New rules for some categories demanding "le titre de sejour"

[globetrotter42]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Hi Globetrotter, and welcome to the forum!

Yeah, your situation is a bit more complicated than usual. But you say the Toronto consulate is sending your livret de famille to "the prefecture" - which prefecture is that? Normally, they just give you the livret de famille and notify the mairie where your wife's birth records are, so they can note on her birth certificate that she is married, to whom, when, etc. etc.

Once you have the livret de famille, you can then apply at a French consulate overseas (wherever you're living at the moment) for a long stay visa - assuming, of course, that you're planning on actually staying in France for some period of time greater than 3 months. Until and unless you're going to be resident in France, you don't have to mess with the OFII. (But actually, if you're currently in Réunion, you're technically in France anyhow.) What you do need is a residence in France - part of the visa requirement.

...

You actually don't need a cds or visa or anything to work for a French company if you're going to be working outside France. It's the company that has to secure you whatever visas you need to work in the countries they are sending you to. If you're going along as a dependent on your wife's visa, chances are you don't have the right to work in most of the countries they send her to.

Like you say, it's a complicated situation. Seriously, it might be easier to just wait out the two years, take French nationality, and then you don't have to worry about visas and the OFII, at least not for France.
Cheers,
Bev

Waiting out the 2 years might seem easier, but it isn't really. For now, I pay any medical professional I see and hope to be reimbursed from my spouse's professional health insurance, for example. I'd like to exchange my Hong Kong and South African driver's licences for a French one, for another. int'l permits are usually valid for only a year and I don't usually go back once we move.

Also, I'd like to continue working, somewhere, for someone. As you correctly point out, dependent visas usually don't allow spouses to work. I have always gone out and found my own job and an employer to sponsor me in each location we've moved to. But our next move will take us to the US, where finding a job there especially now will be well nigh impossible. A French company might be able to hire me & pay me in France and send me abroad as an expat, like my spouse.

We're building a house in France which is part of the reason we were back this year, so I definitely have a residence there - but is it officially a valid residence? Not sure.

The CDS/TDS would just fix a lot of these little problems. i could get a driver's licence, a carte vitale, international driver's permit (no expiry on French ones!), library card and even a job. Waiting 2 years will be very long. incidentally, I believe the LDF will be sent to our home in France and be there waiting when we return from La Reunion later this month. I will then take it to the prefecture and apply for a TDS vie privee et familiale. Wish me luck.

(PS I'm not the husband, my spouse is. No hard feelings.)

[Heydrick]

Originally Posted by esear

Did they ask for translated versions from English to French or French documents to English?

I am about to apply in a few weeks and I want to make sure I have everything they may possibly ask for!

Thanks in advance!

So here goes - I think we are very fortunate, because our company has a 3rd party do all the behind the scenes paper work, so I may not even know some of what they had already sent. So understand that we are getting 2 company sponsored long term visas.

That said, we went to the consulate in Houst on last week with everything on their website, and a whole lot more. We had a 9:30 appointment, and walked out at noon with the "carte de sejour" visa in our passport. We of course waited until they sent us word that they had everything from Strasbourg, and made the appointment on line.

The web site said they needed a copy of our kids birth certificates and our marriage license translated into French. We had it, they didn't take it, but said the prefecture would need it. Since we were getting individual visas, we didn't really need the marriage license at all, althought hey did attach it to the kids paperwork. Also, I had read somewhere on the consulate website a requirement to have a letter showing we had at least $37,000 in insurance coverage - we brought that as well (had to be on letterhead of insurer, etc.), but in fact they didn't take this either.

Since returning, the 3rd party company has been asking for the "Visa de Long Sejour - demande d'attestation OFII", which they claim the consulate was to give us (in addition to the visa in our passport). I think though, that this is part of the recent changes, and it is no longer required. Then again - I could swear I saw others receive this form while we were there - maybe reltated to the type of visa we are getting????

Regardless, we now have our medicals set up (all we had to provide the 3rd party was a copy of the visas from our passport - not sure what else they provided to get the med visit set up).

So there you have it. Based on what I'm reading, I'm glad our company has someone managing this process! And who knows, perhaps we'll soon find out that we needed the form, and have to fly back to Houston to get it!?

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Heydrick

Since returning, the 3rd party company has been asking for the "Visa de Long Sejour - demande d'attestation OFII", which they claim the consulate was to give us (in addition to the visa in our passport). I think though, that this is part of the recent changes, and it is no longer required. Then again - I could swear I saw others receive this form while we were there - maybe reltated to the type of visa we are getting????

I think the form you want may be available for download on the website of the OFII OFII - Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration

Click on the picture of the form on the right ("formulaire à télécharger") and I think you've got it.
Cheers,
Bev

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by globetrotter42

We're building a house in France which is part of the reason we were back this year, so I definitely have a residence there - but is it officially a valid residence? Not sure.

The CDS/TDS would just fix a lot of these little problems. i could get a driver's licence, a carte vitale, international driver's permit (no expiry on French ones!), library card and even a job. Waiting 2 years will be very long. incidentally, I believe the LDF will be sent to our home in France and be there waiting when we return from La Reunion later this month. I will then take it to the prefecture and apply for a TDS vie privee et familiale. Wish me luck.

(PS I'm not the husband, my spouse is. No hard feelings.)

Whoops, now where did I get the idea you were the husband of the pair? Must be confusing you with someone else here... or, as someone once told me, it could be "Old Timers' disease."

Your plan sounds like the best approach, though I'm not sure if having a titre de séjour is going to help you find employment outside France.
Cheers,
Bev

[globetrotter42]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Your plan sounds like the best approach, though I'm not sure if having a titre de séjour is going to help you find employment outside France.
Cheers,
Bev

If it gives me the right to work in France, French companies might be willing to consider me for a job where they don't have to pay for my expatriation. Anyway, it won't hurt to have it.

Thanks for all your help.

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by globetrotter42

If it gives me the right to work in France, French companies might be willing to consider me for a job where they don't have to pay for my expatriation. Anyway, it won't hurt to have it.

Thanks for all your help.

Good luck with that - though I'm not sure having the right to work in France is going to make much difference in your ability to work elsewhere. Your employer would still have to get you the appropriate work visa for wherever you were outside of France - and that is dependent on your nationality, not that of your husband.

Have you tried approaching your husband's employer about giving you a job at the site where he is working? While some companies have policies against both spouses working in the same office, not all do and in your situation this might actually make sense, especially as often as you seem to move.
Cheers,
Bev

[globetrotter42]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Good luck with that - though I'm not sure having the right to work in France is going to make much difference in your ability to work elsewhere. Your employer would still have to get you the appropriate work visa for wherever you were outside of France - and that is dependent on your nationality, not that of your husband.

Have you tried approaching your husband's employer about giving you a job at the site where he is working? While some companies have policies against both spouses working in the same office, not all do and in your situation this might actually make sense, especially as often as you seem to move.
Cheers,
Bev

Hi Bev, apologies for not making myself clear. As a matter of fact, I have already approached them with exactly this in mind. Not sure if it's gonna work though as French companies have a different work culture approach to hiring spouses than Anglo companies do, but it's worth a try.

Thanks again.

[Californiagirl]

I think I mentioned before that I got my long stay spouse visa in 5 days, which was unbelievably quick. I just retured to France and sent of my OFII form, of course I forgot to send a copy of my visa, passport, etc so I will have to wait and see what happens there. I'm hoping they go ahead and make an appointment for me but you never know. Does anyone know if we are allowed to work while waiting for all this stuff to happen? I've had a few job interviews and I'm just assuming that I can legally work. If I can't then I may very well go completely crazy as I have nothing to do here. Any suggetions?

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Californiagirl

I think I mentioned before that I got my long stay spouse visa in 5 days, which was unbelievably quick. I just retured to France and sent of my OFII form, of course I forgot to send a copy of my visa, passport, etc so I will have to wait and see what happens there. I'm hoping they go ahead and make an appointment for me but you never know. Does anyone know if we are allowed to work while waiting for all this stuff to happen? I've had a few job interviews and I'm just assuming that I can legally work. If I can't then I may very well go completely crazy as I have nothing to do here. Any suggetions?

A legit employer in France is going to ask for and expect a carte de séjour (or equivalent) before they can put you on the payroll. Whether or not you're "allowed" to work, you need to be wary of anyone willing to hire you without the appropriate paperwork.

But hiring decisions in France take a while, so you might just have that stamp in the visa by the time it becomes an issue.
Cheers,
Bev

[Californiagirl]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

A legit employer in France is going to ask for and expect a carte de séjour (or equivalent) before they can put you on the payroll. Whether or not you're "allowed" to work, you need to be wary of anyone willing to hire you without the appropriate paperwork.

But hiring decisions in France take a while, so you might just have that stamp in the visa by the time it becomes an issue.
Cheers,
Bev

Hi Bevdeforges,

I guess I'm just confused. If we no longer get a CDS for the first year what will we get to show as "proof" that we have the right to be/work/etc here? I know that I still have to go through the OFII interview/medical visit/etc but do you know if I have to wait until that is finished before I can work? Unfortunatly, if that is the case then I will have to turn down the job that I was just offered. Sigh. Any insight/additional info from anyone out there who has gone through the new process would be helpful!!

-CG