Forums » France » South Africans in France

• rand

  
   

  January 21, 2007 1:08:18 PM CET

  Howzit, Hallo, Molo, Sawubona, Thobela, Dumela, Lotsha, Ndi matseloni
  
  I’m new to this forum, although I’ve been reading it for quite a while. I’m South African, currently still living in SA. My boyfriend is French, and he lives in South of France, in a small village called Pezenas, not too far from Montpellier. I will be moving to France next year (2008) hopefully on a permanent basis. I’m currently taking French lessons at the local alliance francaise here in Pretoria to prepare for my migration. I’m a beginner.
  
  I currently have a very decent job that pays me a good salary. I earn in the region of R340K per annum. I do not have any children, I’m 28 years old by the way. My biggest concern about moving to France is job prospects, especially in South of France as I’m not too sure there are that many International companies there compared to a more cosmopolitan area such as Paris. My boyfriend is not too keen to move away from the sea to Paris, so it seems as though we will be settling in the South.
  
  I’ve also read here that getting a visa and sorting out the paper work is a nightmare. In your experience, would it actually be more easier for me to get a work permit if my boyfriend and I were actually married? We didn’t want to get married just to simplify this process, we want to do so for the right reasons.
  
  Do I need to secure employment first before I can apply for a work permit or does it work the other way round? How much time should I allow for this process? I actually prefer to get all of this sorted out while I continue to live in SA, and will only move once I’ve secured employment and all the papers are sorted. Is this something possible? Any advice? Has anyone been in a similar situation? I welcome any thoughts.
  
  Thank you.
• alex52

  
   

  January 23, 2007 3:22:49 PM CET

  hi - i don't have any advice for you regarding work - i left my job as my husband (french) has been repatriated and being married to him has not helped the process of aquiring a carte de sejour at all. Just ensure that you get the right visa's 1st time round from the french consulate as they buggered up mine and my kids' and we had to come back to sort them out. Its been a bit of a nightmare - it was put down to the fact that the Visa codes (C, D etc) have been or are in the process of changing. Just look into that. I live in Paris (in the suburbs) and am finding it tough adapting from being a full time owner of a company to a stay-at-home mum, and what with all the cleaning... believe me its a stunning country but we are particularly spoilt in sa. I think making a move sans enfants is a whole lot easier though. You have a terrific opportunity to change country, lifestyle and meet loads of fabulous people and in time you'll end up with the perfect job but some things shouldn't be planned. I think its the planning that leads to the dissapointment. Good luck and let me know how it goes - alexgurneygillet@orange.fr
• rand

  
   

  January 23, 2007 7:56:15 PM CET

  Thank you so much for your response. Alex. I’m very surprised to find out that being married to your French spouse did not help much in the process of acquiring a carte de sejoir. My boyfriend and I had been skeptically looking at this as the last resort for me to be able to work. I will look into the visa codes that you mention, thanks. I’m really scared to make the move without first securing employment. I have never been a stay at home before, I’ve always led a very busy and active work life, although I suspect staying at home in your case with kids does have huge merits. I’m so scared to make the move without first securing employment. I have to say that your transition from running your own business to being home on a full time basis sounds huge. Would you say it was easy to adjust?
• alex52

  
   

  January 23, 2007 8:56:59 PM CET

  er no, not really. Well I have only been here for 5 months so it's difficult to answer. I think I most miss my work, the feeling of 'being someone' - my independence. You arrive here and suddenly it makes no difference who your parents were or what you did previously (unless it's for career purposes) or how many friends you had because once you are here you are at the mercy of your personality. I have been enormously lucky in that my boys go to the british school of paris (not for much longer, cost us 400 € this year!) so through the school I have met heaps of people and have filtered through to find a couple of really nice woman. It's very important because losing your friends is bigger than you think - you can skype away but you start losing base a bit since you will be growing more than them. It's even tough to stay in touch with family - everyone is super busy, the days fly past and I dunno, just speaking to my brother online is a bit wierd - they have no concept of how my life could be or how dramatic the changes are. That said, I would'nt change any of it and my boys are super happy. Just driving around and looking at the landscapes and cultural overflow its enough to make you think shit! This is amazing. Its all very surreal but you know what, its making me realise that there is more to life than work (and believe me if you had met me in jo'burg you would never hear me say that) - I had a great balance before, things are different now and some days its a bit crap and then you walk down your road and you pass some toppie cycling with the proberbial baguette sticking out of his bag and it all just kind of makes sense. You can email me anytime directly if you like - its alexgurneygillet@orange.fr - and by the way, absorb that sun because we are expecting snow tomorrow!
• alex52

  
   

  January 24, 2007 12:19:55 PM CET

  btw I am sure that my marriage has helped with the carte de sejour, its just not very effective, but then am not sure how it would be if I wasn't married. Basically we went to the prefecture in October and we only have a meeting in Feb to be interviewed with regard getting the carte. Presumably it should all go ahead from there. To get the initial appointment took 5 hours standing in a queue (like home affairs but worse) to be met with the same govornmental approach of 'if you don't have absolutely everything in order I can do nothing to help' - amazingly I was the one rejected (due to the visa story i told you about) and all the other immegrants (asian, eastern europe and north african) seemed to walk away with their scheduled appointment, so i guess i was a bit bitter with the process. I have no idea how it works when you have a job pre-secured, but best of luck. They probably do it all for you - I know that the ex-pats that I am friendly with get it sorted out by their companies but it has something to do with a mutual arrangement concerning the paying of tax between european countries.
• steyntjie

  
   

  January 26, 2007 6:59:53 PM CET

  Hi
  
  I am a South African living in Paris. I came in 2000.
  
  Regarding a carte de sejour, getting married does help i.e. you will not have to wait as many years. As Alex said there are hours and hours of queing. Also you will very likely not a permanent carte de sejours the first time round. You may only get it after 2 or 3 years, it depends on the day. I will only get a permanent carte de sejour this year. I have 6 temporary ones. So if not married in order to qualify you need a job first. So the process is this, you find a job. You then apply for a carte de sejours. The first time around takes about 4 months. In this time you can't work. Once you have the work permit you can then start. You are advised to get an attorney who will assist with the administration. However, getting a job in the south could be a problem.
  
  There are very few jobs in the south and the fact that you don't speak french will make the problem worse.
  
  Many french have their homes in the south but work in Paris and go home for the weekends. My boyfriend, who is french, moved to Aix-en-Province 3 years ago, never got a job so came back to Paris.
  
  Regarding the change, it is enormous. The culture shock is really really a shock. Being first world does nothing to prepare one for the change. One goes through many ups and downs. There is the change in culture as well as the change of living with someone of a different culture.
  
  I came to france for a frenchman, well it was very very hard. I very much agree with what Alex says, one looses ones own identity because your country, your job, your friends, your home, all of these things go into giving you an identity and you loose these all at once. You really go into shock.
  
  Too your friends and family don't understand your pain. They all think you are living this wonderful exotic life in a magnificent country. They tend not to realise that there are times you are in a lot of pain missing them all. You will also find that even amongst your closest friends, some will keep so sort of contact, others none at all. They will expect you to keep the relationship going and then will slowly fade off the scene.
  
  I am sure that all the above sounds negative, but I am actually watering the pain down of leaving your own country, even for a man you are in love with. Your roots will always be your roots, even when totally entrenched in another culture.
  
  That is all for this day. If you have other questions I will try to answer them.
  
  Kind regards
  
  Steyntjie
• jpr

  
   

  April 6, 2007 12:21:12 AM CEST

  Hi Rand,
  Some thoughts to your questions. If you are married, the whole process becomes simply much easier. If you are thinking that you will get married at some point anyway, it is worth doing it sooner just to ease the admin issues. I'm in the south near Avignon and from Namibia and SA...work in the south is a problem...professional work in particular. Paris, Nice, etc.... is offcourse a different story. You may consider Montpellier as an alternative. Obviously, the better your French when you get here the easier it all will be. You may give yourself a few years "to settle" in, before you embark on a serious career... if you can afford it. It takes time to make connections, network and find your own place so to speak. If you are entrepreneurial, there are lots of opportunities. Come with flexibility, make friends and network and the area is terrific. Plan on visiting SA when you need a break...especially during winter here. Hope this helps and gives you some background.
  Jean Roux
• cedricsavoie

  
   

  July 18, 2007 12:38:03 PM CEST

  Salut,
  
  What a small world... reading your story was like reading my own one...
  I am originaly from Pezenas and living with an English girl who is a medical doctor. (I may even know your boyfriend as we seem to approx the same age... I am 29)
  
  We now live in Chambery (Which is situated in the Alps near Lyon) where I got a very intesting job as export manager. Katy works as a GP in Chambery hospital.
  
  If you feel interested please send me a mail on cedricrcarrion@yahoo.fr as we will do eveyting we can to help.
  
  Cedric R Carrion
  cedricrcarrion@yahoo.fr
• foo22

  
   

  September 27, 2007 2:57:58 PM CEST

  hey guys, there is a facebook group for south africans in paris, it's still small at the moment but i think it's a great place for all of us to get together, so join facebook like the other 50million people if u havnt yet and join the South Africans in FRANCE group!!!!