Changes are made at the blink of a eye, even as I was in the process!
My stress level is starting again just thinking of a missed opportunity.
Breathe 
I was so stressed until I got on the first near empty train! Breathe!
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It’s probably an age thing but I would feel very vulnerable and stressed if I was abroad right now. In times of crisis I feel safest in my own little home, knowing that I’m all paid-up and covered and have access to social security and emergency services if it comes to it.
I hope that any non residents who find themselves in France for the duration for whatever reason,
have at least managed to get health insurance in place.
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We made the move to France on Jan 1, having owned property here for 15 years. In the process of collecting our dossier together we realised that some vital info had been left in the UK. We were returning for a brief visit in March so decided to wait until then to retrieve it. Big mistake - we got back here 2 days before lockdown and the Prefecture is now closed.
I am a little concerned about our status here and hate shopping with a UK registered car but am restricting trips out to about once every 10 days. If we become ill we have accepted our possible fate as we would still rather be here than there. We are in a very small commune in Aude. We have no desire to be a burden on the French state.
What do others think? BTW Eurotunnel is still operating. TY
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Ps, we have our S1s but can’t do anything with them!
Welcome to France…
Can’t you do things by post? (Making sure not to send originals of course…)
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Thank you for replying!
We have a fluent English speaking French national acting as our guide. She has done several residency applications and is on good terms with the necessary official. We have all the required info now but have been advised that everything is now on hold. Hardly surprising really.
The main thrust of my post was to find out if anyone else was in a similar situation or has heard ‘whisperings’ about attitudes to non (but trying to become) residents. We have an attestation from the Maire stating that this is now our primary residence. I haven’t spoken to him about it because he so welcoming and I’m pretty sure I know what the answer would be!
I wouldn’t bother with the residency application, that’s not urgent and in fact the government is not inviting Brits to start the process at present in any case. You’re exercising freedom of movement which is your right (as long as you’re meeting the conditions). A carte de sejour is neither here nor there, you have until June 2021 to apply for that, so forget about it for now. I think your top priority should be healthcare and after that, getting your car sorted.
As Jane says, I can’t see anything to stop you downloading the application form for PUMA (healthcare) and posting it to CPAM with copies of the supporting documents. And It should be possible to re-register your car online via ANTS.
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I’m a bit confused by your reference to a residency application. If you are a British Citizen moving to France with the intention of staying is the first step of becoming resident. As Anna has pointed out healthcare and your car registration are the next two things to get in motion and both of those can be done online or by post. It is no longer possible to apply for a Titre de Sejour through your prefecture and the Interior Ministry has made it clear that the online process for that will open for all British Citizens in July. For now just live in your French home, you are on the way to achieving residency simply by being a British citizen, applying to join the healthcare system after three months and having a sufficient income to reach the threshold.
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The only issue for the car registration is you need to obtain a ‘Quitus Fiscal’ from the local tax office and they are as far as I know now closed. That is the first step for registration before continuing on-line.
Thank you all. TBH, now that we are out of the EU and with all the CV panic I had rather lost sight of the freedom of movement during transition. I think I have been a little bit pessimistic because of the way some EU citizens have been treated in the UK. My son-in-law is Polish and was physically attacked in the UK after the referendum (he and my daughter are now resident back in Poland).
You have all made me feel a lot better and I shall certainly look into the carte vital now we have been here for 3 months.
Have a good day.
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So sorry hear about your sil’s experience.
That’s certainly not the norm in France.
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A Gallic shrug of the shoulders most likely!
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Thank you Dan !
I was preparing to sort my UK car registration to French and then of course Coronavirus arrived and I presumed i would have to wait until normality had returned.
Many thanks for sharing this.
It’s not the norm in the UK either
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It also occurs to me with gendarmes checking people for attestations, all those who are still driving illegally on UK plates may find they are getting unwanted attention. Such a small positive from this disaster but if it takes uninsured cars off the road that would be good.
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I’ve not quite understood how the French can check UK plated vehicles for Insurance - my current insurance has a 365 day green card to enable me to travel between the UK and France regularly (before CV obviously), with the knowledge of the insurance company of my back and forth travels.
I assume that it’s the same in the UK where you see many foreign plated vehicles and seemingly no way of checking them.
Well they can easily check MOT, anyone can, and if no MOT then no insurance. And of course you are supposed to carry papers in your car…
All U.K. registered vehicles have their details recorded on a central database. Don’t the French authorities have access to that?