of 120€ a day - given that he’s in education & not working that might be difficult.
Can we side-step most of this if it is OK to not have accomodation booked as long as you arrive with a return ticket, access to at least 120€ a day and a [E|G]HIC and/or travel insurance. It’s not actually clear on the French government website which seems to somewhat contradict itself (1st section says you must have proof of accommodation, 2nd says if you don’t then you must simply demonstrate you have recourse to a higher level of funding).
At the end of the day, though, this will be policed by French border guards. If they are pragmatic I suspect things will work out.
Jane I 100% support your analysis of things. You have expressed them much clearer than I ever could. I get frustrated when English seem to think we are somehow being made a victim when in fact we are now treated the same as any other non EU National living here. Plus for those of us here before Brexit we are treated better. All of us who have been here a number of years know that France loves bits of paper. How many times have you submitted all the documents needed only to be asked for another piece? It’s part of living here.
I think Brits are panicking as usual.
Give your son a credit card for his holiday (with a limit perhaps).
It’s interesting that Italy and Spain don’t insist on an attestation or fee.
Hopefully France and the UK will find a more simplified way of approaching this.
I think that you are right - but I also think there are inconsistencies in the rules which could be used to ruin someone’s day if a border guard were so inclined. Especially if we frame it in the light of the treatment of EU citizens by UK border authorities.
Easier said than done, for an 18 year old with no job and still at school.
I posted the link in the 2021 tax return topic Teresa. They seems to be on the ball. Don’t forget to change the account number on the cerfa 3916 from the UK one (8 digits) to the LT one (10 digits)
The bits of paper is fine, as you say, it’s the French way. The 30€ and needing it from the mairie is less so to me. I’d be on board with 30€ and some kind of self certification or online procedure, as we’ve all done and has been pretty successful seemingly due to Covid confinement self certifying ourselves, but it does seem rather like a lot unnecessary hassle.
We are past the point of having to go to CPAM to get out CVs, past the point of having to go to the prefecture for out CdS and driving licenses, past the point of having to take our paper tax forms into the CFP. France is catching up with the Internet age finally so it seems like an excellent chance for this whole process for all nationalities to be moved online, with the backup of an ‘in person’ alternative as is the case now for those unable, to make things quicker and easier for all concerned. Perhaps like the other aspects I’ve mentioned it is in the works, and I know a lot of people like buzzing backwards and forwards to their mairie, I have always found mine incredibly helpful as I’ve said before, but it just seems like unnecessary faff, which even those of us who are well versed in French bureaucracy faff, are just starting to appreciate. My ‘concern’ if you can call it that is not so much wanting special treatment as a Brit, but rather discovering the potential to make things better for all TCNs.
Well said KIrstea. The Attestation for having visitors can be downloaded like all the other Attestations. Filled in and taken to the Marie for signing and stamping. So far our Marie has not charged us for producing official documents or for signing and stamping documents we have that needed it. But perhaps I am missing something here and you can enlighten me.
Out of curiosity what happens when the timbre expires? I sent one (bought at my local tabac ) with my nationality dossier way back when, and the timbre fiscale must have expired about a year ago. Presumably there’s no way of telling whether they have banked it, as that would at least show there is some life in the préfecture?
) with my nationality dossier way back when, and the timbre fiscale must have expired about a year ago. Presumably there’s no way of telling whether they have banked it, as that would at least show there is some life in the préfecture?