New Civic exam from 1/1/26 for some (not WARP card holders)

Never say never! After all many on here have found it ok despite everything. (Apart from those who succumb to pull of grandchildren like JB)

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I’m brushing up on my French, just incase, not sure I could cope with a rubber dinghy but willing to give sneaking through the tunnel a go.:rofl:

I got 24. If this is for renewing a cds the level is very high, I doubt most French would pass.

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Ooh, 27, well I never. Some of those questions are not strictly civic in their nature, I would argue that questioning subjects on scientific discoveries or even literary works is neither proportional nor appropriate to the pursued objective, so the only other hope would be at ECHR or EUCJ level.

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maximum-warp

I got 19 right out of 30 (63%), which isn’t too bad considering that I have not studied for the test and am totally not up to speed on which French law was passed when, or on the life-span of Senators! :smiley:

I’m assuming I will have to take this test when I eventually get to France and a need for a long-term CdS comes around.

From a generational perspective, it would be interesting to see whether a breakdown of French people responding to those questions displayed a clear age gap - I’d wager that the success rate would go down as the age of the participants decreased in a statistically representative sample.

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AFAIAA the clue is in the name. The right to residency is permanent, but the physical card needs changing every 10 years but without any form of revalidation, although if you were absent from France for longer than the allowed period (5 years?) I guess you might need to do something else.

I stand to be corrected.

If the test was applied to all Europeans it would be not discriminatory but it doesn’t, Greeks and Hungarians with little knowledge of France may play their EU citizens card. France is entitled to apply tests but it will be counterproductive in the long term. A better way for the test to be conducted would be to apply the test after 5 or 10 years of working residency, that would ensure candidates for permanent residency had acquired language skills, cultural knowledge and experience of French life, obligations and expectations. Like most discriminatory tests, a sizeable proportion of the native French population would provide fail, in much the same way the new nationality grammar tests would be failed. The recent UK visa requirement change to have a level of English equivalent to A level English is another example of test which would be failed by most English natives. France and England both require migrants who are competent enough in the native languages but bring science, medical, engineering, computing, finance , care, artistic skills that enhance and grow the economies and generate revenue to pay for the large non working retirees supported by their states. France and UK residency tests should be rethought. Citizenship tests are where countries should be harder.

Depends whether it’s a WARP (Article 50 UK) one or not. If not AND you are non-European (Non-European includes British) then as far as I can see, you will need to take the test.

I’ve just posted the test on our company Teams e-break thread. 8 out 10 university educated, age from 28-58.

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What is AFAIAA? BTW, I’m American. My 10-year card expires in 2031. No plans on leaving France. What I understand is that the renewal is to be automatic, and I don’t have to submit all the usual documentation when requesting renewal. I’m going to ask The Local for clarification. They have access to Prefectures and powers-that-be. Will report back.

As Far As I Am Aware. :slight_smile:

See also AFAIK.

So you wouldn’t have a WARP card as that’s only in the possession of UK citizens who were issued it as part of the Withdrawal Agreement from the EU. However, permanent still means the same thing as far as I know (AFAIK).

lol. Guess I’m a bit behind on these acronyms. Thanks.

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There are plenty of acronyms that I don’t know either, but I usually find them on Google.

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IYKYK. :wink:

Here’s the rub - the rules that permit foreign residents to live in France may be changed by France. Some may already be encountering hitherto unforeseen challenges

It is when a residency card needs to be renewed that changes may be imposed. The previous ‘contract’ expires and a new contract must be made.

UK residents with WARP agreement cards are legally well covered for the time being but there is a valid reason some would prefer to apply for France citizenship.

Just received info from Emma, Editor of The Local. I’m American, have EU perm residency card til 2031 (first one). Wasn’t clear if I would need to take the exam upon renewal. Here’s info she sent me:

If you already have the carte de résident then the test shouldn’t be required upon renewal - it’s only for people applying for those cards for the first time.

You can find more info here - https://www.thelocal.fr/20251016/french-government-unveils-details-of-new-civics-tests-for-foreigners

You mentioned Brits, their case is a bit different, but Brits who have the post-Brexit carte de séjour Article 50 TUE (5 years or 10 years) are also exempt.

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That’s very clear, thank you @judyk . Emma is usually accurate with this sort of thing.

Certainly grandchildren played a part in our decision but there were other factors to consider too.

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