Moving to France After Brexit: What Britons Need to Know

For most people asking whether they can still relocate, the reassuring answer is yes. Moving to France after Brexit remains entirely achievable for British citizens. What changed is the route: since the end of the transition period, Britons are classed as non-EU nationals — third-country nationals, in the official language — and that single reclassification reshaped how you plan a move. It did not close the door. It attached a process to it, and the whole art of a successful move now lies in understanding that process before you book a removal van rather than after.

The most important distinction is nationality. Citizens of the European Union or European Economic Area are treated very differently from British citizens, so it is worth being clear about where you stand at the outset. If you hold, or can claim, an Irish or other EU passport, much of what follows will not apply to you. If you are travelling on a British passport, this guide is written for you.

What Brexit Actually Changed for Britons

Before 2021, a British citizen could move to France much as any EU national did, with freedom of movement doing the heavy lifting. You could arrive, settle, take a job and register for healthcare without asking anyone's permission first. That freedom ended with the transition period. Unless you are protected by an existing status, or qualify through another nationality, you must now follow the same rules that apply to every other non-EU national who wants to live in France.

In practice, three things shifted. First, an open-ended stay became a time-limited one: without a long-stay visa, your presence is now capped by the Schengen short-stay allowance. Second, the right to work disappeared from the default position — living in France and being permitted to earn there are now separate permissions. Third, healthcare stopped being automatic; entitlement now has to be established rather than assumed. None of these is insurmountable, but each needs to be arranged deliberately.

This is worth stating plainly because a good deal of well-meaning advice still circulates from the pre-Brexit era, when a Briton could behave, for immigration purposes, like a Dutch or German neighbour. That era is over. The move is still very much on; it simply has paperwork attached, and the paperwork rewards early attention.

The 90/180-Day Rule for Visitors

British visitors can generally spend up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period within the Schengen area without a long-stay visa. For a holiday home near Duras, that can work beautifully: extended summer stays, regular trips, time to oversee the early stages of a renovation, Christmas with friends who have already made the leap.

The catch is in how the days are counted. It is not three months in France followed by three months away. It operates over a rolling reference period, so every single proposed day must be checked against the preceding 180. Cross into France, and the calculation looks back six months and asks how many of those days you have already used. Just as importantly, the allowance covers the whole Schengen area, not France alone. Time in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands or Belgium normally counts towards the same total, and crossing an internal border does not restart the clock. A fortnight in the Algarve is a fortnight off your French allowance.

For occasional visits this is entirely manageable, and many second-home owners live happily within it for years. But for anyone hoping to live near Duras full-time, to oversee a lengthy renovation in person, or to split most of the year between France and neighbouring countries, 90 days quickly becomes a straitjacket. Overstaying is not a technicality to be shrugged off: it can lead to fines, an entry ban and difficulty with any future application. If your honest intention is to spend more than roughly half the year in France, the short-stay route is not enough and you should be looking at a long-stay visa from the start.

A closely related point deserves its own heading, because it trips up more prospective movers than any other single misunderstanding.

Owning a French Home Does Not Grant Residency

This is one of the most important ideas to absorb before you go any further. British nationals remain entirely free to buy property in France. You can purchase a village house, a farmhouse or a small château without being a French resident at all, and without any nationality requirement whatsoever. Ownership is genuinely open to everyone.

But owning that property does not give you the right to live in it permanently. Property ownership and immigration status are two separate matters that happen to concern the same building. A French house is not a residence permit, and buying one does not create an entitlement to remain beyond the time allowed to a non-EU visitor. Nor will a mortgage-free home, on its own, make up for insufficient income or missing health cover in a visa assessment. Consulates look at your resources and your cover; a paid-off farmhouse is a nice asset to show, but it is not a substitute for the monthly income the rules ask you to demonstrate.

The practical lesson is one of sequence. It is perfectly sensible to buy first and move later, but the buying and the right to live there must be planned together. Do not complete on a house on the assumption that residence will simply follow. Decide which visa route fits your life, confirm you can meet its requirements, and let that inform how — and when — you settle into the home you have bought.

Resident Before 2021? The Withdrawal Agreement

If you were already lawfully resident in France before the end of the transition period, your position is quite different, and considerably more comfortable. Britons in that situation hold protected rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, and most now carry a dedicated residence card, often referred to as the WARP card (the Withdrawal Agreement Residence Permit).

Those rights broadly preserve the ability to live, and in many cases to work, in France on terms much closer to the pre-Brexit position. If this is you, the visa routes described below are not your path. What matters instead is keeping your documentation current, renewing on time, and holding on to the evidence of continuous residence that underpins your status. This is an entirely different situation from that of a new arrival, who must apply through the visa system before moving. If you are unsure which side of the line you fall on — perhaps you had a foot in both countries in 2020 — it is worth taking advice specific to your circumstances rather than guessing.

For everyone arriving fresh, the rest of this guide is the relevant part.

The Long-Stay Visa Routes

For new movers, the long-stay visa is the mechanism that turns a capped visitor stay into a real life in France. There is no single visa; the right one depends on what you will actually do after you arrive, and choosing honestly at this stage prevents serious difficulty later. Applying as a visitor while quietly planning to take a local job is exactly the kind of mismatch that causes problems at renewal.

The visitor visa (VLS-TS "visiteur")

For movers who do not intend to take paid employment in France, the route commonly used is the long-stay visitor visa, the VLS-TS "visiteur". It suits retirees, financially independent movers, and owners who want to spend far longer at a French home than the short-stay rules allow. The word "visitor" is a little misleading — it does not mean a short holiday. In this context it describes someone who intends to live in France without entering the French labour market. Once issued and correctly validated after arrival, it generally acts as both a long-stay visa and an initial residence permit for up to a year.

The working and self-employed routes

If you intend to earn a living in France, another route will fit better. A work or employee visa may suit someone with a qualifying French employment contract and any required authorisation. A self-employed, entrepreneur or profession libérale route may suit freelancers, consultants, tradespeople or business founders who can demonstrate a viable activity. There are also family routes for spouses, partners and qualifying relatives, and specialist categories for particular skills, study or investment. The essential task is to match the visa to your intended life, not to the easiest-looking application.

Applying before you travel

A long-stay application must normally be made from your country of legal residence, before you travel to France for the move. The process begins through the official France-Visas service (france-visas.gouv.fr): you complete the online application, then usually attend an appointment at the designated French consular service or visa application centre, where you provide biometric information and submit your passport and supporting documents. The long-stay visa fee is currently €99, plus a small visa-centre service fee where one applies, and a decision commonly follows in around two to three weeks, though this varies by consulate and season.

Start early. Consular appointments are not always immediately available, and an incomplete or inconsistent file causes delay. Translations, certified copies, proof of funds, insurance wording and accommodation evidence can all become sticking points. Do not book a removal date on the assumption that approval will arrive within a fixed window.

Income and Means Requirements

The single question a visitor-visa applicant is most often asked is whether they can support themselves without working in France. Applicants are typically required to show sufficient and dependable income, savings or other financial resources; comprehensive private health insurance for their initial residence; suitable accommodation, whether owned, rented or provided by a host; and an undertaking not to take paid employment.

As a guide, the financial benchmark is broadly the French minimum wage (SMIC): around €1,478 net per month — roughly €17,700 a year for a single person in 2026. That figure is linked to the SMIC and rises each year, and consulates assess it against your circumstances as a whole rather than as a rigid pass mark. A retired couple with two pensions presents a very different profile from someone relying on investment returns or savings drawdown. The sensible approach is to aim comfortably above the minimum and to show income that is stable and evidenced, not merely a healthy one-off balance. And, to repeat the earlier warning: do not assume that owning a mortgage-free house will automatically compensate for thin income or incomplete health cover.

Working and Self-Employment Options

Moving to the Duras area can ease the cost and pressure of everyday life, but it does not remove the need for a dependable income, and it is worth being realistic about how you will earn one legally in France. Local salaried jobs are limited: many are seasonal, part-time or dependent on personal recommendation, wages are often lower than newcomers expect, and French is usually essential even where clients speak English. Very few people move to rural south-west France and walk straight into a well-paid local post. Most arrive with pensions, savings, investment income, an established remote career or a business idea suited to the area.

Remote work deserves particular care. The towns around Duras increasingly offer fibre connectivity, and a home among the vines no longer means withdrawing from working life. But working from France can affect your immigration status, where your income is taxed, which country's social-security system applies, and whether you must register a French business. Do not assume that being paid by a foreign employer or overseas client places the activity outside the French system. Remote working under a visitor visa is especially sensitive, because that route does not permit local paid employment and the position on remote work for overseas organisations is a genuine grey area. Take individual advice before you rely on it.

For those setting up on their own, many newcomers consider the micro-entreprise regime, still widely called auto-entrepreneur. It offers a relatively straightforward way to register and run a small business — consulting, creative services, property care, gardening, cleaning or certain tourism services, subject to the rules for each trade. Turnover must stay within the annual ceilings — for 2026, €203,100 for sales of goods and certain accommodation, and €83,600 for services and professions libérales. Social-security contributions are calculated as a percentage of turnover, currently around 12.3% on sales of goods, 21.2% on commercial and artisanal services, and 25.6% on liberal (BNC) activities. Income tax can be simplified through an optional flat-rate versement libératoire of 1%, 1.7% or 2.2% of turnover, or handled under the standard regime with a fixed allowance. VAT need only be charged once turnover passes the franchise en base thresholds, currently €85,000 for goods and €37,500 for services.

The apparent simplicity can mislead. Because social charges are based on turnover rather than profit, a business with heavy materials, fuel or subcontractor costs may pay contributions before those costs are deducted — in which case a different structure could be more appropriate. Some activities also require professional qualifications, specialist insurance or registration; building trades, food businesses and tourist accommodation should never be launched on the assumption that registration alone is enough. An accountant who understands international clients earns their fee here.

Healthcare: PUMA, the Mutuelle and the S1

France's healthcare system has a well-earned reputation for high standards and good value, but it is not automatic for a new arrival, and Brexit removed the shortcut Britons once enjoyed. For standard treatment the state typically reimburses around 70% of an official tariff, with most residents holding a private top-up policy — a mutuelle — to cover some or all of the remainder. A standard GP consultation is charged at around €30 before reimbursement; mutuelle policies commonly range from about €30 to over €100 per month depending on age and cover.

New arrivals on a visitor visa normally need comprehensive private medical insurance when they apply and during their initial period in France. Eligibility to join the French system through PUMA (Protection universelle maladie) generally arises only after establishing stable and regular residence — commonly around three months — and applications, handled by the local CPAM, can take time. Keep your private policy active until CPAM has confirmed your entitlement, because a submitted application is not the same as approved cover, and a premature lapse can leave a serious gap. Once registered you receive a French social-security number and, in due course, a carte Vitale.

Pensioners have a distinct and generally simpler route. Eligible UK state pensioners may obtain an S1 certificate, which lets them register for French healthcare while the United Kingdom remains responsible for the cost. The S1 is lodged with CPAM, after which you enter the French reimbursement system on the same basis as an insured French resident — so a mutuelle may still be worth holding. The S1 also carries a useful tax side-effect, noted below. Around Duras, hospital care is available in Bergerac (roughly 35 minutes by car), Marmande, Sainte-Foy-la-Grande and Villeneuve-sur-Lot, with wider specialist services towards Bordeaux. For emergencies, France uses 15 for the SAMU and the European number 112.

Tax Residency: When France Becomes Your Tax Home

Becoming a French resident changes far more than the address on your bank statements. Tax residency is not decided solely by counting days: France looks at several connecting factors, any one of which can be enough. These include where your main home or household — your foyer — is located, where you spend most of your time (broadly, more than half the year), where your principal professional activity takes place, and where the centre of your economic interests lies. Spending fewer days in France does not necessarily keep you outside French tax residence if your home and family life are centred there.

Once you are French tax-resident, you will generally need to declare your worldwide income in France — pensions, employment, investment returns, rental income and more. Declaring is not the same as being taxed twice: the UK–France double-tax treaty allocates taxing rights and can require France to give a credit, but the income may still need to appear on your French return. In broad terms, UK government-service pensions generally remain taxable in the UK; UK state and private pensions generally become taxable in France once you are resident; and rental income from a UK property generally stays taxable in the UK while still being reported in France. French income tax is charged in progressive bands per part of the household, running from 0% up to about €11,500, then 11%, 30%, 41% and 45% on the highest incomes.

The detail most likely to surprise newcomers is prélèvements sociaux — social charges of 17.2% on rental income and property capital gains, which can apply on top of income tax. Here the S1 pays off again: people covered by another EU/EEA/UK health system rather than the French one benefit from a reduced rate of 7.5%, because they are exempt from the CSG and CRDS elements. This is precisely the kind of interaction — healthcare status affecting a tax bill — that makes cross-border advice worth paying for. A bilingual accountant around Duras who handles international residents routinely can save you far more than the fee.

A Realistic Step-by-Step

Put together, moving to France after Brexit tends to follow a recognisable sequence. Treat this as a shape to plan around rather than a rigid checklist, and adapt it to your route.

1. Decide your intention honestly. Full-time move, part-year, or holiday home? Working, retired, or self-funded? Everything downstream depends on this answer.
2. Choose the right route. For most self-funded movers that means the VLS-TS visitor visa; for those earning in France, a work or self-employed route. Check you can meet the income and cover requirements before committing.
3. Get your finances and evidence in order. Assemble proof of stable income or resources at or above the SMIC guide, private health insurance for the initial period, and accommodation evidence. Consistency across documents matters.
4. Apply through France-Visas before you travel, from your country of residence, then attend your consular appointment. Budget the €99 fee and allow for the two-to-three-week decision, plus appointment lead time.
5. Move, then validate. After arriving, validate the VLS-TS online within three months through the OFII-linked service, and pay the validation tax — currently €300 (it rose from €200 in May 2026).
6. Establish residence. Register with CPAM for healthcare once you meet the stable-residence test (or lodge your S1 if you are a pensioner), open a French bank account, and sort your tax position.
7. Renew and build. Begin your carte de séjour renewal before the initial permission expires — typically a couple of months ahead, through your préfecture. After around five years of continuous legal residence you may qualify for a long-term carte de résident, which now requires B1-level French and a short civic exam.

Keep copies of every application, receipt, tax document, insurance policy and proof of address from the day you arrive. The longer-term path rewards good record-keeping.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

A handful of mistakes recur often enough to be worth naming directly. Miscounting Schengen days is the classic: remember the rolling 180-day window and that time in other Schengen countries counts too. Assuming a house equals residency is the next; ownership and immigration status never merge. Applying under the wrong visa — visitor while intending to work — stores up trouble at renewal, so match the route to reality from the start.

Two timing traps catch people after arrival. Forgetting to validate the VLS-TS within three months can affect the legality of your stay and your ability to renew, so treat it as an immediate priority. And letting private health insurance lapse before CPAM has confirmed cover leaves a gap exactly when you can least afford one. On the money side, underestimating social charges and the reach of French tax residency surprises many newcomers; take advice before you move, not after your first French return. Finally, do not book a removal van against an assumed approval date — consular timelines vary, and the paperwork sets the pace.

Why Duras and Its Surrounding Areas Make Sense Post-Brexit

None of this should discourage a British mover. Thousands of people organise successful moves to France every year; they simply match their plans to the correct legal route and prepare the paperwork in advance. And of all the corners of France in which to do that, the country around Duras is among the most reassuring, precisely because you will not be the first.

This particular sweet spot sits where Lot-et-Garonne, the Dordogne and the Gironde meet, framed by Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Bergerac, Villeréal, Lauzun and Marmande, with the Château de Duras and the Côtes de Duras vineyards at its heart. What makes it work for a post-Brexit arrival is not only the golden stone and the unhurried markets, but the infrastructure that a deep, established British and Dutch community has quietly built up over decades. New arrivals here are not pioneers. Others have already navigated the same visa applications, healthcare registrations, renewals and tax returns, and the network of neighbours, bilingual advisers, notaires and accountants that grew up around them is exactly what an unfamiliar system needs to feel manageable.

The practical advantages compound. Bilingual professionals can explain a VLS-TS file or an S1 registration in plain English before emotion or deadline takes over. Local property taxes tend to compare favourably with British council-tax expectations. Bergerac provides an airport, a hospital and a railway station within easy reach, while Sainte-Foy and Marmande add their own services and rail links, so the area is connected without being crowded. And the life itself — the château on the skyline, the grower's bottle opened as the evening light settles across the fields, the long Sunday lunch — is the thing that made you research this in the first place, still intact on the far side of all the paperwork.

Brexit changed the rules, but it did not remove the option. With the right route chosen early and the file prepared in good time, a move to Duras is very much within reach. The most useful next step is a conversation with someone who lives here and has watched others make exactly this journey. Talk to Tina about matching your plans to the correct route and turning a broad idea into a properly prepared, practical move to south-west France.