According to the latest figures from Eurostat, the EU statistical office, last year 195 British nationals were refused entry to France. Given that millions travel to France each year from the UK, unless you happen to be one of them, the number is not significant.
The 2023 figure is down on 2022, when 440 were refused. The higher number may, in large part, be attributed to Covid border controls, which were only finally removed in France in August 2022.
The main reason why British nationals were refused was due to not having valid travel documents (110), which in most cases refers to an invalid passport. To be valid, a passport must have been issued less than 10 years before travel, with a remaining validity period of at least 3 months after the planned date of return.
The second largest group concerned 55 British nationals for whom an alert had been issued, which may have originated from anywhere across the Schengen area.
The table below gives a breakdown of all the reasons for refused entry and the number in each case. Some individuals may have been refused entry for more than one reason.
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Britons Refused Entry to France 2023
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Reason
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Number
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Purpose and conditions of stay not justified
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10
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An alert has been issued
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55
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False travel documents
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5
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No valid travel documents
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110
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The report also states that last year 130 British nationals were ordered to leave France. In 2022 the number was 70. A total of 85 of those ordered to leave were aged between 18 and 34 years and 45 were 35+, all of whom were males. No-one under 18 years was ordered to leave.
As we have previously reported, being ordered to leave does not necessarily result in removal from the country.
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