American moving to Paris for about a year for school...

[sharan1]

Hi Everyone, I'm looking for some thoughts/advice on my faster-approachig move to Paris for at least 10 months.

Here's my situation:
-I'm 27 and American, have never been to Europe much less Paris. I basically don't know any french--I've got Rosetta Stone but have not gotten very far in it

-I'll be starting school in Paris at the end of June, I fly out to Paris in about about 3 weeks

-I have no place to stay when I arrive (or anything lined up at the moment). I do not know anyone in Paris or anyone that will be attending the school. I had been doing some searching on craigslist but was scared off by potential scams. I've contacted the school to ask if they could put me in touch with other students who were seeking roommates, but they said they likely won't know anything until the end of the month (about a week before my flight)

My questions/thoughts, if anyone would like to help me out here, are these:
- Unless the school comes through, I'm going to try to line up a short term situation for when I arrive. Then once in the city I can do a more thorough search for a longer term place

- For my finances, my plan at least initially was to get some euros in the US to have when I arrive. And to use ATMs for cash and credit cards when I can--I've got a Bank of America account and apparently they have an agreement with BNP Paribas on no ATM fees. My question is, how difficult will it be to open an account at a french bank? What are the odds Ill be able to get away with not doing this at all?

- Health Insurance. My plan at the moment is to get international coverage from an US company. Can I somehow opt-in to the coverage provided by the French govt since I'm a student?


Overall, thoughts? Any suggestions for someone in my situation? Particularly not knowing anyone and not knowing the language!

Thanks!

[Bevdeforges]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

When you applied for your visa, the consulate should have asked you for proof of insurance and proof that you have some place lined up to live in. (I hesitate to ask this, but you DO have a visa, don't you? ) I'm told that the French consulate now sends all student visa applicants through Campus France, so they should also have some information for you.

The notion of "co-location" is still a little new in France, but there are listings of people looking for roommates that you can check once you get here. It's usually best to set up somewhere temporary at first because what's touted here as "student housing" can be a little, um, "primitive" for American tastes and it's generally advisable to see a place before you rent it. There is, however, one major resource in English, called FUSAC: FUSAC - Petites annonces pour anglophones de Paris - check both the large and small ads for housing to see what's available, though anything good goes very quickly.

It's possible to survive without a French bank account, but definitely not particularly convenient. Technically you need a carte de séjour and other documents to open a French account - but you probably can get away with using the récippissée (receipt) they give you on application for the carte de séjour, which comes back again to the visa issue. You'll need some sort of reference letter from your US bank (if they'll be transferring funds to you in France) and/or 3 months' worth of pay slips, plus identification documents (passport, etc.). In France you make an appointment at the bank to set up a new account.

You can't get French national health coverage unless you're employed and somehow paying into the system. Ask your US insurer about an expat policy. If they try to sell you a travel or vacation policy, you may find you're only covered for emergencies - and at that will be med-evac'd back to the US for treatment. You can consider getting a true expat policy through an American expat group like AARO: AARO - Association of Americans Resident Overseas (click on the link on the left side of the screen for "medical insurance")
Cheers,
Bev

[sharan1]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Thanks, and thanks for the reply.

When you applied for your visa, the consulate should have asked you for proof of insurance and proof that you have some place lined up to live in. (I hesitate to ask this, but you DO have a visa, don't you? ) I'm told that the French consulate now sends all student visa applicants through Campus France, so they should also have some information for you.

I do have a visa. They told me that I did not need proof of insurance because I'd be covered as a student by the government's insurance. And I think they said that because I was getting a student visa that I did not need proof of a place to live (this was at the Houston consulate).

I did use Campus France. They have some information, but mostly it tells me what is available and not HOW to do things. For example it says that students are covered under the national plan for 172 euros per year but does not tell me how to opt into the plan.

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

The notion of "co-location" is still a little new in France, but there are listings of people looking for roommates that you can check once you get here. It's usually best to set up somewhere temporary at first because what's touted here as "student housing" can be a little, um, "primitive" for American tastes and it's generally advisable to see a place before you rent it. There is, however, one major resource in English, called FUSAC:- check both the large and small ads for housing to see what's available, though anything good goes very quickly.

It's possible to survive without a French bank account, but definitely not particularly convenient. Technically you need a carte de séjour and other documents to open a French account - but you probably can get away with using the récippissée (receipt) they give you on application for the carte de séjour, which comes back again to the visa issue. You'll need some sort of reference letter from your US bank (if they'll be transferring funds to you in France) and/or 3 months' worth of pay slips, plus identification documents (passport, etc.). In France you make an appointment at the bank to set up a new account.

I do have the visa, and my understanding is that I need to visit the local prefecture to apply for the carte de séjour. As I will be in France for school and have no job, the letter from the bank would be enough for the account? I should set that up while I'm in the US then.


You can't get French national health coverage unless you're employed and somehow paying into the system. Ask your US insurer about an expat policy. If they try to sell you a travel or vacation policy, you may find you're only covered for emergencies - and at that will be med-evac'd back to the US for treatment. You can consider getting a true expat policy through an American expat group like AARO:
Cheers,
Bev[/QUOTE]



Thanks for the help, Bev.


Scott

[Bevdeforges]

If the health insurance is part of the school set-up, no doubt they will sign you up when you register for school. You might want to look into a travel health coverage for the period between when you leave until you start school.

Get a letter from your bank before you leave. You may not absolutely need it, but it's a whole lot easier to get it now and take it with you than to have to wait to get it by mail later on. Once you get settled in somewhere, go to the préfecture (covering your arrondissement if you are in Paris) and apply for your carte de séjour. They'll give you a list of what they expect you to produce in addition to your passport and stamped visa - it varies a little bit by préfecture - but normally they will give you a written list (probably in French). Most things having to do with the administration wind up being more or less like a scavenger hunt - and chances are that one or two things on the list will be simply impossible to get. It is sometimes negotiable, but choose your battles wisely.

Once your dossier has been turned in, they should give you a récippissée (receipt) and then you can go set up your appointment at a bank to open an account. Again, they will give you a list of what paperwork they expect ahead of time. Instead of the pay stubs, you should probably provide your letter of admission to the school you're attending - or whatever registration paperwork you have to show that you're a student. Check around a bit for a bank that is convenient and that has "conseillers" who speak English.

"The customer is always right" is not a notion that is current in France. Rules exist to make life easier on the employees - of the bank and of the government. Keep that in mind when they are driving you out of your mind, and things will go much smoother.
Cheers,
Bev

PS One other place to look for accommodation when you get to Paris is the bulletin board at the American Church on the quai d'Orsay. It's a gathering spot for Americans in Paris (whether or not they're of a religious persuasion) and their bulletin board is famous among the anglophone crowd. You can pick up a copy of FUSAC at WH Smith's or Brentano's (two English language bookstores in Paris) along with a couple other English language free papers that have want ads of various sorts.

[luluoceanlane]

Hey Sharan,

Don't worry about not speaking French, you'll be suprised how many people speak English. Make sure you smile a lot, learn the basic greetings and pardon, and of course je nas parle pas francais... I don't speak French. I'm about to leave Paris after several months, and my biggest regret was not taking French classes, so look into this if you haven't already. You will not learn French simply by being here, contrary to popular belief!

Bank accounts are so time consuming to set up - get ready for two weeks of forms, things being posted to you and visits to the bank to organise this. NOT straight forward... speaking from experience as my foreign partner opened an account with BNP Paribas. I also have the arrangement with my bank in New Zealand so I can use my card at the BNP Atm with no fees - this is a great system, so only setup a bank account if you need it - I never got one and coped fine without it. I also don't work though.

CAF provides students with housing subsidies, you need to ask your uni about this I guess as it's all in French with the forms etc. You can get 100-200 Euros a month depending on your situation to subsidise your rent payments, but it might just be for Europeans - anyway ask your uni, maybe they know more.

Can't really help you with accomodation ideas, but for our short term stay we got a furnished apartment via parisstay.com - another similar website is parisattitude.com. Expensive, but we love our beautiful shoebox. Maybe there is something not too expensive on these sites for a one-month term rental until you are setup or find flatmates - you'll pay more, but coming into Paris to a well setup apartment with four weeks to figure things out is a lot less stressful and possibly worth it!