The Monthly Q&A with Allison Grant Lounes allows you to ask questions and learn about how to move to France. Q&As are free and held monthly on the first Monday of every month via zoom (and the following Monday in case of a holiday). **Note that the June and July 2022 Q&As will be held on the 13th and 11th respectively.**
Register for the next Q&A on June 13, 2022 here: https://yourfranceformation.mykajabi.com/public-q-a-registration-page
Submit your questions here: https://forms.gle/szjGyttsqTAtzWri9
This week’s questions include:
❓I am wondering how and if I can get a student visa to study ‘L’aplomb’ in France for a couple of years? L’aplomb isn’t a university, but it is a real field of study that has respect and recognition. L’aplomb is an institute. It is my life’s passion, so even if I can’t get a visa directly for it, I will try to come up with some way to obtain a visa. I have a degree in Economics, and teach math (uncertified) at a high school in the United States. I have five other backup ways I could move to France: (1) Teaching English in France (2) Teaching L’aplomb in France (3) Teaching math in France (4) Going to school to learn French in France (5) Going to school to learn programming in France.
❓I am coming to France on a one-year academic sabbatical, but am not affiliated with a French institution. Would I be eligible to apply for French healthcare after three months, even though I am only planning to stay for the year?
❓Follow-up to previous question: Would it make a difference, when applying for a long-term visa, whether I planned to stay for not quite a year (e.g. 11.5 months) vs. a full year? Would it be the same kind of visa?
❓I have lived in France for four years, starting with a visitor visa and then I obtained a carte de séjour (presumably a visitor carte de séjour). How do I graduate to a more permanent residency status that would lead to citizenship?
❓I have artistic pursuits (writing books, photography, music) but I’m careful that I don’t work on my visitor visa. How can I become an artist in France?
❓If you come to France on a visitor visa but want to open a gite, should you actually come on a visitor visa?
❓After my visa is approved, how much time do I have to arrive in France?
❓I would like to know more about internet quality in the Normandie area.
❓I just came to Paris as a student and I was wondering how Ameli works, what it is and how to get onto it?
❓Besides validating your visa at the administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr website, is there anything else that needs to be done to register?
❓I’m bringing an automobile from California, how do I do this and then what?
❓For people aged 60 compared to 70, what are the differences when it comes to language and testing requirements for the French driver’s license?
❓We’re looking to relocate to France; what are the basic steps for getting a visa while we house-hunt, and then for getting a longer-term visa once we choose to buy a property?
❓What is a ‘garant-me?’
❓After moving to France, we would not seek work (we will keep our online businesses going), but I am an ESL-certified teacher, and opportunities do arise. Is there a work-around for that?
❓My wife has a long-term visa which is NOT leading to titre de séjour so if she plans to get the VLS-TS renewable in France for more permanent status, what are the necessary steps to do now?
❓Is it possible to retire in France in a retirement village? Do they have those?
❓We’re a married couple living in the UK, one of whom has both a British passport and an Irish passport. We are moving to France as early retirees. We’ve read and enjoyed Foolproof French Visas 2022 and have a couple of questions. We are going to follow your suggestion of getting an AirBNB, then a long-term rental so we can look for our dream home at leisure. As we will have the savings that exceed SMIC for a year (for both people), can we apply for the spouse carte de séjour appointment at the CRE as soon as we have got our long term rental? Or do we still have to wait 3 months for the EU citizen to ‘establish residency’ (which takes the non-EU spouse beyond 90 days…)?
❓I have a question about documents. The list of documents on p188 of your book says the marriage certificate should be less than 3 months old. Just to confirm, does that mean we need to get a new UK copy of the original marriage certificate (which is 21 years old)? Plus, does the certified translation need to be renewed every 3 months? Also, should we wait until we get to France to get the first translation done so that it is fresh for the CRE appointment?
❓The Irish passport holder was born in the UK to an Irish father, so she doesn’t have a birth certificate from an EU country. Does that mean that the father’s Irish birth certificate forms part of the documentation required by the CRE and will require certified translation too?
❓Are they lenient with all documents, even French documents?
❓If I select a visa option for retirement, can that type of visa lead to getting residency without having to leave France to renew the visa?
❓Would you recommend the profession libérale visa? My intention is really to maintain clients in the USA and not necessarily find new ones in France.
❓If you are registered as a professional libérale and playing social service fees, will this help you to get into the French healthcare system faster?
❓Where and how can I transfer a large sum of money from Charles Schwab for a house purchase (not through or to Wise)? French bank, not available yet. FATCA danger.
❓We’re semi-retired, still operating our online businesses but looking to relocate to France. We’re not sure about how to present ourselves: financially self-sufficient; still generating income (in addition to Social Security); open to work (I’m ESL certified); or what? What happens if one of us is offered a job once we have settled there?
❓We want to rent an apartment while we house-hunt, and we’re wondering about what we would need to have in place (bank account, health insurance, etc.) and using what timeframe. We have heard horror stories about French bureaucracy, and we want to get ahead of the curve. How far in advance is too far, time-wise?
❓Does the Prefecture accept shorter term leases — like 4 months — as permanent address?
❓Four years out for our move but planning ahead. If we buy an existing gite, is it possible for an American to receive a work permit to live in it and run it? Similarly, if the land is rented out to a nearby farmer, is that allowed?
❓Can you talk more about what the préfectures are looking for now with the changes to the profession libérale application?
❓Do you have a list of the préfectures that are the worst to get approvals for vs the easiest?
❓How do you “demonstrate the economic viability of your project” as an American licensed mental health therapist who would like to create a private practice in France?
❓We have an 8 year old child, does she need a visa to go to private school in France that we will be paying for?
Thinking about moving to France? If you liked this video and want to learn more about how you can pursue your own Franceformation, check out the following resources:
💜 Like this video and subscribe to this channel
💜 Check out the Profiles in Franceformation podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere you get your podcasts, or here: https://yourfranceformation.com/podcast/
💜 Learn about what you need to learn before you’re ready to move to France by downloading the Franceformation Readiness Assessment here: http://yourfranceformation.com/assessment/
💜 And if you want to learn more about which French visa type is right for you and how you can make your dream of moving to France a reality, check out my book Foolproof French Visas here: http://www.yourfranceformation.com/books/ or order the paperback on Amazon.
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