Long term stay in France

[Gregg]

Hello,
My girlfriend and I love France and would like to live there for a large part of the year (6-8 months). We are in our mid forties and are fortunate in that we will not have to work while we are in France. We are US citizens and currently live in New Mexico. I understand that in order to get a long term visa you have to prove that you won't be a burden on the social system in France. What type of documentation is needed? Will an active health insurance card from a US company be sufficient to prove health care coverage? How long is a long term Visa good for? Would I have to apply for a new visa each time I return to France? If I bought an apartment in France would that have any bearing on my status? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Gregg

[_Sarah_]

You'd need to apply for a long stay visitor visa which can last one year. In France a visa mainly allows you to enter and remain up to one year legally; each year after that in order to remain in France you have to renew your carte de séjour (the first year you don't have a carte de séjour - you just get a titre de séjour which you get once you 'validate' your visa, including doing a medical on your arrival).

On a carte de séjour you can leave France and come back, so long as your carte de séjour hasn't expired (they last one year and must be renewed in France). If you were to leave and the carte were to expire, you'd have to get another visa (someone correct me if I'm wrong). After five years of renewing your carte de séjour, you will be able to apply for a carte de résidence, which lasts ten years. Each time you renew your CdS, in order for it be granted, you must meet the same conditions as the visa you came on, eg: health insurance, sufficient funds to live without working, ect. Having an apartment might make it cheaper for you to live, but it won't change the visa conditions: no matter your situation, you need to prove that you have sufficient funds without working.

As a visitor, you are not allowed to work. If you did want to work you'd have to: get offered a job (the employer would have to be willing and capable of sponsoring you), go back to the US to apply for a work visa.

I don't know the geography of the US well, but I think the closest French consulate to you is in Los Angeles, if so, all the visa requirements are set out on their site:
Long stay visa for visitors (FRANCE and Overseas Departments) - Consulat Général de France à Los Angeles

[Bevdeforges]

Take a look at the link Sarah gave you. That should give you most of the information you need about getting a visitor visa.

There are a couple of issues in your plan that you'll need to explain carefully to the consulate when applying for a visa.

The first is your financial situation and how you can "prove" that you won't have to work while living in France. Also, unless you're married to your girlfriend, you'll each have to qualify separately for your visas.

Then there is the matter of defining your "residence" - once you spend more than 183 days a year in France, it's kind of assumed that you are resident there, especially for tax purposes. There are ways of proving that your "center of interests" is not France and thus you are not tax resident, but you want to give this some thought before you set up over here. France (like the US) requires you to declare your worldwide income if you are tax resident in France, which can make things tricky. You'll still be required to file and pay US taxes (due to your nationality), but there is a treaty to avoid double taxation. (You may also want to cast a glance at some of the threads over in the Canadian section on FBAR and FATCA - some US tax regulations that can be particularly onerous for US expats.)

As far as health insurance is concerned, you'll need to show that you have a health policy that is at least equivalent to the French national health care coverage AND that includes medical evacuation coverage in the event of serious injury or illness.

If you go for a one-year visa and then apply for and renew your carte de séjour each year, you'll be presumed to be resident in France. If you want to maintain your US tax residence while only "visiting" France for 6 to 8 months a year, you may do better to get a new visa each year for just the period of time you're planning on staying there. It's up to you. But buying property in France won't give you any advantages in the visa game - plus, you'll be responsible for the two property taxes, taxe foncière (the tax on the ownership of the property) and taxe d'habitation (the tax on the residents of the property).
Cheers,
Bev

[Joppa]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Take a look at the link Sarah gave you. That should give you most of the information you need about getting a visitor visa.

There are a couple of issues in your plan that you'll need to explain carefully to the consulate when applying for a visa.

The first is your financial situation and how you can "prove" that you won't have to work while living in France. Also, unless you're married to your girlfriend, you'll each have to qualify separately for your visas.

Then there is the matter of defining your "residence" - once you spend more than 183 days a year in France, it's kind of assumed that you are resident there, especially for tax purposes. There are ways of proving that your "center of interests" is not France and thus you are not tax resident, but you want to give this some thought before you set up over here. France (like the US) requires you to declare your worldwide income if you are tax resident in France, which can make things tricky. You'll still be required to file and pay US taxes (due to your nationality), but there is a treaty to avoid double taxation. (You may also want to cast a glance at some of the threads over in the Canadian section on FBAR and FATCA - some US tax regulations that can be particularly onerous for US expats.)

As far as health insurance is concerned, you'll need to show that you have a health policy that is at least equivalent to the French national health care coverage AND that includes medical evacuation coverage in the event of serious injury or illness.

If you go for a one-year visa and then apply for and renew your carte de séjour each year, you'll be presumed to be resident in France. If you want to maintain your US tax residence while only "visiting" France for 6 to 8 months a year, you may do better to get a new visa each year for just the period of time you're planning on staying there. It's up to you. But buying property in France won't give you any advantages in the visa game - plus, you'll be responsible for the two property taxes, taxe foncière (the tax on the ownership of the property) and taxe d'habitation (the tax on the residents of the property).

Just to reinforce what Bev has said about finance.
The French authorities are rather suspicious of working-age people wanting to live long-term, and unless you have watertight financial resources (e.g. ample savings or investment income covering your entire costs), they may suspect you are trying to work illegally or run a business without permission. They don't usually give a minumum income required to qualify for a visa, but you can assume it's a lot more than what a frugal backpacker would spend - something at least equal to national average salary, which is around 30,000 euro/year per person, often a lot more.

[Gregg]

Thank you for all the information. My intention of course is not to become a burden on the French system. Does anyone know a figure for savings and or income that would allow me to get a long term visa? My thought regarding buying a place was with the hope that the French government would be confident that I could afford to live there. Here in the US there is a proposal to grant foreigners long term Visa status if they purchase a home here for cash. Is France considering anything like this?

Gregg

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Gregg

Thank you for all the information. My intention of course is not to become a burden on the French system. Does anyone know a figure for savings and or income that would allow me to get a long term visa? My thought regarding buying a place was with the hope that the French government would be confident that I could afford to live there. Here in the US there is a proposal to grant foreigners long term Visa status if they purchase a home here for cash. Is France considering anything like this?

Gregg

As Joppa has already mentioned, it can be difficult to convince the French to grant you a non-working visa if you aren't retirement age or fabulously wealthy (enough so that you won't even be tempted to work).

France didn't have nearly the housing crisis the US did, so no, there is no proposal to grant visas to those willing to buy up overpriced property. And buying a place in France won't give you any sort of advantage as far as getting a visa, either.

Basically, you need a "reason" for wanting to live in France for the long-term (assuming you're going for a long-stay visa) and the financial means to support your stated reason without the temptation to work "off the books" while you're around. As a long-stay resident, you'll be expected to declare your worldwide income to the tax authorities here (though there are tax treaties to avoid double taxation).

The consulates lately have avoided publishing any sort of minimum income or savings figure, primarily because they want the ability to evaluate your resources in terms of your announced reason for coming to France.
Cheers,
Bev

[neeky21]

can someone please tell me how to start a topic!!! lol

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by neeky21

can someone please tell me how to start a topic!!! lol

Go to the page that lists the thread titles for the forum. (i.e. Here in the France forum, click on the little French flag at the top of the page.)

On the left side of the page you get, just above the list of the threads, there is button that says "New Thread". Click on that - and away you go!
Cheers,
Bev