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Partnership with a foreigner in France.

1881 Views 15 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  up4it, 
M
Hey all! I'm new this forum as I recently moved to France, and I'm having somewhat of a brain-breaking problem :). I hope some of you can properly inform me as I'm having trouble finding the exact information I need to know online.

Let me explain my sitatuation:

I come from the Netherlands, and as I said, I recently moved to France to work fulltime. I met my Chinese girlfriend in the Netherlands last year, and as the months passed we became convinced that this was not going to be a short-term relationship.

Unfortunately, she already graduated in the Netherlands by the time I met her and her permit was to expire at the end of November, unless she found a job which paid her ~24000 gross per year. Unfortunately, she did not find one. It could be extended if we registered for a partnership and if I had a fulltime job with at least a year contract. As I was still a student then, I failed to obtain that in time (and I tried, believe me).

So now she has been back in China for 3 months, and I have now found a fulltime job in France. Now I want to attempt to get her here, but I am a bit lost about how to do that :confused:. I have looked into PACS, but as far as I understood both partners have to be already legally residing in France. Also, we did not offically live together.

Of course, the obvious solution for me is to find a job in the Netherlands, but I like it here in France and I'm not willing to give up my job just yet without exploring other options.

If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated :).
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Bevdeforges
It would depend a bit on the consulate in China - and on the prefecture where you currently live and work in France - but you may want to look into her eligibility for either a one-year "visitor" visa or something like a student visa (if she can qualify for a university study program in France). She would stay with you, meaning that you'd be building time toward the living together requirement for getting PACS'd.

If she can come to France on a long-stay visa (i.e. a year), then you may well be able to get PACS'd (or married, which would be better in some ways, though you haven't indicated if that is a possibility). As the recognized partner of a European national, she'd be eligible for a carte de séjour as your "close family member" accompanying you while you exercise your EU rights in France.

Some prefectures are stickier about the PACS thing than others, but if there is any way she can qualify for a long-stay visa on her own merits (probably one where she wouldn't be able to work) it could fly.
Cheers,
Bev
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M
First of all, thank you for your quick and informative reply Bev :).

As for the options, both seem to require something that we dont have a particularly large amount of at the moment: money. I looked around a bit, and it seems it would require her to have around 2000 euro per month? so 24000 euro in total? That's... a bit out of reach :(.

I will look into having her doing a university course then, but isn't that also really expensive for non-EU citizens?

We discussed if getting married in China would make it easier, but I fear that would do more harm than good as it would clearly be for the sake of convenience.
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Mvds said:
First of all, thank you for your quick and informative reply Bev :).

As for the options, both seem to require something that we dont have a particularly large amount of at the moment: money. I looked around a bit, and it seems it would require her to have around 2000 euro per month? so 24000 euro in total? That's... a bit out of reach :(.

I will look into having her doing a university course then, but isn't that also really expensive for non-EU citizens?

We discussed if getting married in China would make it easier, but I fear that would do more harm than good as it would clearly be for the sake of convenience.
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I would suggest for her to do a french language course. She can enroll in a one year program at a Public University and it costs about 2000 euros per year. This allows her to seek a long stay student visa.

I hope it helps

Alex
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M
Hey Alex,

Thanks for your advice. It is around 2000 euros only for a course in French? Not for courses giving in English? Her English is quite good, but she doesn't speak a word of French (yet).
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Mvds said:
Hey Alex,

Thanks for your advice. It is around 2000 euros only for a course in French? Not for courses giving in English? Her English is quite good, but she doesn't speak a word of French (yet).
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Yes it´s 1,950 euros for a french language course. I will be attending one in Aix en Provence. Here is the link.

http://www.iefee.univ-cezanne.fr/inscriptions/tarifs.html

Good luck

Alex
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M
Ah my bad, I misunderstood. I thought you meant courses taught using the French language.

So it is possible to obtain a student visa for France by applying for a one-year course at a public university? And it is not already too late to do that for starting September this year?
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Mvds said:
Ah my bad, I misunderstood. I thought you meant courses taught using the French language.

So it is possible to obtain a student visa for France by applying for a one-year course at a public university? And it is not already too late to do that for starting September this year?
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That´s exaclty what I´m doing. That is, a one year french language course with a long staty student visa. And yes it is not too late to apply.

Alex
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M
I see. And it has to be a public university? Not a private one?

I live in Lille, which apparently has 3 public universities, but I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how/if she could apply for a course there and obtain a student visa.
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Bevdeforges
Take a look at the Campus France site: CampusFrance - Education en France - Study in France - Estudiar en Francia - Etudier en France - Study abroad in France - Centre pour les Etudes En France - CEF

They have information about programs that qualify for visas and the visa requirements themselves.
Cheers,
Bev
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M
Thanks for the information guys.

Are those the only courses that will provide a student visa though? There are only a few in Lille, and most of them are only for the summer. Also, they are taught in a private university. No mention of the public universities of Lille at all.
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Mvds said:
Thanks for the information guys.

Are those the only courses that will provide a student visa though? There are only a few in Lille, and most of them are only for the summer. Also, they are taught in a private university. No mention of the public universities of Lille at all.
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Bev is right to point out the programs for getting a long stay student visa. Try sticking to that. You can always ask those private schools if their courses qualify for a long student visa, but I would stick to what Bev pointed out on her last post (Campus France) That´s where I found my french language course.

Best regards,

Alex
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U
If you married your Chinese girlfriend and lived in France then you can take advantage of the European Union rules covering an EU national living in another EU country. The visa would also be FREE.

I did this using my Irish citizenship to get my wife to be allowed to live in the UK with me.The fact that she is from outside the EU can not stop her from joining you in France.

Here is the EU link:-
Family members - Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion - European Commission

Family members

When an EU national is working abroad in another EU country, family members also have the right to reside and work in that country, regardless of their nationality. Children have the right to be educated there.
The right to reside

Administrative formalities:

Family members who are EU nationals
Family members who are not EU nationals

The right to work

Family members:

do not need a work permit to work, even if they are non-EU nationals.
have the right to equal treatment, including access to all social and tax advantages.

The right to education

Children of EU nationals working abroad in another EU country:

have the right to education in the host country, whatever their nationality, on the same terms as nationals of that country
must also be given the same access to study grants.
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M
Thanks for the replies people.

Up4it, may I ask where your wife is from and where you married her? As far as I´m aware a marriage in China is not held to the same regard as a marriage in the EU. I have to check, but I believe i´m not yet eligible to marry her in the EU.

Thanks.
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Mvds said:
Thanks for the replies people.

Up4it, may I ask where your wife is from and where you married her? As far as I´m aware a marriage in China is not held to the same regard as a marriage in the EU. I have to check, but I believe i´m not yet eligible to marry her in the EU.

Thanks.
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I spent 6 years in China and I saw many people trying to go to France. It's a pretty difficult task. China doesn't like its people out of the country and France is not exactly welcoming to Chinese nationals. If she's going on her own (without a studying program) she might be asked to prove she has enough money and to pass a French language test, which is actually part of the visa process. I taught French to those people for a while and the level they ask for is rather high.
So before looking into how to get to Europe she would have to check how she can get out of China.
Good luck to both of you.
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MV: My wife is from China and she was a student in the UK on a student visa. Then she got a spouse visa to come to Britain as I am also a British citizen and we got married in Britain. She is a fluent English speaker but she was not asked any questions about her level of English.

It maybe better if you got married in Holland So u would need to check the Spouse Visa rules there. Then go and live in France under the EU rules. In France you would need to apply for a residence permit.

My wife said she does not know if a Chinese marriage is acceptable in the west or not? You need to check that yourself.

PS: We will soon also move to France! :)

Also, my wife said there are more Chinese in France than any other European country. Which surprised me as there are quite a few Chinese in the UK especially from Hong Kong.
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