I want to move to France...?

Question

Alright, so in 4-5 years, I plan to move to France. Or atleast, that is what I would like to do.

I'm currently about to study the french language so I can become fluent.

But, what I do NOT know as of now, is how do I move to France?

I mean, you can't just get on a plan and go.

Does anyone know all the things that you have to go through to move from America to France and become a citizen there?

Please be thorough, thanks!

Answer 1

Maybe you'll find basic answers on the website of the American Embassy in France.

Or visit transitionsabroad.com

Au revoir, Sandra

Answer 2

Actually, you can just up and go, because I did a few times in my life (once to France at 18, once to Italy at 25, once to Switzerland). I first went as an au-pair: landed in Paris, went to the CIDJ and found a board where families were looking for au-pairs made some calls, and by the end of the day I had a family lined up. Otherwise,you can google au-pair agencies that work with France and find a family before you go. That way, you'd have some sort of task like taking care of a family's kids, you'd get some pocket money, and you'd have a place to saty and food on the table. It's probably the cheapest way you can get there!

Later I went as a student. I found and applied for classes, then applied for the visa at the embassy.

Getting a job there is not easy. If you can, get employed with an international company and see if they will send you there. That's the easiest way for an Ami to get a job in the EU. You'd probably end up with a 3-year (maybe renewable ) contract. After a certain amount of time living and working there, you'd be eligible for citizenship. One suggestion: if you're really getting good at French (and don't worry; it will improve immensely once you get there), look into getting into translation or interpretation now (FR into EN to begin with). English is like the European lingua franca, so you'll always find FR-EN translation jobs.

Another way of getting there and getting citizenship is to find a nice Frenchman and get married! But I just realized you're a bit young for that!;-)

Answer 3

On the surface the process of of becoming a French citizen wont' appear to be too difficult. Essentially, you have to reside legally in France for five years. After that you can apply to become a citizen. You have to then prove you have assimilated, that you speak French, understand the laws, and are of good moral character.

The difficulties are in the details. First and foremeost is finding a way to legally reside in France for five years. Now if you're independantly wealthy that's not difficult since France will give you a long stay visa without too much trouble if you're rich.

But from the picture you posted in another question it appears you're a teenage girl (and, I take the opportunity to say, a very pretty one).  So unless you're Paris Hilton's cousin or something you're going to need to find a job and that's not going to be easy.

To get a job legally you need to have a work permit. The catch here is that you can't get a work permit without a job and most places won't give you a job without a work permit. Cute eh?

There are some practical ways of doing this. You could, for example, go to work for an American company in the States that has a presence in France and then get transferred to their French office. You could also go to work for the American government in something like the Foreign Service and work towards a posting in France.

Probably the best way tho is to go to college in France. University is close to free in France and students can work. The French government will give you no problems with a student visa. The time you spend at school counts towards those five years of legal residence you need to become a citizen.