Brexit: When to secure residency for British citizens in France?
As we announced, the first ordinance on the residence and employment of British nationals in France was published on February 7th in the French Official Journal.
It offers a derogatory migratory status (Article 2) for British citizens according to modalities set by a future decree and which we will detail in a later news item.
This ordinance and the resulting status will be in place for a minimum period of 3 months and a maximum period of 1 year upon a no-deal Brexit from the European Union (Article 1).
As such, this ordinance will not apply in the event of a last-minute agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
In all likelihood, this order will therefore apply as soon as Brexit occurs, i.e. on 30 March 2019 (Article 21).
Additionally, the text includes a reciprocity clause (Article 19): in the event the British Government applies stricter measures to French citizens residing in the United Kingdom, this ordinance may be partially or totally repealed, but not before a period of 2 months from its coming into force.
However, this repeal will not affect applications under consideration (Article 19).
Thus, the period from 30 March to 30 May 2019 seems ideal for British citizens to secure their residence rights in France.
Stay tuned for further information regarding the derogatory process and eligible categories of British citizens!
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