us citizen and mexican citizen questions about visas and moving to france

[achilipepper2010]

I am an american citizen who just got married 2 years ago to a mexican citizen. we currently live in Mexico. We own an export company and have saved up 150,000 euros+ towards buying a property in France (not a lot I know) We are both in our late 20's.
the problem is that my husband got deported from America 2 years ago (please dont judge), and is not allowed back in the usa for 10 years, he was formally charged as being in the country illegally. So my question is how does this effect chances of getting him a visa? DO they have ties to some data base that has this info from america?

if we buy property does this qualify us to live in france? im assuming no, so what steps would we need to take to move to france?
we are willing to: spend part of the year back in mexico if that helps with visas,
I would like to sell my company and invest in a business in france, or have some kind of employment there.
I am flexible and open to ideas regarding visas, pretty much whatever it takes to make this happen.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

[Bevdeforges]

No, the French really don't care if your husband got deported from the US. It's virtually unheard of for two agencies within the same country to share data like that. Even less chance that the different countries are going to co-operate like that anytime soon.

As far as getting visas for yourselves, you need to check the website for the French consulate in Mexico for their specific requirements. There is nothing stopping you from buying property in France, but owning property won't give you any sort of advantages as far as getting a long-stay visa.

Basically, for a visa, you need to have a job lined up and the employer to have filed for and obtained the work permission for you in that job. (Has to prove that there is no local or other EU national available.)

As far as setting up or investing in a company in France, it would be a whole lot easier if you were already legally living in France. If you have a particularly innovative idea for a business, you could try for one of those "Skills and Talents" visas - for which you need to develop a project designed to benefit France, your home country or relations between the two.

Your case for a visa (or visas) would really be helped if both of you were relatively fluent in French. (It would also help immensely in the job hunt!) It would also help if you both have some ties to France - friends, family or frequent travel there. Offering to go back to Mexico on a regular basis could backfire, as it suggests that you aren't really "committed" to the move - and it does mean that you won't be dependent on your French income and thus may or may not be intending to pay your share of taxes and cotisations.

Your best bet at this point might be to make a couple trips over to France to start scouting out options - jobs (see what might be available to someone with your qualifications), places to live, whether or not you can cope with the culture, etc.
Cheers,
Bev

[achilipepper2010]

Bev,
First of all thank you so much for your advice!
I have read about the skills and talents visa, as my husband is a talented welder of wrought iron gates and art for our company. So that may be something to consider. Also we were considering opening a Mexican restaurant somewhere in the south. so perhaps either of those would qualify. France really needs mexican food !! lol
what I am really curious about is the retirement visa, If we kept our company running in mexico and lived off that income in france, would that qualify for that type of visa?
sorry I know its a really specific question.
Im taking my husband to Nice this summer for 4 weeks to see how he likes it. He is so excited about learning french! I dont think it will be too hard for him considering he became fluent in english in 2years.
As for myself, i have spoken french since I was a child (immersion school) but sadly i cannot write well anymore!
we both strongly dislike life and mexico and see france as a real possibility.
I really enjoyed the time I lived there and cannot wait to show my husband how wonderful france is.

[Joppa]

Originally Posted by achilipepper2010

what I am really curious about is the retirement visa, If we kept our company running in mexico and lived off that income in france, would that qualify for that type of visa?
sorry I know its a really specific question.

No it won't do. By retirement you must have finished working or running a business, and are living on pensions and investments. If you want to live in France while still running a business remotely in Mexico, you will need a visa that specifically allows you to do so, and usually means a business/entrepreneur visa, and France will try to levy income tax on your world-wide earnings.

[achilipepper2010]

regarding visas is there a direct benefit, higher approval rate of obtaining visas ect, if I were to purchase a property in france?
whatever route i take when applying for a visa, how much time should I allow, months...years?

eveyone is so helpful! thank you for your reply.

[achilipepper2010]

also... I am an american citizen, can I apply at the french embassy in mexico or do I have to go to the embassy in america?

[Bevdeforges]

Joppa is right here - the retirement visa is pretty much for those who can show adequate pension income. The fact of you both being well below retirement age means it is highly unlikely you'd be granted any sort of "non-working" visa unless you could point to a clearly defined project with a determinate ending in sight. (Like a research project for a book or study.)

Owning property in France won't improve your chances for scoring a visa. What they're worried about is your taking jobs from the locals and then not paying either your cotisations or your taxes. Once you're resident in France, your worldwide income is subject to French taxes.

As far as applying for visas, you must apply to the consulate that covers the area in which you are currently resident - which for you means Mexico. Expect some difficulties based on your being an American in Mexico. It falls outside the standard deviation, so the consulate staff will have to do things slightly differently and they may give you a hard time over that. (I applied through the French consulate in Stuttgart and that seems to have been the source of most of my immigration problems.)

There are a number of Mexican restaurants in Paris - with the food "toned down" a bit for local tastes. Mostly run by American expats.

Getting a visa based on being an entrepreneur is going to be a challenge. It's possible (in theory at least) but with unemployment the way it is right now, it's not going to be easy. If you go the competences et talents route, you want to be able to show that your project will hire and possibly train a bunch of French people - i.e. make a lasting contribution to France.
Cheers,
Bev