If you hold a 5-year WARP card you need to be aware that the first renewal of WARP cards are due for those who have held their cards for 4 years and 8 months or more. We asked Eric Donjon of The European Concierge, who has helped many British (as well as American, South African, Australian etc) applicants with their visas, carte de séjours and WARP cards, about the process and what to look out for.
When the UK voted to leave the European Union, the term Brexit – Britain’s Exit was coined. For British citizens already living in France and previously able to live, work and enjoy French life without a visa or residency card, a deal was struck between the governments of France and the UK – the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. It provided those citizens with special rights in recognition of their move to France before Brexit.
They were issued with residence cards, terms WARP cards (Withdrawal Agreement Residence Permit), in French a carte/titre de séjour. They were made available to all Britons living in France and who applied for the card by October 2021.
Those who had lived in France more than 5 years were eligible for permanent cards, renewable every ten years. And those in France for less than 5 years, were eligible for 5-year cards, to be replaced with permanent ten-year cards at the point of renewal, the majority of which will be during 2025 and 2026.
For many of the almost 50,000 holders of the five-year cards – the renewal date comes up in 2025.
What to do if your 5-year WARP / Carte de séjour is coming up for renewal
“At The European Concierge, we helped many Brits to apply for their WARP card and we will be helping them to apply for their permanent card” says Eric. “If you try to find official information on how to make the application for the ten-year card, you’re likely to find a lot of very unhelpful advice and not a lot of firm details.”
No one quite seems to know how the process will work as yet, understandable since this a first, and one off operation for the French Government, and for some, that is stressful, especially if your renewal is not far off. You should be applying at 3-4 months in advance.
Eric, who is French but lives in the UK and is also the North of England Honorary Consul for France, is in constant contact with the French authorities to make sure that he is kept fully informed as much as possible about systems, processes and timelines. “It’s really essential to apply for renewal at the right time, and in the right way” he says. And he takes the pressure away by doing that for you, making the application for renewal on your behalf, monitoring progress, making appointments if necessary, translating information from the prefecture, making sure you’re kept up to date.
The process will be different from the normal carte de séjour renewal and should be relatively painless. But if you’d like help with ensuring you apply in the correct way, want help with the application (which may be online, that’s to be confirmed), and to ensure that it’s all done in a timely manner and with the least amount of stress for you, The European Concierge can help.
Get in touch with The European Concierge for all visas and French residency cards support (UK, US, AUS, SA etc) at: theeuropeanconcierge.com
