THE ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN SUMMER 2021. THE INFORMATION IT CONTAINED RELATES TO TRAVEL RULES AND COVID RULES THAT WERE CURRENT AT THAT TIME AND MOST HAS NOW BEEN DELETED. PLEASE DON'T RELY ON IT.
For up to date information UK Nationals should look at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france
Lesson 1 – Everything Changes
This section about Covid testing requirements has been deleted.
Lesson 2 – Health Matters
We renewed our expired EHIC health cards and were issued with the new global health card (GHIC). I’d never recommend relying on this so we continued searching for travel insurance and found it with Staysure. Another box ticked. (Other providers are now available).
Nationals of other countries will find useful information about EHIC and GHIC rules at SchengenVisaInfo.com
Lesson 3 – Border Enforcers
Brexit has put an end to the seamless travel Brits (and their dogs) enjoyed in the EU and Schengen area. Most of us know visa-free stays are now limited to 90 days in any EU country within a period of 180 days. You might think that’s irrelevant because how many of us are lucky enough to travel for three months. But there are other subtle rules to be aware of and one of these tripped us up.
Your passport will now be stamped when you enter and leave France and must be valid for three months from your date of return to the UK. Mine has nine years to run and my husband’s lasts into 2022. No problem then? Wrong. When we checked his more closely we discovered it didn’t meet this criterion because last time it was renewed early and he was credited with extra months beyond the ten year term. Any extra months beyond the ten year term don’t count towards this three month rule.
Fine, we thought, we’ll pay for an emergency in-person passport appointment. We went online to book an appointment and there were none within three weeks at the passport offices in London, Newport or Peterborough. We ended up bringing forward our travel dates so he could meet the three month date.
Lesson 4 – It might still be a dog’s life (but only if your dog was born in the EU)
For British-born pets the simple and wonderful EU pet passport is no more. Effectively, pets seem to be treated like livestock. Along with the rabies vaccinations and tapeworm treatments that have always applied, your dog must go to the vet for a health and paperwork check. Your IK vet must then complete a multi-page animal health certificate (AHC) at a cost of around £140 every time they travel. We were winners in this round of the obstacle course because our rescue puppy, Homer, was born last year in Romania and has an EU pet passport (yay!) We can keep this valid by getting his rabies booster vaccinations while we’re in France. It means we don’t have to pay for the AHC ever.
We learned from an acquaintance that if your paperwork for the dog is incorrect you’ll be turned away. She was unable to board the Shuttle because the vet hadn’t signed or initialled every page of the AHC form.
Lesson 5 – ‘Appy Days
The remaining sections of this blog were about Covid testing requirements and paperwork and have been deleted.
Here endeth the lesson!
If you want to read more about France in the form of fiction, my novel Lies Behind the Ruin published in 2019 is dark suspense about a family who move to France in an attempt to outrun their problems at home. For families with little money and no job that won’t be so easy to do now. Lies is set in and around Limoges. You might enjoy it if you prefer a darker beach read. Available from Amazon and good bookshops. You can find it at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Q5ZGZHP