After over eight years of living in France, British retiree Colin Howard, 68, decided it was time to apply for French nationality.
"I feel French, I feel like I belong here," Colin explained.
Colin, a certified B2 (upper intermediate) French speaker, has spent a significant amount of his time in France building relations with his local community.
"Since 2017, I have taught weekly and fortnightly French lessons as a volunteer to non-French-speaking immigrants, and I continue to do this three years after retiring," Colin said.
Using his background as a teacher, Colin also spent four years as a volunteer teaching English to a group of French people, and since 2021, he has served as the president of an Anglo-French integration association near his home in Charente, in south-west France.
"I thought 'I contribute some to French society', so I'll give applying for nationality a go," Colin said.
Colin sent in his application in May 2024. He supplied additional documentation when asked and passed various levels of checks, including the police visit and the 'assimilation' interview at the Deux-Sèvres préfecture.
Several months later, in July 2025, Colin's application was rejected.
As for the official reason of rejection, the local authority wrote: "You have never worked in France, and the entirety of the income you receive is not from a French source."
"It does not seem fair," Colin said. "Whether deliberately or by accident, it discriminates against people of a certain age.
"This is saying that if you are of a certain age, and you live on a private pension, savings or a state pension, if you apply for nationality, you will not get it."
Colin's is not the only such case in recent weeks, with several retirees in France reporting on social media that they, too, have been turned down for citizenship on the grounds of not having income in France.
The Local spoke to other retirees in similar situations. Liz Combes, a 73-year-old retired teacher, was rejected in June 2025 on the grounds that she had no income in France, and Marion Fitzpatrick, 75, who has lived in France for 19 years, was also rejected in May for similar reasons.
READ MORE: What counts as 'French income' when it comes to citizenship?
"I was really, really upset. My friend noticed that I've been ill since this all started. It's true. My health has been affected. I have put in an appeal, but I have absolutely no hope that it will work," Liz said.
Liz and her husband bought a second home in France in 1996, which they renovated, and the pair became full-time residents of France in 2016, just before the Brexit vote.
Like Colin, Liz has a strong background of volunteer work and involvement in her local community.
She said, "When we committed to being here in France, I told myself, 'I'm going to have to get involved in things.'
"I got involved in our local Franco-British society as the secretary, and alongside the French president of the group, we set up a programme to organise local volunteers to come into schools and teach English. I'm still very involved in that."
Liz submitted her application in March 2024, after passing her French language exam, and she had her interview in April. During the interview, Liz remembered the French official being impressed with her volunteer work.
"It was all very successful. I had no problem speaking French.
"The official told me that it would be normal not to hear for two months. She was very positive, but on the last day of the two months, I got an email with a letter rejecting me on the basis that none of my income came from France.
"If I had known 10 years ago that I needed French income, I could have set up a French company to teach, but I was happy to do it for free. I did not need to be paid for it.
"The point is that I am retired. I have a very good pension, and I am no drain on society here. We have our healthcare covered by the UK with our S1 forms, and we have our savings in French accounts.
"I have contributed as much as I can. This new knowledge of needing French income...why would I have applied for citizenship? The goalposts have been moved since May when the circulaire came out."
As for Marion, after nearly two decades of life in France, she submitted her dossier to the Bordeaux préfecture in July 2021.
Marion spent years on her local council in Lauzun before Brexit, has belonged to multiple associations, and owns property in France, as well as "several French investments and shares in a French company."
"The only financial ties I still have in the UK are my pension funds (state and private), which I can’t move, but are taxed and spent entirely in France!" Marion told The Local.
Years after submitting, Marion finally received a date for her in-person interview in April 2025. In the intervening time, she had continued to provide updated documentation, including proof of income, requested as recently as November 2024.
"At the end of my interview (in mid-May), I was told it would be six to eight months before I heard anything. One week later, I received a letter of rejection. The reason stated was 'insufficient income from French sources to cover your living expenses on your own'.
Marion quickly appealed the decision in June. "If I am not eligible for French Citizenship, I really don’t know who would be," she said.
Liz, Colin and Marion's rejections come despite the fact that over the past two decades, dozens, if not hundreds, of retirees in France have successfully become French - even if all of their income comes from a pension in their home country.
They attribute their rejections to a recent memo (circulaire) sent to préfecture staff, warning that they should reject applicants whose income is made up primarily of non-French sources.
READ MORE: Why do French ministers love to send 'circulaires'?
"My file was marked complete in January 2025. By March, I was invited for an interview on the 6th of June. Between those times, Bruno Retailleau (France's interior minister) decided to send his circulaire out about earnings in France," Colin said.
While the circulaire, published on May 2nd, did not introduce any official legal changes, it did offer advice and clarification for préfecture employees, including on the topic of foreign-sourced income.
Technically, this is not new. French case law has made it clear for many years that applicants must demonstrate that France is the "centre of their economic interests".
The French government's Service-Public information page for naturalisations also specifies that applicants must demonstrate "professional insertion" in France, noting the applicant must have a "stable and regular income".
It has long been the case that people living in France but working remotely for a foreign company would be highly likely to be refused citizenship. People who are neither working nor retired have also traditionally had a hard time satisfying the income requirement.
Retirees, though, were not previously penalised for their foreign pension income.
Response from French authorities
After several attempts to determine if the interior ministry had indeed shifted its policy toward retirees, The Local received a response on August 20th.
The ministry spokesperson wrote in an email: "There was previously a measure of goodwill for people over the age of 65 whose income came mainly from abroad that allowed foreigners to obtain French nationality.
"The May 2025 circulaire (memo) removes this tolerance, specifying that, with only a few exceptions, applications from applicants whose income primarily comes from abroad will be refused.
"It does not matter whether the applicant is retired or still working."
The Local also received a similar response from the Deux-Sèvres préfecture, whose spokesperson said that the "rules changed" after May 2nd, when the circulaire was sent out.
READ MORE: 'Rules have changed' - Préfecture confirms they can refuse French citizenship to retirees
Do you have experience - successful or otherwise - of applying for French citizenship as a pensioner? Please share your experiences in the comments section below. You can also contact us at news@thelocal.fr
You can follow this developing story via the 'French citizenship' section.
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