Partnership with a foreigner in France.

[Mvds]

Hey all! I'm new this forum as I recently moved to France, and I'm having somewhat of a brain-breaking problem . I hope some of you can properly inform me as I'm having trouble finding the exact information I need to know online.

Let me explain my sitatuation:

I come from the Netherlands, and as I said, I recently moved to France to work fulltime. I met my Chinese girlfriend in the Netherlands last year, and as the months passed we became convinced that this was not going to be a short-term relationship.

Unfortunately, she already graduated in the Netherlands by the time I met her and her permit was to expire at the end of November, unless she found a job which paid her ~24000 gross per year. Unfortunately, she did not find one. It could be extended if we registered for a partnership and if I had a fulltime job with at least a year contract. As I was still a student then, I failed to obtain that in time (and I tried, believe me).

So now she has been back in China for 3 months, and I have now found a fulltime job in France. Now I want to attempt to get her here, but I am a bit lost about how to do that . I have looked into PACS, but as far as I understood both partners have to be already legally residing in France. Also, we did not offically live together.

Of course, the obvious solution for me is to find a job in the Netherlands, but I like it here in France and I'm not willing to give up my job just yet without exploring other options.

If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated .

[Bevdeforges]

It would depend a bit on the consulate in China - and on the prefecture where you currently live and work in France - but you may want to look into her eligibility for either a one-year "visitor" visa or something like a student visa (if she can qualify for a university study program in France). She would stay with you, meaning that you'd be building time toward the living together requirement for getting PACS'd.

If she can come to France on a long-stay visa (i.e. a year), then you may well be able to get PACS'd (or married, which would be better in some ways, though you haven't indicated if that is a possibility). As the recognized partner of a European national, she'd be eligible for a carte de séjour as your "close family member" accompanying you while you exercise your EU rights in France.

Some prefectures are stickier about the PACS thing than others, but if there is any way she can qualify for a long-stay visa on her own merits (probably one where she wouldn't be able to work) it could fly.
Cheers,
Bev

[Mvds]

First of all, thank you for your quick and informative reply Bev .

As for the options, both seem to require something that we dont have a particularly large amount of at the moment: money. I looked around a bit, and it seems it would require her to have around 2000 euro per month? so 24000 euro in total? That's... a bit out of reach .

I will look into having her doing a university course then, but isn't that also really expensive for non-EU citizens?

We discussed if getting married in China would make it easier, but I fear that would do more harm than good as it would clearly be for the sake of convenience.

[panama]

Originally Posted by Mvds

First of all, thank you for your quick and informative reply Bev .

As for the options, both seem to require something that we dont have a particularly large amount of at the moment: money. I looked around a bit, and it seems it would require her to have around 2000 euro per month? so 24000 euro in total? That's... a bit out of reach .

I will look into having her doing a university course then, but isn't that also really expensive for non-EU citizens?

We discussed if getting married in China would make it easier, but I fear that would do more harm than good as it would clearly be for the sake of convenience.

I would suggest for her to do a french language course. She can enroll in a one year program at a Public University and it costs about 2000 euros per year. This allows her to seek a long stay student visa.

I hope it helps

Alex

[Mvds]

Hey Alex,

Thanks for your advice. It is around 2000 euros only for a course in French? Not for courses giving in English? Her English is quite good, but she doesn't speak a word of French (yet).

[panama]

Originally Posted by Mvds

Hey Alex,

Thanks for your advice. It is around 2000 euros only for a course in French? Not for courses giving in English? Her English is quite good, but she doesn't speak a word of French (yet).

Yes it´s 1,950 euros for a french language course. I will be attending one in Aix en Provence. Here is the link.

http://www.iefee.univ-cezanne.fr/ins...ns/tarifs.html

Good luck

Alex

[Mvds]

Ah my bad, I misunderstood. I thought you meant courses taught using the French language.

So it is possible to obtain a student visa for France by applying for a one-year course at a public university? And it is not already too late to do that for starting September this year?

[panama]

Originally Posted by Mvds

Ah my bad, I misunderstood. I thought you meant courses taught using the French language.

So it is possible to obtain a student visa for France by applying for a one-year course at a public university? And it is not already too late to do that for starting September this year?

That´s exaclty what I´m doing. That is, a one year french language course with a long staty student visa. And yes it is not too late to apply.

Alex

[Mvds]

I see. And it has to be a public university? Not a private one?

I live in Lille, which apparently has 3 public universities, but I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how/if she could apply for a course there and obtain a student visa.

[Bevdeforges]

Take a look at the Campus France site: CampusFrance - Education en France - Study in France - Estudiar en Francia - Etudier en France - Study abroad in France - Centre pour les Etudes En France - CEF

They have information about programs that qualify for visas and the visa requirements themselves.
Cheers,
Bev