A year in Paris? How I got my visa to France and why I chose the 12-month visa
I fell in love with France From his first trip to Bordeaux in 2010. The friends I met in the ThailandThey showed me around, introduced me to French culture, and I fell in love: food, wine, people.
But the real obsession began when, after a metro station in Paris, I stepped out onto the Champs-Elysees. The light, the energy, the mystique, I felt like I had known this city all my life and I was just coming home.
Since then Paris He holds my heart. Over the years, I’ve returned many times, toured the city, and even lived in Paris for a few months in 2019.
Last August, after another brief change of scenery, I thought, "What if I went back for a long time?" The current dating scene in New York has already tired me, the cost of living is rising, and in the work of stagnation – with the advent of AI, it has become more difficult for creators to understand where to go next. I needed a shift. Paris seemed perfect: cheaper than New York, friends already there, you can learn French, it is convenient to explore Europe. Change of scenery does wonders.
But how do you move? There is no digital Nomad visa in France, and a regular Schengen tourist visa can only be delayed for three months. Fortunately, it turned out that moving is not that difficult (I speak primarily as an American, but I suspect that the criteria are similar for Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and other “developed” countries).
If you decide to move to France, there are usually four main paths:
- Student visa. You need to enter the full-time program and show sufficient funds (about 600 euros per month - this is the approximate figure). I have a friend who is now on this visa: she takes nine months of intensive French to speak fluently.
Plus, you can work part-time.
The negative is that the visa depends on the status of the student; if you drop out, the visa loses its validity. After graduation, it can be switched, for example, to a “job seekers” visa and received up to six months or more depending on the duration of the program.
- A visa for entrepreneurs. It is possible to collect it, but it is longer and more difficult: you need to register a business in France, show that the company brings income, have customers (at least one French), prove that the business can provide you with a salary not below the French minimum. You will be carefully screened for assets and finances and will have to pay taxes in France.
- Talent visa. For people with proven achievements and outstanding qualifications: academicians, recognized specialists, artists. It is suitable for those who plan to work physically in France and can show that their activities will enrich French culture.
Long-term visitor visa – VLS-TS visiteur. That's what I took advantage of. This option allowed you to stay in France for up to 12 months, and in my case it turned out to be the most practical solution.
I could have applied for an entrepreneurship or a talent visa, but both took too much time and investment, and I wasn’t sure Paris was mine forever. So in the end I chose VLS-TS: the process was easier and faster than I expected.
If you plan to go on your own, I advise: study the options in advance, prepare documents, and on arrival combine independent walks with excursions from local guides.
Sometimes the easiest way to understand a city is to walk through its hidden streets with someone who lives here and knows the stories behind the facades. So the city opens deeper, and the process of adaptation is more fun.
The advantages of “going with your own” – that is, with a local guide, this is a whole package of living benefits that is difficult to get even the most prepared independent traveler.
Saving time = saving money. The guide knows where the best pastries open at 08:03, which entrance to the subway leads directly to the desired lobby and on which shelf of the market they sell safyans at a price "for their own." In two hours, you see what a Google tourist takes half a day to do.
Access behind closed doors. The family winery, the roof of the old palace, the potter’s workshop, where they are allowed only by appointment, the guide has already “his” and will guide you. It's not VIP for a surcharge, it's social capital that it shares.
A good guide becomes your friend on earth. Two years later, when you decide to go back or send friends, you text him on WhatsApp: "Anton, I need an apartment for a week and a table at Lucy's on Saturday." And you get an answer in 10 minutes.
You'll be welcomed in France.private guidesAnd they'll offer you a copy.individual toursTravel agencies of the country France, will offer their services and organizetourInteresting excursions for travelers.
Read the articles: