Short stay visas are valid for a maximum of three months
and may allow one or several entries into France, however
this may vary depending your particular situation.
Without a long-stay visa
you cannot apply for a temporary carte de séjour. There
are 4 categories of carte de séjour:
visitor, student, private/family life and employee.
Long-stay visas are issued by the
French Embassy in your own country before coming
to France. Long-stay visas are valid for
between 3 and 6 months.
If you come to France on a short-stay (tourist – up
to 3 months) visa, you cannot change this to a long-stay
visa whilst in France.
Administrative formalities
To get a visa, you must fill in forms
at the French Embassy or Consulate in your home country.
You will need the following documents:
- A valid passport,
- Proof of income (the candidate must still earn in excess of 3,835 EUROS/
month)
- For those with study grants, a written confirmation
of the amount of the grant and the period of time it
covers
- For people wishing to work in France or those on work
placements, an official acceptance
letter from the employer
- Proof of social security cover
- Proof that you have somewhere to stay in France
- For students, proof that they are entitled to enrol
at university or another institution of higher education
- Proof that you can return to your country at the end
of your stay (e.g. return plane ticket)
For further information, contact the "Service des
étrangers en France" (a French Foreign Office department).
Do not mix consulate and embassy. The embassy is the
representation of the State in a foreign country and
is in charge of all the relations with the government
of the country where located. The consul protects and
administrates the community coming from his country.
However, you must usually live for 6 months in the country
before you have to register. You will find all the information
by asking the Consulate.
In the 27 countries of the European community,
a valid National Identity Card or Passport is enough.
You don’t have to fill any other form in. In
many cases, your new company will do the formalities
for you.
The 27 countries of the European Union are: Germany, France, The United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania.
The resident card
If you intend to live in France permanently, or to work there for
more than three months, one of the first things you must do after
your arrival is to apply for a Carte de Séjour. La Carte de Séjour, the résident
card , created in 1984, permits its holders to live and work in France. It
is valid for 10 years and is automatically renewable.
There are three different categories of Carte de Séjour available, according
to your work situation: Actif (if you are working you need to show a work contract);
Non-Actif (for retired people or those who choose not to work you need to show
proof of substantial revenue); and Etudiant (for students you must provide a
certificate proving that you are enrolled at an educational establishment in
France).
For EU citizens:
Citizens from the European Union, or from a country part of the European Economic Space, or with specific agreement with the EU are no longer required to get a resident card when they wish to settle in France.
NON-EU Residents:
Non-EU citizens must firstly find a job, obtain a work permit
and a visa de long sejour (which allows you to live in France without working
or being schooled, but requires a financial guarantee, proof of medical insurance
and police clearance), go to France and finally apply for a carte de sejour.
You can apply for a Carte de Séjour Temporaire, which lasts one year. The ten-year
permit, available after 3 temporary ones, which includes the work permit, costs
about 40 euros+50 euros.
You must make your application within the first three months
of arriving in France (without a Carte de Séjour you cannot obtain
any form of state benefit to which you may be entitled, such as child benefit,
if you have children, or housing benefit, for example).
You should apply direct to the Service des Etrangers at the
Préfecture of the département or the Town Hall
in which you live; it is a good idea to go in person, as any potential difficulties
can be explained on the spot, and as long as you have all the requisite pieces
of paper (see below) you should only have to make one trip. It is also not a
bad idea to have prepared photocopies of all your documents before you go. Subsequent
renewals of the Carte de Séjour can be made through your local Mairie (Town Hall).
You will need:
- three passport-type photographs taken against a light background;
- a valid passport;
- a birth certificate and marriage certificate, if applicable;
- copy of Contract of Employment with relevant signatures, if applicable;
- you should be able to produce either an EDF (electricity) bill in your name or, if you have bought a house in France, a copy of the deed of sale (acte
de vente). If you are renting, a receipt for rent paid (quittance de loyer)
will do;
- a document proving that you have a social security;
However, for absolutely up-to-date information on procedure, please contact
the Service des Etrangers at your local Préfecture or ring the special service
for foreigners at the Préfecture de Police in Paris, tel. 01 53 71 51 68. They
claim to speak every language in the world. (Embassies do not deal with Carte
de Séjour applications)
All those documents (except the Passport and its photocopy) must be in French.
If the original is not in French, you must get a translation.
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