Moving to France? Here’s How to Secure Your Visa and Residency

[Music] hello everyone bonjour I'm to the ront and I'm the France correspondent for National Living magazine and I'm excited in this video to tell you about one of the most important steps on the road to making your dreams of living in France reality how to obtain a French visa and the right to reside in the country long term so first of all I want to put any of your fears about the process to rest I've been helping International subscribers navigate obtaining a French pza for several years now and although it's a bit of a paperwork

headache the process itself has been streamlined and it's basically a matter of checking off a bunch of boxes filling out an application turning in your paperwork attending one quick 20 minute meeting and then when waiting for your visa to arrive in the mail so let's go ahead and dive into the nuts impuls of of the process first off about 90% of you watching the video the Visa you'll apply for is called the long stay Visa France does not have a designated retirement Visa golden Visa or other Visa which requires you to vest in the country

in order to obain residency therefore the long State visa is a standarded visa to apply for if you'd like to reside or retire in France there is a similar Visa also called The Long stay Visa but you'll find next to the long stay name the initial capital T and capital S so long stay Visa T and S this is designated for students only coming for a period of 12 months and requires the holder to leave France go home and then apply again for a Visa if they would like to return to the country so this

is not a Visa for retirees or people wishing to stay longterm it is also important to know that for visits up to 3 months in France North Americans do not need to obtain a Visa the long stay Visa will will allow you to stay up to 12 months in France then you renew in France about a month or so before the 12 months are up at this time it turns into a residence card you will renew for a total of four years so 5 years total in France and then you can apply for a 10-year

residence card or French citizenship you must apply for the long State visa in your country of residents the United States or Canada for purposes of this video in addition you can apply for the some more than 3 months before your departure date to move to France so it's a good idea to sketch out a timeline for your move and start getting your documentation and Order when you've decided on your moving date for example if you decide to move to France at the start of September you would begin the Visa process at the beginning of June

the last very important detail I'd like to cover before go through each individual step is that are you are not allowed to work in France on the long State visa you will be required to submit a written statement saying that you will not seek employment in France as with many European countries fence has had and continues to have quite high unemployment and is very difficult near impossible to obtain a work visa from a French company unless you already employed in the United States in an American company that transfers you to France I'll talk later in

the video about Alternatives if you wish to work in the country in order to start the long stay Visa proess say you will need to gather the following items two passport size photos you also need a current passport which must be valid for at least 3 months from the date of return with at least two blank pages very important that's where the Visa is going to go proof of health insurance which must cover France for the entire shenen Jone shenen Zone with €30,000 worth of coverage for the Entre entire 12 months you can cancel this

when you get on French health coverage which you're entitled to after 3 months of residing in the country some people are able to cancel the policit that they have purchased some people just let it go for the 12 months but you will need it for the visa application and it's specific health insurance just for the Visa so you're going to want to look at a couple different providers to make sure that you have the correct policy one that international living subscribers have used used in the past is called the Golden excuse me gold Visa safe

policy gold Visa safe policy from mesure and we'll put that in the comments in Paris is an example of one such provider you'll need proof of accommodation for 3 months minimum in France and this does not have to be a title or a deed or even a longterm rental so don't worry about having to purchase property before coming to France um although those are acceptable but not necessary uh is totally fine to show proof of a 3-month stay at a hotel an Airbnb or a short term rental you can even have a friend or relative

who lives in France write a letter vouching that you will be staying with them um brief note here that all of those options I mentioned previously health insurance uh letter of accommodation where you'll be staying um are all acceptable but uh if sometimes you submit a document that doesn't quite fly with what they're looking for you will be immediately contacted by mail with a request to send or replace the document so don't worry if you don't get a everything 100% right which I hope you do right off the bat but they will contact you and

ask you to resubmit a document if it's not what you're looking for as mentioned previously you'll need to write a b statement saying you will not seek employment in France next you need to show proof of financial means which is equivalent to French minimum wage this shows that you're able to support yourself while living in France this can be 3 months of bank statements of any kind Financial proof of social security or pension or similar Financial document Pro proving that you have sufficient funds currently if you are under the age of 65 and moving as

a single person you will need to show earnings of $696 a month if you're over 65 five and single the amount is $1,073 per month again proof of financial means if you're moving as a couple and you're under 65 you need to show financial means equivalent to $1,036 a month if you're moving as a couple and you're over 65 you will need to prove documentation of $1,666 a month again these figures are equivalent to the French minimum wage lastly you're required to write a cover letter stating your purpose for seeking the Visa this only needs

to be a few short paragraphs at most and if you are looking to retire in France you just need to write something like a personal statement might go as the following I would like to retire in France I have the financial means to do so and I wish to take advantage of all the cultural benefits France has to offer I initially have accommodations in an Airbnb for 3 months after that I will seek out a long-term rental in niece and plan to make the city my home uh for my retirement this is just an example

you can add the statement for your own personal situation it's a good idea to talk about your initial plans where you'll be staying and where you would like to settle longterm once you have gathered all this documentation you and you are in the three-month window to apply before you leave to France you will fill an application on the france. Visas sorry sorry France Dash Visa's website this is the official French government website everything is in English don't worry you can save your work as you go along and you're able to print out your application at

the end uh the application itself uh and process are all detailed on the website the current fee for the application is 99 so about $16 once you have clicked on the submit button you can download it you'll save it printed out for your records and you will also be directed to make an appointment with an organization called VFS VFS Global although the French Consulate makes the final decision on your Visa the processing is now handled by a third party which has processing centers in major US and Canadian C cities you will then go to a

direct an inperson appointment at VFS and you can find find a VFS processing center nearest to you or make an appointment directly even though you'll be directed after your visa application directly to the site at their website which is www.v global.com so again easy process streamlined getting all your documents together you've got your timeline you fill out the application on the France dv's website you're immediately directed to make an appointment at a major US city and you're going to have to go it is an inperson appointment because they're going to hold on to your passport

it's a biometric uh Visa you're going to they're going to put your Visa in your passport you're going to have your passport mailed back to you there is a quer fee at the Visa appointment that you will pay and that is pretty much the entire process so just to recap the day of your appointment you will take your printed application all of your documents that I've listed for the long stay Visa there is a processing fee at the VFS Global of $33 uh again you'll be required to leave your passport and you will also um

pay the career fee VFS will forward all of your documents to the French consulant I mention makes the final decision and your Visa will be mailed back to your home address in around 2 to 3 weeks time time quickest turnaround I've seen is about 5 days so again quick streamlined process um and as I mentioned just lastly for those of you wishing to work in France um the easiest way to be transfered by an American or Canadian company NeXT you can apply for a talent Visa where the steps are quite similar to the ones that

I had discussed except you will need to provide greater documentation based on the talent Visa option you select so there are several options uh highly skilled worker person of artistic or cultural interest perhaps you're writing a book on French cuisine or the history of the Napoleonic War something that is going to provide cultural value can be here or back home in the states and someone of international recognition or you are seeking to open a business or invest in France if you go the business route um you will have to provide already a business plan and

a framework and show that you have €30,000 already invested in a potential business you can find additional details on each branch of the talent visa on the france-visas website thank you very much for hanging in with me I hope this information was helpful uh I am more than happy to help anyone on the road to OB obtaining a French visa and again don't worry about it it's a bit of a paperwork headache but people are being apply accepted applying and being accepted for visas international living subscribers and you can do it so bonage which means

good luck in French and please let me know if you have any questions [Music] oh