Changing Carte de Séjour Status

[annstar]

Hello,

I am currently a student in Ile-de-France and have obtained a carte de séjour étudiante. I am also looking for work (in the field of engineering, but NOT professional level yet) and looking at acquiring working papers.

I am aware that there is the carte de séjour salarie and also a full work permit. Are these two different things? Also, it is possible to change a carte de séjour étudiante to a carte de séjour salarie? If so, how can I do this and under what types of jobs (CDI, temporaire,..) does this apply?

Thank you for any help/advice.

[Bevdeforges]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Well, technically you aren't supposed to be able to change from a carte de séjour étudiante to any sort of carte with working privileges without making a trip back home to apply for the proper visa. This is, however, France and quite frankly all things are possible (if potentially incredibly difficult and aggravating beyond all belief).

There isn't really any such thing as a work permit in France - at least not a stand-alone permit as such. Your carte de séjour indicates your working privileges - usually either limited to a single employer/job, a region (theoretically at least - I've never seen this in practice), or unlimited for anywhere in France and any profession. When you renew your carte de séjour it may be possible to get a change in status, if you have all the appropriate paperwork.

You can look for a job in France, but you will probably find it difficult to get a potential employer to talk to you unless you already have "working papers" (i.e. a carte de séjour with unlimited working privileges).

The ideal situation for you would be to have your employer for one of your "stages" take a real shine to you and offer to sponsor you for a working visa. You really need the "juice" of a well-placed potential employer to cut through the paperwork nightmare of getting work authorization - and potentially to get around the need to return back home to re-apply for a visa.
Cheers,
Bev

[dougondemand]

Originally Posted by annstar

Hello,

I am currently a student in Ile-de-France and have obtained a carte de séjour étudiante. I am also looking for work (in the field of engineering, but NOT professional level yet) and looking at acquiring working papers.

I am aware that there is the carte de séjour salarie and also a full work permit. Are these two different things? Also, it is possible to change a carte de séjour étudiante to a carte de séjour salarie? If so, how can I do this and under what types of jobs (CDI, temporaire,..) does this apply?

Thank you for any help/advice.

Hello!

You do need a company willing to sponsor you for your working papers. That's the hardest part, and it takes some reassurance on your part-swot up on all the procedures, and then reassure them that you're not going to bail on them once you get your papers.

The work permit and carte de séjour are two different things, but closely related. The work permit (as I understand the 'autorisation de travail') is a form that your employer fills out and sends to the Direction Départementale du Travail for approval. This has to be approved before you can get your Carte de Séjour (don't worry, the applications are made at the same time).

The DDT bases its decisions on certain factors (salary, your qualifications vs. those needed, local unemployment). If your job requires fluent English you're in. The Carte de Séjour is basically granted automatically afterward provided you don't have a criminal record.

The type of contract isn't that important, it just affects the amount of time given on your visa (maximum one year and then renewed every year afterward).