{"id":2118448,"date":"2026-09-09T15:01:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/09\/09\/british-second-home-owner-france-90-180-day-overstay-refusal-challenge-brexit\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:01:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:01:02","slug":"british-second-home-owner-france-90-180-day-overstay-refusal-challenge-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/09\/british-second-home-owner-france-90-180-day-overstay-refusal-challenge-brexit\/","title":{"rendered":"British Second-Home Owner Told You Have Overstayed Your 90 Days in France After Brexit: How the Days Are Counted, How to Challenge a Refusal of Entry and How to Come Back Lawfully"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You own a house in France, you spend a few months a year there, and on your last trip a border officer told you that you had exceeded your allowance \u2014 or a letter from the prefecture ordered you to leave. Since the end of the Brexit transition period, British citizens are third-country nationals in European Union law: you may visit France and the rest of the Schengen Area without a visa, but only for short stays of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period. Every extra day counts, the count follows you across all Schengen countries, and since the Entry\/Exit System, the system that digitally records the entries and exits of non-EU visitors, became operational, the count is increasingly automatic. An overstay can mean a refusal of entry stamped into your passport, a night in a waiting zone at the airport, an order to leave French territory, a ban on returning, and an alert in the Schengen Information System that every border post in Europe will see. This guide answers the two questions British second-home owners ask the firm in this situation. First, how does France actually count your 90 days, what happens at the border when the officer says the limit is exceeded, and which rights protect you on the spot. Second, which remedies exist once a refusal, a waiting-zone placement or a removal order has been issued, and how do you organise your future trips \u2014 or a long-stay visa \u2014 so the next arrival does not end the same way. Every rule below is quoted word for word from the official text, and the court decision cited is the one by which the Conseil d&#8217;Etat, the supreme court for French administrative cases, settled how refusals of entry work. One clarification before we start: this guide concerns British visitors without a French residence card. If you were lawfully living in France before the end of the transition period, you fall under the Withdrawal Agreement and a different regime, which the firm explains in its guide to the <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/05\/ees-france-british-withdrawal-agreement-resident-90-day-border\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EES and British Withdrawal Agreement residents treated as 90-day visitors<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>I. How does France count my 90 visa-free days, and what happens at the border when the officer says I have overstayed?<\/h2>\n<h3>A. How is the rolling 90\/180-day period actually calculated, and who proves what?<\/h3>\n<p>The 90-day rule is not 90 days per trip and not 90 days per calendar year. Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016\/399, the Schengen Borders Code, the European regulation that sets the rules for crossing the external borders of the Schengen Area, allows intended stays of &#8220;90 days in any 180-day period&#8221;. The official text is published in the Official Journal of the European Union as Regulation (EU) 2016\/399. The decisive point is that the 180-day window is counted backwards from each day of stay: on every single day you are in France, the officer looks backwards over the previous 180 days and adds up all the days you spent in any Schengen country. Days in Spain, Italy, Greece or Germany count exactly as much as days in France. A pattern the firm sees constantly \u2014 60 days in the Dordogne in spring, 40 days split between France and Spain in summer \u2014 already exceeds the allowance on the fortieth day of the summer trip, even though no single trip reached 90 days. Both the day of entry and the day of exit count as days of stay, and the allowance is consumed by presence, not by nights: a day trip counts.<\/p>\n<p>The British government&#8217;s own travel advice confirms that visits to other Schengen countries in the previous 180 days count towards the 90 days, and warns that overstayers may face exclusion from Schengen countries for several years. That guidance is published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/foreign-travel-advice\/france\/entry-requirements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gov.uk, France entry requirements<\/a>. The three-year ban is not imposed by the border officer on the spot; it takes the form of an entry ban attached to a removal order or an alert for refusal of entry entered in the Schengen Information System, the shared European database of alerts used at border checks, known as the SIS. Once that alert exists, any Schengen border post can refuse you. French law reflects this directly. Article L. 311-2 of the CESEDA, the code de l&#8217;entr\u00e9e et du s\u00e9jour des \u00e9trangers et du droit d&#8217;asile, the French code governing the entry and residence of foreign nationals, lists the situations in which a foreign national fails the entry conditions, including where &#8220;Il fait l&#8217;objet d&#8217;un signalement aux fins de non-admission sur le territoire fran\u00e7ais introduit dans le syst\u00e8me d&#8217;information Schengen&#8221;, meaning the person is the subject of an alert for non-admission on French territory entered in the Schengen Information System. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777222\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">Legifrance, Article L. 311-2 CESEDA<\/a>. An overstay therefore does not end when you fly home; recorded once, it can block the next ten arrivals.<\/p>\n<p>Until recently the count was proved by passport stamps, and the absence of a stamp created a legal presumption against the traveller. Where the passport bears no entry stamp, the Schengen Borders Code lets the authorities presume that the duration conditions are no longer met. But that presumption can be rebutted &#8220;by any means&#8221; with &#8220;credible evidence&#8221;, such as transport tickets or proof of presence outside the Member States showing that the short-stay conditions were respected. In practice this means boarding passes, Eurotunnel and ferry bookings, bank statements showing spending in the United Kingdom, employer letters and dated medical appointments: anything that credibly places you outside Schengen on the disputed days. Keep these documents for every trip, because the burden of rebutting the presumption rests on you. Since 12 October 2025 this stamp-based system has been progressively replaced by the Entry\/Exit System. The Council of the European Union announced that the new Entry\/Exit digital border system became operational in October 2025 across 29 European countries, digitally recording entries, exits and biometric data of non-EU short-stay travellers. That announcement is published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consilium.europa.eu\/en\/press\/press-releases\/2025\/10\/11\/with-start-of-operation-of-new-ees-border-control-system-the-eu-will-strengthen-border-security-and-increase-efficiency-for-travellers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Consilium, EES start of operations, 11 October 2025<\/a>. With the EES, the officer no longer needs to decipher faded stamps: the computer shows your days, and refusal decisions that used to depend on an officer&#8217;s arithmetic are increasingly generated from the central record. The practical consequence for a second-home owner is simple: from now on, assume every entry and exit is recorded, count your own days before travelling, and carry the evidence that proves them.<\/p>\n<p>French domestic law incorporates the European conditions at the border. Article L. 311-1 of the CESEDA provides: &#8220;Pour entrer en France, tout \u00e9tranger doit \u00eatre muni : 1\u00b0 Sauf s&#8217;il est exempt\u00e9 de cette obligation, des visas exig\u00e9s par les conventions internationales et par l&#8217;article 6, paragraphe 1, points a et b, du r\u00e8glement (UE) 2016\/399 du Parlement europ\u00e9en et du Conseil du 9 mars 2016 concernant un code de l&#8217;Union relatif au r\u00e9gime de franchissement des fronti\u00e8res par les personnes (code fronti\u00e8res Schengen) ; 2\u00b0 Sous r\u00e9serve des conventions internationales, et de l&#8217;article 6, paragraphe 1, point c, du code fronti\u00e8res Schengen, du justificatif d&#8217;h\u00e9bergement pr\u00e9vu \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 313-1 , s&#8217;il est requis, et des autres documents pr\u00e9vus par d\u00e9cret en Conseil d&#8217;Etat relatifs \u00e0 l&#8217;objet et aux conditions de son s\u00e9jour et \u00e0 ses moyens d&#8217;existence, \u00e0 la prise en charge par un op\u00e9rateur d&#8217;assurance agr\u00e9\u00e9 des d\u00e9penses m\u00e9dicales et hospitali\u00e8res, y compris d&#8217;aide sociale, r\u00e9sultant de soins qu&#8217;il pourrait engager en France, ainsi qu&#8217;aux garanties de son rapatriement ; 3\u00b0 Des documents n\u00e9cessaires \u00e0 l&#8217;exercice d&#8217;une activit\u00e9 professionnelle s&#8217;il se propose d&#8217;en exercer une.&#8221; In plain English, to enter France every foreign national must hold the required visas, the supporting documents on the purpose and conditions of the stay, means of subsistence, medical insurance covering care in France and guarantees of return, and where relevant work authorisation. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777224\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777224\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">Legifrance, Article L. 311-1 CESEDA<\/a>. For a British visitor this is the legal basis for the questions the officer asks at the passport booth \u2014 proof of accommodation in your own French home, proof of sufficient money, travel insurance, a return ticket \u2014 and the answers determine whether the 90-day count even becomes the issue, because failure on any of these points can ground a refusal on its own.<\/p>\n<h3>B. What does a refusal of entry at the French border look like, and which rights apply on the spot?<\/h3>\n<p>When the officer concludes that you do not meet the entry conditions \u2014 because the count shows more than 90 days in the preceding 180, because your documents are insufficient, or because an SIS alert exists \u2014 the decision is a refusal of entry, in French a refus d&#8217;entr\u00e9e, a formal administrative decision with a fixed procedure. Under the Schengen Borders Code, a traveller who does not meet all the entry conditions must be refused entry, save for asylum and long-stay visa cases. The refusal must take the form of a reasoned decision on the standard refusal form, stating the precise grounds, taken by the authority empowered under national law, effective immediately and handed to you against acknowledgement of receipt. Insist on receiving that standard form: it states the exact ground ticked by the officer \u2014 overstay, insufficient means, lack of documents, SIS alert \u2014 and without it you cannot build any challenge. Refused travellers have the right to appeal under national law, with written details of where to find a representative. Read the fine print carefully: lodging the appeal does not suspend the refusal. You will still be put on the next available return transport, and the case will run while you are back in the United Kingdom. If the appeal later finds the refusal ill-founded, the refusing State must correct the cancelled entry stamp and the related endorsements, which matters because a refusal stamp left uncorrected will trigger questions at every future border.<\/p>\n<p>French law mirrors this procedure article by article. Article L. 332-1 of the CESEDA provides: &#8220;L&#8217;\u00e9tranger qui ne satisfait pas aux conditions d&#8217;admission pr\u00e9vues au titre I peut faire l&#8217;objet d&#8217;une d\u00e9cision de refus d&#8217;entr\u00e9e, sans pr\u00e9judice des dispositions particuli\u00e8res relatives au droit d&#8217;asile et \u00e0 la protection internationale ou \u00e0 la d\u00e9livrance de visas de long s\u00e9jour.&#8221; In plain English, a foreign national who does not meet the admission conditions may be refused entry, without prejudice to asylum rules and long-stay visas. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777137\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777137\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 332-1 CESEDA<\/a>. Article L. 332-3 makes the link with European law explicit: &#8220;La proc\u00e9dure pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 332-2 est applicable \u00e0 la d\u00e9cision de refus d&#8217;entr\u00e9e prise \u00e0 l&#8217;encontre de l&#8217;\u00e9tranger en application de l&#8217;article 6 du r\u00e8glement 2016\/399 du Parlement europ\u00e9en et du Conseil du 9 mars 2016.&#8221; In plain English, the procedural safeguards of Article L. 332-2 apply to refusals taken under Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code \u2014 exactly your case as a British visitor. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777133\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777133\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 332-3 CESEDA<\/a>. Those safeguards are substantial. Article L. 332-2 provides: &#8220;La d\u00e9cision de refus d&#8217;entr\u00e9e, qui est \u00e9crite et motiv\u00e9e, est prise par un agent relevant d&#8217;une cat\u00e9gorie fix\u00e9e par voie r\u00e9glementaire. La notification de la d\u00e9cision de refus d&#8217;entr\u00e9e mentionne le droit de l&#8217;\u00e9tranger d&#8217;avertir ou de faire avertir la personne chez laquelle il a indiqu\u00e9 qu&#8217;il devait se rendre, son consulat ou le conseil de son choix. Elle mentionne le droit de l&#8217;\u00e9tranger de refuser d&#8217;\u00eatre rapatri\u00e9 avant l&#8217;expiration du d\u00e9lai d&#8217;un jour franc dans les conditions pr\u00e9vues \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 333-2 . La d\u00e9cision et la notification des droits qui l&#8217;accompagne lui sont communiqu\u00e9es dans une langue qu&#8217;il comprend. Une attention particuli\u00e8re est accord\u00e9e aux personnes vuln\u00e9rables, notamment aux mineurs accompagn\u00e9s ou non d&#8217;un adulte.&#8221; In plain English, the refusal must be written and reasoned, you must be told you can contact your host, your consulate or a lawyer of your choice, you can refuse to be sent back before one clear day has passed, and everything must be communicated in a language you understand. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777135\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777135\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 332-2 CESEDA<\/a>. The one-clear-day rule, the d\u00e9lai d&#8217;un jour franc, is confirmed by Article L. 333-2: &#8220;L&#8217;\u00e9tranger peut refuser d&#8217;\u00eatre rapatri\u00e9 avant l&#8217;expiration du d\u00e9lai d&#8217;un jour franc.&#8221; In plain English, the foreign national may refuse to be returned before the end of one clear day. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777127\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777127\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 333-2 CESEDA<\/a>. Use that day: it is the only time you have on French soil to call a lawyer, gather your day-count evidence and have the refusal re-examined before removal. Note that the refusal can be enforced without your consent once the day has passed. Article L. 333-1 provides: &#8220;La d\u00e9cision de refus d&#8217;entr\u00e9e sur le territoire fran\u00e7ais dont l&#8217;\u00e9tranger fait l&#8217;objet peut \u00eatre ex\u00e9cut\u00e9e d&#8217;office par l&#8217;autorit\u00e9 administrative.&#8221; In plain English, the refusal decision may be enforced directly by the administration. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777129\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777129\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 333-1 CESEDA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If there is no immediate return flight, ferry or train, you can be held in a waiting zone, in French a zone d&#8217;attente, the secure area at the airport, port or international station where non-admitted travellers wait for their departure. Article L. 341-1 of the CESEDA provides: &#8220;L&#8217;\u00e9tranger qui arrive en France par la voie ferroviaire, maritime ou a\u00e9rienne et qui n&#8217;est pas autoris\u00e9 \u00e0 entrer sur le territoire fran\u00e7ais peut \u00eatre plac\u00e9 dans une zone d&#8217;attente situ\u00e9e dans une gare ferroviaire ouverte au trafic international figurant sur une liste d\u00e9finie par voie r\u00e9glementaire, dans un port ou \u00e0 proximit\u00e9 du lieu de d\u00e9barquement ou dans un a\u00e9roport, pendant le temps strictement n\u00e9cessaire \u00e0 son d\u00e9part.&#8221; In plain English, a person arriving by rail, sea or air who is not authorised to enter may be placed in a waiting zone for the time strictly necessary for departure. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777111\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777111\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 341-1 CESEDA<\/a>. This is not detention without rights. Article L. 343-1 provides: &#8220;L&#8217;\u00e9tranger plac\u00e9 en zone d&#8217;attente est inform\u00e9, dans les meilleurs d\u00e9lais, qu&#8217;il peut demander l&#8217;assistance d&#8217;un interpr\u00e8te et d&#8217;un m\u00e9decin, communiquer avec un conseil ou toute personne de son choix et quitter \u00e0 tout moment la zone d&#8217;attente pour toute destination situ\u00e9e hors de France.&#8221; In plain English, you must be told promptly that you can have an interpreter and a doctor, contact a lawyer or anyone of your choice, and leave the zone at any time for any destination outside France. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777041\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042777041\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 343-1 CESEDA<\/a>. Holding you beyond 96 hours from the initial placement requires a judge. Article L. 342-1 provides: &#8220;Le maintien en zone d&#8217;attente au-del\u00e0 de quatre-vingt-seize heures \u00e0 compter de la d\u00e9cision de placement initiale peut \u00eatre autoris\u00e9, par le magistrat du si\u00e8ge du tribunal judiciaire statuant sur l&#8217;exercice effectif des droits reconnus \u00e0 l&#8217;\u00e9tranger, pour une dur\u00e9e qui ne peut \u00eatre sup\u00e9rieure \u00e0 huit jours.&#8221; In plain English, keeping you in the waiting zone beyond 96 hours needs the authorisation of a judge of the judicial court, for no more than eight days, and the judge checks that your rights were actually respected. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000052086448\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000052086448\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 342-1 CESEDA<\/a>. For a British traveller this means a refusal at Nice or Bergerac airport cannot turn into an unreviewed multi-day confinement: after four days a judge must see the file.<\/p>\n<p>The highest French administrative court has confirmed how strictly this framework binds the administration. In a published decision of 2 February 2024, No 450285, the Conseil d&#8217;Etat ruled on refusals of entry and the procedure of Article L. 332-3 after the Court of Justice of the European Union answered its preliminary question in case C-143\/22 on 21 September 2023. Its operative part reads: &#8220;Article 1er : La seconde phrase de l&#8217;article L. 332-3 du code de l&#8217;entr\u00e9e et du s\u00e9jour des \u00e9trangers et du droit d&#8217;asile est annul\u00e9e en tant qu&#8217;elle ne limite pas l&#8217;\u00e9diction de refus d&#8217;entr\u00e9e aux fronti\u00e8res int\u00e9rieures aux cas dans lesquels ils sont pris en vue de la r\u00e9admission de l&#8217;int\u00e9ress\u00e9 par l&#8217;Etat membre dont il provient en application d&#8217;un accord ou d&#8217;un arrangement pass\u00e9 par la France avec cet Etat existant le 13 janvier 2009.&#8221; In plain English, the court annulled the second sentence of Article L. 332-3 insofar as it allowed refusals of entry at internal borders beyond cases aimed at readmitting the person to the Member State of origin under an agreement existing on 13 January 2009. The decision, with ECLI:FR:CECHR:2024:450285.20240202, is published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000049097069\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000049097069\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Conseil d&#8217;Etat, 2 February 2024, No 450285<\/a>. The lesson for a British file is wider than internal borders: refusals of entry are hemmed in by precise statutory conditions, the judge enforces those limits even against the Minister of the Interior, and a refusal taken on a wrong legal basis \u2014 wrong day count, wrong ground on the standard form, missing notification of rights \u2014 can be annulled. Keep the form, note the exact time of notification, and write down everything the officer said about your days: that record is the raw material of the appeal.<\/p>\n<h2>II. I have overstayed, or I have been refused: which remedies exist and how do I return to France lawfully?<\/h2>\n<h3>A. How do I challenge a refusal of entry, a waiting-zone placement or an order to leave France?<\/h3>\n<p>Three different measures require three different challenges, and confusing them is the most common mistake in these files. The refusal of entry is challenged before the administrative court, in French the tribunal administratif, the first-instance court for disputes with the administration. Because the appeal has no suspensive effect, you will usually litigate from the United Kingdom through a French lawyer, asking the court to annul the refusal for defective counting, wrong legal ground, missing written reasons or breach of the notification-of-rights procedure. The ordinary deadline is two months. Article R. 421-1 of the code de justice administrative, the code of administrative court procedure, provides: &#8220;La juridiction ne peut \u00eatre saisie que par voie de recours form\u00e9 contre une d\u00e9cision, et ce, dans les deux mois \u00e0 partir de la notification ou de la publication de la d\u00e9cision attaqu\u00e9e.&#8221; In plain English, the court can only be seised by an application against a decision, within two months of notification of the decision. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000039807005\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000039807005\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article R. 421-1 CJA<\/a>. Miss that date and the refusal becomes final, with its stamp and its SIS consequences. The placement in the waiting zone is challenged before the judicial judge, who controls the 96-hour extension and verifies the effective exercise of your rights \u2014 interpreter, doctor, lawyer, contact with the outside world \u2014 as Article L. 342-1 requires. If you are still in the zone, your lawyer can also use the emergency procedure for fundamental freedoms, in French the r\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9-libert\u00e9, before the administrative judge. Article L. 521-2 of the code de justice administrative provides: &#8220;Saisi d&#8217;une demande en ce sens justifi\u00e9e par l&#8217;urgence, le juge des r\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9s peut ordonner toutes mesures n\u00e9cessaires \u00e0 la sauvegarde d&#8217;une libert\u00e9 fondamentale \u00e0 laquelle une personne morale de droit public ou un organisme de droit priv\u00e9 charg\u00e9 de la gestion d&#8217;un service public aurait port\u00e9, dans l&#8217;exercice d&#8217;un de ses pouvoirs, une atteinte grave et manifestement ill\u00e9gale. Le juge des r\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9s se prononce dans un d\u00e9lai de quarante-huit heures.&#8221; In plain English, in an emergency the urgent-applications judge can order any measure needed to protect a fundamental freedom against a serious and manifestly unlawful interference, and must rule within 48 hours. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006449327\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000006449327\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 521-2 CJA<\/a>. Forty-eight hours is slower than a removal the next morning, which is exactly why the one-clear-day rule and immediate contact with a lawyer matter more than any later procedure.<\/p>\n<p>The third measure is the one that reaches second-home owners who overstay quietly inside France: the order to leave French territory, in French the obligation de quitter le territoire fran\u00e7ais, universally known by its initials OQTF. It is issued by the pr\u00e9fet, the State representative in the d\u00e9partement, usually after a police check, a prefecture visit or an attempted residence application reveals the overstay. Article L. 611-1 of the CESEDA lists the cases, and its point 2 covers you exactly: &#8220;L&#8217;\u00e9tranger, entr\u00e9 sur le territoire fran\u00e7ais sous couvert d&#8217;un visa d\u00e9sormais expir\u00e9 ou, n&#8217;\u00e9tant pas soumis \u00e0 l&#8217;obligation du visa, entr\u00e9 en France plus de trois mois auparavant, s&#8217;est maintenu sur le territoire fran\u00e7ais sans \u00eatre titulaire d&#8217;un titre de s\u00e9jour ou, le cas \u00e9ch\u00e9ant, sans demander le renouvellement du titre de s\u00e9jour temporaire ou pluriannuel qui lui a \u00e9t\u00e9 d\u00e9livr\u00e9&#8221;. In plain English, a foreign national who entered on a now-expired visa or, where no visa is required, entered France more than three months ago and stayed on without a residence permit can be ordered to leave. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042775578\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042775578\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 611-1 CESEDA<\/a>. As a visa-exempt British citizen you fall under the second branch: present for more than three months with no residence permit. The OQTF normally sets a voluntary departure period, often 30 days, and it can be accompanied by a ban on returning to France, in French an interdiction de retour, which is then entered in the SIS and produces the multi-year exclusion the gov.uk guidance warns about. Challenge it fast and in full. Article L. 614-1 provides: &#8220;La d\u00e9cision portant obligation de quitter le territoire fran\u00e7ais ainsi que la d\u00e9cision relative au s\u00e9jour, la d\u00e9cision relative au d\u00e9lai de d\u00e9part volontaire et l&#8217;interdiction de retour sur le territoire fran\u00e7ais qui l&#8217;accompagnent, le cas \u00e9ch\u00e9ant, peuvent \u00eatre contest\u00e9es devant le tribunal administratif selon la proc\u00e9dure pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 911-1.&#8221; In plain English, the removal order, the residence decision, the voluntary-departure period and any accompanying return ban can all be challenged before the administrative court. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049056408\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049056408\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 614-1 CESEDA<\/a>. The grounds that succeed in overstay cases are concrete: wrong day count because the administration added trips that fall outside the rolling 180-day window, failure to consider evidence of presence outside Schengen, refusal-motivated decisions that merely copy a template without addressing your documents, and breach of procedural guarantees. Raise every measure in the same application \u2014 the OQTF, the departure period and the return ban \u2014 because a return ban left unchallenged survives even if the OQTF falls. And never ignore an OQTF: staying on after notification exposes you to forced removal, a longer ban and, on any later visa or residence application, a file marked by non-compliance.<\/p>\n<h3>B. How do I come back lawfully and stop the next trip turning into a ban?<\/h3>\n<p>Once the immediate crisis is handled, organise the return so the same facts cannot recur. First, reconstruct your own day count before booking anything. List every entry and exit across the whole Schengen Area over the last 180 days, keep both travel days in the count, and leave a safety margin of at least a week: EES records are precise, ferry cancellations that push a return past midnight create real overstay days, and border officers do not round in your favour. Keep the underlying proof permanently \u2014 boarding passes, tunnel and ferry confirmations, hotel invoices outside Schengen, bank statements \u2014 because under Article 12(2) of the Schengen Borders Code quoted above, credible evidence &#8220;by any means&#8221; is what rebuts the presumption when the record is wrong. Second, if you are already in France and realise you cannot leave before the limit expires, do what the British guidance says and contact the nearest local prefecture in France if you cannot return before the limit expires. A prefecture cannot grant extra visa-free days, but presenting yourself before an arrest is always better than being discovered, and the visit creates the paper trail your lawyer needs. Third, if an SIS alert or a return ban now blocks you, do not attempt to travel through another Schengen country: the alert is European, the refusal will repeat, and each new refusal deepens the file. The alert and the ban must be challenged or allowed to expire first.<\/p>\n<p>For second-home owners whose life no longer fits inside 90 days, the durable answer is the long-stay visitor route. Article L. 312-2 of the CESEDA provides: &#8220;Tout \u00e9tranger souhaitant entrer en France en vue d&#8217;y s\u00e9journer pour une dur\u00e9e sup\u00e9rieure \u00e0 trois mois doit solliciter aupr\u00e8s des autorit\u00e9s diplomatiques et consulaires fran\u00e7aises un visa de long s\u00e9jour dont la dur\u00e9e de validit\u00e9 ne peut \u00eatre sup\u00e9rieure \u00e0 un an. Ce visa peut autoriser un s\u00e9jour de plus de trois mois \u00e0 caract\u00e8re familial, en qualit\u00e9 de visiteur, d&#8217;\u00e9tudiant, de stagiaire ou au titre d&#8217;une activit\u00e9 professionnelle, et plus g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement tout type de s\u00e9jour d&#8217;une dur\u00e9e sup\u00e9rieure \u00e0 trois mois conf\u00e9rant \u00e0 son titulaire les droits attach\u00e9s \u00e0 une carte de s\u00e9jour temporaire ou \u00e0 la carte de s\u00e9jour pluriannuelle pr\u00e9vue aux articles L. 421-9, L. 421-11 et L. 421-13-1 \u00e0 L. 421-24.&#8221; In plain English, anyone wishing to stay more than three months must apply before travelling to the French consular authorities for a long-stay visa of up to one year, which can be issued as a visitor and carries the rights of a temporary or multi-year residence card. The official text is on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000051562134\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000051562134\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\">L\u00e9gifrance, Article L. 312-2 CESEDA<\/a>. The visitor category suits retired owners living on pensions and savings: you must show regular sufficient resources, full-year private medical insurance and sign an undertaking not to work in France, and the application starts on the official <a href=\"https:\/\/france-visas.gouv.fr\/en\/web\/france-visas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">France-Visas portal<\/a> before lodging in the United Kingdom. A prior overstay does not legally bar the visa, but it will be seen, so the application must address it head-on with the corrected count and the evidence. If the consulate refuses, that refusal has its own dedicated appeal path, which the firm explains in its guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/05\/french-long-stay-visa-refused-british-citizen-brexit-appeal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">challenging a French long-stay visa refusal<\/a>. One final warning: a long-stay visa solves the immigration question, not the tax or healthcare ones \u2014 longer residence can make you French tax-resident and changes your health cover \u2014 so take advice on those consequences before applying rather than after arriving.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>The 90-day rule is a rolling count across the whole Schengen Area, proved by records you cannot see and presumed against you when documents are missing. A refusal of entry must be written, reasoned on the standard form, notified with your rights in a language you understand, and subject to appeal; a waiting-zone placement beyond 96 hours needs a judge; an order to leave France must be challenged before the administrative court with every accompanying measure. Each of these safeguards only helps if you act within its deadline \u2014 one clear day at the border, 48 hours for emergency relief, two months for annulment \u2014 and each depends on evidence you should be collecting on every trip, not after the problem arises. Count your days before you travel, keep the proof, and if the border or the prefecture has already moved against you, have the decision reviewed before the next journey. An overstay recorded once follows you for years; an overstay challenged properly can be reduced to a single bad trip.<\/p>\n<h2>Need a quick opinion on your case.<\/h2>\n<p>If you have been refused entry, held at the border or ordered to leave France, or if you want your next stay secured before you travel, the firm offers a telephone consultation within 48 hours with a lawyer of the firm. Call <a href=\"tel:+33646605822\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">+33 6 46 60 58 22<\/a> or write via the <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/formulaire-de-contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contact page<\/a> with your refusal form or removal order attached.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>British second-home owner told you overstayed the 90\/180-day rule? How France counts your days, how to challenge a refusal of entry and return lawfully.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251031309,"featured_media":16311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kj_source_type":"","_kj_official_id":"","_kj_official_url":"","_kj_judilibre_id":"","_kj_jur":"","_kj_lieu":"","_kj_chambre":"","_kj_rg":"","_kj_date":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[80312,80314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2118448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-british-desk","category-decryptage"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.2 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>British Second-Home Owner Told You Have Overstayed Your 90 Days in France After Brexit: How the Days Are Counted, How to Challenge a Refusal of Entry and How to Come Back Lawfully - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/09\/british-second-home-owner-france-90-180-day-overstay-refusal-challenge-brexit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"British Second-Home Owner Told You Have Overstayed Your 90 Days in France After Brexit: How the Days Are Counted, How to Challenge a Refusal of Entry and How to Come Back Lawfully\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"British second-home owner told you overstayed the 90\/180-day rule? 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