Continuing to live in France and having a job in the UK

once you have left France to live elsewhere… you become a visitor to France, as you were way back in the past…

No, for the next five years you can show you CdS to passport officers. Then you won’t have to worry about renewing your passport due to lots of stamps.

It’s only after 5 years of being a resident in the UK that you should stop using the CdS.

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But she’ll have the right to still use her CdS for five more years, should she wish to do so.

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Once she is resident in another country, the card proves her right to reclaim French Residency… nothing more… that’s how I’ve read it…

but these are untested waters…
and it’s an interesting discussion…

Ah, I see. Interesting. I hadn’t considered that.

I read it as she retains her residency rights while her card remains valid - but doesn’t actually have to be resident -so she can continue to use her card to avoid her passport being stamped. Not that it makes any difference at all, as her rights are her rights no matter what stamps are in the passport.

That surely the only way it can work? Ms X has 10 year card and leaves France for a while, taking up fiscal residency in another country. She returns to France for three months. On the 90th day she is undecided whether she wishes to return more permanently, and because she has the right of residency she stays for longer. That is her right. How could anyone say she can’t do that?

If she then changes her mind on the 150th day and return to another country that’s also fine. But if she staya longer than 180 days will have to do all the necessary admin to became a fiscal resident again ( with tax of course backdated to the date of her entry)

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I suspect that if you work in country A and are in that country’s tax and health system and are a national of that country, but own a house in country B, where you aren’t working or paying tax etc, you are not likely to be counted as resident in country B even if you have a bit of paper saying you may reside there should you choose to.
It would be simpler to be in country B’s system.

This is obv mere speculation on my part as it doesn’t concern me so I haven’t had to think about it.

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There are a few things to consider… and it is certainly interesting… trying to figure things out.

House and Contents Insurance - if French property is uninhabited more than inhabited… this should surely be declared/discussed with Insurers so that the appropriate Risk is assessed and paid for.
Vehicle registration: will there be a French Reg car available for the CDSWA holder to use in France, since a UKreg car would not be legal to drive here.
Re UK: if we are saying that the CDSWA is only visiting UK… the French reg in UK is ok… but only for a period.
CPAM: leave this alone? how to keep it just ticking over ??
Revenue: Make annual declarations as per usual to France?? or not ??

this is great fun for me, working through the myriad questions in my head…
but I reckon no fun for the original poster.

I think you maybe need to find a hobby, Stella :wink:

nah… I’m rather stuck at the keyboard for some time. believe me, I’d rather be out and about… :rofl: :rofl: :roll_eyes:

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Haha yes thanks Stella – not super fun for me! But so interesting reading the topic and points of view of everyone…

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Thanks all for sharing such invaluable points of views. I understood the same also as in I can just continue to my residency card when entering and leaving France. But i think I will reach out to the Brexit advisor at the British consulate in Paris for so further clarification.

My last topic for discussion is regarding obtaining a French passport… obviously as i’ve been a resident for over 5 years I am legally entitled to a French passport now, however my language level of French is not high enough to pass the language test needed.

If i now become a ‘non-resident’ does that 5 years reset itself if/when I choose to become a French resident again? Or because I now have the right to keep my residency for 5 years under the WA for Brexit the time still counts?

Hope this doesn’t stop someone with more knowledge than me answering your question about naturalisation , but I just wanted to ask if you have a special contact number or address or whatever for the British Consulate in Paris, I have been trying to contact them for a while and cannot get any kind of response…

actually, I think that “5-years’ stable residency” only entitles you to apply for French Nationality… (and the Passport)… it’s not a certainty…
good luck :crossed_fingers:

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You can apply as Stella said. We don’t have to give it to you, so you aren’t entitled to French nationality.
I’d expect more commitment in terms of living here, working here, being part of society, getting your command of our language up to scratch etc. Your language skills being too low after 5 or more years of residence indicates lack of effort, from our point of view.

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I think that may be a little harsh, @vero. I obviously don’t know about @fayegarnier but I’ve been flogging away at the language fairly intensively for years and my skill level is still too low, as far as I can see… :frowning:

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But you need only B1 for nationality which really really isn’t a high level, trust me :slightly_smiling_face: the common framework for languages goes up to C2 and after that it’s native level, but the levels go up geometrically rather than arithmetically.
B1 is the level expected from schoolchildren after 4 or 5 years of 3 or 2.5 hours of lessons a week, 9 months a year. I think adults can do much better.

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French nationality is completely separate. You have to be fully and legally resident for 5 years, and remain resident from the submission of your dossier to the decision - which can be several years. During the 5 year qualifying period the rule of thumb is that you cannot be out of France for more than 10 months in total with each trip no more than 2 months.

And you must have language qualification, and be able to talk your way through an (approx) hour long interview including knowledge of French history, geography etc etc. All perfectly doable with a bit of work.

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Thanks Janes for such a comprehensive answer, i have been a full legal resident in France for just over 6 years now so no issue there. But it is as I expected but with not quite knowing all the ins and outs of the Brexit rules I thought I was ask anyway :slight_smile:

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Well well. I have been resident in France for over 4 years, attend a french class every week plus partake in a regular monthly mixed english french conversation group but although I usually can express in french what I want, I have great regular difficulty understanding responses and doubt I would pass any required test to acquire a french passport. COVID certainly took a chunk out of interaction possibilities and I always thought advancing age isn’t helping but now I realise it just ‘indicates a lack of effort’.

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