Any Americans that have moved to or are living in France?

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Rillifane

The principle difficulty will be getting a work permit and finding employment.

The French government is no more anxious to give foreigners work permits than is the American government, perhaps less so because unemployment in France is usually considerably higher than in the United States and because EU citizens already have a right to live and work in France.

Getting job without a fluent command of French is all but impossible especially given that the French view language more formally than English speakers.

You should consider going to France to study. First simply take language courses and, when you do become proficient, seek admission to a French university. The French government will generally give you no trouble about a visa to accomplish either of these tasks.

While it will cost you money to take language courses, French universities are all but free (there is a small fee which covers, among other things, your health insurance). The savings in tuition might very well make the entire process a cost savings over going to University in the USA.

The sole requirements for applying for French citizenship are five years of legal residence, the ability to speak French, and an acceptance of French cultural and social norms evidenced by the applicant's integration into French socety. It is not neccessary to be of French descent or married to a natural born French national.

Pay no attention to idiots who think its clever to spell America as Amerika and claim Americans are disliked in France. Its is drivel to claim that the French dislike Americans generally. (I suspect that the individual here is such a jerk that he would be disliked no matter where he goes.)

The French certainly have no love for George Bush but they have been rhapsodizing about Obama and I suspect that this will continue.

The French smoke Marlboros, wear blue jeans, eat at Micky D's, flock to Starbucks, watch American movies and TV shows, and love American rock and jazz. Just how "anti-American" does that sound?

Rose T

It is difficult for French people to find jobs; it will be exponentially more difficult for you because you are not a legal resident of France. To be able to move there, you have to either have a job contract or be able to prove a certain level of income, which I think is about $3400 per month. To get a job there, your best bet is to get a job at an international company in your home country, and then try to get transferred.

I don't know for sure, but I don't think you can become a citizen of France unless one of your close relatives (no further back than grandparent, I think) was a French citizen. Even if you can meet this requirement, I hear that it is pretty hard to accomplish.

French, in my opinion, is not that tough to learn. I've been studying it with a native speaker from Normandy for about 2 years. It's really all about learning the rules and memorizing all the many exceptions to the rules. I previously studied Spanish for 6 years, so maybe that's why I find French fairly easy.

I've never lived in France, but I've visited Paris 5 times for stays of varying duration. I always did my best to at least begin communicating in French, and I think that helped. I certainly never had any issues in terms of being treated in objectionably in any way. The closest I could come to being treated rudely is that a waiter walked away in the middle of taking my order. A large party had come in, and he went to help them and came back to finish taking my order. So, maybe that was a little rude...

Good luck. You might want to join some of the Yahoo! groups like Live in France, Paris Oui, etc. Live in France in particular is a group of expats living in France and sharing trials, tribulations, and how tos.

hellycool

France tends to be one of the more racist European countries. I used to live there a couple of years ago and was constantly saying I was Scottish as a posed to English because of the problems it causes if you do say you are English. I wouldn't be able to comment exactly on how Americans would be received in France, but I am guessing it would be worse.

In terms of gaining citizenship, provided you can secure employment the entire process takes about six years, but one thing to bear in mind is that if you became a citizen of France, you automatically become a European citizen which, if you decided could mean you could live and work in any other European Country. Though, traditionally France has never had a tough immigration policy.

The language I couldn't comment on because I grew in Plymouth in South West England, so French was my second language.

marina_rat

Since you CAN'T WORK THERE you have to provide PROOF that you have a monthly income of about $2000 INDEPENDENT of anything you would earn in France.

You don't wait until you move there... you LEARN FRENCH BEFORE YOU MOVE THERE.. they aren't too anxious to teach you French.

I lived in France for about 2 years.. one in Paris and one on my boat in Marseilles and got along OK.. I had no problem being treated as a frigging' AmeriKan because FRENCH is my mother tongue and the very LAST thing I do when I'm out of the U.S. is look like an AmeriKan... sound like an AmeriKan.. talk like I'm an Amerikan or ACT like I'm an Amerikan. Most of the French people I knew and dealt with on a daily basis were surprised to find out that I am an AmeriKan because I kept it very well hidden

questionTHEmyRIDDLERanswer

Lloyd: I'll tell you where. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called Aspen.

Harry: Oh, I don't know, Lloyd. The French are assholes.

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