Regulations for entry to France

pagey

pagey

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just received this in an email



There is still some confusion as to what documents motorhomers will have to produce when entering France after the lockdown has lifted. Tourists visiting France have to show proof of where they will be staying during their holiday i.e. a hotel/ gite booking confirmation, but obviously anyone visiting by motorhome may be staying at aires or campsites that have not been booked. Confirmation of what is required was therefore requested from the French Consulate in London & below is their reply;


Dear Sir/ Madam,

All foreigners when entering France should be in a position to produce to the Immigration officer the following documents:


1. Motive of stay in France:

- for tourism: hotel reservation (in the absence of a hotel reservation, the traveller has to prove that he possesses means of living of at least 120€ per day, see below)

2, documents from a travel agency ;

- for a professional visit: letter from the employer, invitation from a French firm or organization ;

- for a private visit: “attestation d'accueil” delivered by the “mairie” (see below)

2. Means of living (cash, traveller's cheques, valid international credit card...) along with an insurance certificate covering all medical, hospital and funeral expenses, which may be incurred during the entire period of your stay in France, including repatriation costs on medical grounds

3. Guarantees of return: return ticket.


Cordialement/ Regards,

MT

Consulat Général de France à Londres/ French Consulate General, London

21 Cromwell Road

LONDON – SW7 2EN

www.ambafrance-uk.org


Anyone staying with a friend or relative will have to ask their relative to apply for an 'Attestation d'accueil' from the local Mairie which costs €30 & must be sent to you by post before entering France, so it can be produced at the port.

Visitors must also have insurance covering medical and hospital expenses, including social assistance, for the care you could receive in France (the minimum coverage required is €30,000)

You must also have a passport issued for less than 10 years and whose validity is at least 3 months longer than the expected date of departure


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pagey said:
just received this in an email



There is still some confusion as to what documents motorhomers will have to produce when entering France after the lockdown has lifted. Tourists visiting France have to show proof of where they will be staying during their holiday i.e. a hotel/ gite booking confirmation, but obviously anyone visiting by motorhome may be staying at aires or campsites that have not been booked. Confirmation of what is required was therefore requested from the French Consulate in London & below is their reply;


Dear Sir/ Madam,

All foreigners when entering France should be in a position to produce to the Immigration officer the following documents:


1. Motive of stay in France:

- for tourism: hotel reservation (in the absence of a hotel reservation, the traveller has to prove that he possesses means of living of at least 120€ per day, see below)

2, documents from a travel agency ;

- for a professional visit: letter from the employer, invitation from a French firm or organization ;

- for a private visit: “attestation d'accueil” delivered by the “mairie” (see below)

2. Means of living (cash, traveller's cheques, valid international credit card...) along with an insurance certificate covering all medical, hospital and funeral expenses, which may be incurred during the entire period of your stay in France, including repatriation costs on medical grounds

3. Guarantees of return: return ticket.


Cordialement/ Regards,

MT

Consulat Général de France à Londres/ French Consulate General, London

21 Cromwell Road

LONDON – SW7 2EN

www.ambafrance-uk.org


Anyone staying with a friend or relative will have to ask their relative to apply for an 'Attestation d'accueil' from the local Mairie which costs €30 & must be sent to you by post before entering France, so it can be produced at the port.

Visitors must also have insurance covering medical and hospital expenses, including social assistance, for the care you could receive in France (the minimum coverage required is €30,000)

You must also have a passport issued for less than 10 years and whose validity is at least 3 months longer than the expected date of departure


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So if you want to tour round in your MH, you appear the be stuffed!
 
Hard to see how if you arrive in a MH you could show means of €120 a day - how do you show how many days you'll be in France? We often travel down through France to Spain, but are never sure how long before we cross the French-Spanish border. When (if?) things open up it will be very interesting to see how this is implemented in practice.
 
Wonder what is required if just transiting through to Spain? There must be some sort of transit visa or pass?🤔

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for the means part If you want to tour from what I see you just need to show a means to support yourself, here in France a credit card will suffice for that as opposed to a bundle of notes or bank account detail.
 
pagey said:
just received this in an email



There is still some confusion as to what documents motorhomers will have to produce when entering France after the lockdown has lifted. Tourists visiting France have to show proof of where they will be staying during their holiday i.e. a hotel/ gite booking confirmation, but obviously anyone visiting by motorhome may be staying at aires or campsites that have not been booked. Confirmation of what is required was therefore requested from the French Consulate in London & below is their reply;


Dear Sir/ Madam,

All foreigners when entering France should be in a position to produce to the Immigration officer the following documents:


1. Motive of stay in France:

- for tourism: hotel reservation (in the absence of a hotel reservation, the traveller has to prove that he possesses means of living of at least 120€ per day, see below)

2, documents from a travel agency ;

- for a professional visit: letter from the employer, invitation from a French firm or organization ;

- for a private visit: “attestation d'accueil” delivered by the “mairie” (see below)

2. Means of living (cash, traveller's cheques, valid international credit card...) along with an insurance certificate covering all medical, hospital and funeral expenses, which may be incurred during the entire period of your stay in France, including repatriation costs on medical grounds

3. Guarantees of return: return ticket.


Cordialement/ Regards,

MT

Consulat Général de France à Londres/ French Consulate General, London

21 Cromwell Road

LONDON – SW7 2EN

www.ambafrance-uk.org


Anyone staying with a friend or relative will have to ask their relative to apply for an 'Attestation d'accueil' from the local Mairie which costs €30 & must be sent to you by post before entering France, so it can be produced at the port.

Visitors must also have insurance covering medical and hospital expenses, including social assistance, for the care you could receive in France (the minimum coverage required is €30,000)

You must also have a passport issued for less than 10 years and whose validity is at least 3 months longer than the expected date of departure


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There are several issues which arrise from that reply, which was answered to a request from a motorhomer, but does not seem to be relevant to the question.

Firstly, it refers to 'all foreigners', but does it mean all non-EU foreigners'? Do the same rules apply to EU Citizens and Residents? Unclear.

Secondly, item 2. 'Documents from a travel agency' for a private visit requires a 'Attestation d'accueil' which has to come from the Mairie, not the travel agency.

Thirdly, the requirement to prove means of €120 per day presumably refers to each person - including children and infants? So a family of 4 coming to France for 2 weeks would have to show ability to pay €6,720. Will the immigration officer have the ability to check credit card limits? Same question would apply to debit cards, which the reply does not mention. My Polish debit card has been refused at petrol pumps in France, so presumably does not meet the criterion in the reply of 'internationally acceptable'.

Fourthly, It is not clear whether, if these requirements apply to EU Citizens and Residents, the holding of an EHIC satisfies the requirements of the insurance cover of €30,000, and funeral expenses, and repatriation. I am covered by Polish health cover in Poland but costs are recoverable from UK NHS, and my EHIC card is issued by UK NHS. This could be problematic.

Even ignoring the fact that the response might only refer to non-EU 'Foreigners' it is a poor response to an UK resident wanting to take a MH into France, so maybe lifted by a junior employee from a standard text.

I suggest pagey asks for further clarification in respect of MHs and I give my authority to quote the above, albeit leaving out the EU Citizens/Residents references, although I would like to know the French Governments answer to how these requirement apply to EU Citizens/Residents.

Long post but it all needs addressing.

Might be a bit over the top for someone going to Dieppe for a weekend.

Geoff

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hi geoff the info comes from a sit called mysite in france
 
Funny how half a dozen people reading the same things can have half a dozen different emphasise or interpretations. I subscribe to the Motorhoming France emails and saw this particular one this morning. My interpretation (for what it is worth) is that:

1. This is a reply to a question specifically about motorhomes. It doesn't really clarify the issue but provides some useful pointers. There is a key phrase at the beginning of the email that says anyone visiting France "should be in a position to produce" the various documents - a bit like you should be in a position to produce your spare light bulbs and warning triangle etc.

2. "Foreigners" means non EU citizens. Free movement is a fundamental right in the EU so it follows that "foreigner" won't apply to citizens of other EU countries. Residents in a specific EU country who are "foreigners" are, I believe, not covered by the freedom of movement afforded to EU citizens.

3. The entry requirements are confused and seem to be based on fixed destination visits rather than touring. Does that matter I wonder? Probably not as they certainly won't be checking every vehicle to that level of detail otherwise you'll probably be able to walk across the channel on the queue of ferries waiting to disembark.

Hopefully, providing your passport fits the bill, you won't be asked to show credit cards, health insurance etc unless something goes wrong - in which case you might get the full attention of the authorities. Of course, you would have to be pretty dim to travel without them but it is probably a reasonable risk in the circumstances.

4. It's correct to say that you can only get the attestation d'accueil from the local Mairie (for a bargain €30) but I guess that is only if you would be staying with the person you are visiting. It is hard to see how it could apply if you rocked up and stayed on a local site. Still, you never know . . .

Personally I will travel with some cold meat and dairy produce so if they do start taking an interest I will fill their day with joy as they discover and confiscate the contraband and totally forget about all the other admin details . . . .
 
Working on the assumption that a UK EHIC (which I hold) does ot cover funeral, repatriation(dead or alive) I would b very reluctant to take out insurance for that if I were only transiting France from the Belgian border to Dunkirk, which I have done frequently on the way to a British MOT.

Hopefully next time, if asked, I could produce a Polish Residency card and that would stop further questions.

What does gus-lopez think about that?

Do British Citizens resident in France have to meet all the criteria listed? If not how could the French impose the same on British Citizens resident in other EU countries?

Geoff

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nicholsong said:
What does @gus-lopez think about that?
Click to expand...
I will be doing what I usually do & travelling with the new identity card & that's all I'd be offering if stopped. the Withdrawal act states I need nothing else when travelling within europe. I only need a passport to enter/exit the Uk-
Exiting the UK into France the residency in another EU state gives the person transit rights over which the French have no say. they cannot ask for anything . The fact that you have residency in an EU state means that you have complied with all & any requirement that could be asked of the 3rd country tourist already to obtain said residency, therefore nothing can be asked of you.
No chance I'm getting any type of insurance , I've never bothered in the past .I have an spanish ehic if needed.+I have adac cover which covers repatriation if necessary as does my spanish vehicle insurance,I think but not 100% on that?.
 
gus-lopez said:
I will be doing what I usually do & travelling with the new identity card & that's all I'd be offering if stopped. the Withdrawal act states I need nothing else when travelling within europe. I only need a passport to enter/exit the Uk-
Exiting the UK into France the residency in another EU state gives the person transit rights over which the French have no say. they cannot ask for anything . The fact that you have residency in an EU state means that you have complied with all & any requirement that could be asked of the 3rd country tourist already to obtain said residency, therefore nothing can be asked of you.
No chance I'm getting any type of insurance , I've never bothered in the past .I have an spanish ehic if needed.+I have adac cover which covers repatriation if necessary as does my spanish vehicle insurance,I think but not 100% on that?.
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Ditto but with french equivalent
 
simplyjimbo said:
In a statement issued today in 'France Connexion' it is understood that the UK will not be required to provide the details as mentioned by the OP.

However, for those of you who continually knock the Country, have a lovely staycation.
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So are you saying that the French consulate in London are wrong i hope so as that would not surprise me ..left hand and right hand etc
 
nicholsong said:
Working on the assumption that a UK EHIC (which I hold) does ot cover funeral, repatriation(dead or alive) I would b very reluctant to take out insurance for that if I were only transiting France from the Belgian border to Dunkirk, which I have done frequently on the way to a British MOT.

Hopefully next time, if asked, I could produce a Polish Residency card......
Click to expand...

Quick question: How can a permanent Polish resident hold a UK EHIC - is it something to do with your entitlements granted to you prior to the 1st Jan 2021.

We looked at making a move abroad and were kindly informed by the bigwigs that we would need to relinquish our UK EHICs as soon as we became official residents in another country.
 
jongood said:
This seems to suggest that the barriers are lifting

news.sky.com

COVID-19: EU set to ease holiday travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people

The bloc is also proposing a list of countries from which tourists could be allowed to enter without needing vaccination.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
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Yep. (y) Had a message at 5.30am from my son in the Netherlands. Now need to wait and see what the Dutch Government put on their website……….each EU country is still making its own rules.

2nd jab on 4th June, then there will probably be a 14 day wait…….but who knows.🤷‍♂️

Couldn’t give a monkeys about a holiday, we just want to see our family.(y)
 
Have we all got the NHS App as well? I’m not talking about the NHS COVID-19 Track and Trace, but the main NHS App…….That’s where you’ll find your proof of vaccinations.

I may be preaching to the already knowledgeable, but I’ve only just found it. (y)
 
pagey said:
just received this in an email



There is still some confusion as to what documents motorhomers will have to produce when entering France after the lockdown has lifted. Tourists visiting France have to show proof of where they will be staying during their holiday i.e. a hotel/ gite booking confirmation, but obviously anyone visiting by motorhome may be staying at aires or campsites that have not been booked. Confirmation of what is required was therefore requested from the French Consulate in London & below is their reply;


Dear Sir/ Madam,

All foreigners when entering France should be in a position to produce to the Immigration officer the following documents:


1. Motive of stay in France:

- for tourism: hotel reservation (in the absence of a hotel reservation, the traveller has to prove that he possesses means of living of at least 120€ per day, see below)

2, documents from a travel agency ;

- for a professional visit: letter from the employer, invitation from a French firm or organization ;

- for a private visit: “attestation d'accueil” delivered by the “mairie” (see below)

2. Means of living (cash, traveller's cheques, valid international credit card...) along with an insurance certificate covering all medical, hospital and funeral expenses, which may be incurred during the entire period of your stay in France, including repatriation costs on medical grounds

3. Guarantees of return: return ticket.


Cordialement/ Regards,

MT

Consulat Général de France à Londres/ French Consulate General, London

21 Cromwell Road

LONDON – SW7 2EN

www.ambafrance-uk.org


Anyone staying with a friend or relative will have to ask their relative to apply for an 'Attestation d'accueil' from the local Mairie which costs €30 & must be sent to you by post before entering France, so it can be produced at the port.

Visitors must also have insurance covering medical and hospital expenses, including social assistance, for the care you could receive in France (the minimum coverage required is €30,000)

You must also have a passport issued for less than 10 years and whose validity is at least 3 months longer than the expected date of departure


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This is no different to many other countries, a friend went to Japan Ona trip linked to Judo, he was just going to organise a Hotel when he arrived. However as he did not have any accommodation booked he was placed on a plane and returned to the U.K. ( 11 hours on a plane both ways he won’t make that mistake again) We just have to live with what we voted for. France is a sovereign country and can make their own laws and take control of their boarders ;)
 
Sapper520 said:
Yep. (y) Had a message at 5.30am from my son in the Netherlands. Now need to wait and see what the Dutch Government put on their website……….each EU country is still making its own rules.

2nd jab on 4th June, then there will probably be a 14 day wait…….but who knows.🤷‍♂️

Couldn’t give a monkeys about a holiday, we just want to see our family.(y)
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Each EU country making their own rules.....whatever next

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Blue Knight said:
Quick question: How can a permanent Polish resident hold a UK EHIC - is it something to do with your entitlements granted to you prior to the 1st Jan 2021.

We looked at making a move abroad and were kindly informed by the bigwigs that we would need to relinquish our UK EHICs as soon as we became official residents in another country.
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Could be because they are a U.K. National have an NI number and pay tax’s
 
Blue Knight said:
Quick question: How can a permanent Polish resident hold a UK EHIC - is it something to do with your entitlements granted to you prior to the 1st Jan 2021.

We looked at making a move abroad and were kindly informed by the bigwigs that we would need to relinquish our UK EHICs as soon as we became official residents in another country.
Click to expand...
We are permanent EU residents in possession of a UK EHIC card.....we paid into the UK system whilst working there and are entitled to be supported by this....both of us are in pensionable age groups....
 
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jumar said:
We are permanent EU residents in possession of a UK GHIC card.....we paid into the UK system whilst working there and are entitled to be supported by this....both of us are in pensionable age groups....
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So I'm guessing that you have the UK S1 or A1 document mentioned below on the Govt website? Or an E121? Looks like you qualify through having already been resident before 1st January 2021. Doesn't look like anyone trying now would qualify but I could be misreading the Govt's own guidance.

Who can apply for a GHIC​

You can apply for a GHIC if you:

  • live in the UK
  • normally live in the UK but are studying in the EU
  • live in the EU and have been issued with a UK S1 or A1 document
  • are an eligible family member or dependant of one of the above

Who can apply for a new UK EHIC​

  • a UK State Pensioner or someone in receipt of other UK social security benefits, and you started living in the EU before 1 January 2021 and you have a registered S1 form or E121
 
jumar said:
We are permanent EU residents in possession of a UK EHIC card.....we paid into the UK system whilst working there and are entitled to be supported by this....both of us are in pensionable age groups....
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My Polish friends are either in the U.K. working and contributing, one will retire soon and return to Poland with a U.K. state pension he has paid in to 👍
 
Blue Knight said:
Quick question: How can a permanent Polish resident hold a UK EHIC - is it something to do with your entitlements granted to you prior to the 1st Jan 2021.
Click to expand...
It is to save excessive costs. Originally the host state where you were resident provided the card .Problem was if you then fell ill in say France they would send the bill to Poland who would then send it to the UK. To cut costs it was agreed for all EU states that the country supplying state pension & therefore the S1 form, would be responsible for supplying the EHIC card. You could not apply for it online you had to apply to the Overseas Benefit Team in newcastle.By all acconts the card is different to what was the online EHIC in that the oap's ,when shown at a UK medical facility, shows that the holder is entitled to UK healthcare.
They are no longer available EXCEPT to people who were resident before the end of the transition period & are not yet in receipt of a state pension.
Coolcats said:
My Polish friends are either in the U.K. working and contributing, one will retire soon and return to Poland with a U.K. state pension he has paid in to 👍
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He will be entitled to a Uk oap's ehic if the UK is the payer of the greater part of his EU amalgamated pension. They add all the countries they have worked in together & you actually get more money even on basic rates & the country with the most years paid is responsible for the healthcare+ehic

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