Is it hard to live in France?

Question

My child is a french citizen but I'm no longer with my child's father. I want my child to live in France to be immersed in the culture for a couple of years then I want to come back home.. I have visited France and I see a lot of African immigrants that I believe are french citizens. Is France a helpful country to immigrants and are they treated well? Is it hard to find work or be helped by the government?

Answer 1

You should check on www.diplomatie.fr for visa conditions.

If you are a legal immigrant, France is a nice country to live in.

A friend of mine who studied for 3 years in Amiens had only one occurrence of racism, when she was told "to go back home" in a bus by an elderly woman. My friend took it in her stride and did not bother to answer.

Two African women I know have been living in France for over 20 years. They graduated in nursing and found well-paid jobs in no time. Both are now French citizens. They were NEVER submitted to any kind of racism.

That said, it IS hard to find work (for everyone) and if you are illegal migrant, you will probably not find legal work, but instead underpaid work washing dishes or working in the construction industry. It seems that some "sans-papier" find or buy faked documents and can live for years by using these forged documents. At their own risk.

Finding accommodation is the most difficult part. No-one will rent to someone without the proper way of living, i.e. a paid job and a leagal "titre de séjour".

As for help from the government, legal migrants can sometimpes apply for the "revenu minimum d'insertion", but you already need an address in France to get it.

But it can be done, an African friend of mine is currently living in the South of France with her two children. Their French father has helpded with the visa (probably as part of a breaking-up settlement).

Good luck to you.

Answer 2

Please do not take my answer as racism. I just want to present to you the situation as I have experienced in France.

Because there are so many immigrants who come to France (especially African), I find that France is really not helpful to us immigrants. When I was going through the process of getting my papers and also getting married, I heard many times "Good thing you are American. This wouldn't be so easy if you were from Africa" etc etc. (PS even though I am American, it still was difficult getting my papers, getting a job etc).

You may have difficulty finding work. However that depends on your skills and your career. You need to make sure that you even have the right to work! I'm not sure, but look into carte de sejour vie privee et famiale. You can definitely work with that, and I think thanks to your son you could get that type of residency permit.  To be helped by the government (unemployment, rent help), you need to be legal. There are a lot of stereotypes about immigrants (especially African) who come to France just to benefit from the social aid and who never plan to work.  Just so that you are aware.

Good luck!!!!

Answer 3

The previous answers may paint too rosy a picture.

The fact is that unemployment among individuals of African immigrant descent is more than twice that of the population as a whole.

A study revealed that job applications of people with names that suggested African or Berber (North African) origins were often simply discarded by employers.

Another study found that police officers often acted in a racist manner.

Both these studies were done by the French government,

Until recently, no person of non-white descent had ever held a position of major importance in the French government. The first non-white news presenter made her appearance only within the last few years and then only because a single French politician choose to take up the issue and make it a cause celebre.

None of this is to suggest that France is worse than other countries in Europe but to note that it is far from perfect.

Answer 4

As far as I know, France is one of the more open and liberal countries in Europe when it comes to integrating immigrants and other cultures comfortably into their own population and society. As a colonial power France held a variety of holdings around the world and that influence is still seen both in France, itself, and abroad.

France is a welcoming, liberal, free sort of place...even Paris can be warm, if given half a chance. (All places - regardless of their native make-up - will, unfortunately, have some sort of negative expression...but, as far as France goes, and in relation to my own experience, things seemed relatively progressive.)

I'm assuming the language barrier really isn't a problem for you? That could pose a problem, of course.

I can't speak to the employment situation for immigrants/those seeking citizenship in France (see some of the other answers) - researching those aspects in-depth before making serious changes would, of course, be a wise thing to do.

Everytime I have been, I have felt welcome and have always seen a wide variety of people interacting in positive ways.