Do I Need a French Visa to Live in Paris? Part 2
In Do I Need a French Visa to Live in Paris, Part 1, we covered how to live in Paris for 3 months or less, and what visa you need to study in or live in Paris for more than three months. Let’s examine some work situations and see what kind of visa would be needed.
I Want to Look for a Job in Paris
There isn’t a type of French visa that would allow you to go to Paris and look for a job there. You can find a job in Paris on your own, secure a work contract, and then get a French visa, but not the other way around.
There are specific types of work visas available, but again, your position must already be secured before you apply for a visa. For example, you can get an au pair visa if you are between 17 and 30 years old. There’s a teaching assistant visa or “assistant de langue” visa (for those 20 to 30 years of age with some college and French language skills), a professor/research scientist visa, and an artist/performer visa. In addition, there’s a Competences and Talents visa that allows you the right to work on a specific, pre-approved, 3-year project that promotes France.
I Want to Freelance, Be Self-Employed, or Start a Business in Paris
You can be self-employed in France, but it involves several layers of bureaucracy. Here are the steps in order.
1. Get a long stay visa that indicates you’re allowed to have your own business
2. Get a carte de séjour that indicates you’re allowed to have your own business (Residency permit and work permit combined)
3. Register your business with the appropriate business registration center (CFE) for your field, which will generate your business ID and French social security number.
You need to state on your long stay visa application what professional activity you plan to carry out in France. You will have to pay income tax and social security in France, even if your clients are in the U.S. (You can file to have the tax you paid in France deducted from the taxed owed in the U.S.)
This chart will tell you which CFE (Centre de formalités des entreprises) office you need to register with, based on your business activity: artisan, commerçant, industriel or profession libérale. (Note: Nearly all the sites and forms you will need to complete the process of registering as self-employed are in French — yet another reason to start learning French now if you want to live in Paris.)
Now that you know the types of French visas available, you can start researching and applying for the one that’s most suitable for what you want to do in Paris.
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Tags: Visas for France
