British second home owners in France unable to stay visa-free
Post-brexit law promising expats right to live in the country for longer than 90 days is blocked by court
A FRENCH court has blocked efforts to allow British expats to stay in the country for longer than 90 days without a visa.
The Constitutional Council rejected an amendment to the immigration bill that would allow long-stay visas to be automatically issued to British nationals who own a second home in France because it deemed it unconstitutional.
The amendment would have allowed British homeowners in France to spend as much time as they wished in the country after Brexit.
However, the amendment’s defeat means all British nationals – including those with a home in France – are only able to stay for 90 days out of every 180 in the country without a visa. If they want to stay longer, Britons have to apply for a temporary long-stay visa of up to six months. There is no right of appeal against the Constitutional Council, so the decision is final.
Martine Berthet, a French senator representing the Savoie area in the Alps, tabled the amendment to the rules in November after receiving complaints from British second home owners in her region.
Ms Berthet said last year that keeping British citizens from contributing to France’s local economies would add to an already rising number of vacant properties in tourist areas.
The defeat of the amendment is a blow to thousands and comes after the number of Britons house-hunting in France has surged sixfold since the law to an “automatic” right to remain in the country was first mooted.
Data from the Uk-based international property portal Kyero showed that in the three weeks after the amendment was tabled, there was a 582 per cent increase in Britons inquiring about French properties on the site.
Jason Porter, a director at tax specialists Blevins Franks, said: “The element [to the immigration bill] for UK second home owners was always going to be rejected because it was not treating everyone equally as it does not apply for the other 61 countries eligible for visa entry into France.”
Mr Porter added that both France and Spain have been vocal on the social and economic costs of Brexit on their countries, arguing that immigration rules applying to UK nationals with property in these countries cannot visit and stay as often as they may have done previously.
The council also ruled dozens of hard-line immigration reforms unconstitutional, causing chaos in the government of Emmanuel Macron, the French president.
It struck down 32 of the immigration law’s 86 articles, including measures toughening the rules around foreign nationals claiming benefits and bringing relatives to the country.
The ruling also prevented the government from imposing migrant quotas or requiring international students to pay a deposit to study in France. In addition, it barred an article that would have required a person born in France to foreign parents to have to apply for nationality between the ages of 16 and 18.
Over the weekend, around 100,000 protesters took to the streets to protest against the bill, which critics claimed was a capitulation by Mr Macron to the hard-right.
Of the 40 per cent of the articles that were either fully or partially rejected, most were amendments that came from the Right.
MPS from the Right were quick to criticise the ruling, with calls to revise the constitution and hold a referendum.
“The Constitutional Council censored the immigration law. They judged in politics rather than in law,” said Eric Ciotti, leader of the Republicans party.
Jordan Bardella, the president of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, said the “only solution” was a public vote on immigration.
Mathilde Panot of the Leftist France Unbowed party called the results a “huge snub” for Mr Macron, Gérald Darmanin, the interior minister, and hard-right leader Ms Le Pen.