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CERTAIN RESIDENCY CARD HOLDERS CAN BRING SPOUSES TO FRANCE WITH THEM Reader Question: I recently married, and my wife (UK citizen) currently lives in the UK and does not have any French visa
(we met in the UK after Brexit). I have a five-year Brexit card and will soon renew it for a 10-year one. Can she move to France with me via any kind of spousal right now we are married?
Spouses of a Withdrawal Agreement (Brexit) card holder have the same rights to reside in France with their spouse, provided they were married/in a civil partnership prior to January 1, 2021.
If this is the case, they have the same rights as a Withdrawal Card holder. Otherwise, there are no specific spousal rights for people who become a couple after this date. This remains the
same regardless of whether you have a five- or ten-year version of the card (all holders of the latter will soon need to apply for a renewed card which will be a 10-year one). Therefore,
your new wife cannot join you in France as an automatic right. So, you and she need to look at what other options are open to her. Firstly, you could look into applying for her to move to
France with you via the regroupement familial (family regroupment) process. This is a way for spouses of non-EU citizens in France with a valid residency permit to bring their partner over
with them. They need to have lived in France for a certain amount of time (usually over 18 months), as well as to be making sufficient income and to live in a home of a sufficient size. A
simulator is available here on an official government website where you can check if you are eligible in your circumstances. However, your partner cannot come until this is approved – or
cannot overstay her 90-days visa-free allowance she is entitled to as a Briton – meaning you may have to spend months apart whilst you wait for the bureaucracy to be finalised. If approved,
she can come over on a form of VLS-TS (visa de long-séjour valant titre de séjour). After that, it should be possible for her to obtain a form of carte de séjour ‘vie privée et familiale’
permitting work. APPLYING FOR HER OWN VISA She may however be able to come to France on her own terms, by getting a visa of her own independently of your relationship. However, this would
typically depend on her having a job offer, well thought-out plans for self-employment, a place on a course of study, or independent financial means etc (depending on the type of visa). If
she has certain skills or the means to support herself, she could, for example, apply for a 12-month VLS-TS, and then renew this yearly or switch to a multi-year residency card. For this
however, she will need to fulfill other conditions, and depending on her age and if she is renewing her card to a multi-year one, reach a certain minimum level in the language.