Hi there! I’m new to this forum, so forgive me if I’ve posted this in the wrong place!
It looks like a majority of people in here are from the UK, I’m a bit further afield out in New Zealand so I think information about migrating to France seems more difficult to come by.
For the last year my partner and myself have been looking into the entrepreneur/profession libérale visa(outlined here)
Of course, Covid threw a spanner in the works and it’s going to be a while yet before we look again at applying, but I was curious if anybody in here has moved over using this?
We are both self employed, with full time contracts through the same company which are well over the minimum wage requirement, and have been doing so for a number of years. Additionally, we both speak some French (and I am 1/2 way through an undergrad/bachelors degree in the language) and I in particular have spent a number of summers based out of France for around ~3 months each time. So I feel somewhat prepared for the reality of relocating there.
However, knowing the small amount I know about French bureaucracy, I wonder if the visa requirements or process are more complicated than the government visa page lets on.
Would love to hear from anyone who’s gone down this path or looked more into this particular visa.
I haven’t gone down that path, but my experience of France suggests that your level of income is very important. Bluntly, if you have enough money France is more likely to accept your application.
But I’m not sure how you can be self-employed with a contract with one company? That isn’t the definition of self-employed here. If this is a permanent move rather than just a year or so then you could come over as a posted worker perhaps? Or would you be planning to set up your own business here, in which case past income will be irrelevant, you will have to show this new business can generate enough.
Generally in France if you keep calm, fit the criteria and follow the steps laid out exactly, and have patience and many, many copies of the essential documents then bureaucracy is straightforward. Just don’t expect things that one could do in other countries on-line in minutes to be possible here. And expect to resubmit things that you have already submitted. But on-line systems are improving here so may all be different by the time you do it.
I, too, am preparing to move to France. I had some consultations with a visa advisor, Stephen Heiner (TheAmericanInParis.com). The visa is one thing, and then creating a business in France is another. There’s a type of business called auto-entrepreneur, which is good for contractors/consultants who don’t make much money (there are limits) and who have multiple clients, so this wasn’t a good option for me, and it sounds like it wouldn’t be for you either. There’s also a limited liability company you can form, but there’s a lot more paperwork and tax issues. If you can have multiple clients, you can do an auto-entrepreneur, and if you also keep your company in New Zealand, then you can limit how much you earn as an auto-entrepreneur (there’s a minimum, a maximum, and an amount to stay under to avoid dealing with VAT), and earn the rest through your New Zealand company. In the end, I decided (since I don’t have multiple clients) that we’ll go to France on tourist visas, I’ll leave my business in the U.S. (which I’d do whether I create a new business in France or not) and in 3 years, we can always convert those to profession libérale if we want.
Just some info about micro-entreprise status (no longer called auto-entrpreneur). I started my micro-entreprise as a qualified translator a year and a half ago. I pay 24% of my earnings in social charges every three months. I will also have to pay local taxes in December, from the second year. The advantage is that you don’t have to pay any charges before you set up your business (unlike other types of company where you have to fork out money before you actually start earning anything). There is a limited number of types of company that can have micro-entreprise status. Just log onto the government’s micro-entreprise Web page and everything is clearly explained (obviously in French). Don’t forget France is a very socialist country and taxes/social charges can be high for those who have their own limited businesses or businesses ‘au nom propre’, neither of which have micro-entreprise status.
Good luck with your move.
I’m new to this forum, so forgive me if I’ve posted this in the wrong place!