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French authorities warn over ‘black market’ in paid residency permit appointments

Foreigners in France trying to settle residency permits have been warned against paying for appointments to obtain a carte de séjour.

Published: 17 June 2019 12:42 CEST

French authorities warn over 'black market' in paid residency permit appointments

Local authorities have warned against paying for appointments. Photo: AFP

The préfecture of Seine-Saint-Denis is one of several areas of France where it is so difficult to get appointments for residency permits that a 'black market' has sprung up in people offering to arrange a rendez-vous in exchange for money.

As revealed by The Local earlier this month, in several areas there is such high demand for appointments that securing a time slot can be extremely difficult.

However, this week the Seine-Saint-Denis préfecture has posted a warning on its website about these practices.

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The authority warns: “Be very careful, do not accept any paid online appointments.

“We recommend that you do not follow up on offers to make paid online appointments and that you do not forward these offers to third parties in any form whatsoever.

“The prefecture reminds residents that all appointments offered on its website are free of charge.”

As The Local's investigation revealed, there are several Facebook pages and websites that are offering to arrange speedy appointments at préfectures in exchange for fees of between €20 and €120.

Although the appointments are free many local authorities – especially in areas where there is a large British population – have reported being swamped by applications for the carte de séjour residency permit.

And it seems that some people are resorting to paying in an attempt to jump the queue – leaving others facing even longer waits.

The situation for British people is further complicated by uncertainty over Brexit – with some local préfectures saying they will no longer accept applications from Brits until after Britain has left the EU, which is currently scheduled for October 31st.

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Brits in Europe won right to vote for life in UK but questions remain

What’s in the law?

The Elections Act 2022 introduced several changes to the current legislation on electoral participation. Among these, it removed the rule by which British citizens lose their voting rights in the UK if they have lived abroad for more than 15 years

The new rules also abolished the requirement to have been previously registered in the UK electoral roll to become an overseas voter. In addition, the registration in the electoral roll will now last up to three years instead of only one year.

It is estimated that these changes could increase the number of overseas voter registrations by some 3 million. But the way new measures will be applied in practice is still to be defined.

READ ALSO: ‘Mixed feelings’ – British citizens in Europe finally get right to vote for life

Defining the practicalities

Under the new law, Britons living abroad will have to register to vote in the last place they were registered in the UK. This means that people who have never lived in the UK will be ineligible to vote, regardless of how long they have been overseas, while those who left when they were children will be able to use a parent or guardian’s address.

But given that the UK does not require residents to register with local councils, how to prove previous UK residence? “Typical documents accepted as a proof of residence are Council tax or utilities bills, but not everyone will have them or will have kept them in an international move,” says Fiona Godfrey, co-founder of the British in Europe coalition.

Ballot papers are pictured in stacks in a count centre as part of the 2019 UK general election. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP)

Other questions concern how people will effectively cast their ballot. UK citizens overseas will be able to vote by post or by proxy or in person at their polling station if they are in the UK at the time of the election. However, few people are likely to travel to the UK for an election and in the past there have problems and delays with postal voting.

The Electoral Commission has recommended that overseas electors appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf. But who could that be for people who have been away from their constituency for a long time?

New secondary legislation will have to answer these questions, defining how to be included in the electoral roll and how to exercise the voting right in practice.

According to British in Europe, the government should present draft legislation in the first half of the year so that the parliament can adopt it before summer and registrations of overseas voters can start in the autumn.

British in Europe survey

British in Europe are currently running a survey to understand the difficulties UK citizens abroad may face in the registration and voting process, as well as their intention to participate in elections.

The survey asks for instance which documents people can access to prove their previous residence in the UK, what problems they had voting in the past, and if and how they plan to vote in the future.

“We need to get an up-to-date picture of British citizens living around the world and have information to make recommendations to the government, as it prepares secondary legislation,” Godfrey said. “If millions of people will exercise their voting rights, there will be consequences for council registration offices, post office and authorities that will manage the process, among other things” she argued.

The right to vote concerns only UK parliamentary elections and national referendums, not elections in the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, or at local level.

The survey is open to UK citizens living anywhere in the world and is available at this link.

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