How I got my Resident Visa in France | Journey of @JaniceInFrance

pleasure hello it's Janice in France [Music] thank you for joining me today and before I begin I want to tell you that I would appreciate it so very much you would subscribe I need 16 000 subscribers by at least March 1st and I think I can make it with your help and also click below if you want to be advised when my next video comes up now I am going to try to answer as many questions as I can that I have received over the past year about becoming a resident or moving to France so it may be a little boring for you and if you're not wanting to move to France it might just be one of those videos that you want to skip because this is going to be a lot of just talking and getting you informed with uh what you need to know VFS Global can you see that that's where you need to go to get started years and years ago we used to go to the French Consulate or we used to go to the Indian Consulate or the UK consulate wherever we were in the United States but not anymore they have contracted everything out to that company and it will tell you on here uh how to apply for a passport uh need form filming assistance how to apply for a Visa they have all types of questions that they could answer for you but I will tell you this if you want to call their 1-800 number and get anyone that speaks any type of common sense to you and answer a question please don't waste your time it won't happen so let's start number one I have a pen and paper here because I want to write down everything that I'm talking about so at the end I can go back so I've already let you know where to go to do this now of course as suggested you must have a passport and you must have a passport and they even say you have to have like five uh pages that are blank but you want to make sure you have a passport that isn't going to expire in a couple of years so um that would just create more hassle than what you want and I will tell you right off the bat it is not for the faint apart I'm 71 and I started this process when I was 69 and I am such a person that doesn't read directions that I just miss it all so make sure you read all of your directions clearly I was so nervous when I did my first application that I was shaking I mean literally shaking so if you have someone that can sit with you do so because uh the application is not difficult but you just want to make sure that you understand uh they may ask you what a pre your pre Nom your surname your prenom is your first name like Janice my surname is dear Wester uh they may ask you um what other name do you use uh I happen not to have a middle name so I didn't have to put anything in there so when you do your application you might want to just have someone sit there with you especially if you're nervous because sometimes when we get nervous we just kind of like I don't know what to do so just fill out the application now you don't have to pay for the application you fill it out you make a copy of it but where you do have to pay is when you make an appointment so after you've filled out your application and you've submitted it and you've made copies of it then you can make an appointment and if I'm not mistaken my appointment was like 35 dollars okay then you set up an appointment and then you go to the closest VFS uh location there's Chicago Atlanta New Orleans I believe I know there's San Francisco there's and of course Washington DC but of course you want to be close enough so when they take your passport away from you when you go and visit the VFS you'll be close enough to receive your passport so you don't want to be in Washington DC and your passport goes to Miami Florida unless you're planning on going to Miami Florida to visit you understand what I'm saying and you need to have a U.S address of course I used my daughter's address so that all my mail would go there and that uh when the passport came through the second time uh I got it from my daughter's address but the first time of course I was still living in my rental home so I got it there okay now when I went the first time I had an option of either taking a self-addressed envelope are letting them send it with me paying a charge for that the second time I went in October to redo all my paperwork they did not give me that option they said I had to come up with the money and I think that was another 32 dollars to mail it to me and it will be mailed to you uh in your mailbox you know just normal mail they won't put it on your front porch uh let's see so when you get to VFS and you talk to one of the uh assistants there and they tell you what you did wrong or not did wrong or what you need to do it's very easy because they will help you if you filled out something wrong with the application which I did last time she just corrected it for me so don't go there thinking that they're out to get you because they're not they're very helpful and you know be patient with them because they do this every day they run into people all the time that probably ask some of the dumbest questions but you know sometimes we just need to ask questions and we don't think they're dumb but make sure when you go in to follow the rules your phone is turned off and that you have either a credit card or you have cash after they review your application the reason they are there is to make sure that when your application and all of your paperwork gets to Washington DC to the French Consulate everything is smooth going so they're really your friend because if you've not filled it out or you don't have the right paperwork you will have to go back home redo it Etc come back again so they're really just helping you because they don't want the paperwork to get to Washington DC and it not be complete because then Washington DC is going to send you back your passport and tell you to start all over again so they're just there as a buffer between you and the French Consulate so be kind to them and be patient with them I know when I went I was mistalkative because I do that when I get nervous so I tried very hard to just take some deep breaths the second time I went now when you talk about paperwork when they're reviewing your paperwork after they get finished they will take you to another room and they'll do your fingerprints for you then when this is all over with you will pay them the money for the fingerprints the money for the cost of all of the application Etc and you will pay for the postage to send your passport back to you and to me I think it was probably around 145 to 150 dollars so that's what you're out you do not pay online for the application fee the only thing you pay online is your appointment fee so that's about 35 you're already out 150 so it's about 175 for the entire process now it may change by the time you go it may change in three months this was just my experience in November now people have asked me how much money do you have to make how much money does it matter that you have a big savings does it matter that you have a trust fund so now now I'm going to go into the paperwork that you need to have they are asking for three months of your bank statements okay what they're going to ask you and you don't find this out until you finish your application then they will give you a list of things that you need to bring with you of course your passport of course uh your bank statements for three months if you have three Banks you need bank statements for all of those Banks they need to see what you have coming in you may have 5 000 coming in one twenty one dollars a month coming in the other and two cents coming in the other you need to make copies for the last three months now the first time I went I made three copies just to make sure I had enough the last time I went I made two copies and she only kept one but if I were you I would make two copies just to be on the safe side no one really tells you some of the rules and regs that they give you of this sheet to do it is not very clear you have to kind of read through the lines but I made two copies of the past three months of my bank statements just to be on the safe side they're going to ask for a letter from Social Security and a letter if you have a pension plan so I have pensioned from the state of California and the state of Georgia and I received a letter from them so what happens is that letter that California sends me matches up with what my bank statement says and that's what they want to do to confirm that you are exact getting that money that you say you're getting now the first time that I applied I wanted a resident visa and I had my Social Security and I had my two pensions and I got a temporary residency and when I called and spoke to someone at the French Consulate the gentleman told me it was up to the person that did the paperwork there is no rhyme nor reason so when you do if you do get a temporary residency don't take it personal like I did I thought oh my gosh what have I done wrong do I not make enough money you know is it because I'm single Etc I just kind of beat myself up and then all of a sudden I went wait a minute I'm getting to go to France for a year chill out so it is not anything personal but whatever they say it goes now you can reapply or maybe call or maybe email I would always email and try to find out what you did wrong if it comes back that something other than what you're wanting the temporary residency I emailed to find out what I did wrong and it wasn't anything that I did wrong it was just that person that went through my paperwork decided that I needed to Temporary residency that's how it is it's not like rocket science it's not like everybody gets treated the same way it's how they are that day how they feel that day when they look at that paperwork is the decision they're going to make and they will stick with it no one is going to change it for you now like me I was given a temporary resident you cannot let me repeat this because I have people asking me this all the time you cannot reapply for a resident Visa until you go back to the States and you do all of this paperwork all over again you make your appointment with a DFS all over again you see one of the uh assistants there all over again you get your FBI prints all over again you pay to have your passport sent back to you all over again so you cannot do it in the country of France you have to go back to the States if and only if you get a temporary residency if you get a residency like I received last time you have three months to go on a website to answer some questions and pay them two hundred dollars and then eventually they will ask you to come in and they'll talk to you and I believe you have to go see a doctor you just get a chest x-ray and then eventually you'll get your cart the tall now that will help you with your insurance your prescriptions Etc now let's go back to the paperwork that you have to have in order to apply for residency you must have a Year's worth of insurance they ask right now for 30 000 Euros worth of insurance and that means if you have a heart attack if you get hit by a car if you have some kind of injury that you have insurance so that you are not a drudgery on the health system in France if you have Medicare it will not pay my medicare guy said oh yes your type of insurance will pay I don't care what you say the French won't accept it so there are different types of insurance that you can have I paid 460 for a full year I had a friend of mine that paid 2500 for a full year now the older you get of course you pay more but I just got the Bare Basics thirty thousand Euros they want to make sure that if I die that they can send me back repatriation and it doesn't cost them a dime so that's just a basic insurance I got and it was 460 Euros or 460 pounds because I bought mine believe it or not from Ireland and I will put the name of it down in the description box for you now my friend and I both were going with a company that was 2500 and it was doing the same thing we thought maybe because it was a little bit more expensive they knew a little bit more it was also a French company and we thought well it might be a little bit better well when it came down to the finances I couldn't afford it she did and they canceled her after three or four months because she had been in the hospital she had some surgery she had some other issues medical issues and her insurance canceled her now I'm not going to say mine won't cancel me but I'm just saying if I'm going to be canceled it's going to be canceled with 460 dollars not 2500. I just couldn't afford it now if there's two of you moving that means each one of you have to have insurance they want to know that you're covered for a year or until you get your cart for tall because they don't want you to be a burden on their insurance I mean go figure who blames them so that's what happens while you are filling out your forms and getting all that you have to make sure that you have insurance you also will sign a form stating that you will not work in France because they don't want you to take business away from someone else that could be employed just face the facts it's great to retire here but if you're wanting to work here you have to have an altogether different Visa if you're wanting to be a student here you have to have an altogether different visa and I know nothing about that now I'm going to go back to finances people ask me this all the time Janice how much money do you think I need to make in order to move I don't know if you remember correctly or for those of you that are new when I first moved here in February Social Security stopped my payments March the 15th it had nothing to do with me moving to France let me say this one more time it had nothing to do with me moving to France the United States does not stop your Social Security because you moved to another country what happened was there was a misrepresentation of some paperwork and some paperwork that was sent to me that wasn't forwarded on to my daughter and it was just a big mess but I got it straightened out when I came back to the state what I'm trying to tell you is I applied for uh residency with my pension for California and my pension from Georgia and my social security and I got temporary residency I went back last October and I applied for residency again now this time I had heard from a friend of mine that was in the same boat as I was having to go back to the states to make sure I signed a piece of paper so I asked the lady unfortunately it was the same person I had before is there a piece of paper saying that I want to retire in France and she said oh yeah here it is so I signed it because there's nowhere on there does it say on your application do you want to stay here do you want to live here do you want to retire here it doesn't ask those questions so you have to be very careful but since I had heard through the grapevine that this piece of paper was offered to her I asked for it and I got it now because my Social Security had not been resolved as far as having a piece of paper to show the consulate that I had X number of dollars that was going to be sent to me every month I didn't have that so the only paperwork that I showed was the paperwork the letter and the bank statements from my pension plan and I got a residency so what I'm telling you folks there's really no rhyme no reason to it it is not a black and white system it is not one that is cut and dry you fill out the application you get the residency you come back here you fill it out online everything's perfect that is not the way it goes now when you do get your residency you come back here like I said before you feel the paperwork out online you pay 200 and you wait for your cart for tall now what does that all cover I have no idea and right now if you're trying to work on getting the process going or the paperwork going or figuring out what you want to do don't worry about that right now worry about just doing your paperwork because you know what in two years it may change when I first started this journey I watched the YouTube and that girl told me exactly what to do well guess what YouTube was 2018 and they changed the rules 2019 so make sure when you're watching a YouTube and they're telling you all this wonderful stuff that you need to do and how easy it is check the date it is not an easy process it is a process that is not the most difficult but it's nerve-wracking it's like okay I'm getting rid of my items in my house I'm taking my items to Goodwill I'm putting items into storage I've told my landlord that I'm moving and if I don't get my card my passport back with that residency on it what am I going to do so there are a lot of things going on in your head I know that I did that and when I got the temporary residency that's when I just fell apart and I thought oh no but it was okay I got here and then when I got here I found out I really wanted to stay here so honestly it worked better for me but I do know how nerve-wracking it is because you can start getting rid of all your stuff in your home and you can sell your home and then all of a sudden maybe it isn't what you want or maybe it isn't what you thought you wanted so with all of this I've told you about the process I would like to say this one last thing and I'm sure I've not covered everything I'm hoping I did and I'm going to go back over it at the end of the video and if I think of anything I'll just throw it in I would like to suggest to you that if you are planning to move to France and you don't know where you want to live come on over if you're not planning on moving for three or four years come on over and and try out uh an area maybe it isn't Paris that you want to live in maybe it's a smaller town like I live in Fontainebleau maybe you want to live in the all safe region on the East Coast maybe you want to live more on the west coast maybe you want to live closer to Belgium area maybe you want to live in the south of France maybe you want to live in Bordeaux how who knows you may get over here and go over the border to Spain and say Hey I want to live in Spain I don't want to live in France so you're going to have to come and check it out and just see now one last thing that I did forget when you're doing the paperwork you must show them where you're going to stay and it could be an Airbnb but they must have an address of where you're going to be so you can have an Airbnb for a month you can have an Airbnb for two months and maybe it will give you time to find you a place to live now finding a place to live in France is an altogether different video and I don't have the answers for all of that but I will tell you this there are forums that you can go on on Facebook that uh Americans living in Paris Americans uh moving to Paris Americans moving to France they're all different types that you can get information from but make sure that what information you're getting is the correct information sometimes people say oh I did this and that but they didn't tell you it was five years ago oh well I didn't have to do that in Washington DC oh well San Francisco didn't make me do that that's okay because I'm not worried about that I went to Atlanta I want to know what Atlanta does so every place may be a little different so you have to just kind of make sure that you pay attention to all the details you don't have to have an apartment when you get here I happen to have an apartment because I met a friend of a friend on Facebook in 2018 and I viewed this apartment and I liked this apartment and I just happened to call her up and ask her if it was available and it was not everybody is quite that lucky so when it comes time to getting an apartment in France I don't have the clue on that I can't do a video on that I might can find someone that can help us out and I can do a YouTube uh video with visiting that person that can have that kind of knowledge and there are people out there that you can get that Knowledge from I ran into a lady the other day she has a couple of books out and also for a consultation it was 295 dollars and if it's worth it to you mentally to talk to someone that you trust and you've read their book but you still don't quite understand 295 dollars might be the way for you to go so I'm going to wrap it up again let's see you need to go to VFS Global it looks like this you need to start making sure you have your passport you need to make sure you go ahead and start your application then you need to make your appointment remember you're going to have to pay for your appointment and then when you get to your appointment you're going to have to pay for them to mail the passport back to you you must have a Us address it cannot be a PO Box and it cost me about 175 dollars in November for everything you need three months bank accounts you need a place to stay whether it be an Airbnb while you look around for an apartment but they need to know where you're going to stay and they need a copy of that it isn't just say oh I have that you must have a copy of some type of document showing that you are going to stay there for 30 days or 60 days or whatever it is that you're going to be just that first Airbnb that you stay in or that first hostel that you stay in or for whatever reason maybe you're staying with a friend that address is the address that they want to know and if you move later on down the road it doesn't matter just make sure that you have someplace to stay when you get there even if it's a hotel you can stay in a hotel for a month they don't mind they just need to know where you are for that first 30 days then make sure your finances are all together now people have asked me about oh I have money trust fund money Etc is that going to help I have no clue because I don't have that kind of savings I don't have that kind of trust fund money I do know of a young lady that had quite a bit of money and uh she also made quite a bit of money with uh Social Security and pension and she was given a one-year resident so I don't think it has anything to do with money when it comes to that but what I do think is the French want to know do you have enough money to support yourself with two people do you two people have enough money to support both of you and I really do think even though I did not have my Social Security this last time that I showed that I had lived here for a year on that money and I had survived and I also had a letter from my landlord stating that I had been a good tenant etc etc so maybe that helped I don't know you just don't have a clue it's just one of those things you just hope for the best I hope I've helped you out some way somehow I know I haven't answered all your questions but remember you're just now getting started and you'll have more questions and for those of you that have a trust fund that's set up for your children and your taxes and all of that I can't help you out there but if you will go to some of the forums about Americans living in France or expats in France they can help you out a lot more than me and I also know of a very good attorney and he lives right here in France and he's an American and I will give you his name in case you might want to contact him and ask him for some advice or make a consultation visit with him I hope you enjoyed this I know this wasn't the most exciting video in the world but I'm so very thankful my animals stayed quiet and I got to talk to you about getting a residency and becoming a French resident and enjoying the life here thank you so much if you have any more questions please leave them in the comments and like I said before I will drop those two names in the description box and as always I love you please subscribe and click that little like button and avoid [Music]

Channel: Janice In France

Views: 11,976

Keywords: how I got my resident visa in france, french residency, french resident visa, how to get a resident visa in france, journey of janice in france, french living, life over 50, life at 70 in france, janice in france, paris vlog, france vlog, paris vlogger, france vlogger, how I received my resident visa in france, steps on how to get a french residency

Id: qQyg5O0-xwM

Length: 31min 2sec (1862 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 27 2023