FYI, those of you applying for, or who have received their first 5 year EU family members Carte de Séjour might - possibly - be interested by the following…
Briefly, I am a year or two off having to renew my (first) 5 year EU family CdS, in order to obtain the coveted 10 year “permanent” EU CdS ("CE sejour permanent - toutes activities”). In researching what may eventually be needed (as I hate last minute mass information gathering!), I have been quite surprised by the seemingly large quantity of documents required. This should, on the face of it, be a fairly straightforward, undemanding process, given - unlike some purely French CdS - there are no requirements for visa conversions or health checks, no language tests, no fees payable, nor even any requirements to sign ‘contracts of engagement’ (ie republican values).
By my calculations, there are approximately 20-25 separate documents/items required just for a renewal, ie far more than is required for the initial 5 year card. For example:-
10 separate justificatifs to prove every 6 months that you (the non EU spouse) are present in France throughout the previous 5 years;
5 justificatifs (separate from the above) to prove that your EU spouse has also been in France for the past 5 years;
5 justificatifs to prove your EU spouse had medical cover for each of the 5 previous years;
1 passport copy for you
1 passport copy for your EU spouse
1 marriage certificate
1 ephoto
Plus in reality, probably several documents to attest to your spouse’s financial resources (since in practice I strongly suspect it’s joint resources that will need to be proved, at least in our case)…and so on.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s an genuine privilege from an immigration point of view (and many others!) to be married to an EU Citizen. It’s presumably far less onerous in terms of CdS documentation than for those with no EU family ties/Withdrawal Agreement rights, or for those applying for French citizenship. In fairness, for once, this isn’t French bureaucracy ‘gone mad’, in that the requirements are made at EU level, and France is merely trying to implement the terms of the EU regulations.
Basically for those who will be in the position of renewing their EU family CdS in due course, be prepared for a significant quantity of information required!
Just try seeking nationality on the basis of having been here for over 25 years with French child (and being over 65). You need to prove continuity of residence for each of the 25 years!
We proved our continuity of residence with bank statements. Fortunately C/A keep them electronically forever and a day and we just printed stacks and stacks of them. (Mind you it was more like 13 years of proof for us)
I literally had nightmares after reading this. How on earth could most people actually produce evidence of French residence over such a vast period (though if banks do keep statements for v lengthy periods as Sue suggests, that must help). I wonder if you have to rely on attestations sur l’honneur to fill in gaps, unless there are routinely available documents in France that would show such continuous residence. I couldn’t imagine trying to reconstruct and evidence my last 25 years, mainly in the UK!
Yes payslips are often asked for,along with every Avis d’Imposition and certain number of years (usually ten) for other items that show proof of residency. I kept the original opening of the bank account, the water and electricity accounts plus phone and some from each year upto about ten years ago. CPAM and property insurance/taxes too. I also kept proof of being on council, school paperwork for the children from primary to Uni; it all helps to build your story of living here.
Interesting to know that such things exist here in France - I’d never seen or heard of this type of document in the UK (at least in the private sector).
I wonder whether you are referring to the UK state pension application process, which I gather can involve one single call? I suspect sandcastle is possibly referring to an application for a French pension, perhaps from an industry wide type scheme (?), which may not have any information on prior career earnings.
The UK state pension system is remarkable. My Granny had a housekeeper who lived in with her, in the midst of rural Wiltshire, for decades.He paid no national insurance or tax at any point, being below the various thresholds (don’t ask why!) but on his 65th birthday, out of the blue, a cheque arrived in the post for him from what was then the DHSS, with his monthly state pension.
Indeed I was. My wife had worked in France as an assistante in a school when she was 20. She no longer had her payslips. But since she already qualified for a full French pension without that year I do not think it made any difference. It has stayed in my mind because it seemed such a random request, but on mentioning it to friends it emerged that it is not unusual.
I take it you are referring to the UK. I do not think a French pension is ever resolved in one phone call. It is a lengthy online process.
If you have paid cotisations to any of the caisses then you can get it. Somewhat similar to the pension forecast you can get in UK which shows whether you have paid full/partial NI contributions each year.
Interesting info George, and I was a bit alarmed at the proof of continuous residence - 5 years of mobile bills? So I wondered if there is info on other CdS renewals and I’ve found the official “Arrêté du 30 avril 2021 fixant la liste des pièces justificatives exigées pour la délivrance, hors Nouvelle-Calédonie, des titres de séjour prévus par le livre IV du code de l’entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d’asile”.
However I cannot work out what your particular CdS is on the list - I invite you to have a look, see if you recognise the correct category.
Of interest to everyone for WARP (and also your wife George!) - whilst WARP isn’t on the list I did see the "résident de longue durée-UE “ (number 58) which might be considered fairly close to the WARP (because. WARP is based on EU residence rights).
For proof of duration it has -
-justificatifs de séjour régulier et ininterrompu en France de cinq ans : titres de séjour et récépissés de renouvellement, certificats de scolarité, avis d’imposition, etc. ;
So we officially have avis d’imposition for proof of regular stay listed for some cases of CdS and whilst we don’t know what will be required for WARP, it might give some hope that the 5 years of tax returns may be requested.
That annexe contains 43 pages of just about every conceivable permutation of French government CdS that you could possibly imagine, but interestingly (unless I missed it) it doesn’t really cover the type of EU CdS which I have, and hope to get when a permanent resident.
Here is a screenshot fyi showing the 5 years of justificatifs required for the EU citizen and separately the 5 years of justificatifs required for the EU family member. Guidance separately issued by prefectures suggests that for each of the 5 years, you need to show a separate justificatif for every six months for the EU family member, though this isn’t specified in the ANEF user guide.
