Q & A

Subject: Can I work in France?

Question: Thanks for hosting this site. I tried looking at the Q & A, but for some reason I get an incorrect parameter message. Anyway, my wife wants to study abroad (French) and maybe teach English for a few years. I have a video production company in Oregon and work for mostly national TV shows and news. See a bio at http://www.audiocam.com. I'm wondering how easy/hard it will be for me to work in France? I heard it's difficult. Can I run my company while in France? Could I work for a French company? What about American companies doing business in France; could I work for them?
I'll start with those questions.

Answer: It would be very hard for you to work in France. Not being married to, or the descendents of a French person I don't know how you could acquire the right to work in France. Starting your own company in France is not easy, see, http://www.apce.com/ for more information; but it is possible.
You could work for an American company in France but I think you would need for the company to hire you in the US and then transfer you to France.
Right now the French job market is tight and in practice a preference is give to French nationals first and then foreigners. I don't want to take the wind out of your sails but that is how it is in France right now. I have had a very hard time finding work. All I could find was teaching English for a few hours a week.

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