France’s controversial new immigration bill has been debated by French Senators over the past two weeks, and it’s been ruffling the feathers of both left-wing and right-wing senators. While left-wingers have been critical of the bill’s tougher immigration policies, which include the right to expel immigrants committed of certain crimes, right-wingers are disapproving of the move to regularise more asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, stating that it stands at odds with the overall “tougher” stance on immigration.

For second-home owners in France, there was also one proposed amendment to the bill in particular that is of interest. Senator Corinne Imbert had proposed for a 5-year visa for non-EU citizens who own property in France. This particular amendment was voted down; however, a second amendment, proposed by Senator Martine Berthet, was accepted and has now been added to the bill.

The amendment concerns British second-home owners only and states that British nationals who own a second residence in France would be “exempt from subscribing to a long-stay visa application”. However, there are no further explanations as to how this would work in practice or what documentation would be required.

Debates in the Senate took place on 14 November and now the bill will pass to the Assemblée Nationale to be debated in December. Whether or not the bill will be passed into law or further amended remains to be seen.