How I Got My Visa to France

I’ve been in love with France ever since my first journey to Bordeaux in 2010. Pals I had met again in Thailand confirmed me across the space and launched me to French tradition. It was my first time in France and I cherished the meals, the wine, and the individuals.

However that love turned an obsession when, after Bordeaux, I stepped out of the Paris metro and onto the Champs Élysées. The lights, the power, the mystique! There was magic within the air. I felt like I had recognized the town my whole life and I used to be merely returning house.

Since then, Paris has had a firm grip on my heart. Over time, I spent numerous visits exploring France and Paris particularly. I’ve run excursions within the metropolis and I spent a few months living there in 2019.

Final August, after one more sojourn, I believed to myself, “What if I moved again?”

I used to be rising a bit uninterested in the NYC relationship scene, the rising value of residing, and felt like creatively, I used to be in a rut. With AI coming for creators like me and the industry changing, I used to be a bit of misplaced on what, profession sensible, would come subsequent.

In brief, I wanted a change.

And Paris appeared like the perfect place to go.

It’s cheaper than NYC, I had mates there already, I’ve at all times needed to study French, it could make a terrific base for exploring Europe, and I might begin writing my subsequent ebook there. There’s nothing like a change in surroundings to get the creativity flowing!

However the query remained: how do you progress to France?

In any case, they don’t have a digital nomad visa, and also you’re restricted to a few months if you happen to go to in your common Schengen vacationer visa.

Properly, it seems that it’s not really that arduous. (And whereas I can solely converse for People, I think the standards are comparable for Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis, and different “developed” nations.)

If you wish to transfer to France, you will have 4 predominant choices:

• Pupil visa
• Lengthy-term customer visa
• Entrepreneur
• Expertise visa

The coed visa is fairly simple. You want to enroll in a full-time college program and present you will have sufficient funds to assist your self (round 600 Euros per 30 days). A pal is at present there on this visa, as she is doing a nine-month intensive French program to turn out to be fluent. You continue to have to use for the visa, however if you happen to’re enrolled in an accredited college, you’ll possible get authorized. One other profit to this visa is which you can work part-time on it!

However this visa is contingent on being at school, so if you happen to go away or give up, it’s voided. Nevertheless, if you end up accomplished, you possibly can change this to a “job seekers” visa, which may give you as much as one other six months in France (or extra relying on how lengthy your program was).

I thought of making use of for the entrepreneur visa, however the software course of is fairly advanced and may take months to be authorized. It’s a must to arrange your enterprise in France — and that’s a whole lot of paperwork. It’s a must to present that your enterprise makes cash, has purchasers (no less than one in every of them being French), and may assist you full time (it’s a must to make no less than the French minimal wage). They may scrutinize your belongings and financials rather a lot and also you’ll must register your enterprise in France and pay French taxes.

Moreover, France gives a expertise visa. In the event you’re an knowledgeable in your area (with verifiable accreditations and accolades), this could possibly be a great visa to use for, particularly if you happen to plan to remain in France for a very long time and need to bodily work there. However, once more, you’ll must have some supply of earnings and plan to do bodily enterprise within the France. In the event you’re not a tutorial however somebody within the arts, it’s a must to present how you’ll add to the “tradition of France” in a roundabout way.

Whereas I might meet the necessities for each these visas, the method for both would have been time consuming, and, since I’m unsure France goes to be my endlessly house, I made a decision to not undergo that course of.

So I went with the long-term customer visa, formally referred to as VLS-TS visiteur. This permits me to remain as much as 12 months in France and is renewable within the nation. It does include a whole lot of restrictions, nonetheless: I can’t bodily work right here and I’m not allowed into the French social welfare system.

It’s additionally the visa a whole lot of People (and most retirees) are coming in on. When you have passive earnings or retirement financial savings and simply need to stay in France, this can be a good possibility for you. It permits you to arrange a checking account and it may be renewed just about indefinitely.

The paperwork for this visa (which I’ll get into in a bit) primarily comes down as to if or not you possibly can assist your self. French authorities need to ensure you received’t be a burden on the system.

My greatest query centered round whether or not or not I might “work” on this visa. Lots creators and digital nomads are making use of for — and getting — this visa.

However keep in mind: you aren’t allowed to work on this visa so how are you going to work if you happen to can’t work?

So let me take a second to speak about “work” from a authorized standpoint.

As I discussed, there’s no digital nomad visa that permits you to work in France. And the French tax workplace stated final July that distant work is taken into account taxable — however there aren’t any official legal guidelines that. That’s simply their opinion and there’s been no progress in codifying that opinion. Actually, my visa doesn’t even include a tax quantity, so it’s inconceivable for me to be taxed. I couldn’t pay taxes even when I needed to.

The visa workplace asks the way you’ll assist your self if you end up in France and one of many sources of earnings they settle for is “earnings from work.” I used to be very open that my technique of assist can be the earnings from this weblog and my books.

The system there actually hasn’t caught as much as distant work. It nonetheless defines “work” as one thing you do bodily that would take away a job from a French particular person.

So might I run strolling excursions in Paris? Nope. May you’re employed at a café? Nope.

However does scripting this weblog put up depend as work? In any case, nobody is paying for it. It’s a free useful resource. Does going to a café to work on the following nice American novel depend? What about my weekly publication that has affiliate hyperlinks (that generate earnings) in it? Is writing that thought of work?

The grey space is appreciable, so the perfect factor to do is to speak to a lawyer. I like to recommend Daniel Tostado (sure, that’s his actual title), one of many greatest American-French immigration legal professionals in Paris. He has an enormous regulation agency and commonly meets with authorities officers to make clear the principles on this. He gave me some stable recommendation.

For this long-term customer visa, the applying course of is fairly straightforward. You go to the French government website, fill out your software, take the applying quantity to the TLScontact website, and make an appointment. (France outsources the appointment course of to this firm, which then sends every part to the French consulate for approval.)

The principle belongings you’ll need to show are that you’ve lodging for 90 days in your software and sufficient earnings to assist your self. They simply need to ensure you aren’t going to be a burden on the system. I went overboard. Right here’s what I dropped at my appointment:

• The appliance (it is advisable to carry a printout)
• A affirmation of the appointment
• Additional passport images
• Proof of lodging (this may be Airbnbs, motels, or somebody’s house — if it’s the latter, guarantee that they’re the proprietor!)
• A letter testifying I received’t work
• A monetary abstract letter explaining why I’m transferring there and my supply of earnings
• Medical health insurance that meets French authorized necessities (I used Mondassur.)
• Three months of financial institution statements displaying common deposits
• A second checking account, my tax returns, and my W-2

I didn’t want the second checking account, tax returns, or W-2 (they weren’t required) however the girl on the appointment stated the extra proof you had the higher and it wouldn’t damage. And one other pal who bought this visa didn’t carry past what was requested within the software type. However I needed to take no possibilities!

On the appointment, the employees double-checks your paperwork, takes your biometric knowledge, collects the charges, after which sends your passport to the embassy for processing. Formally, it takes as much as 15 days to course of your visa, however everybody I do know appears to get it again inside every week.

The worst half was not realizing in case you are authorized till your passport is returned. Whilst you can monitor the progress of your software, you don’t know the decision till your passport is again in your palms. Whereas I used to be ready (and anxiously spiraling), I regarded on Reddit and located that the majority denials had been for lack of earnings or points with their lodging, which appear to be the 2 most vital issues to have good in your software.

When you get your visa again, you possibly can enter France any time after the beginning date. After you enter, you will have 90 days to register your visa with the state (they offer you a bit of QR code with directions). This lets you “formally” be on this long-term visa. (It’s a extra paperwork form of factor.)

As soon as that’s accomplished, there’s nothing else to do and you’ll keep in France (and Europe) till your visa expires!

So, if you happen to’re contemplating transferring to France, these are your choices. However, as at all times, I’m not a lawyer and this isn’t authorized advance. In regard to work and different points or questions, it’s vital that you just search authorized counsel and get their knowledgeable opinion!

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