Carte de séjour delays continue to impact foreigners in France

September 29, 2026 admin 21 Views 0 Comments

Waiting for a residency permit or visa to come through when living in another country can be a hugely stressful experience. Several foreign residents in France, who are caught up in lengthy or unpredictable permit renewal procedures, told The Local about how the uncertainty has hit their daily lives.

In April this year France’s interior minister announced a plan to halve the waiting time for foreigners in getting or renewing the carte de séjour residency permit, describing the current delays as unacceptable.

That pledge was based on a plan to hire 500 more staff around various prefectures and relax some of the rules around renewals.

But foreigners in France continue to experience long awaits and information blackouts when trying to renew permits.

Experiences vary depending on where people live and which préfecture or sous-préfecture was handling their application, but a common theme among those waiting definitely the feeling of uncertainty.

‘I risk becoming undocumented’

For Eric, a British resident living near Toulon, in the Var département of south eastern France, the issue became particularly worrying when his five-year post-Brexit residency card expired while his renewal application was still being processed.

He had originally applied for the residency document under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, and said the initial application had gone smoothly. When it came time to renew, however, the process was much slower.

His wife, who submitted her application at the same time, was contacted for her fingerprint appointment before her existing card expired. Eric was not.

Shortly after his card expired, he was stopped during a routine police check at a péage in Antibes on the French Riviera. The officers asked for his papers.

“The gendarmes noticed my visa had expired. I told them I had applied for a renewal but had not received anything yet. Clearly, the different departments don’t speak to each other. I told them: please call the immigration office – they will tell you I have applied. I was kept at the péage for 20 minutes.”

The experience made the consequences of the delay very real. “It was a perfect example of how it can impact you on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

He was later given a récépissé – a temporary document proving that an application is being processed – but when that document itself approached its expiry date, he still had not received his new card.

He contacted the local immigration office again and was eventually asked to provide scans of his passport, expired residency card and récépissé.

At that appointment, he was issued another temporary récépissé, this time for only three months.

“They couldn’t tell me why it was only valid for three months, or why the application had taken so long in the first place. And if there’s a problem, why hasn’t anyone told me there’s a problem?,” he said.

The uncertainty has also affected his travel plans. “I wanted to go back to the UK and visit family but after I didn’t get my récépissé renewed in time, I decided to not book any flight until I got the documents, postponed plans and I’m now not going to go until Christmas. If that’s even possible.”

Eric has lived in the country for years, works and pays taxes in France. Yet the delays have left him worrying about what could happen in the future. “I risk becoming, on paper, an undocumented migrant,” he said.

‘Constantly on my mind’

One American resident, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of any repercussions, who has lived in western France since 2025, applied for a residency permit three and a half months before her visa expired.

She says she followed the required procedure and submitted her documents within the relevant deadlines, but has since received one récépissé after another.

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“It’s a frustrating situation. It’s constantly in the back of my mind,” she said.

The uncertainty has also made it difficult to make plans.

“I can’t do anything because what if they give me an appointment for the next day and I’m out of town?,” she said.

Travel has become particularly stressful. “People around me tell me I can travel with the récépissé but I’m not comfortable taking that risk. I have no guarantee I won’t have an issue coming back into the country”, she said.

Her current récépissé is valid until the end of November. Beyond that, she does not know what will happen. The American has contacted both her préfecture and the national ANEF online system several times, but said she has repeatedly been told that there is no visibility on exactly how or when documents will be processed.

Fear of not being able to work

Another British resident, who has also preferred to remain anonymous, has been living in France, in the Yvelines département in the Paris region for several years.

She first experienced problems renewing her residency documents several years ago. Although her application was eventually processed, she had to wait months for her new titre de séjour and spent much of that time contacting different offices for updates.

She told The Local the process has since remained unpredictable. One of her main frustrations is that the documents required can appear to vary depending on the préfecture or even the person dealing with the application. “There’s a lack of consistency. It’s different depending on who you speak to. Different people ask for different documents,” Amy said.

On one occasion, she explained that her entire application was returned and she was told to submit the dossier again, with different administrative requirements and fees.

For someone whose right to work depends on having valid residency documentation, the consequences can be serious. “If I don’t have these documents, I can’t work, so I can’t stay in this country,” she said.

She also described the situation as quite stressful. “The uncertainty has definitely affected my mental health, my physical health as well. The problem is that it’s different every time, so you can’t even prepare yourself.”

The Local has previously shared dozens of stories of foreigners in France affected by préfecture delays with sleepless nights, panic attacks and cancelled travel plans, among the many problems reported.

In December 2025, MPs in France’s National Assembly passed a bill that would make the renewal of some long-term residency permits automatic. This raised hopes for many foreigners in France, however as The Local reported last week the progress of the bill in the Senate has been problematic. And given the Senate is dominated by the right, it is considered unlikely to get through.

If you’ve experienced a similar situation and would like to share your experience, please comment below or email us at news@thelocal.fr

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