Moving to Paris as a Brit: the visa and residence routes that actually work

Before Brexit you could hop on the Eurostar with a suitcase and stay. Now you need a route, and for most people it starts with a long-stay visa applied for from the UK.

The short version

• Without residence, Brits can stay 90 days in any 180 across the Schengen area, France included [2].
• If you lived in France legally before 1 January 2021, you're covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and should hold a residence permit (often called the WARP), which you renew in the two months before it expires [1].
• Newcomers need a long-stay visa (type D). The common ones for Brits are visitor, salaried, talent passport, student and family visas [4].
• Most long-stay visas that act as a residence permit (the VLS-TS) must be validated online within three months of arrival [4][7].
• Since 1 January 2026, a first multi-year residence card needs a pass in a new civic exam [6].

Two kinds of Brit in France

France now treats Brits in two very different ways, and it's worth knowing which camp you're in.

Withdrawal Agreement residents. If you were living in France before 1 January 2021, you keep rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. The FCDO says holders of the first five-year permit should apply to renew it in the two months before the expiry date shown on the card. Renewal is free, and if you qualify for permanent residence, the new card lasts 10 years [1]. While your renewal is processed, the prefecture should give you a récépissé (a receipt), and when travelling you carry your passport, the récépissé and the old permit [1]. If you arrived before 2021 but never got a permit, the online service has closed and you now apply to your prefecture directly [1].

The permit matters at the border too. Brits with a valid five-year, 10-year or permanent residence permit don't need to register on the EU's Entry/Exit System, and children under 18 need a DCEM travel document to be exempt [1].

Newcomers. Everyone who arrived after Brexit is a third-country national, like a Canadian or an American. That means a visa first, then a residence card. France has no golden visa for property buyers and no dedicated digital nomad visa, so a flat in the Marais doesn't buy you the right to live in it.

The 90/180-day rule

Without a visa, you can spend up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area [2]. Days in Spain, Belgium or anywhere else in Schengen count towards the same 90, and overstaying can lead to a ban of up to three years [2]. Your passport must have been issued less than 10 years before you arrive and be valid for at least three months after you plan to leave [2]. Time on a French long-stay visa or residence permit doesn't count towards the 90 days [2].

The Entry/Exit System is now being rolled out, replacing passport stamps with fingerprints and a photo, and your digital record lasts three years [2]. Expect a little more faff at the Gare du Nord than you're used to.

The routes, side by side

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.20).

Visitor visa: the retiree's route

This is the classic route for Brits who want to live in France without working. You show that you can live on your own resources, plus health cover, accommodation and a clean record. Service-Public doesn't set a fixed income figure [4]; consulates often look at the French minimum wage (the SMIC, EUR 1,477.93 net a month in 2026, about £1,230) as a yardstick [8], so check the current France-Visas document list before you apply.

The big catch: a visitor visa doesn't let you work, not even remotely for a UK client [4]. Remote workers with a UK employer are in a grey area, and some use the talent passport routes for founders, investors or self-employed professionals instead. Our guide to French visas for Brits goes through each one.

Salaried and talent passport

A salaried visa needs a French employer and, usually, a work permit that the employer applies for. The talent passport (now officially the carte talent) is the faster lane for skilled people: a qualified employee or EU Blue Card holder gets a multi-year card of up to four years, and a spouse and children can come with a simplified "talent-famille" card [5]. Service-Public notes the rules were being updated after a decree of 26 October 2026, with changes from 30 October 2026, so check the latest thresholds before you start [5].

Students and families

Students apply with a confirmed place, and partners of French citizens apply for a "vie privée et familiale" card once they're here. Since 1 May 2026, a first residence card costs EUR 350 (about £290) in tax stamps at the standard rate, or EUR 150 (about £125) at the reduced rate for students and some other cases, and a renewal EUR 250 (about £210) [9].

Applying from the UK

Long-stay visas are applied for in the country where you live, through France-Visas online and the visa centres in the UK [4]. Allow time: you'll want apostilled documents, translations and, for some routes, an ACRO police certificate.

1. Pick your route using the France-Visas visa wizard [1].
2. Gather documents: passport, proof of income or a job, proof of accommodation, health insurance where required.
3. Apply online on France-Visas, then attend your appointment and pay the visa fee [4].
4. Travel within the visa's validity, keeping proof of your date of arrival.
5. Validate your VLS-TS online on the ANEF site within three months of arriving and pay the validation tax [7]. Miss the deadline and it can't be validated.

The civic exam: new for 2026

Since 1 January 2026, anyone applying for a first multi-year residence card (carte de séjour pluriannuelle) or a 10-year carte de résident must pass a civic exam first [6]. It's a computerised multiple-choice test of 40 questions in 45 minutes, and you need 32 right (80%) [6]. Renewals don't need it [6]. So if your plan is to swap a one-year visa for a multi-year card, start swotting up on the Republic's values with your French lessons. Check with your prefecture what level of French your card needs as well.

Your first month in Paris

Each step leans on the one before, so the order matters.

1. Find a home. You need an address for nearly everything. Our guide to renting in Paris covers contracts and deposits.
2. Validate your visa online if you have a VLS-TS [7].
3. Open a bank account. You'll need a RIB (your bank details slip) for rent, phone and salary. See French admin for Brits.
4. Sort healthcare. State pensioners can usually register an S1; workers join through their job; others apply to join the state system after three months. Carte Vitale and mutuelle explains how.
5. Swap your driving licence if it was issued after 1 January 2021: do it within 12 months of arriving, online through ANTS with a DVLA check code [1].

Don't forget the UK end

Leaving Blighty properly saves headaches later. Tell HMRC you've gone (usually on form P85), check whether split-year treatment applies, and decide what to do about UK bank accounts and your address. Our moving abroad checklist has the full list.

Good news on citizenship: France accepts dual nationality, so you can become French one day without giving up your British passport [1].

For the latest France-wide picture, the FCDO travel advice was still current at 6 November 2026 when we checked on 7 November 2026, and had last been updated on 22 October 2026, when its section on demonstrations was revised [3]. The British Embassy, a short walk from the Élysée Palace in the 8th, handles consular help for Brits in Paris.

Want to hear how the prefecture queue really works? Our community group for Brits in France is full of people who've just done it.

Sources

1. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in France (last updated 2 October 2026)
2. GOV.UK (FCDO): France travel advice – entry requirements
3. GOV.UK (FCDO): France travel advice (still current at 6 November 2026, updated 22 October 2026)
4. Service-Public.gouv.fr: Visa de long séjour (verified 9 October 2026)
5. Service-Public.gouv.fr: Carte de séjour "talent" (verified 1 June 2026)
6. Service-Public.gouv.fr: Titre de séjour – the civic exam from 1 January 2026 (18 December 2025)
7. IAS: France raises residence permit fees and tightens rules in 2026 (19 May 2026)
8. Service-Public.gouv.fr: Smic 2026 (verified 1 June 2026)
9. Service-Public.gouv.fr: Timbre fiscal, residence permit fees from 1 May 2026 (updated 12 May 2026)

Keep reading

• French visas for Brits: talent passport, visitor and salaried routes
• The carte de séjour: Withdrawal Agreement cards vs new arrivals
• Renting in Paris
• Brits in the EU after Brexit: residence rights and the 90/180-day rule