Does anyone know what it is like to move to France permanently?

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essonne.image

Hi,

I'm originally from the UK but have been living in France now for 10 years. Your move will depend very much on your circumstances.

1) Can you speak passable French?

It will be near impossible to live in France without speaking French, and extremely frustrating if you attempt to.

2) Do you have a job to come to?

If no... Are you willing to work as a cleaner or in a restaurant?

3) Are you settling in a city or in rural France? Will you be by yourself?

France is a big country and has a lot of places that are pretty isolated. Finding friends, contacts and in some cases a local store can involve a lot of km's travel.

4) Are you moving as a family?

Generally children pick up the language fairly quickly, however, you will need to be prepared for the fact that schools will not make any special arrangements for the fact your kids cannot speak French.

Sorry to pour cold water on your plans. France does have a big unemployment problem and realistically, if you cannot speak French you will find the going very hard.
Bureaucracy can be a big problem too.

To live in France you will need to provide evidence you can support yourself and have somewhere to live.

That said. There are plenty of groups on the net that can provide you with good advice and friendship if you make the move and arrive here.

I'll list some of them below.

Good luck with your project and hope it works out for you!

Rillifane

From your other questions and answers it appears you are both racist and homophobic. Trust me, you won't like France one bit.

In any case, you have to have a job before they will let you have a long term stay and the French are no more happy with foreigners coming to France to find work than you are about Mexicans coming to the United States.

Nor are you going to get much of a job unless you speak French and you certainly aren't going to be allowed to become a citizen unless you do.

fookine

Oh, excuse me, Ididn't take the time to answer to one of your questions lately!!!

Perhaps because it sounds a bit to xenophobic to me :

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjuYvJTHlrTDuwg85w5bmsHsy6IX?qid=20070324212513AA0pBh6

artim

Good luck

pete m

depends where you are from in the world,if your from anywhere in the EU then its easy to move here just very hard to stay here,you need lots of cash and to speak french.consider becoming a language student at a school,most schools help with obtaining a visa.that aside there is always the legion....

nellybishop

Getting a job can be tricky if you don't speak the language. Best to have a regular income, like a pension, rather than dwindle away any capital you may have.
Many have returned home disappointed and broke !!

Pelayo

They do not need another prebuscent a$$7ole so do not cross the channel.

learn to speak french, as they hate speaking English.

Also, try the countryside. I hear the people are the "real French" , instead of Paris.

cherub

I lived there for 6 years and loved it. I already had the language but I took some more classes there. I worked part time for the first year and then full time after that. You need a carte de sejour to allow you live there. You can have student status on it if studying or you can start on visitor status. It is best to try and get work though and have employee status. You apply for the card at the local town hall or prefecture if you are in a bigger town. They will tell you what documents you need to provide and get signed by your employer. The working week is 35 hours officially but I don't know if it ever works out like that. The health system is excellent. I could tell you loads of stuff but I need more specific info rmation as each region is different. Where do you want to go? What do you intend working at? I don't know anything about property there though as I lived with friends. French people are very nice and friendly, country is lovely as is the weather. Food and drink is great. I would highly recommend it on the whole.Good luck.

IceCube

Frenchy!

abitmishmash

Painful, very painful. But I must ask. Why? Its France!

insane_mad_maniak

like living in a giant smelly pond, with out fish just frogs. !!

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