According to the European Commission, in 2022 12,229 US citizens were granted a first-time resident permit* to live in France. That compares to 9,214 in 2021.

Although the figures are flattered by the inclusion of 6,000 student visas, the number of non-educational permits being granted is increasing, averaging over 5,000 in 3 of the last 4 years. Between 2013 and 2018 the total number of permits averaged around 7,000 a year, but in 3 out of the last 4 years it has been 9,000+, two of which were Covid stricken years.

There were 7,927 permits granted to UK citizens in 2022, up from 4,324 in 2021 and 7,706 in 2020.

Once again, the numbers include student visas, amounting to nearly 2,000 last year. If these are stripped out non-educational resident permits to US nationals exceeded those from the UK (5,901 against 5,805). The number of non-educational visas to US citizens in 2021 was also comfortably higher than the UK (5,147 against 2,695).

For both UK and US citizens the remaining grounds for granting a permit are stated as family, employment and ‘other’, ie mainly retired persons.

Over 3,000 permits were granted to UK citizens in 2022 on employment/business grounds, nearly three times higher than in 2021, a year of Covid hit movement restrictions.

The growing interest among US citizens to live in France is reflected property sales statistics, as we reported in Luxury Homes Market in France.

The number of permits granted to citizens from other major anglophone countries remains modest. There were 2,731 first time permits granted to Canadian citizens in 2022, the second highest on record, and up from 1,990 in 2021. A shade over 1,000 Australians were granted a first time permit, whilst 258 New Zealand citizens moved to France, and 595 from South Africa.

The number of British citizens relocating to France has plummeted in recent years, mainly, it can be assumed, due to Brexit. Twenty years ago sales to non-resident British buyers were well into double digit figures, but they are now down to a few thousand each year.

*First time permits are resident permits granted for less than 5 years, normally a year. It excludes short-term 'temporary' visas for up to 6 months. The figures for 2022 are provisional.