'This is Brexit' - family gets 30 days to leave France

Or to put it another way - exercising freedom of movement correctly, ie as per the EU directive which is what national laws are based on, does equate to legal residence. What doesn’t equate to legal residence is ignoring the directive and thinking that freedom of movement means carte blanche to live where you like with no conditions attached,

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What about all the holiday home owners who stay longer than three months? Are they breaking the EU law? Or is that different. Not being antagonistic but would really like to know. Maybe when we exported ourselves over here in 2006 things were very different, it seems a lot less complicated!? We got on with it and made good our decision. It took us over 10 years of graft with help financially from the French state and wonderful healthcare that caught my breast cancer early, to make our home here. I am not condoning anyone breaking the law, I pay for these people who decide they are going to fly under the radar in France and the UK, we are undercut business wise etc It just seemed a lot simpler before Brexit - if you paid your way and filed your taxes you were legal if you didn’t then you weren’t. I do not condone this! Yes I do hope all the ones who are illegal get found out and asked to leave. I also hope that Brits who genuinely want to stay and are legal are able to also.

Many of us know Brits who live under the radar or don’t abide by the rules, personally I just don’t care what others do as long as they don’t bother me, they’ll probably get caught eventually or end up back in the UK.

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Failing to comply with rules like this isn’t exactly breaking the law. It’s more a case of, the directive sets out the balance of rights and obligations when it comes to freedom of movement and residence rights; so if you want the rights and privileges, you have to meet the obligations. However, holiday home owners don’t actually want the rights - they don’t want healthcare, they’re not moving here - so if they don’t meet the obligations you could say it makes no odds. France has always tolerated this.

Under EU law, citizens have the automatic right to stay in another EU country for up to 3 months, and this is reflected in French law:
" Si vous êtes européen, vous pouvez circuler et séjourner librement pendant une période de 3 mois en France. Vous pouvez être accompagné par les membres de votre famille proche. Ce droit de libre circulation et de séjour jusqu’à 3 mois vous est reconnu quel que soit le motif de votre séjour : tourisme, stage, emploi de courte durée, etc. Il peut toutefois être limité."
There is no law that gives them the automatic right to stay for longer.

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Thanks for taking the time to answer, Anna. After Brexit, if you aren’t European then I suppose the directive for third Country nationals will apply? I feel for the folk who have holiday homes but won’t be able to visit them when they like - is that true?

They will be able to visit for up to 90 days in 180. So can’t arrive at easter and leave at the end of summer in October. And that applies to the whole Schengen area, so if they take weeks here and there to go skiing, city breaks etc etc that will all be part of the 90 days.

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Is there a ‘long stay’ visa for the Schengen area to get round this?

Yes, but there are hoops to jump through.

Thanks Anna, we have a holiday home client who would be interested in this type of visa.

They would probably want to go for the 4 to 6 month one. Over 6 months and it gets more complicated because you’re regarded as an immigrant rather than a visitor and you have to go through basic immigration procedures and form filling.

" Visa de long séjour temporaire : valable 4 à 6 mois

Ce visa a une durée comprise entre 4 et 6 mois maximum. Il vaut autorisation temporaire de séjourner en France. Il peut vous être délivré si vous venez en France :

  • pour suivre un enseignement court,
  • ou pour exercer une activité artistique,
  • ou comme visiteur (vous devez pouvoir vivre de vos seules ressources).

Durant la validité de votre visa, vous êtes dispensé de demander une carte de séjour en préfecture. À son expiration, vous devez regagner votre pays d’origine."

I wonder what the approach will be to people who want to take out a 4-6 month visa every year?

Presumably they’ll have to apply before leaving the UK.

I imagine so, as the idea of people being encouraged to turn up at calais with a bunch of paperwork is a bit unlikely. If there is a system for a <6 months visa then there’s no real reason why people shouldn 't get one every year, I just wonder if it would be questioned at all.

That’s not how you apply for a visa of any sort. You apply to the consulate in your home country in advance of your planned travel dates, and they examine every application. It’s not automatic. But as long as they’re happy that you don’t have a hidden agenda and you’re not going to try and stay in France once you’ve got there, I don’t see why it would be a problem getting one every year.

Emma’s story is in the Independent today…

Emma says she did not know the Rules before applying… I hoped she would put her dossier in order and reapply… the article does not clarify this… or have I missed something… ??

I do not think it bodes well… to go down the “I did not know, therefore it’s not my fault” route…:zipper_mouth_face:

Information is and always has been widely available… IMO good idea for everyone to check and mentally “tick” the boxes which apply to them… :thinking:… who knows what the future holds… :crazy_face:

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Who uproots their family and moves to another country without doing a bit of research into their obligations ?
Well, except for my now Brexit-voting 90 year old relatives who spent the 90s in an ex-pat bubble in Charente, living under the radar and never learning the Language until they were forced home by ill-health.

Oh my… quite the reverse for us… ill-health forced our hand…we came to France following our dream and the advice from our UK Doctor… :hugs:

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I was being tongue in cheek about turning up at Calais!

For the lifestyle or for the medical facilities ?