Can I travel while my French residency card is renewed?

I am going to need to renew my Brexit Withdrawal Agreement card soon but will also need to travel out of the country. What happens if the card is still being renewed when I need to go?

The main issue here is if you need to travel outside the EU’s Schengen area, when non-EU nationals who reside in the Schengen area (including France) should carry with them valid proof of their resident status to show at the border. For travel within the EU, it is enough to carry a valid UK passport.

In the case of a British person covered by the Brexit WA, this proof is your ‘Brexit’ card (official wording on the card: carte de séjour article 50 TUE, referring to the Treaty on European Union article 50, about how a country leaves the EU).

If your card is coming up for expiry this year, as are many others, it is advisable to apply to renew it in good time, bearing in mind any advice from your prefecture on its website. Some prefecture-specific information and links can be found in this previous article.

Generally-speaking, prefectures do not want to receive applications more than four months before expiry or less than two months before, with an application exactly two months before being suitable if in doubt as to your prefecture’s preferences.

Most prefectures are asking for this to be done via an online process and on submitting your application online you will usually receive an acknowledgement message/email, which we advise keeping.

Be sure that whatever method used, it is absolutely clear that you are applying to renew your ‘article 50’/withdrawal agreement card.

If all goes to plan, you should receive a prefecture appointment before the card has expired and at the appointment you should be given a récépissé (receipt slip) showing you have applied, which is valid to prolong your residency rights for a named period (check that it refers to the name of the card applied for). From reports so far, this can vary and may be eg. three or six months.

You should not usually be asked to hand over the old card until the new card is actually ready for you to collect, in a later phase.

Proof at the border

Showing valid proof of being a resident at the Schengen borders is especially important now that the EU’s new digital borders system, EES, is in place.

Non-EU/non-EEA/non-Swiss nationals are now likely to be asked to complete registration formalities in the new system, unless they show the border guard proof of residency.

If you still have the original card within its validity period, then this is all you need.

If you have a récépissé within its validity period, accompanied by an expired card, that is also acceptable.

Issues could arise if you applied for renewal close before the card's expiry and you urgently need to travel in a window between card expiry and prefecture appointment date. Note that your residency rights themselves will not expire just because of having a short period without a valid card as they are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement, but.

If this is unavoidable, we suggest taking a print out of the acknowledgement you should have received if you submitted an online application, as well as the expired card, along with any other proof of living in France, such as a recent utility bill.

In the worst-case scenario, with a valid British, US etc passport you should not be prevented from travelling, but you might have to be registered in EES if your residency paperwork is not accepted, potentially requiring more explanations about your residency status on a future trip.

Similarly, should processing take a long time and your récépissé expires, this could also cause similar issues. In which case, it would be preferable to contact the prefecture about renewing the récépissé for a further period.