I brought along the 2 papers they gave me at the consulate in Los Angeles and told me to bring with me to the mairie, and I've got the visa in my passport... but I'm trying to find out what else I need to bring in to get my residency permit. I landed in Paris yesterday, and I guess the visa in my passport is good for 2 months, during which time I need to set up the residency permit. I have to go back home for a few weeks in June though so really I only have one month. I am also looking for a permanent place to stay this month as well. I am subletting from a friend at the moment.
Can someone tell me what I need to do? And does anyone out there have a pet-friendly apartment for rent, while I'm asking? :-D
thanks!

Hello! I'm an American actress soon to be relocating to Paris... just want to start networking. Anyone in the entertainment field out there? Thanks!

Hello! So, I realize there are a ton of resources on this very website, but I'm starting my own website for expats. It's in connection with a webseries I will be producing. I figured I'd make the website multi-functional. Now, I have a few ideas for what I want to include, but I thought I'd take a little poll and see what other people are looking for in a website. What do you think would be really useful or fun? What haven't you found on other websites? Feel free to send me a private message, or just post a response here. Thanks for your input! :-D

kitchens and bathrooms and toilets, oh my!

soleil (Sep 15 2009, 01:28 PM) said: > original post
You can only "piggyback" EU membership if you have a grandparent or parent who is a citizen of an EU country -- but check carefully, because it doesn't apply to every country (like France, for example). It's an outside chance, but if you have an Irish grandparent, for instance, you can apply for Irish citizenship...and by definition, EU citizenship and permission to work.

Second -- take everything you've ever thought about being here on holidays, put it in a great big box, and throw it away forever. Living here is night-and-day different than visiting, and unless you manage at least a working level of functionality in France, you'll not manage anything you'll need to accomplish to live here full-time -- and no one will hire you (even for a freelance job) if you can't even fill out the application forms. Friends are very well and good, but there comes a point when they're busy, or no longer willing to be your assistant, and you'll have to stand on your own two feet in a foreign language. I'm still a long way from fluent, but my horrible days are getting fewer and further between -- there will be days you'll question what you were thinking...up until now, you've been independent, intelligent, and self-sufficient. When you get here, you're still intelligent, but you will be functionally illiterate and completely dependent upon others for your day-to-day life, and there are days that will threaten to crush your soul. There are also places where they frown on having a translator seated alongside you...they'll accept it, but grudgingly.

If you can't take French lessons locally, then delay your plans until you can.

You've been directed a couple of time to the French Consulate website for Washington DC -- the information is spelled out there in English (except for the forms, which must be completed...in French).

It's, like, a really big deal to attain a titre de sejour and a permis de travail -- and I'm sorry to be harsh, but it doesn't sound like you fully appreciate the size of the bite you're about to attempt to chew.

That's what I thought, great-grandparents are too far back, aren't they?

The longest I've been there, so far, is 2 months. It killed me so much to be away from my pets, and I was pretty anxious to get home, and out of someone else's apartment, by the end. There were, of course, many times when I'd be spending time with a French friend whose English was not so good, and getting very frustrated that we couldn't communicate well. And yet, besides that, I was happy. I was dismayed that I didn't have enough time there to join the French classes other friends were taking, and determined to hop right in when I got back. I never did well with language classes here, since there's no one to practice with, they charge an arm and a leg, and scheduling never worked out... But in France... where every day is an opportunity to practice... :-) I know it will be hard, I know I'll be frustrated... but at least I'll feel alive.

I did get some freelance work when I was there before - doing stock photography. I rejoiced. Especially with the exchange rate. lol. I'm sure I won't get cast in any French films, not speaking French yet.... although I did get offered some background work, had I stayed on until August. Of course, I have no idea what paperwork that would have required, or if I would have been allowed, anyway, without a work permit. I'm not sure they knew that I didn't have a work permit.

I guess it seems fairly easy to me, since I've been there before (4 months total, 3 different trips), and have a bunch of American friends there that managed to move there at an even younger age than I....

Is this the site I should be looking at?

http://www.consulfrance-washington.org/spip.php?article396

or this one...?

http://ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?rubrique=2

I'll look at both. :-D