I was in love with France since my first trip to Bordeaux in 2010. Friends I met in Thailand showed me around the region and introduced me to French culture. It was my first time in France and I loved the food, wine and people.
But this love became an obsession when, after Bordeaux, I left the Paris metro to head towards the Champs Élysées. The lights, the energy, the mystique! There was magic in the air. I felt like I had known the city my whole life and I was just coming home.
Since then, Paris has a strong hold on my heart. Over the years, I have made countless visits to discover France and Paris in particular. I organized tours around the city and I spent a few months there in 2019.
Last August, after yet another stay, I said to myself: “What if I went back?
I was a little tired of the New York dating scene, the rising cost of living, and felt like, creatively, I was in a rut. With the arrival of AI for creators like me and the evolution of the industryI was a little confused about what was coming next, career-wise.
In short, I needed a change.
And Paris seemed like the best place to go.
It’s cheaper than New York, I already had friends there, I’ve always wanted to learn French, it would be a great base to explore Europe and I could start writing my next book there. Nothing like a change of scenery to give free rein to your creativity!
But the question remained: how TO DO are you moving to France?
After all, they don’t have a digital nomad visa and you’re limited to three months if you visit on your regular Schengen tourist visa.
Well, it turns out that’s not actually the case that hard. (And while I can only speak for Americans, I suspect the criteria is similar for Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, and other “developed” countries.)
If you want to settle in France, you have four main options:
Student visa Long-term visitor visa Entrepreneur Talent visa The student visa is quite simple. You must enroll in a full-time university program and prove that you have enough funds to support yourself (around 600 euros per month). A friend is currently there on this visa, as she is taking a nine-month intensive French program to become fluent. You still need to apply for a visa, but if you are enrolled in an accredited school, you will likely be approved. Another advantage of this visa is that you can work part-time there!
But this visa depends on school attendance, so if you leave or quit, it is canceled. However, when you’re finished, you can change it to a “job seeker” visa, which can give you up to six additional months in France (or more depending on the length of your program).
I thought about applying for the entrepreneur visa, but the application process is quite complex and can take months to be approved. You have to create your business in France, which represents a lot of paperwork. You must demonstrate that your business makes money, has clients (including at least one French) and can support you full-time (you must earn at least the French minimum wage). They will carefully examine your assets and finances and you will need to register your business in France and pay French taxes.
In addition, France offers a talent visa. If you are an expert in your field (with verifiable accreditations and distinctions), this could be a good visa to apply for, especially if you plan to stay in France for a long time and want to physically work there. But, again, you will need to have a source of income and plan to do physical business in France. If you are not an academic but an arts specialist, you must show how you will contribute in one way or another to the “culture of France”.
Even if I met the requirements for both of these visas, the process for either would have taken a long time and, as I am not sure if France is my forever home, I decided not to go through this process.
So I opted for the long-term visitor visa, officially called VLS-TS visitor. This allows me to stay up to 12 months in France and is renewable in the country. However, this comes with many restrictions: I cannot physically work here and I am not admitted to the French social protection system.
It is also the visa with which many Americans (and most retirees) arrive. If you have passive income or retirement savings and simply want to live in France, this is a good option for you. It allows you to open a bank account and it can be renewed almost indefinitely.
The paperwork for this visa (which I’ll get to in a moment) basically boils down to whether or not you can support yourself. The French authorities want to ensure that you will not be a burden on the system.
My biggest question was whether or not I could “work” on this visa. Many creators and digital nomads apply for – and get – this visa.
But remember: you are not allowed to work on this visa, so how are you going to work if you can’t work?
So let me take a moment to talk about “work” from a legal perspective.
As I mentioned, there is no digital nomad visa allowing you to work in France. And the French tax authorities said last July that remote working was considered taxable – but there is no official law on this. This is just their opinion and no progress has been made in codifying this opinion. In fact, my visa doesn’t even come with a tax number, so it’s impossible for me to be taxed. I couldn’t pay taxes even if I wanted to.
The visa office asks you how you will support yourself while in France and one of the accepted sources of income is “work income”. I was very open that my livelihood would be income from this blog and my books.
The system there really hasn’t caught up with remote work. He always defines “work” as something that one does physically and which could deprive a French person of a job.
So, can I organize walking tours in Paris? No. Could you work in a cafe? No.
But does writing this blog post count as work? After all, no one pays for that. It’s a free resource. Does going to a coffee shop to work on the next great American novel count? What about my weekly newsletter that contains affiliate links (which generate income)? Is writing considered work?
There is considerable gray area, so the best thing to do is to speak to a lawyer. I recommend Daniel Tostado (yes, that’s his real name), one of the greatest lawyers specializing in Franco-American immigration law in Paris. He owns a huge law firm and meets regularly with government officials to clarify the rules on this. He gave me good advice.
For this long-term visitor visa, the application process is quite simple. You go to the French government websitecomplete your file, bring the file number to TLScontact websiteand make an appointment. (France outsources the nomination process to this company, which then sends everything to the French consulate for approval.)
The main things you will want to demonstrate are that you have housing for 90 days upon your application and that you have sufficient income to support yourself. They just want to make sure you won’t be a burden on the system. I went too far. Here’s what I brought to my appointment:
The application file (you must bring a printout) A confirmation of the appointment Additional ID photos Proof of accommodation (this could be Airbnb, hotels, or someone’s home — if it’s the latter, make sure it’s the owner!) A letter stating that I will not work A financial summary letter explaining why I am moving there and my source of income Health insurance meeting French legal requirements (I used Mondasur.) Three months of bank statements showing regular deposits A second bank account, my tax returns and my W-2 I didn’t need the second bank account, tax returns, or W-2 (they weren’t required), but the woman at the appointment told me that the more proof you had, the better and it wouldn’t hurt. And another friend who got this visa didn’t bring beyond what was asked for in the application form. But I didn’t want to take any risks!
During the appointment, staff will double-check your documents, take your biometrics, collect the fee, and then send your passport to the embassy for processing. Officially it takes up to 15 days to process your visa, but everyone I know seems to get it back within a week.
The worst part was not knowing if you are approved until your passport is returned to you. Although you can follow the progress of your application, you will only know the verdict when your passport is back in your hands. While I was waiting (and spiraling with anxiety), I looked on Reddit and found that most of the rejections were due to lack of income or housing issues, which seem to be the two most important elements to making your application perfect.
Once you have collected your visa, you can enter France at any time after the start date. After you enter, you have 90 days to register your visa with the state (they give you a small QR code with instructions). This allows you to “officially” hold this long-term visa. (It’s a matter of paperwork.)
Once this is done, there is nothing else to do and you can stay in France (and Europe) until your visa expires!
So if you are considering moving to France, here are your options. But as always, I’m not a lawyer and this is not a legal breakthrough. When it comes to employment and other issues or questions, it is important that you consult legal counsel and obtain their expert opinion!
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Book your trip to France: logistical tips and tricks Book your flight
To use Skyscanner to find a cheap flight. This is my favorite search engine because they search websites and airlines all over the world. So you always know that nothing is left to chance.
Book your accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld because they have the largest inventory and best deals. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Reservation.com because they consistently offer the cheapest rates for budget guesthouses and hotels.
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Would you like more information about France?
Be sure to visit my robust destination guide to France for even more planning tips!
