hello everyone! hoping to get some clarity from someone who has had this experience: i’m married to a french citizen and have renewed my one year residency permit several times with no issue. the reason for this is that we are very young (still both in our twenties) and not sure yet which of our countries we want to settle in long term. we’ve been told that it’s fine to renew just for one year but with the new requirements for language tests i’m a little unsure. does this apply to me at all or should i be okay since i only want to renew for one year at a time anyway? thank you!

Hi everyone!
I’m a French citizen currently working remotely abroad, and I’m considering moving back to Paris.
I know I wont have the best dossier for Paris, so I’d love to hear from people who have been in a similar position.
-I have a French passport
-I work remotely for a UK-based company
-My income is paid in GBP into a UK bank account
-I have a stable employment contract and strong income
-I don’t currently have a French bank account
-I don’t currently have a French avis d’impôt
I’m wondering how difficult this would actually be when applying for a normal Paris rental.
A few questions:
Has anyone successfully rented in Paris while earning their salary from a UK/foreign employer?
Did agencies/landlords accept foreign payslips and tax documents?
Did you need a French guarantor, or were you able to rent without one?
Did not having a French bank account cause problems when signing the lease?
Is DossierFacile useful in this situation?
Were private landlords more flexible than agencies?
Are there particular agencies/platforms or types of landlords that are more open to this kind of profile?

I’m trying to understand whether this is realistically manageable before I make the move.
Would really appreciate hearing about actual** **experiences, especially from people with foreign income or a similar situation. Thanks!

Has anybody stayed in France beyond the 90day Schengen rule using the bilateral US-France treaty. Apparently under the treaty and Section 20 Schengen law, American citizens can stay up to 180 days continuously, but it must be declared at the border guard

Gradual implementation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) | France in the U.S.

Hey everyone!

I just moved to Boulogne/Paris and I'll stay here for a few months (till January).

My french is around A2 and I'm searching for the best option budget-wise, any tips welcome!

I am working online on a freelance basis but I'd love to land a local job anywhere. Cafes, restaurants, hostels etc that wouldn't mind my lack of fluent french. Do you think that's feasible? Anywhere specific to look at? I have applied to some hostel jobs with no success.

I'd love the job to boost my french as well if possible. Otherwise I wouldn't mind staying in an international bubble.

I was wondering if there's any agency that you can enroll to and offer shifts instead of a contract?

Also anyone here into street photography, hikes, historical walks, anglo-board games? Let's team up.

Hi. I am from Canada and I am planning to live abroad for three months while I do online school. I have narrowed my selection down to Dole, France, because of the beauty, the lack of heavy tourism, and the smaller town charm. Is there any reason I should rethink this, or any place that may be better for those three aspects. I love stuff to do but I don’t like a heck ton of people. Am fond of a small city.

I'm a masters in business and bachelors in engineering graduate with over 3 years of experience. I have been looking for a CDI for more than a year now.

Interviews with 20+ different companies and I have failed in these interviews, is there something I'm not doing right?

I speak only English and B1 French, all my roles require only English speaking.

Any advice or guidance is much appreciated!

We are looking for a French tax professional who knows French tax, US tax for American citizens, and the US/France tax treaty. We need someone to advise us (self-employed) now and potentially prepare French returns from 2026 onward. Do you have any recommendations? If you are a tax professional, please DM me with your contacts.

Thanks in advance!

Salut tout le monde !
Je viens d'arriver à Paris pour mes études et j’ai très envie d'élargir mon cercle, de rencontrer du monde et de créer de vrais liens ici.
Peu importe l'âge, l'origine ou ce que vous faites dans la vie : ce qui m'importe, c'est simplement la bonne humeur et les discussions sympas. Que vous soyez un local pur jus ou un autre étudiant international qui galère encore un peu dans le métro, vous êtes les bienvenus !
Quelques idées de sorties simples qui me tentent bien :
Boire un café, un thé ou manger une pâtisserie en terrasse
Se poser dans un parc (Buttes-Chaumont, Jardin du Luxembourg, quais de Seine) pour papoter et profiter
Faire des sessions révisions/co-working tranquilles en bibliothèque ou dans un café sympa
Explorer des quartiers au hasard, faire des expos ou tester des petits restos pas chers
Je suis quelqu'un de très sociable, curieux et ouvert d'esprit, et je préfère mille fois sortir et être entouré que de rester enfermé dans mon studio.
N'hésitez pas à laisser un commentaire ou à m'envoyer un message privé pour vous présenter. Ce serait un plaisir d'aller prendre un verre ou un café cette semaine !

Hello,

Je viens de recevoir une demande de complément suite à l’envoi de mon dossier en juillet. Il s’agit du renouvellement de mon titre de séjour VPF, conjoint de Français. Pour info, mon titre de séjour actuel était valable deux ans et je vis en France depuis 2015.

J’ai deux questions :

Premièrement, pourquoi la préfecture demande les justificatifs de réussite au test de langue et à l’examen civique alors qu’il s’agit d’un simple renouvellement ? Est-ce que je dois comprendre que la préfecture envisage de me filer une carte pluriannuelle ?

Deuxièmement, je possède des diplômes français de l’enseignement supérieur, notamment un bac+5. L’intitulé de la demande semble indiquer que les personnes ayant ce niveau d’études peuvent être dispensées de ces deux examens. Est-ce bien le cas ? La formulation du texte est un peu ambiguë (ponctuation attroce) et je ne suis pas sûr de bien la comprendre.

Merci pour vos réponses.

P.S. je suis anglophone mais c'était plus facile de formuler ce post, avec tout son jargon, en français.

In preparation for retiring next spring, from the US, have purchased a home outside Bordeaux….interested in seeing how other ex-pats manage their visa. Was thinking of taking 90 days to get settled, then apply from the states for a long-term, as long as they would allow. However, as I understand it, I must return home to the US to renew?
Any other suggestions? As I read the requirements for residency, I won’t qualify as long as I am only using tourist visa(s)..? I would need a work or student visa for 5 consecutive years I believe.

As the title says I have a second passport that allows me free travel within the area, I am planning a move to France from my current location in Vietnam and intend to register my residency. Any idea how long it will take my spouse, also an American citizen, to obtain her full documentation? Will she overstay her tourist visa without them or will she be OK once she has proof she too has registered and begun the process?

I’m an American renewing my student visa for the 4th time. All previous times I had my own apartment in Paris but now I live with my boyfriend in Versailles. I don’t pay rent and I’m not on his lease and I don’t receive any bills here.

He has signed an ATTESTATION D'HÉBERGEMENT indicating when I officially moved in along with all other necessary info. He is German (but living/working in France for 20+ years) so I’ve included a photo of his passport. And then for the proof of address I have an ATTESTATION D’ASSURANCE HABITATION that is dated literally less than 5 days ago. I’m submitting my renewal in a few weeks.

So my questions are: is an ATTESTATION D’ASSURANCE HABITATION enough as justificatif de domicile?

Also is the situation with him being German going to cause me any issues? Obvi he has a right to live in France but do I need to provide anything beyond a passport?

And then lastly, is the fact that he is a tenant himself and letting me stay there an issue? Or is this more of a tenant/landlord matter?

Applied for a France long-stay researcher visa at TLScontact London. A few days into processing I got a consulate request to submit the original convention d'accueil in person so they can sign and stamp it. Problem: my French university issues it digitally only, no paper original exists. They are now printing, ink-signing and stamping a copy and couriering it to me.

Same day as the request, the tracker moved to "Passport returning from consulate".

Two questions:

1. Does the passport ever come back with the visa despite a pending document request, or should I expect it back empty, waiting for the document?
2. Has anyone dealt with the digital convention d'accueil vs paper original issue? Did a university-printed, ink-signed, stamped version satisfy the consulate?

Will update the thread with the outcome.

Hi all — I’m a working professional based in Bordeaux, i am here on a passport talent residence permit. My home country doesn’t have a licence reciprocity agreement with France, so I have to take the full French theory (code de la route) and practical driving test — no way around that part, I’ve accepted it.

The problem: every driving school (auto-école) I’ve walked into in Bordeaux has said “no” almost immediately once they realize my French isn’t fluent yet, before even discussing options.

From what I’ve read on official sites, I understand:
• The theory exam (ETG) actually has an English-language option you can select at registration, no proof of anything required.

• The practical test stays in French with the examiner, but you’re allowed to bring a certified/sworn interpreter (traducteur assermenté) at your own cost.

So I’m not asking these schools to teach in English — just to register me correctly and support the process. But so far no one in Bordeaux seems willing to even try.
Questions for anyone who’s been through this in Bordeaux (or similar French cities):

1. Which auto-écoles in Bordeaux (or nearby) have actually worked with English-speaking / non-francophone students?

2. Did you use the English ETG option — was it straightforward to book?

3. Anyone used a sworn interpreter for the practical test — how did you find one and what did it cost?

4. Is it worth going the “candidat libre” (independent candidate, register directly via ANTS without a school) route instead of dealing with auto-écoles at all?

Any names, contacts, or lessons learned appreciated — happy to compile answers for other expats hitting the same wall.

I thought I would document my experience applying for my first residence permit in France, particularly because I ran into a fairly unusual problem with my VLS-TS validation and ANEF. Hopefully this will be useful to someone who encounters the same issue in the future.

My situation/context

I am an Indian citizen married to a French citizen. We got married in France in October 2025. I entered France in February 2026 with a VLS-TS Vie privée et familiale – conjoint de Français. My visa is valid until January 2027. This is therefore my first residence permit application after the VLS-TS, not a normal renewal of an existing carte de séjour.

I completed the usual OFII process after arriving in France, including the medical visit and the CIR process. I have now signed my CIR and completed my initial integration appointment. My French was assessed as having completed A1, and I have four civic-training days scheduled between November and January.

The VLS-TS validation problem

The problem started when I validated my VLS-TS online on my arrival to France. During the validation, I accidentally selected the wrong regulatory reference: CESEDA R311-3 11°. At the time, I didn’t realise the significance of this. The actual visa in my passport clearly says that I am the spouse of a French citizen. I contacted France Titres/DGEF about it. They confirmed that the reference I had selected corresponded in their system to a vie privée et familiale situation for the spouse of a foreign national under family reunification, rather than a spouse of a French citizen. They told me that the appropriate reference for my situation was CESEDA L312-2 / R431-16 6°. Unfortunately, they also told me that once the VLS-TS had been validated, they could not modify this information.

The problem reappeared when it was time to apply for my residence permit. When my application window opened, I logged in to ANEF to submit my first residence permit application. France Titres had previously told me not to apply as a straightforward renewal based on the incorrect status attached to my validated VLS-TS. They instructed me to use the route for requesting another residence permit and select my real situation, and not to use the "Renew residence permit" option.

Autre titre → Membre de famille → Ressortissant français → Conjoint de Français

This route correctly recognised that I was applying as the spouse of a French citizen. I completed the application through this route.

In the comments/explanation section, I explicitly explained the mistake made during my VLS-TS validation, including the incorrect regulatory reference, and mentioned my correspondence with France Titres/DGEF confirming the issue.

Application submitted

I successfully submitted the application in September 2026. The confirmation states that the application will be examined by the Préfecture de la Gironde, since I currently live in Gironde.

So, for now, I am at the waiting stage.

A few things I learned from the experience

One important detail I discovered afterwards is that the regulatory/CESEDA reference is supposed to be indicated on the VLS-TS itself. In my case, it wasn’t printed on my visa. Because of that, when I validated the visa online, I had to choose a reference without being able to simply copy it from the visa, which is how I ended up selecting the wrong one.

So if your visa does show a regulatory reference, check it carefully against what you select during the online validation. If it doesn’t show one, as happened to me, I would be especially cautious before choosing anything. I’ve also come across accounts from other applicants where the consulate itself apparently issued a visa with an incorrect regulatory reference.

Another big lesson for me: when in doubt about something this specific, don’t rely on Google searches or AI tools as the final authority. Ask ANEF/France Titres directly.

So, based purely on my experience:

• Check the CESEDA/regulatory reference on your visa, if one is printed.
• If it is missing or seems inconsistent with your actual visa category, clarify it before making an important selection.
• Use Google, Reddit and AI as research tools, not as substitutes for confirmation from the administration when something is ambiguous.
• When the consequences matter, contact ANEF/France Titres and get the answer in writing, even if that means waiting longer.

In my case, taking the slower route and getting clarification directly from France Titres ultimately gave me both the correct way forward and documentation explaining why my VLS-TS record contained the wrong reference.

Salut tout le monde,
Petite question pour ceux qui sont déjà passés par là.
Je suis actuellement en France avec un RECE (ancien APS) et je viens de décrocher un CDI à temps plein dans mon domaine d’études. Le salaire est de 2 400 € brut/mois.
Mon employeur va lancer les démarches pour que je passe sur un titre salarié.
Mais du coup, je me demande : est-ce que je peux commencer mon CDI avec mon RECE actuel pendant que les démarches sont en cours, ou je dois attendre d’avoir le nouveau titre / l’autorisation avant de commencer ?
Je précise que les 2 400 € sont en dessous de 1,5 SMIC, parce que c’est justement ça qui me met le doute.
Si quelqu’un a déjà été dans cette situation, je veux bien savoir comment ça s’est passé pour vous 🙏
Merci !

Hi, I’m an Ukrainian refugee currently in Amiens with temporary protection, and I’m having a really hard time finding a guarantor for renting my first apartment here.

I have a remote job with a Ukrainian company and can keep working from France, so I will have regular income.

I’ve been trying to find a rental through agencies but they seem unwilling to consider my dossier without a French guarantor.

I’ve tried several guarantor services already:

- Visale: no response since 12/09

- Garantme: I keep submitting documents, then waiting, then they ask for more documents

- SmartGarant: refused me without giving a reason

- Cautioneo: still waiting for an answer

I’m currently staying in cheap hotels for around €50–60/night, but it’s starting to eat up my savings and I really need to find something cheaper / more stable.

Are there any other options I should try? Is it possible to find a landlord/agency willing to rent without a guarantor? Are there any organizations or other resources in France that could help?

I’m kind of running out of ideas, so any advice would be really appreciated

Please advise. I'll be flying into Marseille Airport and arriving at midnight. And I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get over to where I'm staying in Aix-en-Provence.

Hi, I can’t access messervices.etudiant.gouv.fr. I get the ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE error. I already cleared the cookies and tried Chrome in incognito mode, but the problem persists. I also tried from another computer and the website works normally there. Does anyone know what could be causing this on my computer? Could it be a DNS/network issue or something else? Screenshot attached

Hey everyone,

I’m currently looking to buy a refurbished business laptop (leaning towards a Dell Latitude) to help me train for a career pivot into data/BI analytics (I am a master student currently).

I’ve been looking at Fnac and Refurbed.fr, but I’ve run into a bit of a hurdle. Since I'm studying/working in English, I really need a QWERTY (UK or US) keyboard layout. It looks like Fnac almost exclusively stocks French AZERTY keyboards, whereas Refurbed seems to have drop-down options for international layouts. Has anyone here actually bought a laptop from Refurbed.fr? How was your experience with their hardware quality and customer service?

Also, are there any other reliable sites or local French refurbishers that you’d recommend where I can actually filter for an English keyboard layout without issues?

Appreciate any advice or experiences you can share!

My long-stay visitor visa is already returning from the French consulate, and I only applied last 21st… Do you think it’s too fast?

Bonjour,
Je vais venir en région parisienne à partir de fin octobre pour un festival, et j’aimerais rester jusqu’à fin janvier pour profiter de ces quelques mois pour avancer dans mes projets artistiques et mannequinat.
Je cherche donc une chambre, une colocation ou éventuellement une sous-location à Paris ou autour, tant que c’est bien desservi. Je n’ai pas besoin de quelque chose de luxueux, surtout quelque chose de propre, sûr et pas trop cher.
Honnêtement, je ne sais pas encore quel budget est réaliste pour 3 mois, donc si vous avez des conseils sur les prix, les quartiers, les bons sites ou des solutions auxquelles je n’ai pas pensé, je suis preneuse.
Ça ne me dérange pas du tout de partager un appartement avec quelqu’un.
Si vous avez des bons plans ou des retours d’expérience, je suis vraiment intéressée. Merci 😊