[travel_phil]

I am Austrian living in Canada. I plan to spend 10 months in France with my Canadian wife on my sabbatical, being hosted by a university there but being paid from my home institution in Canada. I have been spending many hours researching this in various places on the internet. I was relieved to see that my wife should not need a visa, based on EU directive 2004/38, but I want to double check a few things before we go ahead. For the moment, my wife has a visa appointment at the French consulate in Toronto. Unfortunately the consulate seems difficult to contact and generally unhelpful..., and no information on our situation on their web site. As for our plans, we would like to leave in early August, if possible, spending a few weeks in another EU country before entering France.

1) Based on official sites I found, like at justice.fr or service-public.fr (and information on this site), I need to have a 'statut' in order for my wife to join me. Can I claim to be a 'travailleur', even though I get paid from Canada and not from France? I can definitely get an invitation letter from the university in France saying that they will host me for the 10 months, as well as employment confirmation from Canada.

2) I'm also concerned about the housing requirement for a Carte de Sejour for my wife. Our current plan for the first 4 months is to stay at the apartment of a relative of a good friend of mine (we still need to find a place for afterwards). Would it be sufficient if we provide a letter from the relative saying they are hosting us for 4 months, a copy of their ID and an EDF bill in their name? (I'm not sure they want to legally declare us as tenants in their place, so I want to make sure this requirement won't give them any hassle!)

3) I'm unsure about what documents we need to get ready before we leave Canada. One advice I saw mentioned here is not to worry about translations/certifications until we go to a Prefecture for the CdS. Won't we have any problem with a Canadian marriage certificate? (I read about apostilles in another place, which is painful in Canada.)

Thank you in advance for any help/advice!

 

[travel_phil]

Thank you so much for the quick and very helpful reply, Bev! That sounds great.

We do have very good health coverage for our whole stay through my work. I already have a confirmation letter.

I have some follow-up questions:

For 1), so even though I won't get paid from France I should have the right to 'establish' myself there? Can I feel safe in cancelling my wife's visa appointment and book flights for our trip?

When we enter Schengen (not through France) would they be concerned if we say that we want to stay for a few months? They may see it from our return tickets.

About our documents: that would be great if we don't need apostilles. But will they require recently issued ones (like 3 months, I read here at some point)? In that case we should request new marriage and birth certificates now.

Will my wife have any travel issues in case the Carte de Sejour takes longer than 90 days after our arrival in the EU (which is about 60 days after entering France)? For example, I have a conference in Asia in November and would like her to come with me. I heard there's the recepisse once you apply for CdS, but that such a document isn't always issued?

 

[travel_phil]

@Raria: it sounds like our situation is different. I believe my spouse won't need any visa (and therefore no need for convention d'accueil or OFII), only a carte de sejour. I didn't get any new health insurance; the insurance I have through my job covers foreign travel.

@Bev: thank you again! that's great you think I can cancel the visa appointment!!

Our plans are that we arrive in Europe in early August, then in France in early September. We can therefore go to the prefecture within a month of arriving in the Schengen zone.

Marriage certificate: isn't it time we order a new one now? It can take 15 business days + shipping time to Europe. Then we can have it ready for the prefecture in early September.

Birth certificate: actually, my wife doesn't currently have a birth certificate given that this is not standard in the country she was born in. We'll definitely try to get it, but we vaguely heard there is an attestation one can use in case it can't be obtained?

I'm not sure whether my host university can help me with the travel question. Do you know what the legal situation is on leaving France after more than 90 days in Schengen while waiting/applying for a Carte de Sejour (1st time), travelling with EU spouse? The page on service-public.fr I found did not address this situation. I do hope my wife won't be stuck in France for a few months (I heard it can take a while to receive a CdS).

 

[travel_phil]

@Raria: it sounds like our situation is somewhat different. I believe my spouse won't need any visa (and therefore no need for convention d'accueil or OFII), only a carte de sejour. I didn't get any new health insurance; the insurance I have through my job covers foreign travel.

@Bev: thank you again! that's great you think I can cancel the visa appointment!!

Our plans are that we arrive in Europe in early August, then in France in early September. We can therefore go to the prefecture within a month of arriving in the Schengen zone.

Marriage certificate: isn't it time we order a new one now? It can take 15 business days + shipping time to Europe. Then we can have it ready for the prefecture in early September.

Birth certificate: actually, my wife doesn't currently have a birth certificate given that this is not standard in the country she was born in. We'll definitely try to get it, but we vaguely heard there is an attestation one can use in case it can't be obtained?

I'm not sure whether my host university can help me with the travel question. Do you know what the legal situation is on leaving France after more than 90 days in Schengen while waiting/applying for a Carte de Sejour (1st time), travelling with EU spouse? The page on service-public dot fr I found did not address this situation. I do hope my wife won't be stuck in France for a few months (I heard it can take a while to receive a CdS).

 

[travel_phil]

Why can't I post in this thread anymore? I've been trying for 24 hours...

 

[travel_phil]

Thank you, Bev! In the meantime I also heard in another place that travel should be OK, as long as we travel with a marriage certificate, which I will try to get authenticated at a Canadian Embassy in France before we get close to 90 days. I will also check with my university in France.

Any thoughts on my questions on birth and marriage certificates?

(And sorry for the double posting above.)

 

[travel_phil]

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