For those British Citizens who were resident in France on 31st December 2020 but who had not been resident for 5 years at that date, a five year withdrawal ageement residency permit (WARP) was issued.

Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, those British Citizens gained the right to permanent residency as soon as they had been resident in France for five years. The date of arrival in France was requested in the WARP application process, and permanent residency is automatically given on the fifth anniversary of that date. As an example, a British Citizen would took up residence in France on 12th July 2018 will have '"earned" permanent residency on 12th July 2023.

However, a new 10-year WARP card is not issued at that time and the 5-year WARP card remains vaild. It does not need to be renewed until three months before expiry which will usually be at some time in 2025 or 2026.

Technically, it is not the fact that you only hold a 5-year card that prevents you from having the right to permanent residency. However, many companies and institutions will take the fact that the WARP card is only for five years as evidence that the holder does not yet have permanent residency and this may be disadvantageous when negotiating, for example, employment terms or loan agreements.

It is expected that, as the renewal date for the vast majority of 5-year WARP cards approaches, a centralise online portal will be developed by the French government for the renewal process. We do not yet have any information on what that might be and we will post details here as soon as they are available.

If you need to renew your five-year WARP card now, and you have now been resident in France for more than five years, you need to contact your local prefecture and determine what the procedure is at that prefecture for renewing the WARP card. Each prefecture will have a different procedure and some may not be easy to contact, so please be patient and persistent. Several Préfecture websites we have consulted indicate that the renewal application should be made between two and three months before the card's expiry. However, in theory and five-year card can be renewed to be replaced by a ten-year (permanent) card as soon as you have been in France for more than five years so do ask at the Préfecture as earlier renewal may be possible.

Based on information found on several Préfecture websites, many of them use a standardised form to list the documents that will be required. This list of documents can be seen here. The document covers both first applications (still possible for British citizens about to reach their 18th birthday or for family members) so do go to the renewal section on page 4. If you already have a five-year WARP card, that document states that the only documents that are required to renew the card are your passport, the five-year card that is about to expire and 3 passport photographs.

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Information from the Embassy: taken from a presentation by The Director of Consular Services at the British Embassy at the Quarterly Meeting held on 25th September

Renewing the WARP/Article 50 TUE carte de séjour for those people who were issued with the five-year card the Embassy is aware that there are many questions about how exactly the renewal process will work (will it be online again or at Préfectures) and when can people apply.

The Embassy is in close contact with the French Ministry of the Interior (MoI) to understand what the process will be and what documentation will be required for those renewing. Information on the renewal process is currently limited. We understand that the MoI is working on adding this category to their online portal for resident permits. We remain in contact with them and the Embassy will communicate updates via their social media channels, Living in France guide, and with relevant stakeholders including the British Community Committee.  Our current information is that, at the moment, all renewals are via the local Préfecture.

The MoI have confirmed that people who now qualify for permanent residency, as they have been in France for more than 5 years, can apply to renew their cards early and should contact their local prefecture. This is because being able to show a permanent WARP can be advantageous in job interviews, mortgage applications, etc. If the WARP card holder has difficulties when they contact their local Préfecture, they should consult the Service Public page (in French) which explains what to do in the event of difficulties with a residence permit application or renewal.

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