Coming back after a Christmas/New Year trip back to Scotland we had our passports stamped at the Tunnel
He even had to move our CdS so he could stamp them
I did try pointing out as French residents he didn’t need to stamp them but he insisted that since our cards were issued after Brexit (they were issued Dec/Jan 20 and 21) they had to be stamped
I’ve since heard of quite a few people having similar experiences at various airports including Bordeaux
I though they didn’t stamp passports of legal residents and wonder if this will start to cause problems when we go back (would we get caught up in the 90 day thing)
No need to worry about the 90 day period if you have a ‘permanent’ Titre de Sejour.
There is however a little considered aspect of the Titre de Sejour that does require passport stamping. The Titre de Sejour lapses if the holder is absent from France for more than two years, so passports are stamped upon leaving France to signal the start of that two year period. Then, upon re-entering France, the passport is stamped again to reset the said two year period to nought. So in actuality, the stamping of the passport upon entering France is something to be welcomed.
We also had the car x rayed both ways (Calais and Folkestone)
It involves driving your car onto a rolling road, leaving it in neutral but engine running brake off and getting out of the car whilst it is moved through a large garage and x rayed
“We can see everything you have in the vehicle including hidden panels” said the operator
That was a novel experience but unfortunately one that seems to be likely to be frequent
Apparently the system is aimed mainly at vans and they have a set quota to reach but with covid & Brexit they’re not getting the numbers of vans crossing so have moved onto cars
T*he préfecture will either issue a five-year ‘temporary’ WA RP or a ten-year ‘permanent’ WA RP depending on the length of your residence in France on application, or whether you’re married to a French national, or on specific circumstances such as having suffered permanent injuries from an industrial accident while employed in France. *
**With a five-year residence permit, physical presence in France is required for a minimum of 183 days of each of those first five years to remain ‘legally resident’. There are some special circumstances that allow you to be absent for longer, such as serious illness or a work posting in another country.
With a ten-year ‘permanent’ WA RP, it is the card that must be replaced after ten years to update photographs and personal information and your ‘right to remain’ that is permanent. Once you have these permanent residency rights, you are permitted to leave France and live elsewhere for up to five years without losing your residency rights.
It therefore follows that it would be appropriate for passports to be stamped with dates of entry and exit into and out of France in order to calculate the actual residency periods of the individual in relation to maintaining the validity of the right of residency.
The passport stamping would not of itself be any criticism of whether the holder holds right of residency at the time of said stamping.
Think this is yet another case of staff in these important roles not being properly trained and aware of what rules they have introduced themselves,bit like the Police and the driving licence fiasco after Brexit.
5 years for a “permanent” WA card (a special Brexit concession as it’s 2 years for other similar cards, and 6 months for 5 year card holders. Passports are scanned, so stamping doesn’t matter at all.
Anyway it is up to each EU State to decide, and stamping of residents’ passports is not contrary to EU law or more specifically to the WA (which doesn’t provide for any exemption). So there is really no argument to make.
“depending on national practices and in accordance with their legislation, some Member States may still stamp passports of beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement, even if these hold a notified residence documents. Please note in this regard that the … Commission guidance is legally not binding upon the Member States. Therefore, Member States, which stamp the passports of beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement do not necessarily act in breach of Union law.”
The only TCN residents exempt from stamping in France under EU law are family members of an EU citizen with the appropriate permit under Article 10 of Directive 2004/38.
I’m actually pleased to have my passport stamped when returning into France, especially when I’m coming from the USA.
The American authorities are very hot on ensuring that people do not overstay in the US, and so they always look for proof of one’s last visit when deciding whether to admit you subsequently. They are probably extra vigilant where I am concerned as my wife is American, and they have trouble in understanding that I actually do not wish to live permanently in the US. So for me, that passport stamp that proves when I last returned to France is extra proof that I have not been breaking the American rules.
