Carte de séjour question!

I’m in a similar position. My last one expired in 2008 and when I went to have it renewed, I was told it was no longer necessary.

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Interesting as I too had one many years ago… actually wondering if my company have a photocopy as I have lost the original… if not good news to know I will be in their computer… boy i really have to get this done lol. Just another question …lived in France 30 years,married to a Frenchman, my 2 eldest children born in UK , however they have the French citizenship, youngest child born in France. I wonder how easier it would be for me to get french citizenship ? Any ideas or thoughts… if it’s going to be a trace back into family tree, birth certificates etc… that’s going to be hard and expensive lol lol . Also time consuming… which I don’t have a lot of as still working …

Your situation is very like that of Andrew Hearne.
He has finally taken the plunge and is almost there.
We have a convocation at the Prefecture for our CdS at the beginning of November.
We are thinking of taking dual citizenship.
I think that you need to see it as a long term objective and take it step by step and try not to get too annoyed at all the hoops you have to go through.
Perhaps a tick list would help.

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Hi Anne Marie, it’s a real uphill struggle paperwork wise, which has put me off up until now. Like you I’ve lived and worked here for years, OH is French as are our kids (both born here). I finally started the ball rolling last summer, it took until this spring (9 months) to hand in the completed dossier and go through the interview stage. The dossier is very heavy going: birth, mariage and divorce certificates of self and parents, translations of everything, livret de famille for OH and kids, extraits de naissance, feuille d’impôts, full bilans d’entreprise et statuts… it’s a real headache when you’re already stretched running a business and family!
Gendarmes popped round unannounced for a chat and now I’m just waiting. I was told at interview that there shouldn’t be a problem and that it’d take another year to 18 months!
J’espère que ça t’aide mais c’est un parcours du combattant !

Hi,
We had to have CDS when we arrived in 1993; when we tried to renew in 2007 we were told , “no longer necessary” and the prefecture refused to renew - although it has always been the case that CDS should be issued to EU “ressortissants” who ask for them!
Now that all that has changed, we took my wife’s old card (I had lost mine) to the prefecture ,where I saw on the computer there that they still had all our original details - including my mother’s maiden name !!?
All went well ,and I just had to sign a form saying I had lost my old card (and not sold it or given it away) ; soon after getting home ,of course I found the old card.
We were dealt with as renewals and given permanent cards. No charge.

Goodness me ! Carte de séjour then lol lol :joy:
Seriously I will take all of your experience and use it as taken. What a lot of effort for the time and taxes paid here …shocking really. My brother lives in Sweden, applied… in 3 months was a citizen. They took his British passport for a couple of months I became ill during that time, they gave it back to him every time he came to visit me and never discounted the time.
Why so complicated here … hhhmmm don’t ask lol, the French love the paperwork lol.
Did you have all of the birth certificates of your parents, or did you have to apply? Is it still Somerset house?
Thank you so much :blush:

It’s a whole load of hassle compared to a CdS but the end result is sooo different too which in my book makes the whole thing worth it. Big difference is that you just apply for a CdS, you have to qualify for and then prove you want and “deserve” nationality. Deep down it’s a big change, especially for those who have to renounce their existing nationality (Spanin et al). oh and I got all the certificates online :wink:
BUT like me you don’t need to apply for anything - we can’t be thrown out, Brexit or no Brexit, due to over 10 years in the coultry and having French kids (as long as they’re under 18)

You can apply here,

Oh dear my kids are 33-31-29 so maybe I have to leave lol lol . Seriously not worried actually, I just see others preparing for brexit and wonder if I really have to …

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What is the difference Andrew between cds and citizenship for you? If you don’t. Mind me asking

le jour et la nuit !

One is just a piece of paper that confirms your right for a limited time to reside in France (which may be taken away or become worthless after Brexit anyway). It gives no extra rights or certainty and you remain 100% British.

Naturalisation for me is the final piece in the jigsaw. 99% of everything in my life is French: work, family and friends. Everything I have is here. I join the club, la marseillaise becomes my national anthem (learnt by heart with my daughter) I can vote and so have a say about where all my taxes go, I can be a fonctionnaire, although that’s a bit late now! For me it’s not an admin exercise at all, it’s far more profound than that. I think this last point and feeling is the real difference I speak French 99% of the time (work and home) and have only ever had French tv and radio etc. in the 13 + years I’ve been here and as a result I haven’t got a clue what’s going on in the UK. It’s always very odd, uncomfortable at times, being in an anglophone environment here in France - I feel uncomfortable speaking English if the people around me aren’t 100% English and that’s extremely rare!

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Ahh yes the voting totally agree there, I do miss not having the national vote, I too have a very french orientated life, French friends, social activities, work in a French environment, the difference is that I do keep in touch and visit family in the uk and in sSweden, sister and aunties in Uk, cousins etc… I go over for family reunions, have 1 sister in the Uk, 1 brother in Sweden and a sister in Australia .
although I work for a french company i am in international sales, whereby I am English speaking 60% of my daily working life lol.
I too sing and respect le marseillaise with pride and also learnt with the children when they were younger lol.
I just love this country it has been very good to me and I would find it very hard to return home to live . I too have a problem when people speak to me in pigeon English, shame but makes me weary … especially when I am in a social environment and they take up my socializing time lol lol …
however I do prefer to watch tv in VO as I hate the dubbings sometimes … oh and I do have English friends whom I love to bits lol.

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It really depends on what comes out of the withdrawal agreement.
For me , as our daughter lives in Munich, freedom of movement to reside in another EU country is important.

RE: Patrick O’brien parsnips.

Your situation is almost identical in time span to mine.
Could you identify which Prefecture you dealt with ?

That may help in me in obtaining a renewal.

Kind regards

Hi Patrick,

Nice to see you post on here.

Our cards ran out in 2011 and we tried to renew but like everyone else were told that we no longer needed a CDS due to free movement of EU citizens. We said we would like to just to have something to produce for identification other than our passports, not having French driving licences at the time. They gave us a form which was so involved, much more than the original, that we did not bother.
Looks like we will have to start with a fresh application when we know exactly what is required.