[expatwannabe2010]

Hello, I'm new here! I'm looking into moving to France for a few years, maybe permanently... not sure yet. After an initial email consultation with a lawyer in France, he said I would probably qualify for the Competence et Talent immigration visa (being an actress/model). I'm having trouble finding information or paperwork for this visa. Do I have to go to the Consulate in person for this, or is there info online? I want to make sure this is the visa for me. Otherwise I guess my next option is to enroll in school, but I'd prefer that my residency there not rely on the condition that I be in school. Does anyone here have experience with this particular visa? Look forward to your responses. Thanks!

 

[Bevdeforges]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Basically this one requires you to propose a "project" that you contend will benefit France. Details here The ?Compétences et Talents? Card - Consulat Général de France à Washington

I suspect your chances are much better if you already speak decent to fluent French, as I believe the project proposal needs to be prepared in French.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[Guest]

The Chicago French Consulate is one English language site that has a reasonably clear explanation of what's involved - see here

The nature of the 'project' is of key importance, and it can't just be a study project, it has to demonstrate a potential to promote France on the world stage in that particular field. Not sure what that means to be honest, the laws and articles themselves don't seem to go into much detail.

I suppose if Julia Roberts or Emanuela De Paula decided to move to France they wouldn't encounter much opposition, and the project might not need to be too complicated

 

[juniorbansal]

digging for info on french talent and skills permit

Hi Frog blogger
What you have said is true about information on the Chicago french consulate. It has the clearest info available on the internet. I am trying to apply for this from India. I don't have a job offer from France. I am just applying for this visa assuming this is similar to HSMP of U.K.? Is my assumption right? Because i see in different blog that some one got this visa approved without a job offer in hand.

This forum's not allowing me to post that blog's URL. I can send an email if needed.

In the consular France Chicago page i see this information. To hold a salaried position

# copy of employment contract, unless exception is granted

# foreign employee authorization request – simplified contract

Please advise. I have booked my appointment date to next week.

 

[Bevdeforges]

Hi Frog blogger
What you have said is true about information on the Chicago french consulate. It has the clearest info available on the internet. I am trying to apply for this from India. I don't have a job offer from France. I am just applying for this visa assuming this is similar to HSMP of U.K.? Is my assumption right? Because i see in different blog that some one got this visa approved without a job offer in hand.

This forum's not allowing me to post that blog's URL. I can send an email if needed.

In the consular France Chicago page i see this information. To hold a salaried position

# copy of employment contract, unless exception is granted

# foreign employee authorization request – simplified contract

Please advise. I have booked my appointment date to next week.

This visa is NOT similar to HSMP in the UK. The French competences et talents visa (sometimes referred to as the "skills and talents" visa) requires you to submit a project stating what you hope to accomplish by coming to France, and how said project will benefit France, your country or both. It's not a free pass to move to France and start looking for a job, no matter how well educated you are.

That's one of the reasons they insist you have a job contract before you get the visa if you're relying on a job. It's possible to propose setting up a business in France as your project, but on another consulate website they state that you need to prove that you have funding for the business (along with a business plan) in order to qualify for the visa.

It's a tough visa to qualify for, and while I haven't seen anything in print about this, I suspect they want the project written up in French.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[LeahStunts]

I wanted to bump this thread since I just started researching this visa and feel I have a great chance of getting one after reading up on it.

Has anyone here actually received this visa or do you know anyone who has? I'd love to chat about the process.

Thank you

 

[dijid]

I wanted to bump this thread since I just started researching this visa and feel I have a great chance of getting one after reading up on it.

Has anyone here actually received this visa or do you know anyone who has? I'd love to chat about the process.

Thank you

I only know of one person (friend of friend of friend...) and that person is an artist with 30+ years experience who has had showings of their art in many countries. They're doing showings here in France as well as teaching/mentoring.

I do remember hearing of someone - and I think it was someone who posted here - who got rejected. They were doing something with agriculture - I think it was agri tourism? and their rejection didn't indicate why it was rejected. I honestly have not heard many stories of people applying for this.

Good luck. If you do pursue it, please let us know how it goes!

 

[Bevdeforges]

Just went back and checked, and the last we heard from the OP on this thread, she was in the process of changing her visa request to a different basis.

I can't recall anyone here on the forum who has asked about this visa and then reported back as having received one - though that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

I've done a bit of search on the Internet to see if I can find out anything about what "projects" have qualified for a competences et talent visa, but that's not the kind of information the French government is used to giving out.

But if you've got a good idea for a project and enough French to write it up as required, go for it. Just have a Plan B just in case...
Cheers,
Bev

 

[LeahStunts]

Thanks guys, I definitely am giving it a shot. I will keep you all updated since there doesn't seem to be a wealth of information on the subject.

 

[Brunno]

Does anyone know what level of French is expected? How was your appoitment at the French consulate? Was it in French I suppose?

Thanks,

Brunno.

 

[Bevdeforges]

Does anyone know what level of French is expected? How was your appoitment at the French consulate? Was it in French I suppose?

Thanks,

Brunno.

For this particular visa, you need to have a project to present to the consulate - and AFAIK the project plan has to be written up in French.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[asarwer]

does any one can help to prepare the paper work for france competent et talent ( skills and talent permit) especially to prepare the project report.

 

[lraybois]

The project has to be written in French. Over the years, I have noticed that there is a great deal of variation in how the criteria are interpreted from one consulate to the next. Even within the same consulate, all it takes is a new head of the visa section for the criteria to change somewhat dramatically; never officially of course, but for sure in practice.

Here are a few miscellaneous recommendations: Don't apply when there is a brand new team at the visa section. Because of people feeling overwhelmed and insecure about the new position, they will often enough deny the C&T just because they are not sure what to do, and do not have the space to spend a lot of time on it. Likewise, never inquire about the status of your application if you have been waiting longer than you should have. In many cases, that will trigger a denial, simply because people who may have been swamped and running behind will decide that it is just as easy for them to deny you. This way they are done with that task.

They are not allowed to give you the reason for the denial; so that opens the door for it to be based on something less than reasonable. You'll never know.

Even though I have seen the option work out for many people, everything has its dark side; and it is good to remain aware.

Good luck!

 

[expatwannabe2010]

That's very interesting. Do you have insider info on all this? ;-) How do you know when there's a new team at the visa section?

The project has to be written in French. Over the years, I have noticed that there is a great deal of variation in how the criteria are interpreted from one consulate to the next. Even within the same consulate, all it takes is a new head of the visa section for the criteria to change somewhat dramatically; never officially of course, but for sure in practice.

Here are a few miscellaneous recommendations: Don't apply when there is a brand new team at the visa section. Because of people feeling overwhelmed and insecure about the new position, they will often enough deny the C&T just because they are not sure what to do, and do not have the space to spend a lot of time on it. Likewise, never inquire about the status of your application if you have been waiting longer than you should have. In many cases, that will trigger a denial, simply because people who may have been swamped and running behind will decide that it is just as easy for them to deny you. This way they are done with that task.

They are not allowed to give you the reason for the denial; so that opens the door for it to be based on something less than reasonable. You'll never know.

Even though I have seen the option work out for many people, everything has its dark side; and it is good to remain aware.

Good luck!

 

[lraybois]

That's very interesting. Do you have insider info on all this? ;-) How do you know when there's a new team at the visa section?

I do not have insider info; I am a consultant and as such assist people in coming up with their project proposal, among other things. Because of having done that for a while, I have had a chance to observe trends, even though it is very non-scientific.

The way to know if a team is new at the consulate is to monitor the "contact" page of the consulate often. I also go on LinkedIn to see how long a person has been on the job.

I do feel that the process would become MUCH more predictable and consistent if consulates had the obligation to give the applicant the basis for the denial.

Laurence Raybois

 

[Bevdeforges]

It also depends on the individual consulate. We've had a few folks in here who have managed to get their CetT visas with a project written up in English. I can only assume that it was the quality of the project/business plan that carried the approval.

There also seems to be some major differences in the types of projects expected from various countries and regions of the world. But predictability and consistency of outcome aren't a major concern of the French government (or, indeed, of any government) when it comes to granting visas.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[expatwannabe2010]

Very clever.

Yes, consistency... not something I've found France cares about. lol