MillieF

I am British, my husband is Canadian, our son was born in France, where we lived for many years.

We left France in 2012, and moved to Canada, as we wanted our son to go into the Canadian Seconary School system.

Moving swiftly on...school is behind him, and he has two years left at Uni, before a hopefully exciting life, and complete independence, becons.

That was always the time that we, just me and my husband, had planned to come back to France. Has Brexit nixed this for us completely?

I wasn't able to pack my heart when I came to Canada, it has remained resolutely there, in France... am I just going to have to visit it for long holidays?

Advice would be greatly appreciated as we are just trying to quietly plan our future options.

Thank you.

EuroTrash

Many foreign nationals live in France... Americans, Australians, Indians, Asians, Canadians... and now British.
It will require a bit more planning and there will be a few more hoops to jump through than if one of you were an EU citizen, that's all.

MillieF

That is good news ET, thank you. Between the years old wandering hither and yon, I’ve become a pretty good hoop jumper, as long as the sciatica doesn’t kick in.

Greatly appreciated.

cyrian

I agree with ET that many nationalities move to France.
If your timescale is a couple of years then I suspect that things will become clearer.
At the moment, there are a lot of raw wounds post-Brexit.
This applies to EU countries as well as the UK.
As time goes on I hope that goodwill on both sides will find solutions to smooth out the tensions that remain.
Do you have Canadian citizenship?
It may be worthwhile obtaining this in case you change your mind again in the future.
HTH

Listen Very Carefully

https://france-visas.gouv.fr/web/fra...ion-guidelines
This will give you the info

MillieF

Thank you so much.

I am hoping that the smoke will clear in a while too, it makes sense for us all to play nicely, and I really hope we can. I just had a wake up call as my son has been offered a job in another Province and is leaving tomorrow until September, and I suddenly thought ‘what happens now’ ? This is going to be the future, as indeed it should be…

I just didn’t think that Brexit or indeed C19 would impinge on what should have been a warmer and fuzzier part of our life…s**t happens, tant pis!

Yes, I am now a Canadian citizen, as my husband and child always were. I really do like Canada, but the frozen six months of winter take a toll on one’s general health and I really do miss France.

CamemBert

The France you left is not the same as the one here now. Careful with your expectations. I hope you find what you are looking for.

G-J-B

Hi CamemBert, just curious in what way you've found it changed within the past 9 years?

EuroTrash

I'm interested to see what CamemBert picks out in particular, but I don't think anyone can argue France hasn't changed in the last decade or so. Progress happens. The world changes. Politics and policies evolve. Significant events happen that leave their mark on the national psyche. Nine years ago Marine Le Pen was new on the scene, just taken over from daddy and standing for the very first time. Charlie Hebdo hadn't happened. The gilets jaunes weren't a thing.
There's been a lot of water under the bridge.

CamemBert

Pretty much what ET said, but I find people in France generally more stressed these days, my kids in school have borne the brunt of the mandatory "freedom of thought", which is freedom to think one way only, the bureaucracy is ferocious (but perhaps always was), the tax service seems to be out to get everyone, and on the few occasions I've met a gendarme who actually seemed to want to help I've been truly bowled over. Also, the food isn't what it used to be in my opinion - MacDo has truly made its mark.

That's not to say France doesn't still have some great qualities, but it is definitely not the country it was when I came here as a student. It does not have my vote for retirement.

EuroTrash

One small example of change that I regret is the move away from local, personal services. There used to be a trésor public in most communes, now they're mostly closed and you have to go to the main tax office. I used to be able to walk into my local URSSAF if I had a problem and see an advisor face to face, that stopped long before Covid. Post Offices are closing. Everything is moving online. I can't deny it's more convenient in many ways but I do miss being able to take my little problems along to a local office, sit down and chat it through, and come out with it solved. I guess it's happening in every country.

Mind you I have to say the staff at my tax office are great, and particularly the chap that I usually deal with. Courteous, helpful and pleasant, always knows the answer and always explains it clearly. Whereas thinking about it, I never got on with the staff at the Trésor Public, they were a snooty lot of jobsworths, so what am I complaining about! but it's still a 40 minute drive each way as opposed to a five minute walk.

G-J-B

There are changes globally, and that's inevitable - history happens, culture changes. I don't find the changes to be big in France. Yes, there is perhaps more impoliteness, more stress, more impatience, but given the past year and half it doesn't come as any surprise. Things are moving more digitally, but inevitably I always get stuck behind that one person at the supermarket checkout who pays by cheque. I used to always pay various taxes by cheque, but that came to an end not so long ago too, but those things are really trivial.
Where I live it's all still quite timeless. Old tractors, old houses, old traditions. The internet barely functions beyond dial-up speeds, and no sign of fibre optic yet. All schools will indoctrinate to some degree, but I haven't perceived my kids being brainwashed. Try America where some schools teach critical race theory, and in the process further divide everybody - that seems like a social experiment with grave repercussions.
All in all, I think France is still on the good path.

CamemBert

@G-J-B, I didn’t notice my kids getting brainwashed until they got to Lycée. Now, it’s a bit late. I am glad to hear that there are still pockets of the old France, because in ten years this area has gone from sleepy rural fields and nice detached houses with land, to filling in every possible space with whatever shoddy housing will fit.
There is no avoiding the hard-faced New France as kids get older. My son tried to apply for a driving license and the implacable computer interface immediately demanded a medical certificate that he isn’t required by law to provide. Just one of many encounters with bureaucracy gone mad. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m out. Whoever buys my house will probably cut down all the trees and build more pastel concrete boxes.
Anyhow, the point of my comment was merely to alert the OP to the dangers of moving back to a place she once loved.

EuroTrash

Over the years I've been asked for, and duly provided, many documents that I'm not required by law to provide. That kind of thing doesn't stress me out. If it did, I'm sure I'd have turned into a gibbering wreck long since. An extra form here, an extra attestation there, you get to expect it after a while.
I'm with G-J-B , I think France is on a pretty good path overall, despite the bumps and potholes. But I do think that coming back after 9 years you would notice a lot of changes. I came back recently after just over 2 years away and noticed differences. Crikey they even put RSI out of its misery while I was away, what will freelancers find to moan about and swap horror stories over now that's gone???

CamemBert

Yes. Having to provide an extra document doesn’t feel like a big deal if you don’t have to do it for multiple dependents, one with a disability, and if nothing massive hinges on it. Not that my situation is that bad when I look around. A friend had to get a lawyer involved just to get a Carte Vitale; another has been waiting four years for a widow’s pension to which she is entitled, keeps getting asked for the same documents over and over, and, as she succinctly puts it, would have starved by now if she was going to. That’s not, to me, the behaviour of a decent state. I don’t want to hijack the thread any further, though.