Our Fourth Withdrawal Agreement Residence Permit Survey
Our Fourth Withdrawal Agreement Residence Survey
In August/September 2021 RIFT conducted a fourth survey of applications for the new Withdrawal Agreement Residence Permit (WA RP) and this is a summary of our findings.
About RIFT
Remain in France Together (RIFT) is a small group of volunteers providing information and support to UK passport holders and their families living in France. Our information relates to the rights of UK passport holders and their families who are afforded the protection of the Withdrawal Agreement.
The group, which receives no funding, was set up following the referendum in 2016. It provides information and guidance on citizens’ rights post Brexit via a popular Facebook group (in excess of 22,000 members), website and regional Facebook groups.
About our surveys
We conducted and published the results of our three previous surveys in January 2021, April 2021 and June 2021. Our June 2021 survey was conducted in partnership with the British Embassy in Paris.
Background
UK Nationals* and their families living in France by 31 December 2020 must apply for a Withdrawal Agreement Residence Permit (WA RP). You can read more about what a WA RP is and why you need to apply, even you hold a current pre-Brexit carte de séjour, in our report of the June 2021 survey.
The current online application system opened in October 2020 and was due to close on 30 June 2021 and all applications needed to be made by that date.
In late June 2021, the French government announced that the application system would remain open until 30 September 2021 for late applications.
Any application made after 30 June 2021 is likely to be considered a late application and therefore if you have yet to apply, you need to do so immediately and detail the reasons for your late application in the comments box at the end of the online application form. To find out more about how to apply, please read our guide.
Under current law UK Nationals* and their families living in France by 31 December 2020 must hold their new WA RP by 1 October 2021.
Remain in France Together (RIFT) have called on the French government to extend by law the date on which we are required to hold a card and you can read our letter in our latest news section.
*Except those who hold another EU passport or hold a TDSS
Our most recent survey
We conducted our most recent survey between 24 August and 14 September 2021.
A total of 2936 people responded to the survey.
Breakdown of respondents
In total 99.4% of those who responded had applied for their card and of those, 72.60% had received their card.
We looked at some of the data in more detail.
Those who have received their WA RP
In comparison with our previous surveys, there was a marked, but not unexpected, increase in the percentage of respondents who have received their WA RP at the time of completing the August/September survey.
Those who haven’t received their WA RP
Of the 2917 respondents who had applied for their WA RP, 749 (25.67%) reported not having yet received it.
354 (47.26%) of those 749 had not yet been contacted by their préfecture following submission of their online application.
Our data shows that across the country an average of 12.13% of the all respondents who had applied for their WA RP but have not yet received it, had not been contacted by their préfecture.
We identified 6 préfectures who exceeded the national averages for
A. Number of applicants who have not received their WA RP – Category A (National average 25.67%)
B. Number of those in category A above who have not been contacted by their préfecture (National average 47.26%)
C. Number of those who have not received their WA RP AND have not been contacted by their préfecture as a percentage of all applicants (National average 12.13%)
These figures confirm the anecdotal evidence given by members of our Facebook group.
We looked at when applications were made and identified that a high number of older applications are still outstanding and that in particular many applicants have not been contacted by their préfecture.
Whilst the national average shows that 12.13% of all applicants have not been contacted, the high percentages in this category for applications made between December 2020 and June 2021 is of concern.
In our survey report in June 2021, we suggested a number of things you could do if you have had not heard from your préfecture and they may still be useful. We did not recommend contacting the préfecture unless you were feeling particularly anxious about not having heard.
However, our recommendation now, if you applied but not been contacted by your préfecture, is to contact them via their website – there should be an email address or online contact form for you to complete. Alternatively, send a lettre recommandée. Ensure you include a copy of the acknowledgement email or as a minimum, the reference number and the date you applied.
Please read our June 2021 survey report for more information
Were there any problems with the WA RPs that were received?
Of the 2118 people who had received their WA RP, 1984 reported that all the information on their card was correct whilst 117 reported that there had been at least one error on their card.
Common Issues
Don't risk losing your rights to live in France.
Click on the image to access the application portal
If you were resident in France by 31 December 2020 and haven't yet applied, please do so today
DON'T DELAY - APPLY TODAY
