# Visa and gite question



## russellbrenton21

Dear All, 

I hope is good wherever you are. I am going to don my tin hat and a couple of questions if I may that could rule some people but I am think skinned.

my wife and I are hoping to buy a gite business next year and move to (Brittany/Loire valley) and start a new life.

Whilst we understand we will need to apply for visas as we are UK citizens I am struggling to find definitive information detailing the criteria and requirements. We would not qualify for any other the talent or entrepreneurial visas. So my first question is, are there any official sites we can use to help. I have been on most of the obvious sites but they all seem a bit vague and sometimes contradictory.

my second question concerns income. From what I can gather we need to be able to demonstrate that we have a guaranteed income of circa €1,300 a month. If we bought an established gite business would this count assuming we could show copies of past accounts? Alternatively if we bought a property with 2 or 3 fires on it could we make the case that this will generate income?

please don’t hold back, any and all thoughts and comments welcomed.

Best regards,

Russell


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## Bevdeforges

You may want to start consulting the CCI (Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie) site for one or more of the departements you are considering for your venture. To succeed with a passeport talent or entrepreneurial visa application you will want to be somewhat familiar with the terms and conditions of doing business here in France. There are some subtleties between setting up a new business and taking over (i.e. buying) an existing business in order to keep it going.

The CCI won't have much (if any) information about the immigration side of this project (or maybe they will - it has been a while since I last interacted with the CCI), but they do have loads of information about business practices and regulations including all the business registrations you'll need. They should be able to help you develop a solid business plan, which you will need if you plan on basing your visa application on the launching of a B&B as a business that will be your primary means of support. 

Not all of their advice and counsel is free but where there is a charge, it's usually quite reasonable - though some of it may require your physical presence (for classes or one on one consulting).


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## EuroTrash

russellbrenton21 said:


> We would not qualify for any other the talent or entrepreneurial visas.


I've reread this several times and I don't know what it means. We would not qualify for any of the talent or entrepreneurial visas? We would not qualify for anything other than the talent or entrepreneunial visas?




russellbrenton21 said:


> From what I can gather we need to be able to demonstrate that we have a guaranteed income of circa €1,300 a month. If we bought an established gite business would this count assuming we could show copies of past accounts?


I'm not sure you are interpreting things correctly.
I believe the income level you quote is what would normally be expected if you were applying for a visa as retired/inactif.
If you're applying for a business visa, the criteria are somewhat different. One thing that will be scrutinised is your business plan, to assess the feasibility of your plans and projections and the sustainability/growth potential of the business. Also your own skills and experience, to assess your chances of successfully carrying out your plans. Obviously, buying an existing business makes it easier to write the business plan because you will have some solid facts and figures to base your projections on. But you would still need to explain how you will run the business and take it forward, what business structure you will adopt etc. Also for some types of business visa I believe there is a requirement for a certain minimum level of investment.
I think the way to approach it is to look carefully at the requirements for each type of visas and establish which set of requirements you could potentially meet. This may narrow it down to one particular visa or maybe a couple, in which case you can choose which route you prefer. But basically, you may need to tailor your plans around meeting the visa requirements, rather than start by deciding what you want to do and expect there to be a visa that will let you do it.



russellbrenton21 said:


> Alternatively if we bought a property with 2 or 3 fires on it could we make the case that this will generate income?


I'm stumped again. Certainly a property with 2 or 3 fires should generate heat, but I don't know about income?


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## Bevdeforges

EuroTrash said:


> I'm stumped again. Certainly a property with 2 or 3 fires should generate heat, but I don't know about income?


Yeah, I was wondering about that one, too. Typo perhaps? Anyhow, as long as you are relying on setting up any sort of a business to justify your visa, you're going to need to demonstrate your familiarity with what it takes to run a business here in France.


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## Crabtree

If the OP takes a look at the thread entitled "B&B questions regarding the practicalities/legalities" they will find a lot of info and links including one persons own experience .However you should note that his husband holds an Irish passport and the poster has an occupational pension so they were able to take the easy route.
Also the OP here needs to be aware of the amount of deductions made in france for pensions health care tax CSG etc


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## EuroTrash

Crabtree said:


> Also the OP here needs to be aware of the amount of deductions made in france for pensions health care tax CSG etc


Yep and also, their business plan will need to show that they are aware of the relevant percentages and have built these into their profit projections.
Which I guess links back to Bev's tip about going to the CCI for help with understanding business structures. I think sitting in the UK reading websites and trying to get your head round French business rules would be very hard and likely lead to a lot of confusion, you need to either be here doing it and learning as you go along, or you need to have a professional explain things to you properly.


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## Bevdeforges

Ah, ET, you understand me! <g> The other thing is that in dealing with the CCI you do get to test your practical understanding of French. With all the regulations and paperwork involved in any business here, you really do need a somewhat more than "basic" understanding of French in order to consider making a go of a business of any sort here. Accounting, banking, commerce, taxes all have their specialized terms in French and it can take a newcomer (like I was once) many months to sort out the jargon in the tax forms, the official notices and the registration paperwork (OK it's all online now, but you still need to have some idea what they are talking about, cause online translations tend to fall down on precisely these sorts of technical terms.)


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## Clic Clac

EuroTrash said:


> I've reread this several times and I don't know what it means. We would not qualify for any of the talent or entrepreneurial visas? We would not qualify for anything other than the talent or entrepreneunial visas?
> 
> I'm stumped again. Certainly a property with 2 or 3 fires should generate heat, but I don't know about income?


Allo Allo. 

Lizzen car foolly, I vil sey zis onli wance. 😅

I read it as *not *qualifying, hence looking for help with another route. 

3 Fites-Fires= Gites. Maybe. 

God Bless predictive text. 

Luckily OP is 'think skinned'. 😊


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