2024-08-01 10:37:19
The days of EU freedom of movement are over for UK citizens (unless they still have an EU passport) and now moving to France is required first obtaining a visa and then ask him residence permit residence card once here.
Obtaining a visa comes with a raft of requirements including proof of being able to be financially self-sufficient through either a job, pension or savings.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: How to apply for a visa to France
However it seems that these questions do not leave everyone – and around 9,000 Brits make a move to France in 2023.
French statistics
The French Interior Ministry has published it seasonal immigration data for 2023which provides the first clear post-Brexit picture of how many Brits have moved to France.
Although the Brexit transition period ends at the end of 2020, the figures on residence cards from 2021 and 2022 include British long-term residents in France who were issued a residence card under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
The figures from 2023 therefore provide the first clear indication of how many Britons have moved to France since Brexit.
And thousands did – 9,261 UK citizens were awarded the first time residence permit residence card in 2023. Although this number may include a small number of family members of British residents who were residents before Brexit, most of these are people moving to France for the first time.
READ MORE: 10 things to do before moving to France
It is not possible to compare this with pre-Brexit regulations because before the UK left the EU Brits did not need to obtain a visa or residence card to live in France, and there is no comparable data.
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How many Britons live in France now?
Internal agency data does, however, give an idea of the total number of Britons living in France – before Brexit, this was difficult to estimate due to EU freedom of movement.
In 2023, the French authorities noted that 166,314 British citizens have residence cards in France, an increase of 2.5 percent from 2022, when it was 161,194.
The real figure may be slightly higher because it does not include British citizens who have dual citizenship with an EU country – for example British-Irish or British-French dual nationals – as they do not need to have a residence card .
In 2020, a study by the French National Statistics Association, STORY used pre-Brexit data and found 148,000 Britons in France. This also saw a large number of Britons in France located in the west and south-west of France, particularly in parts of the Charente, Dordogne and Haute-Vienne.
READ MORE: Which part of south-west France is the top ‘dream destination’ to visit?
Brits become French
In 2023, 1,522 Britons took French nationality, with 767 going through filter (by residence) while another 755 took French nationality by sentencecategory for those who are married to a French person or can show family ties (for example the parentage of a French child).
In comparison, in 2022, 2,206 Britons became French, and in 2019, 3,557 did.
Obtaining French citizenship is a long process – the application takes an average of between 18 months and two years, while those applying through residency need to live in France for five years (cut to two years if they have completed education high in France).
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The post-Brexit period saw a spike in Brits applying to become French – many have lived in France for many years but didn’t think it was necessary before because they already had the right to live in France.
What the Brits did in France
Unfortunately, the data does not specify which residence cards were issued to Brits in 2023.
However, Eurostat data from 2022 breaks down first-time residence permits into four categories; work, study, family reunification or ‘other’ – which includes retirees and others who do not intend to work or study in France.
READ MORE: ‘Not all pensioners are gin-swilling’ – What are Brits in France really doing?
While their data differed slightly on internal agency numbers, they found that just under half (3,182 out of 7,927) of first-time residence cards for Brits were work-related.
After that, students come in second place, with 1,901 coming to study in 2022.
France is working hard to market itself as an international study destination and around 400,000 foreign students come here each year. It is the fourth most popular country for foreign students – and the highest non-English speaking country.
Although Brexit has made studying in France more complicated for English students, the fact that France is still widely taught in English schools makes it a natural destination for those who want to study abroad. .
READ MORE: How easy is it to move to France if you don’t speak French?
The third largest group of Brits is the ‘other’ category which includes retirees and has 1,760 people. Meanwhile, 1,084 people came through family reunification – ie joining a spouse, partner or parents already living in France, according to Eurostat.
How do Brits compare overall?
In comparison to the general migration data, Brits are slightly different and are more likely to move to France to work than to study.
In 2023, internal agency data for all non-EU nationals moving to France shows that the largest group is students. After that, the second largest category is residence cards related to ‘family’, and the third is work related.
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Brits reverse the culture is likely to moved to France to work.
In terms of the number of Brits moving to France, there are fewer Brits than Americans. In 2023, 12,153 Americans were granted a first-time residence card – although that number includes a significant number of students studying abroad who do not actually intend to make France their home.
Britons are in 10th place for the largest country represented in the new residence cards issued, after Indians who were 9,819 in the first period residence cards. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, China and the United States are in the top five (in order).
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