Carte de séjour for British movers

Do British citizens need a carte de séjour to live in France?

Yes. Since Brexit, UK citizens arriving in France are third-country nationals. Visa-free stays are limited to 90 days in any 180-day period; living in France needs a long-stay visa applied for in the UK before you travel. That visa (the VLS-TS) acts as your residence permit for its first year once validated online, after which you apply for a carte de séjour.

Residence cards are issued by the prefecture for the département where you live, and most applications are now made online through the ANEF portal run by the Ministry of the Interior. Processing speed still varies by prefecture.

There are several pathways depending on your circumstances: visiteur (for retirees and others not working in France), salarié (for those with a French employment contract), profession libérale or entrepreneur (for those running a business), vie privée et familiale (including spouses of French citizens), and étudiant (for students). Spouses of other EU nationals living in France come under the separate EU family-member rules. Each pathway has its own means, healthcare and accommodation requirements.

Which long-stay visa should a British mover apply for?

Most British retirees apply for the visiteur long-stay visa; people with a French job need salarié; the self-employed need profession libérale or entrepreneur; spouses of French citizens use vie privée et familiale. The right category depends on what you will do in France, not on your nationality, and picking the wrong one is the most common reason applications stall.

For retirees, the visiteur category requires proof of sufficient and stable resources (assessed by the consulate and prefecture rather than against a single published UK figure), proof of accommodation in France, proof of healthcare cover, and a written undertaking not to work in France.

For professionals taking French employment, the salarié category requires the French employer to obtain work authorisation before you apply for the visa in the UK. You then validate the visa online after arrival.

For the self-employed (freelance, consultancy, online business), the profession libérale or entrepreneur pathway requires evidence of a viable activity and registration with the French business system. It is the most paperwork-heavy route and benefits from a French immigration lawyer's help.

For spouses of French citizens, the vie privée et familiale category rests on proof of the relationship and the usual accommodation and healthcare evidence.

What documents do you need for a French residence permit?

Every application needs a valid passport, proof of address in France, proof of healthcare cover, proof of means, photographs to French specifications and the application itself, usually submitted online on ANEF. First multi-year cards now also need proof of French at A2 level, and the ten-year carte de résident needs B1. Category-specific documents sit on top of this core set.

Additional documents by category: visiteur applicants typically show a run of bank or pension statements demonstrating consistent income; salarié applicants provide the employment contract and the employer's authorisation; profession libérale applicants provide business registration and income evidence; vie privée et familiale applicants provide relationship evidence; étudiant applicants provide the enrolment letter.

Translations: many prefectures accept documents in English, but civil-status documents — marriage and birth certificates especially — often need a certified translation by a sworn translator (traducteur assermenté). Check what your prefecture requires before you submit.

Language evidence can be a recognised certificate (such as DELF or TCF at the required level), a qualifying French diploma, or an OFII attestation from integration-contract language training. The requirement applies when you first obtain a multi-year card or a carte de résident; renewing the same card does not trigger it again.

How do you apply for a carte de séjour after Brexit?

Apply for the long-stay visa in the UK, travel to France, then validate the visa online on the ANEF portal (administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr) within the deadline after arrival, paying the residence tax online. Before the visa's validity ends, apply on ANEF for the carte de séjour. There is no OFII appointment for validation; it has been an online procedure since 2019.

Step by step: (1) apply for the long-stay visa through the French consular system in the UK, which ends with an in-person appointment at a visa centre; (2) travel to France with the visa in your passport; (3) validate the VLS-TS online on ANEF with your visa details, arrival date and French address; (4) before the VLS-TS runs out, apply online for the residence card that follows it.

Some steps may still involve the prefecture in person — collecting the physical card, or a biometrics appointment. Keep every confirmation your ANEF account issues; it is your proof that an application is in progress.

Renewals are also made online. Later cards can be multi-year, and after sustained lawful residence you can apply for the ten-year carte de résident — which, since 2026, requires French at B1 level, and a first multi-year card requires A2.

What catches British applicants out?

Four things catch British applicants most often: income evidence that is sufficient but not demonstrably stable, a healthcare gap before French public cover opens, informal address documentation, and translations or language certificates arranged too late. Each one can delay a card or force a resubmission, and each one is easy to fix if you prepare it before the application rather than after.

Income: show stability as well as sufficiency — a consistent run of bank or pension statements showing regular inflow is stronger than a single large balance.

Healthcare: before PUMa opens, you need full private health insurance. A mutuelle is top-up cover and is not enough on its own.

Address: if you are renting informally or staying with family, get a formal rental contract or a hosting attestation (attestation d'hébergement, with the host's ID and proof of address) ready before you apply.

Translations and language: sworn translations take time to arrange, and language-test sessions book up. Start both early.