Just a thought… presumably he applied for CdSWA under the “I already have…”… or maybe not… no matter…
I would think he has enough paperwork to prove he has been living correctly in France before 31/12/2020 and therefore … at the very least… entitled to the basic CdSWA while he “builds up” his dossier and moves up the scale accordingly.
Whilst it must be horrifying for him and his partner… I think we can be quietly confident that it will get sorted…
I believe you are correct and at the moment I have no idea if he notified the Prefecture of the change as regards the card. I do know he is Registered there and as his OH worked in the Prefecture in Charleville I know them to be a very “proper” couple.
I am sure you are right. He is not on this forum but like all of us in times of woe he has said thanks for all the encouragement he has got here.
I think you’re basically agreeing with my perspective Jane: “While it’s not a major worry, it’s quite possible.”
But just on historical accuracy, and how analogous it might prove, with Windrush the independence or otherwise of their birth country was not relevant to residency (the victims came from over a dozen countries - in terms of the scandal, ‘Windrush’ is just shorthand - it was not limited to the passengers on one ship; in some cases - but not all - independence affected citizenship, but not residency).
Nor in fact, in some cases, was it relevant that they had previously received the correct paperwork. Their legal status was subtly affected by a whole series of changes to UK legislation from 1962 on, but none of this really had any practical impact until the current UK government dreamed up the ‘hostile environment’.
I do know the “Windrush” is just a catch all phrase 
Yes but they believed that they retained British citizenship, and therefore were resident on that basis. The British Government did nothing as far as I’m aware to help people become citizens, which would have protected them.
Sorry Jane - didn’t mean to be patronising - it was just that your post’s wording - ‘the moment their birth country gained independence’ - seemed to imply only one country and one date or indeed form/extent of independence was involved - in reality the whole thing was a bit of a mess.
But the crucial point for the analogy surely is that none of the legalities really mattered much until the politics changed - and when they did people’s legal status was effectively changed retrospectively.
Just to be clear - I’m not particularly worried about this - we have lots of protections, some at European level - but I am conscious that, as David said, Windrush is a warning of what can happen, in the extreme, if a bad enough government gets in.
I’ve been issued with a restricted cds because I am not well enough to do the two hour drive to the prefecture. Doc’s letter supplied. My local prefecture have my prints for some innocent reason three years ago to no avail.
Now, they have told me if I leave the country (unlikely) I cannot be guaranteed re entry ever.
My contacts were very helpful and friendly throughout I have to say, and I know they couldn’t bend rules.
It wasn’t changed retrospectively, they stopped being British citizens when stopped being a colony but no-one ever made an issue of it until recently. And they paid their taxes!
So not even analogous to the Brits who have been living here for years without contributing, and now bleating about not having their rights.
But I do agree that evil Governments/Dictatorships can do evil things. Not that I think it likely that Zemmour will get to power, but as a jew I will be more comfortable with a European passport.
I am a great believer of “belts and braces”
In a discussion on the After Brexit Brits living in the EU27 group a number of people felt that if they had applied for Citizenship they didn’t need the WA residents card.
As I said before, in my opinion the more cards you have the better you “might” be covered in the future.
If you make an application for nationality it will be rejected if you don’ have a valid resident’s permit! The cart goes before the horse, so thinking you don’t need one is unwise. A fundamental principle of the application is that you can demonstrate that you are a legal resident!
I had to supply my old CdS with my application in 2019, and when I had my nationality interview in August this year I was asked to bring with my my new withdrawal agreement card (or receipt showing that I had applied for one).
The UK government is already bad enough…
Nationality is innate - where you were born. But citizenship can be reversed.
I meant for those with dual nationality already. Getting a WA card is the extra belt,
Here is the link to the France 3 news interview. The concerning thing is it states there are 6000 plus English without CDS. Brexit : titre de séjour obligatoire pour les citoyens britanniques - YouTube
You can’t. If you get nationality you have to hand in your card. If you already have French nationality you can’t apply for a card unless you lie.
I believe there are many who have not yet received their cards, although they might well have been told they are definitely “on the way”…
Waiting too long for the card to arrive must be very worrying and one wonders what’s gone wrong… hopefully these hiccups will be sorted asap.
Wow, rather shocked that they actually showed the details of an other person’s TDS card on TV !
That’s like saying : “here you go ID thieves, take my ID…”
I re-established contact after a few years with an old friend here over Xmas David, and was shocked to read that she has ‘been active in the last year, trying to round up the forgotten elderly British subjects here in Brittany, who fell under the radar of understanding what they had to do to stay living in France’. I honestly had no idea. My guess is it’s those without internet.
@Fleur - she also said she has been ‘with fellow Brits setting up a Think Tank to draw attention to the surreptitious undermining of democracy in the UK’. I’ll find out more.
And there’s absolutely no reason to want one, can’t see brits in the uk asking for settled status 