# Some visa questions about moving to France from Canada



## dasrockster

Hello! 

I will be (very excitedly) moving to France from Canada at the end of the year, with the intention of staying for at least the next 4 years.

I plan on using a tourist visa for the first year. My question is: Does the long stay tourist visa allow for re-entry during the 1 year period, or once you leave the country do you need to re-apply for another visa?

Otherwise, I'd love any insight if you have any regarding my longterm visa plan below:
Y1: Tourist visa (where I'd work remote still for a Canadian company), 
Y2-3: PVT visa + find regional work, 
Y4+: find an employer in France/EU that would sponsor me to stay with a work visa.

Does this largely make sense? Is there anything I should watch out for + consider? I'm aware of registering for the ETIAS database thanks to another forum user last month. 

Thank you in advance!  can't wait for the move


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## Bevdeforges

First of all, I think you mean a one-year "visitor" visa. This is the non-working visa that is usually granted to retirees. The issue with this is that you need to show that you have the financial resources to live in France for that year - without having to work. Remote working is still considered "working in France" and honestly, if you're of "working age" and don't offer any other means of support and don't have some other reason to live in France for a year, there is a strong possibility you'll be turned down.

Had to look it up, but a PVT visa (i.e. a working holiday visa) has its own requirements and restrictions, especially concerning your age. And we've had a number of folks through here who simply don't find a suitable job while here on the working holiday scheme - the options are mainly seasonal agricultural work or something in the tourist industry that is also a CDD type of thing.

To get a work visa (i.e. to get hired for a "real job" by a French employer) you need to either return back home and be well qualified for something that the employer has not been able to find a local candidate for - or you need to be in France on some sort of visa with work privileges already (married to a French national or EU national, passeport talent, or a work visa). 

You shouldn't need the ETIAS data base unless you are coming and going on a true "tourist" visa (i.e. the Schengen visa, which is Europe's equivalent to the US Visa Waiver Program and valid for only 90 days out of every 180 day rolling period). 

Your plan may need a bit of re-thinking, depending on what your age and qualifications are. There are options, such as the passeport talent, or maybe coming initially to get a French graduate degree (after which you may be allow to stay for a year or so to find a job in your field of study).


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## dasrockster

Bevdeforges said:


> First of all, I think you mean a one-year "visitor" visa. This is the non-working visa that is usually granted to retirees. The issue with this is that you need to show that you have the financial resources to live in France for that year - without having to work. Remote working is still considered "working in France" and honestly, if you're of "working age" and don't offer any other means of support and don't have some other reason to live in France for a year, there is a strong possibility you'll be turned down.
> 
> Had to look it up, but a PVT visa (i.e. a working holiday visa) has its own requirements and restrictions, especially concerning your age. And we've had a number of folks through here who simply don't find a suitable job while here on the working holiday scheme - the options are mainly seasonal agricultural work or something in the tourist industry that is also a CDD type of thing.
> 
> To get a work visa (i.e. to get hired for a "real job" by a French employer) you need to either return back home and be well qualified for something that the employer has not been able to find a local candidate for - or you need to be in France on some sort of visa with work privileges already (married to a French national or EU national, passeport talent, or a work visa).
> 
> You shouldn't need the ETIAS data base unless you are coming and going on a true "tourist" visa (i.e. the Schengen visa, which is Europe's equivalent to the US Visa Waiver Program and valid for only 90 days out of every 180 day rolling period).
> 
> Your plan may need a bit of re-thinking, depending on what your age and qualifications are. There are options, such as the passeport talent, or maybe coming initially to get a French graduate degree (after which you may be allow to stay for a year or so to find a job in your field of study).



Really appreciate this response, thank you.

I am 26 and live in Montréal, the PVT feels like a relatively safe bet for me. However, from another thread + some other research, I was under the impression that working remote does NOT count as working in France.

For this reason, I didn’t want to waste my PVT on a year where I’d still be with a Canadian company, and I’d rather have something that offers me travel flexibility as I figure out how exactly my new life will pan out.

I’m reasonably (and perhaps naively) confident that I could find meaningful white-collar work in France or elsewhere in EU with my skills and experience. I hadn’t considered pursuing my masters quite yet, but that would be a good move to make if I run out of other options!

If my long stay visa is denied, I may just go on a short Schengen and hop in-out every 90 days for the first year, or re-apply immediately for a PVT.

I’ll also research more into other long stay options. To confirm - there’s no way to get a non-PVT work visa without being sponsored by a French company, right?

thanks again!!


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## Bevdeforges

dasrockster said:


> the PVT feels like a relatively safe bet for me. However, from another thread + some other research, I was under the impression that working remote does NOT count as working in France.


OK, first of all I don't think you can change status from a working holiday visa to something more permanent. Normally, you have to return home once your "working holiday" is done. But working remote very definitely does count as working in France. What counts is where you are physically located while doing the work for which you are being paid. It doesn't matter where, how or in what currency you are being paid.



dasrockster said:


> I’m reasonably (and perhaps naively) confident that I could find meaningful white-collar work in France or elsewhere in EU with my skills and experience.


If you look at the requirements for an employer to hire you while you are already in France, you'll see that you have to be on a visa with work privileges (i.e. not a working holiday visa). 








Autorisation de travail d'un étranger salarié en France


L'étranger qui souhaite entrer en France pour travailler doit avoir une autorisation de travail. Elle peut prendre la forme soit d'un visa ou d'un titre de séjour, soit d'un document distinct du document de séjour. C'est le futur employeur qui effectue la demande. Des sanctions sont prévues en...




www.service-public.fr




Otherwise, you would have to return back home and look for a job remotely. In that case, the employer would need to prove that they have attempted to find someone with work authorization already living in France (or within the EU). That often means that they have to post the job for 3 months with Pole Emploi.

You may want to take a look at the requirements for a passeport talent to see if you might qualify for that. Démarches - Ministère de l'Intérieur The visa can be issued for up to 4 years - and it can be applied for from within France if you meet the requirements. But there is a fairly high threshold for salary level to qualify.


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