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I live in France and I am a third-country national (Brazil). I entered France in 2019 with a one-year visa, then renewed it in 2020 and got a two year visa until August 2022. I will soon recognise a jus sanguinis citizenship of Italy, which I did not "officially" have when I entered France. This will give me a passport that in theory enables me to live in France without the need of a visa.

Now I would like to know what will happen in the case I do not return to Brazil (or leave the Schengen area) before August 2022, and try to return to Brazil after that. This would mean that, in the moment of boarding the plane to Brazil, I will have: A Brazilian passport with an entry stamp of three years ago (in which is my visa for one year), a Titre de Sejour (residence permit) which expired in August 2022, and an Italian passport that does not state when I entered France.

Would there it be a problem in this case? I would like to assume the pickiest immigration officer possible. Are there any legal grounds in which I can be considered an illegal resident in France? If so, what should I do to prevent this?

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    When leaving the Schengen Area, simply show your Italian Passport. You might want to tidy up loose ends by informing the French authority that issued the residence permit that you are now an Italian citizen. With that they could then close your file. @TomasBy: The introduction of the Entry-Exit-System EES is expected to occur during 2022, until then the passport stamps are relevant.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Jun 3, 2021 at 21:59
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    @TomasBy Proof of EU Citizenship is all that is required to enter or leave. Long stay of a European in France | service-public.fr: As a citizen of a European Economic Area, or if you are Swiss, you have the possibility to settle in France after 3 months. A residence card is not required but may be useful.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Jun 3, 2021 at 22:18
  • @MarkJohnson Good link, reading a bit further it says: "The stay of a European beyond the 3 month period is not completely free. A refusal of stay may be granted.". There are (very minor) conditions involved.
    – lalala
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 18:13
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    @MarkJohnson I missed Tomas By's original comment, but I note that the EES regulation provides for deletion of a person's records when that person acquires the nationality of a member state, which confirms your conclusion about the exit conditions being those that apply to an Italian citizen. But embedded_dev would not have records in EES, because it will not record movements of those with long-stay visas or residence permits.
    – phoog
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 21:54
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    @lalala the fact that embedded_dev has a residence permit implies that the conditions are already met, and that embedded_dev therefore enjoys a legal right to remain in France (provided those conditions continue to be met) from the time of acquiring Italian citizenship until either 2024 or until five years after acquiring Italian citizenship, whereupon a right to permanent residence would accrue and the conditions for remaining become considerably more relaxed.
    – phoog
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 22:07

2 Answers 2

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Here's what will happen in late 2022:

You go to the airport and present your Brazilian passport with it's expired visa to Baphomet, the immigration officer. Baphomet notices you have overstayed and reveals his true form - horns, fangs, glowing eyes that stare into your soul. Flying monkeys emerge from behind the desk, and the portal to immigration detention opens in the floor. There's flames down there.

Pull out your Italian passport, hold it up to Baphomet with two hands like a cross. Loudly chant "The Power of the Schengen Agreement Compels You!". This will vanquish the demon, close the portal and the flying monkeys will go back to their closet.

You could go to French immigration, who will just cancel your visa and note in their system that you are also Italian. but there's entertainment value to consider.

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    It's actually the power of the European Union treaties, but I doubt it would make much of a difference.
    – phoog
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 2:15
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    Also one should really be sure that one fulfils the requirement. Just having an italian passport alone does not grant the unconditional right to life in France (working actually does and a lot of other conditions also do, but better check before summon a powerful force)
    – lalala
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 11:55
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    We'd still be left with that errant apostrophe however.
    – Strawberry
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 13:09
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    @lalala what do you mean? If you're a citizen of one Schengen Area country, don't you have the right to reside in any other Schengen Area country even if you don't work there? Under what circumstances would an Italian national not have the right to live in France? (being subject to expulsion for crimes is something else)
    – terdon
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 17:08
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    @lalala The fact that the OP, as presently a 3rd country national, is permitted to reside in France is a sign that as a EU Citizen already fulfills the conditions of Article 7 of DIRECTIVE 2004/38/EC (Right of residence for more than three months), which mainly is that they can sustain themselves in some form and are not a danger for public policy or public security.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 17:47
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Would there it be a problem in this case?

No. EU countries aren't supposed to stamp EU passports, so virtually no Italian (or other EU citizen) leaving France (or other Schengen country) has any record of when they last entered France or the Schengen area.

I would like to assume the pickiest immigration officer possible.

If your Italian citizenship comes through after your residence permit expires, they might determine that you had overstayed before you became an Italian citizen and try to impose a penalty based on that earlier overstay. The chance of that happening is probably well below one in a million. In other words, it's theoretically possible but it would never happen in reality. Even if it did happen, it's not clear whether, as a matter of law, an Italian citizen could be pursued for an immigration violation committed before the acquisition of Italian citizenship. The provisions for deletion of a person's data from the forthcoming Entry-Exit System when that person acquires EU citizenship (or another nationality that confers freedom of movement) suggest that it isn't possible.

If you obtain Italian citizenship before your residence permit expires, there would be no problem because you would have done nothing wrong.

Are there any legal grounds in which I can be considered an illegal resident in France?

No. For your presence in France to be illegal there would have to be an order of expulsion based on a determination that you pose a threat to public safety, public health, or public policy.

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    EU countries aren't supposed to stamp EU passports - for completeness one can travel with an identity card so even if someone wanted to stamp, there would be nothing to stamp on (I know that OP has a passport, it is just to highlight that physical traces of presence may simply not be possible)
    – WoJ
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 21:13
  • @WoJ absolutely. I did think about mentioning that. Mark Johnson also mentioned the forthcoming entry-exit system, which as far as I remember won't track entries and exits of EU/EEA citizens.
    – phoog
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 21:23
  • as far as I remember won't track entries and exits of EU/EEA citizens it won't indeed: ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/default/files/what-we-do/… (top of second page)
    – WoJ
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 21:28
  • @WoJ I was just looking at the regulation. Furthermore, the provision for a person's deletion from EES on acquiring EU citizenship (or nationality of Switzerland, an EEA country, or one of the so-called microstates) is found in article 35, paragraph 6. I will edit.
    – phoog
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 21:39
  • @WoJ But in any event it also will not hold records for people with residence permits or long-stay visas (Art. 2(3)(c) and (e)).
    – phoog
    Commented Jun 4, 2021 at 21:52

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