Good morning thanks for repiles I have all your information and understand . When we came through the visa section in UK ‘visitor’ was the only way to come to France as a retired person. Given the time, post Brexit and added Covid it was a confusing time for UK and France even now it is confusing. I will continue to look out for relevent information as thats all we can do. I hadn’t changed my mind re work I had no option at that time. I could try the sponsorship route if there is a role I can do but am now confused if I can even do that ?
I wouldnt take another person’s job however its no secret there are roles such as care work or seasonal work which need filling.I hear seasonal workers wont need a visa soon due to lack of workers iñ Fr and the need for them fron non EU countries.
I just wanted a small job maybe micro E, or B& B etc at the end of the day i’ll have a little job , pay money into the French economy and plod on. I
not ready to sit and watch the world go by or endless hours of gardening.
Good luck all you out there in the sameboat I hope this information is handy if you are wanting to come and live but not work if your in a similar retiree situation. I wish I had all the relevant information before making the step to live in Fr. Oh well Now committed .
I imagine there are a few in your position who jumped without really realising that British people are now in the same position as Chinese or Indians who want to come to settle in France, and very constrained.
However you say that you have submitted all the paperwork for a change in visa status? If so, and that includes an approved business plan for a micro-entreprise you want to start, then why not reapply? Presumably you now have a carte vitale, so that ticks off that box. And you can apply online and just go back to UK for interview. It seems people are getting passports back in around 9 days.
If not it’s only another 3 years and then you can do what you want! You visa will allow you to work.
One other thought is whether local tourist stuff are looking for seasonal workers and would sponsor a seasonal visa?so you could at least work for a few months.
TBH I do recall last year in this case when first arriving, the intention to work was mentioned. The phrase “little job” just now has made me recall that other thread.
ISTR on the other thread at that time there were comments along the lines of coming post-Brexit the visa would have already required the person coming, to have signed that they would not work. So the fact of not legally being allowed to work does not seem to be new news.
There may be varous seasonal worker visas but I believe the one that chalet maids and summer campsite workers obtain, specifically does not give any residence rights. You are limited to a maximum of six months in total in France per year (so if you work for the full six months you cannot spend time on holiday here) and you must keep your main residence in your home country. So kazz certainly does not want that one but there may well be others.
EDIT chalet maid is probably not a politically correct term but I cannot think what else to use
Chalet Sanitary Engineer
I have just read of someone who has managed to change his visa status from visitor to entrepreneur via his préfecture! Took a year and a ton of documents apparently, but did it all within France. So if you have a business plan that looks to generate the required income then there is a good chance thats you could do this! (Have also read of others who failed - but look on the bright side!
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Will keep on it may help others in similar circumstances. Thank you all for input
One chalet maid I met was a great bloke who one day showed us an off piste route off the back of an Argentiere restaurant back to the chalet at the bottom of the valley. He was a (snow) boarder - it was hilarious, as soon as me and my X on ski’s got into the trees we would just bump into each other around each tree wading through the 4 foot powder.
He kindly stuck with us till we got to the forest track about half way down then he had to go off superfast to get dinner ready for all us chalet guests. He was a good cook!
I think the new word is chalet hostess? or, presumably, host?
Maybe ‘host’ for all genders, like ‘actor’ nowadays?