France juggles migration hot potato
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One correspondent’s quest to procure French nationality and the maroon and gold passport that proclaims one a citizen of Europe.
By Alistair Lyon
It requires stamina and determination to become French.
It took me three years to thread my way through a bureaucratic labyrinth from which I emerged late last year clutching a shiny maroon and gold passport that proclaims my citizenship of the European Union as well as France.
I had given no thought to acquiring a new nationality when my wife and I settled in the Pyrenees more than a decade ago, knowing that Britain’s EU membership gave me the right to live and work anywhere in the union.
The 2016 referendum that led to Britain’s departure from the club punched a sickening hole in my complacency. Suddenly my status was up in the air, just as I was sinking roots and finding contentment in my new home.
A French passport would give me the right to vote and to enjoy travel and other protections within the EU. In the event of the far-right win...
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