Another British student in France hits admin roadblock

Local France

17-07-2025

Last month,
The Local reported that a student hit an administrative roadblock, when she reapplied for the government-backed Visale rent guarantor scheme
so she can remain in halls of residence for the final year of her degree.
When we contacted Action Logement, the agency that operates the scheme, at the time, a spokesperson told us: 'This was an administrative error, as the residence permit issued under Article 50 of the Withdrawal Agreement for British nationals does indeed allow them to live, work, and study in France.
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'Students in question should therefore be eligible for Visale, even if their residence permit does not mention that they are a student, provided they can provide proof of their studies.'
According to the spokesperson, Visale staff had been given updated and corrected information, and that affected students could either log on to the website or contact the call centre, on the free phone line 09 70 800 800. The phone line is staffed Monday to Friday, from 9am to 6pm.
But appears that the issue isn't completely resolved – though, now, it seems that persistence and getting past the algorithm and to an actual administrator does work.
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A second British student living legally in France with an Article 50 Withdrawal Agreement residency card has reported extended difficulties getting the system to recognise their right to live, work and study in France.
In both cases the issue was the same - the students hold the post-Brexit
carte de séjour
residency card known as Article 50 TUE or WARP, which authorises "
toutes activités professionnelles
".
But university administrators rejected the applications because their card does not have the word
étudiant
(student) on it - despite the post Brexit card allowing both study, any kind of work or living in France without work.
The good news is that, after reading our original article, and pointing out their residency card was a 'Brexit' one, their Visale application was accepted – but only after several days of back and forth, numerous rejections and, once, having their file suddenly closed.
Unlike the previous case, which was a renewal for a third-year student, this was for a young man heading to university in south-west France for the first time, at the height of the annual summer rush for student accommodation.
The family, who prefer to remain anonymous, said that the delay had meant they risked missing out on suitable student accommodation.
'I saw your article and thought, 'we're in exactly the same situation here',' the student's mother told us.
'We tried different ways and they were all rejected. We sent his details off about 20 times. We called and spoke to someone and said, 'Look, it's just you're just not recognising your residency card because it doesn't have the word student on it'.
'And, she said, 'that's fine, don't worry, I'll get somebody to manually verify it'.'
Even after this conversation, it took several more attempts to confirm the information.
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She added: 'We've got an apartment holding, and they can't hold it any more.
'We spent ages looking for an apartment – and they obviously want a guarantee, but we couldn't provide it.'
The Local contacted Action Logement for a comment on this second issue.
However, only a few hours after speaking to The Local, the mother confirmed via email that their latest attempt to secure a Visale guarantee was successful.
Neither of these cases are unique. After the first case this summer, Justine Wallington, co-chair of post-Brexit help group Remain in France Together told us: 'Sadly, this sort of misunderstanding is something we continue to see across various areas and [we have] recently escalated issues for
bourses
[grants] Crous and university applications.'
This is the sort of worrying, frustrating administration issue that will continue to arise for those Britons living in France with their very particular post-Brexit rights.
As Wallington pointed out: 'The issue is often not bad intent but a lack of awareness among frontline staff who aren't always properly informed about the specific protections the Withdrawal Agreement provides.'
Right now, determination and an understanding of post-Brexit rights appear – just about – to be enough to cut through administration blockages. The concern is, as time passes, how long that will stand, without efforts to streamline systems now.
Have you had problems dealing with French administration because you live in France on a post-Brexit Withdrawal Agreement residency card? Let us know in the comments section below, or by emailing [e-mail]