Has anyone been through this same process with a long term partner, but no wedding rings? We’ve been together 7 or 8 years. The verdict seems to be a national competence and a grey area. The Netherlands are okay with it, but I can’t find anything about France! Grateful for any info!
Get PACSed. If you are neither married nor PACSed then your significant other is no more significant in the eyes of the law than some floozy of either sex you picked up 5 minutes ago.
Pete, @vero is absolutely right. Here is what the EU regulation says about the definition of family:-
It may possibly be the case that a UK civil partnership also might be regarded in the same way in France - but you’d need to check (eg with the Consulate etc).
Agreed re SF. I’ve found people to be incredibly generous with their time and wisdom, especially towards those of us (like myself) relatively new to the many issues thrown up by a move here…
Don’t hesitate to ask any questions - someone, or probably several members will try to help answer them, and hopefully reduce any stresses…
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That’s really discriminatory against floozies picked up years ago.
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Thanks George!
I have come across some more obscure EU legislation that seems to allow unmarried partners, but the French consulate wouldn’t comment!
It’s more or less academic for us at the moment, but it would be good to get round the 90/180 rule.
Have a good day,
Pete
I have to admit I haven’t chased after that 200 euros though I may still do so I’ve had too many other problems unrelated to moving to France and I was just content to get my Carte de séjour. Anyway I hope you can profit from my mistakes!
Poor french is a real problem
I’m still being embarrassed by my poor french. I was in the hospital the other day and I can understand if I concentrate very hard. I thought the receptionist said ‘wait in bay’ I stared hard at her and she got up and pointed to the letter B!.
I thought actually going to the prefecture was the best plan. The receptionist gave me an email address to enable me to make contact But that was useless and wasted about a month of the 3 months allocated time
I then sent a copy of my personal details to the prefecture. It was sent back to me but in addition gave me details about how to make an online appointment
On their website I made another mistake which hindered me and that is I thought I was European but as pointed out to me by someone in SF I am not European!
Finally appointments are in great demand. I was about to make an appointment in October but couldn’t decide on the best time . Next day no appointments were available until November.
. We arrived in France on April 1st. On may 30th I managed to book an appointment for Nov 3rd. On a second appointment I received my Carte de séjour in February
I think like you I couldn’t get a definite answer on whether I needed a visa but took advice from SF and didn’t bother with one though at the interview I was asked if I had one. One thing that was insisted on was the presence of my Irish spouse.
We are in the Charente and it does seem that each prefecture is slightly different
Hope that helps a little
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hi Geoffrey
Thanks for the update, so if and when we come i need to make appointment online and not as a European lol .
I am hoping once we know we sre definite move i was going to try and make appointment before arriving in France . I saw on another site someone had done this.
Luckily i contacted embassy in Madrid where i would need to apply and they confirmed for me no visa needed,. I will ensure husband with me for appointment, just wondering was your S1 sufficient as proof of healthcare or need to take out private ? I have been applying for quotes but the two i have had our for full year unable to cancel or amend to a mutuelle.
Having said that it seems it can take up to or more than a year to be accepted .
Pete, that prompted me to take another look at the legislation. It seems that despite the EU rules saying thou shalt be married or in a recognised partnership, there does in fact also seem to be a ‘facts and circumstances’ type test, that might also help…You’d need to convince the French authorities, but if you are genuinely living as a couple, can provide documentary evidence etc etc, particularly dependence on the EU national partner, maybe you’ll be in luck.
Here is the definition…
We had been together over 20 years in the UK - no rings, not needed. When we started our plans for moving to France the advice everywhere was “get married” - makes inheritance much more straightforward. So we did - minimum fuss. And although I never wanted to be married and never felt the need it does make things more straightforward here. I continue to use my maiden name - on my passport, bank a/c etc - and in fact for a woman in France her maiden name is her legal name.
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Hi George,
Thanks for that! I’m glad I hadn’t imagined it. I should think the interpretation could come down to the individual official though. We’d definitely have to find a more liberal one!
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To be honest, she could have married me before I got my Irish passport, but she can’t afford the dowry now 
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Others will chime-in as to whether or not you need full health cover for your Application.
In France, the S1 only entitles the holder(s) to the same level of healthcare-funding as a French person… ie NOT full payment/cover for health bills.
Taking-out some sort of additional health insurance (to help with unpaid bills) might well be something worth considering in any case… (for you both).
EDIT: For Insurance of all kinds… @fabien is “tried and trusted” by many here on the forum. If you wish, you can ask him for quotes.
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Both my appointments were made by email to my surprise not by post so definitely make an appointment as soon as is convenient you can always change or cancel.
I think your biggest problem might be your health insurance. I’ve never before had health insurance and so the thought of shelling out 300 or 400 per month for a year was very daunting. Unlike yourself we were living in France three years previous and we had kept our carte vital. But at the time of our move I didn’t know whether they were still active. So I think I took out travel insurance for 2 weeks and then 3 months full insurance with the company recommended by Fabian of SF which I was then able to convert to a mutuelle as I had confirmation that my carte vital was okay. The mutuelle was accepted as okay at my first interview for the the carte de séjour.
As for SF it has been an essential resource and I’m very grateful for the help received though I’ve always avoided social media namely Facebook and Twitter and most blogs I’ve looked at end in people hurling insults at each other. SF seems to be very well moderated
Best of luck
Hi Geoffrey, i thought i would need full health insurance. The only problem is quote via Fabien,the companies quoting will only quote for a full year, pay in full which for the two of us is a big chunk. I did want a company as you have found that will convert to a mutuelle. No idea why these are not quoting apart from the fact that we boy have arthritis of the knee. Would not have thought a big problem as neither of us on meds. Though i am waiting to see an orthopedic specialist , which i think is only to confirm it is arthritis . Anyone as no firm date to move yet, i will need to shop around on the internet .
Try to actually talk to Fabien, as I think he can offer this option but may not pop up on online quote.
Hi Jane
Yes i did chat to him as did quote online. He then had his assistant call to go through quote same result .
Ok, sorry I thought there was the option to swap to mutuelle after a few months.