Q & A

Subject: Working in France.

Question: I'm hoping you can offer some advice for an American moving to France. I've been working for the last year in Berlin as an English language teacher, and hope to find similar work in France. The paperwork in Germany was tedious but manageable; I'm not sure what the situation is like in France and would appreciate your input (people to contact, useful websites, etc.). Thank you very much in advance for your help!

Answer: Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you, my advice is the following; start by sending your resume to language schools, Wall Street Institute is one that I know has a web site and has schools in many big cities in France, they should be able to give you some advice and tell you if working in France in do able, they also have need of English teachers. You might have a problem working in France being that you don’t have the right as of yet. Me, I am married to French women and that gives me the right, the last time I was in France I worked for a French NGO that sponsored me, and knew how the system worked. I never had the right to really “work” in France just to live, they wrote a letter saying that they would pay for my living expenses, health care and so on. I think that you will be okay being that a French person could not easily do the type of work you are going to do. To start your paper work you need to go to the nearest Préfecture or sous Préfecture, it is the government office where all your paper work will be done. You will need a “Carte de Séjour” to live in France for over six months, but really there is no way for the French government to know how long you have been in France as you a coming from Germany and your passport will not be stamped. First thing the Préfecture will do is give you a list of things that you will need, copy of your passport, birth certificate and so on. If they want you to have health care and you don’t have it use your Social Security card, they will think it is a national health card. The US embassy in Paris has a good web sight that might be able to help you.

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