A French court has dealt a massive blow to British expats and UK nationals dreaming to buy a second home in France.
On Thursday, the Constitutional Council rejected as an amendment to the immigration bill that would have scrapped the 90-day rule for some Brits – ruling it unconstitutional.
This legislation would have allowed Britons who own a second home in France to be automatically granted a long-stay visa.
As a consequence, these UK nationals would have been able to spend as much time as they wanted in France, and would have had to be careful with how many days they spent in the EU only after crossing the French border.
The amendment was tabled by French senator Martine Berthet in November after receiving complaints from British second-home owners in her region, the Savoie.
Upon promoting her amendment, Ms Berthet said UK nationals can’t contribute to the local economy with the 90-day rule in place.
The amendment had sparked huge hopes among expats and wannabe second-home owners in France, and prompted the number of Britons looking for a property in the EU country to surge six-fold over the past few months.
The court’s decision is final as there is no right to appeal against the Constitutional Council in France.
The 90-day rule started affecting Britons after Brexit. It bars non-EU nationals from remaining in the whole territory of the European Union for more than 90 days within a 180-day period.
As it stands, if second-home owners want to stay longer in France, they need to apply for a temporary long-stay visa of up to six months.
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