[0:00]If you don't have a job in France and you're not a student, can you get a French visa? Yes, you can, and that's what this video is about. We are going to talk about what you need to be approved for the most popular French visa Americans apply for when moving to France independently. And stay tuned to the end and we'll talk about remote work here in France. Hi, I'm Raina. I'm Jason. We're Baguette Bound. We talk about moving, adjusting, and enjoying life in France. Okay, so the most popular visa for Americans moving to France who are not students is the long stay visitor visa. This might be the closest thing that France has to a retirement visa since being approved depends on being able to support yourself financially without being employed in France. You're going to need three things to get approval for this visa. First, and probably the most important, a stable monthly income of at least At least 1,426 euros and 68 cents. I kind of feel like I'm on the prices right there. Um, or it's about $1,500 per month at the time of this recording. This number is not random. It is connected, um, and reflects the current French net minimum wage. So this income should be regular and stable for your best chance of approval, so think about things like social security income, pensions, annuity payments, or something like rental income that's connected to a long-term contract. You can also show this as another option instead of a monthly amount, you could show a total balance of a little over 17,000 euros per person in an account. So 12 times the monthly minimum amount. You, um, you must be able to produce at least three months of account statements as financial support to prove you have these resources. That's what you're going to need to turn in as with your visa application. Um, and these re resources, they could actually be from a guarantor. That's frequently the case with students. Um, and that's a person who pledges their financial resources on your behalf. Now, they will have to provide all these same financial statements of their own and a written pledge with your application, but it is another option. Okay. Second, you will need to show that you have housing arranged. You need a place to stay. They want to know you got somewhere to sleep when you get off that plane. A long-term rental contract, a short-term rental reservation, or even a tax notice showing that you own a home in France, all of these are options. And this does not even have to be for the entire year of your visa. It does need to be for day one, you got to have a place to land, but it doesn't need to be for a 12, for the entire 12 months. And particularly if you're planning on moving here long-term, it's acceptable to explain in your letter of intent that you've arranged short-term housing for the first several weeks or months while you look for a house or a longer term lease. Things like Airbnbs or off-season vacation rentals, VRBOs, all of these can be fine too as long as you have proof for the booking. We see people get approved with these all the time. All the time. Yeah. Now, word to the wise. Make sure you can receive postal mail wherever you book. It will just make your life easier if you can get something in the mail. Yeah. Okay. Lastly, this is the third thing. You are going to provide travel health insurance to be approved for the long-stay visa. At the time of this recording, the minimum requirement is a coverage of up to 30,000 euros in medical expenses and repatriation back to the USA. So while policy rates, I mean, they fluctuate pretty regularly. Um, a travel health insurance policy like this from a European provider, you can think it's probably going to be somewhere around 1,000 euros for the year. The rates for these policies are based on your age, not your health conditions. That's nice, isn't it? Yeah. If you're checking quotes for international insurance and they are in the thousands of dollars per year, look really closely at what is all included in this. Yeah, this quote should not look like your usual American health insurance. No. These policies, they can include coverage in the USA, or they can also include travel insurance, things like your airplane tickets, your hotel reservations, lost luggage. Sure, yeah. They can also offer much higher medical coverage amounts than you need to meet those minimum visa requirements. This is okay if you want coverage in the US, or if you want to ensure your your suitcases. But this extra coverage is absolutely not necessary for the visa. It won't get you bonus points. Make sure the policy is valid in Europe, it's valid in France. That's the point of this. Yeah. American Legacy health insurance companies tend to have much higher prices on these policies, so it helps to shop around. You can find a few good options on our resource list, you can find that down in the description. So when you apply, remember you're going to need to provide your US passport, uh, and you're also going to need to write a letter of intent to the French government explaining your purpose in coming to France. This doesn't have to be a whole novel, it can be pretty simple and straightforward, so don't start sweating bullets about this one. Um, and the long-stay visitor visa is issued for one, a one-year period, and then it can be renewed each year if you continue to meet the financial requirements. You'll have to provide proof of that with each renewal, but you can renew this within France. After five years of living in France legally, you can apply for the long-term residency, or what you'll hear sometimes people call the 10-year card. Just remember that the 10-year card does have language requirements, and you can find out more about those in this video. Okay, so now what exactly is the story with remote work? Some US workers with remote jobs at American companies come to France using this long-stay visitor visa. There is no defined digital nomad visa in France right now, so there's really not another option. Currently, for employees with remote work jobs in the US. We have been told directly by the French Embassy in Washington that they will consider income from a US remote work position as a valid financial source to meet the income requirements for this long-stay visitor visa. However, one issue that remains is that while you can pay French income taxes as a remote worker and a French tax resident, it's pretty easy to set up. However, the employment taxes, which are like similar to social security or Medicare taxes in the US, these are referred to as social contributions here in France. These social contributions are a different matter. Currently, sit complit. Yeah. There's no real mechanism right now for how you're going to do that. So, we would say, we are not tax advisors, and if this is your situation, you definitely want to consult a accountant who's familiar with the Franco-American tax treaty and get advice on your specific situations and what they're seeing with remote workers who move to France and are French tax residents but working for US companies.
[7:44]Yeah. If you are watching this video and now thinking, well, I still work. I don't have a job that's going to transfer, and I'm not quite retired, so what do I do exactly? We don't want to leave you out. Okay, right. There is an option. If you own your own business or you can start one here in France based on your current skills and experiences. And for this, you can consider the professional liberal entrepreneur visa. Yeah. So if you are a freelancer, a consultant, coaches, if you are already supporting yourself in the US doing any of these things, you have a pretty good chance of qualifying for this visa. And that will allow you and your business to move to France and you to continue working in this capacity for yourself, uh, supporting yourself with your business legally here in France. So if you're at the beginning of figuring out your path to France, we know that it can feel overwhelming. We remember. It's a lot. But remember, 13,000 Americans were awarded French visas of all different types just last year in 2024. They figured this out. You can do it too. Yeah. We have lots of videos at this point to help you on your way. Or if you need more specific help for your situation and you can't Google the answer, maybe you can book a consult with us. You can find how to do that on our website, Baguettebound.com. Thanks for watching. I'll be in though.
