I am an American with a Long Term French VISA, my common law wife is British. We both recently retired and plan to spend time between our house in the South of France (about 5 months), our flat in London (4 months) and my home in Texas (3months). My first question is about taxes, we both have income from retirements and investments (my wife pays UK Taxes and I pay US). Will we experience any problems with France on tax? The second question relates to a French Resident Card. Since my wife if British, we own a home in France and spend the bulk of our time in France, can I get a French Residents Card? If so where do I start (Marie, lessor Prefecture or Prefecture?)
I totally understand Cory. My birth mother lives in Canada and I looked into moving there. The VISA in itself "shouldn't" be a problem as I have enough points but like you I want to live a few months in the UK, a few in France and the rest in Canada. It seems that this is a problem for Canadian immigration as I work mostly online and therefore do not intend to look for employment and do not have enough income to satisfy entry requirements!!
Damaris, Thank you your reference reinforces what I think is the way forward. It appears that having an EU spouse makes me eligible for a Residence Card which if I am understanding correctly is in EU Law and sometimes referenced to as a EU Permit. Out problem is that immigration laws do not deal with folks like my wife and I easily. For example, most people want to reside in one Country, we on the other hand more around. As an American I can stay in the UK 6 months a year but I do not consider myself a Visitor. I will never be in the UK more than 6 months in a year. France I can stay for 3 months without a VISA but there again I do not consider myself a Visitor. This is why I got a Long Term VISA while in the States. Another issue is the UK does not recognize a French or any other Shengen VISA. With all the immigration from the rest of the world to western world countries I think the horse is out of the barn and folks like my wife and I get hassled. We consider ourselves residents of the world! Neither of us would give up our Citizenship.
Hi Cory,
I'm not sure how current this is now but I got some info for a Canadian friend from this site:
http://riviera.angloinfo.com/countries/france/residency.asp
Good luck!
I was at the OFII just a couple of days ago, listening to our specialists. So, if you have a long term visa, you need to go to your Prefecture, at least 2 months before your visa runs out and apply for another one. In principle it can only be granted if you have a good reason to stay in France and you should be here for a minimum of 6 months a year. You need to renew your visa several times before finally getting residency, which needs to be renewed every 10 years only.
I'm an Aussie living in France, I guess my application for long term stay would be the same for you? I had to apply through the Prefecture... with my application I had to provide all personal certificates.. birth/marriage/kids etc (translated in to French) as well as all bank account statements, hubby's EU details and proof of living here. My Titre De Sejour took approx 2 months to be issued. Hope this helps.
Hello there, i'm an American-French citizen. i can't help you much on the UK-related questions you have. However regarding the USA tax situation vs France, i do know that there are tax treaties between FR and the USA so that Americans are not taxed twice for certain things. You can download the tax treaty on the IRS website. The US embassy in Paris also has many useful links related to yr tax questions. I have French citizenship via my mother so i'm not helpful to you regarding advice to get a carte de sejour (resident's permit) - i only know secondhand that it can be extremely difficult for Americans to obtain - i'm not sure that 5 months/year would be considered sufficient time to justify obtaining a carte de sejour... kind regards, Lorraine