{"id":2145425,"date":"2026-10-11T19:05:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T17:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/10\/11\/british-france-10-year-carte-resident-long-term-eu-tests-refusal-challenge-brexit\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T19:05:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T17:05:46","slug":"british-france-10-year-carte-resident-long-term-eu-tests-refusal-challenge-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/11\/british-france-10-year-carte-resident-long-term-eu-tests-refusal-challenge-brexit\/","title":{"rendered":"British Resident in France After Brexit: Your 10-Year Carte de Resident, the Five-Year, Income and French Tests, and How to Challenge a Refusal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You arrived in France after Brexit on a long-stay visa, renewed it, then moved onto a multi-year permit, and now the fifth anniversary of your lawful stay is approaching. The next step matters more than any before it: a ten-year residence card that frees you from annual renewals, from proving your income every twelve months, and from the anxiety of a prefecture queue each autumn. For most British citizens that card is the <em>carte de r\u00e9sident portant la mention &#8221; r\u00e9sident de longue dur\u00e9e-UE &#8220;<\/em> (the EU long-term resident card), granted after five years of unbroken lawful residence, stable income at least equal to the minimum wage, health cover, and proof of integration including French at an intermediate level and a civic examination. A separate ten-year card exists for Britons who were already living in France before 1 January 2021 under the Withdrawal Agreement. Every decisive statement in this guide is linked to its official text so you can verify it yourself, and every French legal term is explained the first time it appears. Part I sets out the three locks on the door: five years of the right kind of stay, steady money, and health insurance. Part II explains how to prove your integration, where and when to file, and exactly what to do, and within which deadline, if the prefect says no or says nothing at all.<\/p>\n<h2>I. The Three Locks on the Door: Lawful Stay, Steady Money, and Health Cover<\/h2>\n<h3>A. Five Years of Unbroken Lawful Stay: Which Permits Count and Which Cards Are Worthless Here<\/h3>\n<p>The general rule is stated in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776450\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776450\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 426-17 of the Code on the Entry and Stay of Foreigners and the Right of Asylum (<em>Code de l&#8217;entr\u00e9e et du s\u00e9jour des \u00e9trangers et du droit d&#8217;asile<\/em>, universally shortened to CESEDA)<\/a>: &#8220;L&#8217;\u00e9tranger qui justifie d&#8217;une r\u00e9sidence r\u00e9guli\u00e8re ininterrompue d&#8217;au moins cinq ans en France au titre d&#8217;une carte de s\u00e9jour temporaire ou pluriannuelle ou d&#8217;une carte de r\u00e9sident, de ressources stables, r\u00e9guli\u00e8res et suffisantes pour subvenir \u00e0 ses besoins et d&#8217;une assurance maladie se voit d\u00e9livrer, sous r\u00e9serve des exceptions pr\u00e9vues \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 426-18, une carte de r\u00e9sident portant la mention &#8221; r\u00e9sident de longue dur\u00e9e-UE &#8221; d&#8217;une dur\u00e9e de dix ans.&#8221; In plain English, the foreigner who proves at least five years of regular, unbroken residence in France under a temporary or multi-year residence permit or a resident card, with stable, regular and sufficient means and health insurance, is granted a ten-year EU long-term resident card, subject to the exceptions that follow. Note the opening words: five years under a <em>carte de s\u00e9jour temporaire<\/em> (a one-year temporary residence permit), a <em>carte de s\u00e9jour pluriannuelle<\/em> (a multi-year permit of up to four years), or an existing resident card. If you followed the standard newcomer path described in our guide for <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/25\/british-newcomer-france-long-stay-visa-carte-sejour-refusal-oqtf-challenge-brexit\/\">British newcomers applying for a French long-stay visa and residence permit<\/a> and then moved to the multi-year permit explained in our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/11\/british-first-carte-sejour-pluriannuelle-a2-civic-exam-refusal-challenge-brexit\/\">your first multi-year carte de s\u00e9jour<\/a>, those years count, provided there was never a gap in your lawful cover.<\/p>\n<p>Not every card opens this particular door. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052504\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052504\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 426-18 of the same Code<\/a> lists the permits whose holders are excluded: &#8220;L&#8217;article L. 426-17 ne s&#8217;applique pas lorsque l&#8217;\u00e9tranger r\u00e9side en France au titre : 1\u00b0 De la carte de s\u00e9jour temporaire portant la mention &#8221; stagiaire ICT &#8221; pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 421-30 ; 2\u00b0 De la carte de s\u00e9jour temporaire portant la mention &#8221; stagiaire mobile ICT &#8221; pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 421-31 ;&#8221; and the list continues through intra-company transferees, seasonal workers, students, trainees and others, including &#8220;5\u00b0 De la carte de s\u00e9jour temporaire portant la mention &#8221; \u00e9tudiant &#8221; pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 422-1 ou L. 422-2&#8243;, holders of certain <em>passeport talent<\/em> (talent passport) cards, &#8220;15\u00b0 De la carte de s\u00e9jour pluriannuelle portant la mention &#8221; b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiaire de la protection subsidiaire &#8221; pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 424-9&#8243;, and &#8220;16\u00b0 De la carte de s\u00e9jour portant la mention &#8221; retrait\u00e9 &#8221; pr\u00e9vue aux articles L. 426-8 ou L. 426-9&#8243;. For British readers the three traps that matter are the student card, the posted-worker and seasonal cards, and the <em>retrait\u00e9<\/em> (retired person) card: years spent in France under any of those do not build your five-year total for this card. A British early retiree living in France on a <em>visiteur<\/em> (visitor) card should also check the list with care before counting years, because time that does not legally exist for this purpose is the commonest reason files fail at the first hurdle.<\/p>\n<p>Britons who were already resident before the end of the Brexit transition period travel a different road. Article 15 of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement provides that &#8220;Les citoyens de l&#8217;Union et les ressortissants du Royaume-Uni, ainsi que les membres de leur famille respective, qui ont s\u00e9journ\u00e9 l\u00e9galement dans l&#8217;\u00c9tat d&#8217;accueil conform\u00e9ment au droit de l&#8217;Union pendant une p\u00e9riode ininterrompue de cinq ans ou pendant la p\u00e9riode indiqu\u00e9e \u00e0 l&#8217;Article 17 de la directive 2004\/38\/CE, acqui\u00e8rent le droit de s\u00e9journer de mani\u00e8re permanente dans l&#8217;\u00c9tat d&#8217;accueil dans les conditions \u00e9nonc\u00e9es aux Articles 16, 17 et 18 de la directive 2004\/38\/CE. Les p\u00e9riodes de s\u00e9jour l\u00e9gal ou d&#8217;activit\u00e9 conform\u00e9ment au droit de l&#8217;Union avant et apr\u00e8s la fin de la p\u00e9riode de transition sont prises en compte dans le calcul de la p\u00e9riode n\u00e9cessaire \u00e0 l&#8217;acquisition du droit de s\u00e9jour permanent&#8221;, as quoted by the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal in a British case examined below. The French implementing decree adds that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000048166893\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000048166893\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">under Article 21 of Decree No. 2020-1417 of 19 November 2020<\/a>, &#8220;un titre de s\u00e9jour d&#8217;une dur\u00e9e de validit\u00e9 de dix ans portant la mention &#8221; S\u00e9jour permanent &#8211; Article 50 TUE\/Article 18(1) Accord de retrait du Royaume-Uni de l&#8217;UE &#8221; est d\u00e9livr\u00e9 de plein droit au ressortissant \u00e9tranger mentionn\u00e9 aux 1\u00b0 \u00e0 4\u00b0 de l&#8217;article 3 s&#8217;il satisfait \u00e0 l&#8217;une des conditions suivantes :1\u00b0 Il lui a \u00e9t\u00e9 d\u00e9livr\u00e9, avant le 1er janvier 2021, un titre de s\u00e9jour permanent en application de l&#8217;article L. 122-1 du code de l&#8217;entr\u00e9e et du s\u00e9jour des \u00e9trangers et du droit d&#8217;asile ;2\u00b0 Il a r\u00e9sid\u00e9 en France pendant cinq ann\u00e9es et y s\u00e9journe r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement conform\u00e9ment aux dispositions des articles 13 \u00e0 19.(&#8230;)&#8221;. In short, five years plus lawful residence under the Agreement gives a ten-year permanent card as of right (<em>de plein droit<\/em>, meaning the administration has no discretion once the conditions are met). If you arrived before 2021 and hold a Withdrawal Agreement permit, that permanent card is normally your target, not the EU long-term card; if you arrived after, the five-year route of Article L. 426-17 is the one this guide prepares you for. The British government\\u2019s living-in-France guide, updated on 2 October 2026, points applicants towards the French government\\u2019s own residence-card pages to check eligibility and confirms that France recognises dual British-French citizenship, which matters if the ten-year card later leads you towards naturalisation (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/living-in-france\">GOV.UK, Living in France guide<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>A British case shows how the Withdrawal Agreement route works when the prefecture resists. In a judgment of 3 October 2023, the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal dealt with a British citizen who had entered France in 1988 and applied under the 2020 decree, only for the Paris police prefect to refuse the permit and order him to leave France within thirty days (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000048166893\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000048166893\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CAA Paris, 3 October 2023, Nos. 23PA00821 and 23PA00939<\/a>). The refusal rested on public-order grounds, based on entries in the criminal-record processing file (<em>traitement des ant\u00e9c\u00e9dents judiciaires<\/em>, the police file known as TAJ). The court recalled that under Article 28 of the decree, conduct before 1 January 2021 can justify refusal only if it represents a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat: &#8220;Si le comportement \u00e0 l&#8217;origine de cette menace s&#8217;est produit avant le 1er janvier 2021, l&#8217;entr\u00e9e et la d\u00e9livrance du titre de s\u00e9jour ou du document de circulation peuvent \u00eatre refus\u00e9es \u00e0 la condition que ce comportement repr\u00e9sente une menace r\u00e9elle, actuelle et suffisamment grave pour un int\u00e9r\u00eat fondamental de la soci\u00e9t\u00e9.&#8221; It then observed that &#8220;les documents produits ne font \u00e9tat que de signalements et non de condamnations p\u00e9nales&#8221; (the documents showed only police reports, not criminal convictions), noted thirty-four years of residence since the age of three, annulled the refusal, and ordered the prefect to issue the permit applied for within two months of the judgment. The lesson for British applicants on either route is the same: old police reports without convictions, weighed against decades of settled life, do not make a serious threat, and a court will say so.<\/p>\n<h3>B. Stable Income and Health Cover: the Minimum-Wage Bar and the Five-Year Paper Trail<\/h3>\n<p>Money is where most British files succeed or fail, and the statute sets the bar in two sentences. First, the resources must be stable, regular and sufficient to live on without recourse to the French welfare system. Second, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776450\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776450\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 426-17<\/a> fixes the floor: &#8220;Les ressources mentionn\u00e9es au premier alin\u00e9a doivent atteindre un montant au moins \u00e9gal au salaire minimum de croissance.&#8221; Your means must reach at least the <em>salaire minimum de croissance<\/em> (the statutory minimum wage, universally called the SMIC). The official service-public guidance page for this card, verified on 1 June 2026, translates this into practice: your income must reach at least the SMIC, stated on that page as \u20ac1,867.02 monthly gross, and all of your own resources are taken into account (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.service-public.gouv.fr\/particuliers\/vosdroits\/F17359?lang=en\">service-public.fr, EU long-term resident card fact sheet F17359<\/a>). All of your own resources count: British employment income, self-employed earnings, a UK State or private pension paid into your French life, French rental income, and your spouse&#8217;s income where you file jointly. What does not count is equally important: family benefits and housing, disability and unemployment allowances listed in the article are excluded, so child benefit, housing allowance and similar top-ups cannot lift you over the bar.<\/p>\n<p>The proof covers five years, not five months. The documentary rules require long-term resident applicants to produce evidence that their resources &#8220;doivent \u00eatre suffisantes, stables et r\u00e9guli\u00e8res sur les 5 derni\u00e8res ann\u00e9es&#8221;, as the Paris court recalled when citing the official list of supporting documents (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000054893572\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000054893572\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CAA Paris, 23 September 2026, No. 26PA00772<\/a>). In practice that means five years of French tax assessments (<em>avis d&#8217;imp\u00f4t<\/em>, the yearly statements the tax office sends after your return), five years of payslips or pension statements, employment contracts, and bank statements showing the money actually arriving. A British applicant whose income mixes UK and French sources should file both sides: P60s and pension payslips from Britain alongside French assessments, with a short schedule translating each year into euros so the caseworker does not have to do the arithmetic. Gaps need written explanations with exhibits: a career break, a Covid-shortened teaching contract, a year of maternity leave. The file that explains a dip before the prefect asks about it survives; the file that hides it does not.<\/p>\n<p>Two 2026 court decisions, pulling in opposite directions, show exactly how judges read this evidence, and both concerned the same article you are applying under. The strict one comes from the very top. On 3 August 2026 the Conseil d&#8217;\u00c9tat (the supreme administrative court) rejected the appeal of an applicant whose resources over the five preceding years were uneven in amount and irregular in pattern, despite a recent promise of permanent employment: &#8220;c&#8217;est par une appr\u00e9ciation souveraine, exempte de d\u00e9naturation, que la cour administrative d&#8217;appel a estim\u00e9 qu&#8217;eu \u00e9gard notamment au montant et \u00e0 l&#8217;irr\u00e9gularit\u00e9 des ressources per\u00e7ues par M. B&#8230; au cours des cinq ann\u00e9es pr\u00e9c\u00e9dant sa demande, et en d\u00e9pit de l&#8217;existence d&#8217;une r\u00e9cente promesse d&#8217;embauche en contrat \u00e0 dur\u00e9e ind\u00e9termin\u00e9e, l&#8217;int\u00e9ress\u00e9 ne justifiait pas de ressources stables, r\u00e9guli\u00e8res et suffisantes au sens de l&#8217;article L. 426-17 du code de l&#8217;entr\u00e9e et du s\u00e9jour des \u00e9trangers et du droit d&#8217;asile.&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000054616040\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000054616040\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Conseil d&#8217;\u00c9tat, 6th and 5th chambers combined, 3 August 2026, No. 497914<\/a>, appeal rejected: &#8220;Article 1er : Le pourvoi de M. B&#8230; est rejet\u00e9.&#8221;). A last-minute permanent contract does not cure five shaky years. The same court also confirmed that requiring five years of resource evidence is compatible with the EU long-term residents directive, refusing to refer the question to Luxembourg.<\/p>\n<p>The lenient one came seven weeks later and annulled a refusal. A university teaching assistant in Paris, lawfully resident for well over five years with health insurance, had declared \u20ac28,102 for 2018, \u20ac19,119 for 2019, then \u20ac14,121 and \u20ac13,727 for the Covid years 2020 and 2021, before rebounding to \u20ac38,288 in 2022. The prefect refused the card solely because two years sat below the minimum wage. The Paris Administrative Court of Appeal quashed the refusal, holding that the statute requires the floor to be met when the administration decides, and uses the earlier years only to judge the pattern: &#8220;ces m\u00eames dispositions n&#8217;imposent pas que le demandeur ait dispos\u00e9, sur la p\u00e9riode ant\u00e9rieure qui est prise en consid\u00e9ration, de ressources \u00e9gales \u00e0 ce m\u00eame montant.&#8221; It added that &#8220;Le pr\u00e9fet ne pouvait toutefois, en application des principes rappel\u00e9s au point 3, refuser de lui d\u00e9livrer une carte de r\u00e9sident au seul motif que ses ressources \u00e9taient inf\u00e9rieures au SMIC en 2020 et 2021&#8221;, noting that the temporary dip was attributable to Covid cutting his teaching hours and that his means covered his needs (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000054893572\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/ceta\/id\/CETATEXT000054893572\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CAA Paris, 23 September 2026, No. 26PA00772<\/a>). Read together, the two rulings draw your line precisely: a documented temporary dip with a recovered income can win on appeal, while chronically irregular earnings cannot. If your five years include one bad year with a clear cause and paper to prove it, say so loudly in the file; if they show persistent instability, consider waiting until your record reads steadily before applying.<\/p>\n<p>Health cover is the quieter condition and the easiest to document badly. The statute demands <em>assurance maladie<\/em> (health insurance), and the same guidance page makes it a standalone condition. For a British worker or self-employed person affiliated to the French social security system, your <em>attestation de droits<\/em> (the statement of cover downloadable from your Ameli account) suffices. Pensioners holding a British S1 healthcare certificate registered with their French health fund (<em>caisse primaire d&#8217;assurance maladie<\/em>, the local fund known as CPAM) should attach the S1 registration confirmation. Early retirees covered through universal residence-based cover (<em>protection universelle maladie<\/em>, called PUMA) should attach their affiliation certificate and proof that contributions are paid. Private comprehensive insurance is acceptable for those outside the French system, but the policy schedule must show cover in France without major exclusions. Whatever your route, the certificate must be current on the day the prefect decides, not merely on the day you applied.<\/p>\n<h2>II. Proving You Belong and Fighting a Refusal<\/h2>\n<h3>A. French, the Civic Exam, and the Mayor&#8217;s Opinion: What Integration Really Requires<\/h3>\n<p>Since the 2024 immigration reform, the ten-year card is also a language and civics test. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776446\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776446\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 426-19<\/a> provides that &#8220;La d\u00e9cision d&#8217;accorder la carte de r\u00e9sident portant la mention &#8221; r\u00e9sident de longue dur\u00e9e-UE &#8221; pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 426-17 est subordonn\u00e9e au respect des conditions d&#8217;int\u00e9gration r\u00e9publicaine pr\u00e9vues \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 413-7.&#8221; The grant of the card depends on meeting the republican-integration conditions of Article L. 413-7, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052366\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052366\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sets the double requirement<\/a>: &#8220;La premi\u00e8re d\u00e9livrance de la carte de r\u00e9sident pr\u00e9vue aux articles L. 423-6, L. 423-10 ou L. 423-16, de la carte de r\u00e9sident portant la mention &#8221; r\u00e9sident de longue dur\u00e9e-UE &#8221; pr\u00e9vue aux articles L. 421-12, L. 421-25, L. 424-5, L. 424-14 ou L. 426-19, ainsi que de la carte de r\u00e9sident permanent pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 426-4 est subordonn\u00e9e \u00e0 l&#8217;int\u00e9gration r\u00e9publicaine de l&#8217;\u00e9tranger dans la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 fran\u00e7aise, appr\u00e9ci\u00e9e en particulier au regard du r\u00e9sultat obtenu \u00e0 l&#8217;examen mentionn\u00e9 au sixi\u00e8me alin\u00e9a de l&#8217;article L. 413-3, qui doit \u00eatre sup\u00e9rieur \u00e0 un seuil fix\u00e9 par d\u00e9cret, et de sa connaissance de la langue fran\u00e7aise de nature \u00e0 lui permettre au moins de comprendre des conversations suffisamment claires, de produire un discours simple et coh\u00e9rent sur des sujets courants et d&#8217;exposer succinctement une id\u00e9e.&#8221; In practice the official guidance sets that language description at level B1 of the European framework: sufficient knowledge of French at level B1 of the European framework, alongside success in the civic examination taken under the resident-card syllabus. You prove the level with an approved certificate or diploma; classroom attendance alone is not enough.<\/p>\n<p>The examination can be retaken without penalty. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052369\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052369\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 413-3<\/a> states that &#8220;La formation civique mentionn\u00e9e au 1\u00b0 donne lieu \u00e0 un examen. L&#8217;\u00e9tranger peut se repr\u00e9senter \u00e0 cet examen, \u00e0 sa demande et \u00e0 tout moment, lorsqu&#8217;il a obtenu un r\u00e9sultat inf\u00e9rieur aux seuils mentionn\u00e9s au premier alin\u00e9a de l&#8217;article L. 413-7 et au 2\u00b0 de l&#8217;article L. 433-4.&#8221; A failed first attempt is therefore a delay, not a defeat: re-sit as soon as you are ready and attach the pass certificate to your file or your appeal. Applicants over sixty-five are spared the language condition entirely: &#8220;Les \u00e9trangers \u00e2g\u00e9s de plus de soixante-cinq ans ne sont pas soumis \u00e0 la condition relative \u00e0 la connaissance de la langue fran\u00e7aise.&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052366\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052366\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 413-7, L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>). Older British residents should still prepare the civic examination and the values commitment, but they cannot lawfully be failed on French grammar.<\/p>\n<p>Two further features of the integration check catch British applicants by surprise. First, the prefect must consult your town hall: &#8220;l&#8217;autorit\u00e9 administrative tient compte, lorsqu&#8217;il a \u00e9t\u00e9 souscrit, du respect, par l&#8217;\u00e9tranger, de l&#8217;engagement d\u00e9fini \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 413-2 et saisit pour avis le maire de la commune dans laquelle l&#8217;\u00e9tranger r\u00e9side. Cet avis est r\u00e9put\u00e9 favorable \u00e0 l&#8217;expiration d&#8217;un d\u00e9lai de deux mois \u00e0 compter de la saisine du maire par l&#8217;autorit\u00e9 administrative.&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052366\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052366\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 413-7, L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>). The engagement in question is the Republican integration contract (<em>contrat d&#8217;int\u00e9gration r\u00e9publicaine<\/em>, the CIR you signed at the prefecture when first admitted, &#8220;par lequel il s&#8217;engage \u00e0 suivre les formations et dispositifs d&#8217;accompagnement qui lui sont prescrits&#8221; under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052372\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049052372\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 413-2<\/a>), so complete every prescribed course and keep the attendance certificates. The mayor&#8217;s opinion (<em>avis du maire<\/em>) is deemed favourable after two months without reply, but a negative opinion must be answered with evidence of local roots: school enrolments, association memberships, neighbour statements. Second, integration also means conduct: a refusal can be based on a threat to public order, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776402\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776402\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 432-1<\/a> allows refusal &#8220;par une d\u00e9cision motiv\u00e9e&#8221; where &#8220;la pr\u00e9sence en France constitue une menace pour l&#8217;ordre public&#8221;. As the British Withdrawal Agreement case above shows, bare police reports without convictions do not meet that standard against long residence, but recent convictions will damage any file, so disclose and contextualise rather than conceal.<\/p>\n<p>File at the right moment and in the right place. The official guidance allows applications either when renewing your current permit or at any time once the conditions are met: The official guidance allows the application either when renewing the current permit or at any time once the conditions are met. Timing rules are strict: in a prefecture that still takes paper filings, apply within the two months before your current card expires; on the foreigners&#8217; online portal (<em>Administration num\u00e9rique pour les \u00e9trangers en France<\/em>, known as ANEF), apply between four months and two months before expiry. Paris applications go through the police prefecture&#8217;s residence-permit service. Apply too early and the five years are incomplete; apply after expiry and you are unlawfully present, which destroys the &#8220;unbroken lawful residence&#8221; the whole card depends on. Diarise the window now, assemble the five-year bundle first, book the language test early enough that a retake still fits inside the window, and keep proof of every filing: receipts, screenshots, registered-post slips.<\/p>\n<h3>B. Refusal or Silence: Your Appeals and the Deadlines That Decide Everything<\/h3>\n<p>A refusal arrives in one of two forms, and your remedies differ. The explicit refusal is a reasoned letter from the prefect, and it very often comes with an order to leave France (<em>obligation de quitter le territoire fran\u00e7ais<\/em>, the OQTF) naming your country of return. The official guidance warns that, except in exceptional cases, an explicit refusal comes with an order to leave France naming the country of return, challengeable before the administrative court (<em>tribunal administratif<\/em>) within 48 hours, 15 days or 30 days depending on the type of OQTF, without a lawyer being compulsory. Those hours and days run from notification, they include weekends, and missing them is usually fatal, so read the appeal notice (<em>voies et d\u00e9lais de recours<\/em>) printed at the foot of the decision before anything else, and file the challenge against the OQTF even while preparing the fuller case against the refusal itself.<\/p>\n<p>Silence is the second form of refusal. The same official page states that four months without a reply counts as an implicit refusal, and that from that deemed refusal the applicant has two months to bring an informal appeal to the prefect, a hierarchical appeal to the Interior Minister, court proceedings before the administrative court, or a combination of these, without a lawyer being compulsory. The <em>recours gracieux<\/em> (the free informal appeal asking the prefect to think again) and the <em>recours hi\u00e9rarchique<\/em> (the appeal to the Interior Minister) cost nothing and can resolve a file rejected for a missing document, but they do not suspend an OQTF and they do not stop time running for the court. The safe practice is to file the court action within the two months and add the informal appeal alongside it, so that a prefecture willing to correct itself can do so while the judge watches the clock.<\/p>\n<p>Before the court, the general deadline rule is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000039807005\" 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\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article R. 421-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice<\/a>: &#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; Two months from notification of the decision challenged. Your application should ask the judge for three things in order: annulment of the refusal (<em>annulation<\/em>), an order directing the prefect to issue the card (<em>injonction de d\u00e9livrance<\/em>) within a stated time, as the Paris court granted the British claimant with a two-month injunction, and, where delay would hurt, a daily penalty for non-compliance (<em>astreinte<\/em>, a fine per day of delay). Frame each ground precisely: misreading of the five-year calculation, error over which permits count, resources judged on the wrong date or the wrong definition, language evidence ignored, mayor&#8217;s silence treated as negative, or a public-order finding built on reports without convictions. The September 2026 Paris annulment shows a court correcting a prefect who demanded five unbroken years above the minimum wage when the statute requires the floor only at the decision date; the August 2026 Conseil d&#8217;\u00c9tat decision shows the same courts upholding a refusal where earnings were persistently irregular. Your pleadings should place your file on the right side of that line with exhibits, not adjectives.<\/p>\n<p>Renewal of the ten-year card itself is rarely refused, but the statute keeps two weapons for the administration. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049059490\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000049059490\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 432-3<\/a> provides that &#8220;Le renouvellement de la carte de r\u00e9sident peut \u00eatre refus\u00e9 \u00e0 tout \u00e9tranger lorsque : 1\u00b0 Sa pr\u00e9sence constitue une menace grave pour l&#8217;ordre public ; 2\u00b0 Il ne peut prouver qu&#8217;il a \u00e9tabli en France sa r\u00e9sidence habituelle dans les conditions pr\u00e9vues \u00e0 l&#8217;article L. 433-3-1, sauf pour les d\u00e9tenteurs d&#8217;une carte de r\u00e9sident en application des articles L. 424-1 et L. 424-3.&#8221; Renewal can be refused for a serious threat to public order or for failure to prove habitual residence in France. Long absences are therefore the holder&#8217;s main danger: extended years back in Britain without maintaining French habitual residence can cost the card at renewal, a point British second-home owners turned permanent emigrants should weigh before drifting away. And beyond the ten-year card lies the final upgrade: the permanent resident card (<em>carte de r\u00e9sident permanent<\/em>), valid indefinitely, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776490\" class=\"kohen-legifrance-popup-link\" data-kohen-legifrance-url=\"https:\/\/www.legifrance.gouv.fr\/codes\/article_lc\/LEGIARTI000042776490\" data-kohen-legifrance-title=\"Texte officiel Legifrance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article L. 426-4<\/a> makes available on request where presence is no threat to public order and integration conditions are met, adding that &#8220;La d\u00e9livrance de la carte de r\u00e9sident permanent est de droit d\u00e8s le deuxi\u00e8me renouvellement d&#8217;une carte de r\u00e9sident&#8221;. From the second renewal of a resident card, the permanent card is yours as of right. Each stage rewards the same discipline: continuous lawful presence, declared income, health cover, French learned and proven, and a file kept complete year after year.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>The ten-year card is not a reward for time served but the legal recognition of a life genuinely established in France: five unbroken years under permits that count, income at or above the minimum wage that is stable enough to read as a pattern, current health cover, French at intermediate level with a civic pass, and a record that survives the mayor&#8217;s scrutiny and the prefect&#8217;s arithmetic. The two 2026 rulings examined here fix the boundaries of that arithmetic with unusual clarity: a temporary, explained dip does not sink you, but chronic irregularity does, and a last-minute contract does not rewrite five years. File inside the correct window with the full five-year bundle, keep every receipt, and treat a refusal as the start of a procedure with short, hard deadlines rather than the end of the road. The British claimant who won his permanent Withdrawal Agreement card with a two-month injunction, and the teaching assistant whose Covid-hit income was vindicated on appeal, both won for the same reason: their files proved, document by document, that the statute&#8217;s conditions were met on the day the administration had to decide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five years in France opens the door to a 10-year EU long-term resident card. Income, French and residence tests explained, with refusal remedies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251031309,"featured_media":16480,"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-2145425","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 Resident in France After Brexit: Your 10-Year Carte de Resident, the Five-Year, Income and French Tests, and How to Challenge a Refusal - 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\/10\/11\/british-france-10-year-carte-resident-long-term-eu-tests-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 Resident in France After Brexit: Your 10-Year Carte de Resident, the Five-Year, Income and French Tests, and How to Challenge a Refusal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Five years in France opens the door to a 10-year EU long-term resident card. 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