Life in France after Brexit
Whilst the details of the Brexit ‘divorce’ are not yet finalised, there is quite a lot already known about buying property either as a second home or a primary residence from the New Year onwards.
The good news is that for anyone spending 90 days or less in France over the course of six months, Brexit should make little or no difference to you. For most non-EU citizens there is no visa requirement for stays of that length of time and travel insurance can cover healthcare. Property buying and owning in different countries in itself is not one of the EU’s freedoms and should be completely unaffected.
The effect on those wanting to spend longer periods in France remains to be seen. Should no special arrangement be made for those wishing to move to France, we can gain understanding of how things might operate post-Brexit by looking at how France allows non-EU citizens to live there currently.
Our colleagues at the France Property Guide have put together a useful pdf guide based on British citizens having no more right to live and work in Europe than citizens of other non-EU countries.
What it includes are the rules for non-EU nationals when it comes to the key matters of visas, property ownership and healthcare. They stress that we do not know precisely what arrangements will be put in place. This is a possible outcome, perhaps a worst-case scenario but it is well worth a read.
