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@ameliagentleman Can I say a word or two about #theforgetten @BritishInEurope especially people in France? Like the UK, since 2003, France doesn't require #EUcitizens to register, unlike other countries. We do, however, have the right to a residency permit, called a carte de séjour, as long as...
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope We fulfill certain criteria. These include income, whether we are working, students, or retired, how long we have been here, etc. Many thousands of us started to apply to stay in our own homes (sound familiar?) and keep our jobs after the referendum - many of us couldn't vote.. 3
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope Either because we had been out of the UK for 15yrs + (cf Tory manifesto) or our ballots didn't arrive or our proxies didn't get the papers. (This also happened for the recent EU elections). So, to get our cartes, we have to get an appointment at the local prefecture/police... 4
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope Station. Not easy to get. Some people have waited over a year and then had their appts cancelled on the day because "they are EU citizens, so don't need it" or "it'll all change after Brexit". People in Nice have to start queuing at 5am just to get an appt and are turned away..5
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope Empty handed before even getting inside. Some people have been given appts for 2020. In the meantime, in prep for the appt, we have to gather min five years of bank statements, bills, tax returns, pay slips... Photocopy all of them. In some préfectures, you don't have to... 6
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope Translate anything. In others you have to translate everything, using a govt approved translator who costs a fortune and has a waiting list. And, legally, you don't need to translate, but you can't take the risk of not doing it. When you arrive for yr appt, the translations... 7
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope Mustn't be older than three months. So, if your appt is cancelled, you have to start again. Let's talk about the interview. There you are, in front of a civil servant who often demands things that actually weren't on the list they sent you. So they either, if they are nice... 8
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope Tell to email the missing docs. If they aren't, you have to start again. Then, if they decide you don't have enough revenue, they refuse the carte and, as has happened already, you get a letter a little later with a notice to quit the country. Even though we are still... 9
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope We are still EU citizens. FoM is predicated on having resources, but even those with lots of savings have been told to go. People living on less than €500 pm are keeping their heads down, scared witless about what will happen to them. They are the 20% who retired somewhere...10
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope Cheap, who live their lives frugally. Let's move to #NoDealBrexit. France published its decrees on what would happen if there's a cliff edge. For us, our rights have been linked to reciprocity (key word) in goods, passenger services, vets and phytosanitary industries. That... 11
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope Means our rights are linked to cattle, Eurostar, wine... In addition, there are now different types of cartes, all of which strip us of our existing rights and certainties as we become third country nationals. So outrageous is this stripping, we crowd funded a case before... 12
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope The ECJ with @julienfouchet1 who also acted in the #Shindler case. You may remember that - he's the 98 yr old British war veteran who has been fighting to prove our ineligibility to vote is illegal. Anyway, the ECJ won't do anything until Brexit happens as it needs proof... 13
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope @julienfouchet1 Of how much our lives will be screwed. By which time it will be too late. So, here we are, #theforgetten. Having to apply to stay in our own homes. My employer has already asked for my carte. It will affect our jobs, our homes, our multinational families. But apparently... 14
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope @julienfouchet1 Depending to whom we speak, we'll be OK or we deserve it because we are rich elites or we are traitors to the motherland, having taken the risk of moving somewhere else, found jobs, set up companies, had kids, or tried to retire somewhere cheap. The British govt doesn't...
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope @julienfouchet1 15/ Care as, after all, we can't vote. And, for those deciding to go back to the UK, they'll have to prove they are "habitually resident", which can take at least six months before they can get any healthcare, etc. But no-one speaks about us do they? I'll let people in... 16
@ameliagentleman @BritishInEurope @julienfouchet1 The other #EU27 countries add their stories. I've heard but it's theirs to tell. I suppose I'll get flak, people criticising because they don't understand, but here is my #InLimbo testimony for France. End
