Moving from the US to France. Can it be done?
September 23, 2017 6:50 PM Subscribe
My boyfriend and I live in the US. He is currently interviewing for a postdoc position in France. It looks like he'll be receiving an offer, likely on a scientific/researcher visa. We're trying to figure out how I can move with him, but we're finding the process confusing and overwhelming!
I've done some basic googling but it seems to raise more questions than it answers. Can someone please explain the process to me simply?
I can't tell if I would be eligible for a dependent visa. We don't live together in the states and don't plan to get married - but we are serious and have been together almost 3 years. We do plan to live together if I am able to get a visa. Do they recognize domestic partners?
If I get a dependent visa, would I be able to work? I don't want to depend on him financially, and don't have enough savings to not have to work.
Are student visas a valid option? Do they require you to pay everything in advance? What about holiday visas?
I doubt I can get an employer to sponsor me personally, because I don't speak the language or have a degree.
I know you're not my lawyer, let alone my immigration lawyer, but if you can put this in understandable terms or point me in the direction of resources who can (Ideally, someone who has personally moved internationally!) I would be so grateful.
Thank you!
I've done some basic googling but it seems to raise more questions than it answers. Can someone please explain the process to me simply?
I can't tell if I would be eligible for a dependent visa. We don't live together in the states and don't plan to get married - but we are serious and have been together almost 3 years. We do plan to live together if I am able to get a visa. Do they recognize domestic partners?
If I get a dependent visa, would I be able to work? I don't want to depend on him financially, and don't have enough savings to not have to work.
Are student visas a valid option? Do they require you to pay everything in advance? What about holiday visas?
I doubt I can get an employer to sponsor me personally, because I don't speak the language or have a degree.
I know you're not my lawyer, let alone my immigration lawyer, but if you can put this in understandable terms or point me in the direction of resources who can (Ideally, someone who has personally moved internationally!) I would be so grateful.
Thank you!
If he's doing this through the 'Make Our Planet Great Again' initiative, by any chance, I know they're supposed to be supporting paperwork for spouses--have you asked whoever he's working with? Maybe that help extends to partners.
posted by pinochiette at 7:27 PM on September 23, 2017
posted by pinochiette at 7:27 PM on September 23, 2017
I know you said you weren't planning on getting married, but that is the classic answer to this question. I work abroad and have met many couples in this exact position. The ones who tried to navigate it without getting married regretted it.
All you need is the paper. A quick Saturday morning courthouse wedding would suffice.
posted by ohio at 12:17 AM on September 24, 2017 [11 favorites]
All you need is the paper. A quick Saturday morning courthouse wedding would suffice.
posted by ohio at 12:17 AM on September 24, 2017 [11 favorites]
Ask the nearest French consulate or embassy. The conjoint of a person eligible for a scientific/researcher visa should be able to get a visa. Unfortunately, while the legal definition of a conjoint is somehow flexible, it seems that, as of 2015, it was used in this case in the most restrictive fashion, ie conjoint = married. Note that this structure (Acc&ss FNAK) provides administrative/legal expertise to foreign researchers in France, so you may ask them too.
posted by elgilito at 2:27 AM on September 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by elgilito at 2:27 AM on September 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
You need to be married to be eligible for a dependent visa, and yes you will be able to work.
Source (in French)
posted by Kwadeng at 2:38 AM on September 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
Source (in French)
posted by Kwadeng at 2:38 AM on September 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
I live in Italy, and follow (mainly for work) several Facebook groups with names like Expats in Italy, Expats in Rome, etc., etc. Questions exactly like yours are frequently asked there, on an average perhaps as many as one a week, and the community usually answers with helpful input. You might like to put the keywords "expat" and "france" into a Facebook search field and find several groups like this for France. Clearly a lot of threads will contain incorrect advice, or purely personal experience irrelevant to you, but you are likely to find some helpful source material and pointers. And you can put your own questions there.
NB: I'm not saying Facebook is more reliable than AskMefi; almost certainly the contrary. But they address a much larger population of readers with experience directly relevant to your query, so you'd be casting your net much wider.
posted by aqsakal at 8:04 AM on September 24, 2017
NB: I'm not saying Facebook is more reliable than AskMefi; almost certainly the contrary. But they address a much larger population of readers with experience directly relevant to your query, so you'd be casting your net much wider.
posted by aqsakal at 8:04 AM on September 24, 2017
Find an expat forum for expats in France. They will also be able to tell you how likely it is that you can secure gainful employment in France without speaking French or having specific qualifications that would allow an employer to overlook that. They can also tell what such a job might pay.
As a general point - it seems your bf is set up on some kind of path and you're not. I assume you're both fairly young and there is little rush to find a path for yourself so you can probably spend a bit of time trailing behind him living overseas. But there seem to be a lot of young women asking this kind of question without stating any concern for their medium and long-term financial future and prospects and hardly any young men. So consider how long you would want to stay in France with what is likely no or underemployment. How long is he supposed to stay?
Spend a bit of time reading about 'trailing spouses' and the difficulties they face. Also consider what legal protection and benefits you forgo by not being married in this kind of set-up. There is a world of difference moving in with somebody in a place where you both have equal status and can make your own way with relative ease if it doesn't work and quite another to do this in a foreign country, especially if your status there is tied to his status and your relationship status.
I'm not suggesting you shouldn't go but have a good think about what that might actually mean now, in 2 years or in 5 years.
posted by koahiatamadl at 4:44 PM on September 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
As a general point - it seems your bf is set up on some kind of path and you're not. I assume you're both fairly young and there is little rush to find a path for yourself so you can probably spend a bit of time trailing behind him living overseas. But there seem to be a lot of young women asking this kind of question without stating any concern for their medium and long-term financial future and prospects and hardly any young men. So consider how long you would want to stay in France with what is likely no or underemployment. How long is he supposed to stay?
Spend a bit of time reading about 'trailing spouses' and the difficulties they face. Also consider what legal protection and benefits you forgo by not being married in this kind of set-up. There is a world of difference moving in with somebody in a place where you both have equal status and can make your own way with relative ease if it doesn't work and quite another to do this in a foreign country, especially if your status there is tied to his status and your relationship status.
I'm not suggesting you shouldn't go but have a good think about what that might actually mean now, in 2 years or in 5 years.
posted by koahiatamadl at 4:44 PM on September 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
Followup from the OP:
Thank you so much for your help so far! I have an additional question:posted by LobsterMitten at 5:32 PM on October 23, 2017
My partner's potential employer promised him a "passeport talent chercheur" with a "passeport talent famille" for me. They assured us that we do not have to be married to relocate on these visas. Has anyone here done that before? We want to make sure they are not promising more than they can deliver.
The official page that describes the procedure for the "passeport talent famille" talks only about "conjoint" which seems to exclude (again) non-married partners (it's only for refugees that the procedure mentions "conjoint ou concubin"). The French consulate in LA requires a marriage license. However, the "talent famille" page also states that "this simplified procedure of "accompanying family" remains applicable even if your family arrives in France after you or if you marry after your arrival in France." The latter is unclear and could possibly left at the discretion of the consulate: it may mean that the procedure is applicable to non-married partners (before their arrival) or to partners once they are married in France.
posted by elgilito at 5:11 AM on October 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by elgilito at 5:11 AM on October 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Elsie at 7:27 PM on September 23, 2017