Today we publish the results of our 4th Withdrawal Agreement Residence Permit.
The survey shows that many of our members are still waiting to receive their WA RP and many have not yet been contacted by their préfecture.
The deadline for holding a WA RP is 1 October 2021. With so many applications outstanding, we have written to the ministère de l'Intérieur to ask that deadline is extended and an official announcement made.
You can read our plea below
Please France - We ask you to extend the deadline today!
Help - I haven’t had my appointment for my WA RP!
Help - I’ve attended my appointment and I haven’t got my WA RP!
The Remain in France Together (RIFT) Survey results are being released. This reveals the percentage of survey respondents who don’t yet have their Withdrawal Agreement Residency Permits (WA RP). Many UK nationals and their family members report that they haven’t had their appointments and many haven’t received their permits after their appointment. Many applied months ago and even last year. Figures for applications received and treated have not been revealed since June 2021. If our survey results mirror the situation for all UK Nationals and their family members across France, many thousands will be in a precarious situation on 1 October 2021. The French Government has not yet officially changed the deadline and there are so few working days left.
We read this on official sites:
UK Nationals will be required to hold a residence permit by 1 October 2021
This assurance on applications is simply not enough.
"ATTESTATION D'ENREGISTREMENT DE DEMANDE DE TITRE DE SEJOUR EN LIGNE : 29-XXXXXX
Le présent document atteste que, conformément à la règlementation applicable, Mme / M. UN AUTRE a déposé une demande de titre de séjour dans le cadre de l'accord de retrait du Royaume-Uni de l'Union européenne.
Mme / M. UN AUTRE conserve l'ensemble de ses droits prévus par l'accord de retrait jusqu'à ce que sa demande de titre de séjour soit instruite par la préfecture."
We call on the French Government to please give official notification of an extension immediately and to declare the number of applications made and finalised. Clear communication is vital.
Even though the Withdrawal Agreement should protect us, and contains no cut off date, the French Decree applies a deadline of 1 October 2021 which is just 3 months after the end of the Grace Period of 30 June 2021. It was very optimistic for a country that didn’t have previous registration of EU nationals and didn’t have a view of how many people were involved to set such a short time frame. To meet the requirements of the Withdrawal Agreement something has to be done right away.
"The Withdrawal Agreement guarantees these citizens and their family members broadly the same rights as they had before the UK withdrew from the EU: they can continue to live, study, work and travel freely between the UK and the EU"
What areas of our lives are impacted if I don’t have a WA RP? Most areas of our lives!
Employers
CAF
Pôle d’Emploi
Travel
Banking and Insurance
CPAM
Education
Residence
Driving Licence Exchange
And more...
We hear of these fears from those without WA RPs:
Employers feeling very nervous about continuing employment, offering new work and terminating CDD contracts
Having benefits stopped by CAF
Not being able to register with Pôle d’Emploi
Border guards not knowing what to do and already in one case talking of fining somebody for not having a WA RP after 1st October and of children (both accompanied or not) being told they should also carry a WA RP
Loan refusals for cars and housing due to no WA RP
CPAM requiring a WA RP for registration and CSS
Young people having problems accessing their courses and grants and others, even born in France, are not being granted appointments as they have attended boarding schools away from home
Fear of being treated as illegal immigrants during routine controls after 1 October 2021
Loss of mobility as a WA RP, or a previous CdS, is needed to exchange a driving licence.
Many UK nationals and their family members in France are sick with worry - please help them!
I found your blog through a friend's recommendation, and I'm glad I did. geometry dash meltdown
I live in the Dordogne, a very popular region for ex pats. I applied for my WARP as soon as I was notified of the requirements of the ratified Brexit agreement and did it on line. At the end of the process there was an attestation to print that I had applied that could be presented as an alternative if my WARP did not arrive before the cut off date. I had my interview and received my WARP within 2 Months.
I kept sending my prefecture (Nimes) e-mails on a regular basis (always polite) would get automated replies telling me how to apply! In the end I sent an e=mail saying how worried I was etc and giving my reference number to contact-demandeenligne-brexit-dgef@interieur.gouv.fr> and received the reply I quoted about two weeks later.
I also found support@frenchresidencysupport.org very helpful. though their service does not cover all areas.
Bonne chance
Mary
Do you have any advice on what to do if the prefecture does not respond to emails? I submitted my application in January 2021 and still have not heard anything. I sent an email to the prefecture (Draguignan in the Var) in August and haven't heard back. There is also no phone number to contact them on!
I am worried about travelling in and out of the country with only the original confirmation of having applied.
As someone who applied for a WARP last October and had written several times asking for clarification of my situation I eventually received an e-mail. which was more than an acknowledgement that they had received my mail. It said that they had checked and my application was being processed and I need not do anything! However the last and more reassuring sentence said that ... 'The prefecture will process your request before UK nationals are required to hold a residence permit.'
Mary