For anyone who knows me this may come as a major shock....but I really need your help. My divorce was recently final and I have had a 6 month friendship with a French that is now a hot and heavy romance. We have discussed options of living together in France and/or the U.S. There is a possibility of marriage in the future, but I am not interested in rushing into anything because my divorce has been difficult after 22 years of marriage and I am not ready.
I am interested in knowing links to information on an American living in France OR a French living in America. We both love each other%26#39;s counties so either is possible. I am even interested in duel citizenship as well because we may want to live part of the year in France and part of the year in the U.S. I am sure there may be some of you who can give me some great advice to direct me. I need long term Visa information....also information on which country would be the best to get married in....for future reference.
I have done some looking on the internet, but to be honest, it is pretty confusing.
Thanks and I will be happy to give further details if necessary !!!
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I should add a couple more details.......we both have the ability to work online long distance in our current careers. However, my french is early intermediate and I would possibly want part time employment in France in fitness OR travel. His level of english is advanced and he works in the stock exchange and would be interested in part-time employment in the U.S as a french teacher or his current work in the stock exchange.
Basically, any incouragement that we are not living an impossible romance would be nice !!!
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I think anything is possible, but it is extremely hard for a foreign national to get work in France, and for them to get work here. Unless it is a transfer. Basically, a French company must prove that they cannot find a French national to work for them and fulfill the requirements of the job they have. If you can work with your present job, that would be the best. Although I don%26#39;t know how the taxes work.
I have a TON of French friends in the US, most of them married to men who got transferred here, and they cannot work. THey don%26#39;t have a green card and can%26#39;t work legally. That%26#39;s the tough part.
For dual citizenship, I think there is a ton involved in that.
French bureaucracy is insane, just to warn you. I had a carte de sejour (residency card) that I basically had to give my first born child to obtain. You should contact the consulate for information on various visas and residency requirements.
Good luck, this must be very exciting!
Les
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French bureaucracy might very well be insane, but US immigration authorities are not exactly an example of efficiency or even decency either, according to the experience of those who have to go through the %26quot;privilege%26quot; of requesting a visa to stay in the US.
Not to discourage waytogogirl but each of you have a big challenge ahead, hopefully love will triumph over insanity in both bureaucracies and your story will have a happy ending
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Maestro,
Yes, I%26#39;m sure US bureacracy is bad as well. But I am only speaking of the French part because it%26#39;s the one I know. I was not making a comparison and saying one was better than the other.
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Congrats WTGG!
I have a good friend who married a man who has French and Moroccan citizenship. They have been waiting for a green card for him since 2002. He gets work permits, they expire, which means he then has to quit working, because technically he is not %26quot;legal%26quot; and wait 2-3 months to get a new work permit issued from INS. It is a nightmare. They have spent thousands on an immigration attorney and it has not made the process any easier. I don%26#39;t know what advice to give other than to recommend that you speak with an immigration attorney if you want your new SO to work in the U.S. Things have become very difficult since 9/11.
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%26gt;%26gt; Basically, a French company must prove that they cannot find a French national to work for them and fulfill the requirements of the job they have. %26lt;%26lt;
????
When a foreign national gets a 10-year stay card, there is no such requirement. What%26#39;s your source for saying so ?
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Les, here%26#39;s a good summary of the subject :
sos-net.eu.org/etrangers/externe/autotrav.htm
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There is some information (who knows how accurate) in the memoir %26quot;Almost French%26quot; by Sarah Turnbull.
It%26#39;s my understanding from an American friend who lives and works in France (now married to a French woman, although he wasn%26#39;t back in the day) that it%26#39;s a little easier to for an American to get permission to work there if in a travel-related job because the govt wants to encourage tourism. But that may not be accurate, and it may also have been because his company was doing business there and actually was a US company (although partly owned by a French citizen).
My impression is that there are many obstacles, but I think (although I don%26#39;t know how you would find them) that there are people who specialize in helping people through the process.
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My source is trying to get a job in France myself. I was told this by french officials in France, by French companies, by the French Consulate in the U.S., by every avenue I tried to take. This was in the mid 90s after I completed my graduate work, but I had only been in Paris for 4 years at that point.
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And clearly Waytogogirl has not been in France for 10 years yet.
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