What about coming to France to join someone else?

There are several possible situations in which a non-EU citizen may come to France to live with someone who already has residency rights there.

In some cases, this applies when people arrive together to stay long-term. In other cases, it concerns someone who comes later to join a person who is already well established in France.

As mentioned in the section on the passeport talent (chapter 6), there is a simplified procedure for families of people who obtain this visa. This is called famille accompagnante. They receive a multi-year, where appropriate, carte de séjour passeport talent – famille.

Most other people joining close family members, and who are not applying under another specific visa category, must go through a process called regroupement familial (see later in this chapter). This requires the person in France to become established before applying to bring family members over.

Alternatively, close family members of a French citizen must apply for a free visa if they are coming together or joining later in France. In the latter case, they must then apply for a residence card costing €225 no more than two months before the visa expires.

Depending on their relationship with the French citizen, this will be either a vie privée et familiale card or a carte de résident (see chapter 8).

Certain people may enter France without a visa:

• Family members of WA cardholders

• Family members of European (but not French) citizens living in France

• Family members of holders of an EU long-term resident card from another EU country who have moved to France with them.

Joining a Brexit Withdrawal Agreement cardholder 

The Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (WA) looks at the definition of family members.

This includes: spouses, legal civil partners, direct descendants (children, grandchildren…) aged under 21 or who are dependants of the cardholder or cardholder’s spouse or partner, and dependent direct ancestors (parents, grandparents) and those of the spouse or partner.

It does not include informal long-term partners or parents, for example, who are not dependent on the WA cardholder.

It states that all family members so defined can come to join a WA cardholder who lives in France at any time under the WA (visa-free) rules as long as the family relationship existed before the end of the Brexit transition period (January 1, 2021).

Children born to or adopted by WA cardholders after the transition period can also (bearing in mind the requirements of age and/or dependency mentioned above), join them in France, assuming either both parents are WA cardholders, one is a WA cardholder and the other is a French national or at least one parent is a WA cardholder and has custody rights for the child.

Within three months of moving to France the person should apply to the prefecture for their own free WA residency card (apart from in the case of minors). See chapter 4.

The supporting documents required include: valid passport, three passport photos, proof of your relationship to the WA cardholder, proof of current address in France, copy of WA cardholder’s residency card, and, where relevant, evidence of being financially dependent on the cardholder.

The co-chair of the Rift group, which defends the rights of Britons in France, Justine Wallington, noted that the WA section on family members relies on an EU law which does not provide a very specific definition of what constitutes dependency.

However she said they have generally found that “long-term financial dependency is better accommodated by the free movement directive – therefore also by the WA – than physical or medical dependency.”

Having said that, she said a French decree which put the WA rules into French law, is more helpful.

It states, for example, in article 3 that one reason for a family member to come is if they “urgently need personal help from the WA Briton for serious medical reasons”.

The wording of the French decree also more generally refers to “dependent direct ancestors”.

Family members of EU citizens have own type of card 

Close family members of an EU citizen can come to live with them under rules similar to those for Brexit WA cardholders, but in this case there is no cut-off date for when the relationship must have been established. This is because EU free movement rules protect an EU citizen’s right to live and work in another EU/EEA/Swiss state and to bring their spouse or other close family with them.

Civil partners of at least one year’s standing are eligible. Unofficial partners of at least five years’ standing can also apply, as can other people who were part of the EU citizen’s household or dependent on them in the country they were leaving. This also applies if a person is ill and wants to live with their EU citizen relative, for example a sibling.

Family members can apply at their prefecture within three months of entering France for a free carte de séjour membre de la famille d’un citoyen de l’Union/EEE/Suisse – Toutes activités professionnelles.

This applies to any close family member accompanying a European to France for a stay of more than three months (whether indefinitely or, for example, for six months) or joining them in France after they have settled there intending to stay for an extended or indefinite period.

The three-month period is relevant both as the maximum time a non-EU citizen from a visa-waiver country can stay as a normal visitor, and as the period after which an EU citizen’s stay is considered long-term, theoretically subject to conditions such as being able to support themselves (see chapter 6).

The card is issued for five years, or less if the EU citizen plans to stay for a shorter duration (click here and here).

Joining or moving with a spouse who has EU nationality

The documents required include passport, proof of address in France, three passport photos, marriage certificate, and, if the spouse supports you financially, evidence of that support.

The EU citizen must provide proof of legal stay beyond three months, including showing healthcare coverage (e.g., Ghic/Ehic) and financial means to cover the stay.

People holding a card for five years or more may apply for a carte de séjour Directive 2004/38/CE – Séjour Permanent – Toutes activités professionnelles, which gives similar rights to those of an EU national.

If your EU national spouse is working in France, you do not need to meet financial requirements. If they are a pensioner, you can stay without meeting conditions as long as they have sufficient income to support themselves and health insurance covering the family.

If a couple divorces before the non-EU partner has been in France for five years and obtained permanent residency, the non-EU partner may stay if they have lived in France for at least a year and the couple was married for at least three years.

If the couple have minor children, both partners may stay to maintain access to the children, with court approval.

If the EU spouse dies, the non-EU partner may stay if they had been living in France for at least a year. Conditions vary depending on whether the EU spouse or partner was working or retired.