Living in France from the UK: visa & residence permit (post-Brexit)
Since Brexit, British nationals are non-EU: to live in France beyond 90 days you need a long-stay visa, then a residence permit. Here’s the structure — and what to confirm with the official channels.
You’re a British (or other non-EU) national planning to live in France, and you need to understand whether you need a visa, which one, and how the residence permit works afterwards. (EU/French citizens don’t need a permit.)
- Since 1 January 2021, British nationals are third-country nationals: to stay beyond 90 days in any 180, you need a long-stay visa.
- The right visa depends on your purpose: work, visitor (with means), spouse/family, talent/skills. Each has its own conditions.
- A long-stay visa often doubles as a residence permit (VLS-TS) — but you must validate it online, exclusively via the ANEF portal, within 3 months of arrival or it’s automatically invalidated.
- After that validation, an OFII medical appointment follows — the invite can take anywhere from a few weeks to 6+ months (especially in the Paris region), but that wait does NOT affect your valid status as long as you validated on time.
- French and EU citizens need no permit to live in France — this guide is for non-EU nationals (mainly British movers).
- It’s a regulated area: confirm your exact case on France-Visas and, for anything complex, with a qualified professional.
What Brexit changed
Until 2020, a British national could move to France as freely as any EU citizen. Since 1 January 2021, that’s over: British nationals are third-country nationals. You can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180, but to live in France you need a long-stay visa matched to your situation. (Britons already resident before 2021 fall under the Withdrawal Agreement and a specific residence permit — a different path from new arrivals.)
Which visa for your case
The category follows your purpose, each with its own conditions and documents:
- Work — employee, assignment, or the talent/skills route.
- Visitor — if you can support yourself without working in France.
- Family — spouse/partner of a French or resident person.
- Study — for students.
Confirm your exact category and requirements on the official France-Visas portal before doing anything else.
Validating on ANEF
Many long-stay visas are a VLS-TS (visa valant titre de séjour): after arrival you must validate it online, exclusively through the ANEF portal (administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr) — no in-person OFII visit is needed for this specific step. The window is 3 months from your arrival date; miss it and the visa is automatically invalidated, which weakens every administrative step that follows. You pay the OFII tax directly on ANEF by card — the exact amount depends on your visa category (for example, €150 total for a student visa as of May 2026) — and get an emailed confirmation immediately. Later, you renew at the préfecture (or via ANEF, increasingly online) as a carte de séjour. Diarise the 3-month date — it's unforgiving.
The OFII medical visit & the CIR
Validating on ANEF isn't the end of the process. Separately, the OFII (Office Français de l'Immigration et de l'Intégration) sends a convocation for a free medical appointment — a chest X-ray, blood pressure, weight, and a short interview — plus, for many long-stay visa holders, signing a CIR (Contrat d'Intégration Républicaine), a formal integration agreement. The genuinely reassuring fact most guides skip: this invitation can take anywhere from a few weeks to 6 months or more, especially in the Île-de-France region — but that wait doesn't put your status at risk. What matters for your 3-month deadline is the online validation, not the medical visit itself.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the pre-Brexit free movement still applies.
- Choosing the wrong visa category for your real situation.
- Missing the 3-month online validation deadline on ANEF.
- Panicking over a slow OFII medical-visit invitation — it doesn't affect your status if you validated on time.
- Improvising a complex case instead of getting professional advice.
Your plan — a preview, not the full file
The principle: confirm you need a visa, pick the right category on France-Visas, then validate and renew on time. The full, dated sequence — documents, appointments, deadlines — is what Veia turns into your roadmap, and for genuinely complex cases, a 15-minute call points you to the right professional.
FAQ
Do British citizens need a visa to live in France now?
Yes. Since Brexit, British nationals are non-EU and need a long-stay visa to stay beyond 90 days in any 180-day period. The type depends on your purpose (work, visitor, family, talent). EU/French citizens do not need one.
What is a VLS-TS?
A long-stay visa that serves as a residence permit. After arrival you validate it entirely online on the ANEF portal (administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr), within 3 months of arrival — miss that window and the visa is automatically invalidated, putting you in irregular status. It then needs renewing as a carte de séjour before it expires. Always check the current process on France-Visas.
What happens after I validate my VLS-TS?
You pay the OFII tax (the exact amount depends on your visa category — for example €150 total for a student visa as of May 2026) directly on ANEF, and receive a confirmation by email immediately. An OFII medical appointment invitation follows separately — it can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months (regularly 6+ months in the Île-de-France region specifically), but this wait does not affect your valid status, since validation (not the medical visit) is what matters within the 3-month window.
What is the OFII medical visit and the CIR?
The OFII (Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration) appointment includes a free medical check (chest X-ray, blood pressure, weight, a short interview) and, for many long-stay visa holders, signing a CIR (Contrat d’Intégration Républicaine) — a formal integration agreement, sometimes including language or civics commitments depending on your profile.
Is this legal advice?
No. This explains the structure and the real procedural steps so you ask the right questions and aren’t caught out by a deadline. Immigration is regulated and case-specific — confirm on the official France-Visas and ANEF portals and, for complex situations, with a qualified professional.