Help! Overwhelmed and confused (non-EU citizen on WHVisa)

Companies in some countries sponsor the visa

Yes, employers can sponsor a person they want to employ who needs a work permit.
Itā€™s not a programme as such though. The employer has to demonstrate that theyā€™ve tried to recruit an EU citizen for the post but havenā€™t found anyone with the necessary skills, and each application is considered individally. So, for instance it might be an employer in the science or hi-tec sector who needs to recruit a highly skilled R&D team and bring in top scientists / researchers / developers from all over the world.
Is that what you mean?

Are we no longer confused ?? I do hope soā€¦ :slight_smile: itā€™s been an interesting discussion and is also on other threadsā€¦ :thinking: Iā€™ve found it fascinating delving into various information sites ā€¦

From the govt sites etcā€¦ it seems very clear that anyone holding a Working Holiday Visaā€¦ is a tourist on holiday for cultural/travel-adventure and enabled via the Visa to take some temporary paid employment (in whichever country the Visa is valid) to top up the coffersā€¦ while on Holidayā€¦ the emphasis being that the person is a Tourist on Holiday.

And ā€¦ and when the visa expires, the holiday is over and the Tourist goes home. :hugs: The WH Visa is granted on the understanding that the Holder abides by these conditions.

ā€¦ ā€¦ ā€¦
:grinning::grinning::grinning:

She has had a carte vitale for many years and has been filling in tax returns, though not had enough income to pay tax. Sheā€™s never claimed benefits here and has managed on her pension and savings. This will continue to be the case. She owns her own home and has savings.

I really hope that she didnā€™t sell her house without wanting to. I also hope that she has applied for a CdS or better still two CdS, one via her prefecture and the other online. As she has lived in France for so long, has a CV and completed tax returns she has nothing to worry about but she does have to make sure that sheā€™s up to date with the required procedures.

This sounds very sad. Horrible that someone has been so terrified when as far as I can see she has very little to worry about. Sheā€™s lived here for such a long time that financial thresholds no longer apply, and she canā€™t be kicked out. And in any case they have some leeway so if you can show that you have sufficient and are a home owner the the thresholds can be waived.

How sad that your friend has been here 17 years and does not feel sufficiently at ease with her situationā€¦ and certainly does not appear to understand what is clearly written on the French Govt sites.

I wonder how many other folk there are across France, in a similar situation ??

Ah well, she has sold her house (no easy thing in the present housing market I would have thought) and thus has some useful capitalā€¦ good luck to her.

Edit: Any one who is stressed about their future/right to stay in Franceā€¦ can talk things through/ask advice at their Mairie.

It is good that you have high regard for your Marie, and from everything you have said it sounds as if this praise is well deserved. But do be aware that not all Maries are equally knowledgeable, helpful or experienced. So in many instances, particularly in small communes, going to talk to your Marie is not a panacea, but actually the opposite as they can send you down blind alleys. My experience of living in different communes is that they are hugely variable.

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The Mairie is there to serve ā€œits citizensā€ā€¦ and they should (at the very least) be able to point someone in the right directionā€¦ sending someone down ā€œblind alleysā€ is not doing the job properlyā€¦ and should be addressed by the Maire.

Ours is a small commune but we (citizens) do enjoy an excellent serviceā€¦ much better than that in the nearest town (in my view). However, even the very busy, larger Mairie will answer questions and try to help as and when they canā€¦ One simply has to ask for an appointment to speak with someone, rather than dropping in and expecting folk to be instantly available.

Anyone who has been in France for a number of years, will have sussed out their Mairie and know what can and cannot be achieved thereā€¦ and where they will need to go to find answers to questions etcā€¦ probably the Mairie in the next town or whereverā€¦

The Mairie of a small commune should have very close contacts with its citizens, so (at the very least) they can identify those elderly/vulnerable/isolated/newcomers etc etc ā€¦

Thatā€™s the theory.
Itā€™s currently in the news that there are some communes that canā€™t find anyone willing to be mayor. Looks like theyā€™ll have to take anyone they can get.
However I believe mayors do get a lot of support through regular formal meeting with other mayors and Ć©lus and I imagine they help each other informally as well. Trouble is if you get one who does it for vanity, to see photos of himself in his sash.

Yepā€¦ the Maires have regular meetings amongst themselves at local level and beyondā€¦ which is why it is important that the Maire knows his citizens and what is needed to support them in his patch. If he does not exert pressure to support projects etc for his citizens, his commune will sufferā€¦ since there is only so much money to go round. :thinking:

Being Maire is not an easy roleā€¦ anyone who thinks it is all show and glamour is in for a rude awakening.

The deadline for next yearā€™s election hopefuls is not yet upon us and many folk are, indeed, wary of showing any sort of inclination to stand. Playing oneā€™s cards close to oneā€™s chestā€¦ (no idea what that is in French)

She sold at exactly the right time. The day before the completion signing, the mairie let the notaire know the land next door to the house was going to be developed into housing at some point. The buyer had no clause for that so the sale went ahead.
My friend had been selling her house with a large garden and studio, but the buyer only wanted the house and half the garden, so a price was negotiated and my friend is converting the studio into her home. Iā€™m not convinced she will manage their full time, but she has enough in the bank to buy elsewhere now and perhaps rent the studio out once itā€™s complete.
She doesnā€™t have access to the internet and our prefecture hasnā€™t been taking applications for a while now.
Once Christmas is over we will fill in the online application for her. She didnā€™t want to do it sooner as she had no savings and was worried she wouldnā€™t get a cds!
It is very sad when someone has been told over the years that she didnā€™t need a cds, to suddenly be in the position of proving she wonā€™t be a burden on the state at her age!

Of course, this does not apply to your friend if she has been here 17 years.

Yep. The top 3 reps of our village council are standing down next election, if they donā€™t resign beforehand, and the mayor doesnā€™t want to stand again. The reason given is underfunding by central government, having been forced into a ā€œcommunautĆ© aggloā€ in which they have lost their status as a priority rural zone for investment.

Of course this does apply to all of us.

We have been in France for 21 years, no need of a Carte de Sejour UE and now we have to apply for one without ANY certainty that we will get one.

Never claimed for anything and have paid French taxes and social security.

Why is France make it so difficult for UK citizens legally resident in France?

Not to mention the 100,000s of UK citizens resident in the UK who own properties, businesses, have family, are studying.in France,

Or those UK citizens who have lived in EU27 countries for 5/10 yearsor more but have only lived in France for a couple of years?

Nothing is certain, far less certain than UK or EU27 politicians will assert.

We are all at risk, the degree of risk is determenined by our personal circumstance. But it is certain that we are all more at risk than we were as EU citizens.

Grahameā€¦ I donā€™t understand your comments

In my view, France is making it easy for those who are here as at Brexit dateā€¦ France has laid out a clear route for each person to follow, depending on the individual circumstances.

What have you read that makes you feel there is uncertainty for you getting a CdS, after 27 years here ???

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The UK voted for Brexit.
The UK is adamant that it wants to end free movement.
Why are you blaming France?

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And up until now France has been the most relaxed of all the EU countries, as EU citizens donā€™t even have to register here. This mess is not their fault, and given how French citizens are being treated in the UK Iā€™m amazed that people are still as positive about as as they are.

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Not very relaxed down here in the Aude.

Refusal to accept for many years they we needed, much less entitled to a Carte de Sejour UE.

Even within the past couple of years they have refused to issue one and put us on a priority list for when it is finally decided whether the UK is in or out.

Additional information (over and above that published on gouv.fr pages).

Canā€™t see how any of that is making it easy. We used to have a declaritive regime for UK citizens (you were entitled unless France proved you werenā€™t) and now France is opting for a constitutive regime (you not entitled unless you can prove you are).