# Changing EU country residency



## cinzia88 (Jun 6, 2015)

I have my French residency (10 Year Carte) which is valid for another 6 years. I read that it is possible to 'exchange it' for an Italian residency. There is a quota (who knows how many) for people who want to change their residency from one EU country to Italy, but of course, there is paperwork involved but it looks much simpler than trying to do this as an American with no EU residency. 

Limit on the total number of long-term residents who have acquired the
status in another EU Member State and who wish to reside in Italy for a
period exceeding three months: YES. Long-term residents who wish to
reside in Italy for employment purposes need a permit (if they are in an
employed capacity) and the relevant authorizations (if they are in a self-employed
capacity) within the quotas that since 1998 are annually
established by the so-called “flows decrees”. Such permits and
authorizations are subject to some restrictions:
• numerical limits, since the number is fixed;
• time limits, since applications may be submitted only when the
Italian Government issues the flows decree and within a fixed
deadline. Conditions for acquiring long-term resident status and the consequent
long-term resident’s EC residence permit. Third-country nationals who:
1. have a valid long-term r.p. (for over three months) for a minimum
of five years;
2. prove they have an income not under the annual amount of the
social allowance (amounting to € 5.317,65, in 2009);
may submit their application for long-term resident’s EC r.p to the local
police headquarters (Questura) through the post office (Poste Italiane).


Does anyone have experience or knowledge about this? I've been in France but due to a divorce from my French husband and having to be in the US for a couple of years (but still will have my residency carte in France), I'm rethinking my life. I lived in Italy for 3 years in the late 1990s and loved it and my Italian is much better than my French. I think it may be a good solution since Italy has always been my first love.

I would appreciate any insight, advice or knowledge you can offer me regarding switching my residency from France to Italy. Thank you.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

If you have been continuously legally resident in France for at least 5 years you can apply for an EC Long Term Residence Permit. That type of permit then gives you mobility within most of the EU/EEA with the exceptions of the U.K., Ireland, and Denmark. That mobility is subject to the same treaty limits that EU/EEA citizens have, meaning (to oversimplify slightly) you cannot be a burden to the state, and the new country can require you to carry minimum medical insurance or better if it wishes. (Some do have that requirement.) That's the only "permit exchange" that I'm aware of, and it's really not an exchange as such.

You also may wish to investigate naturalization as a French citizen before you leave since French citizenship has the same minimum residence requirement (5 years). French citizens have more rights than EC Long Term Residence Permit holders. Moreover, if you move to a new country then your "naturalization clock" starts again. Normally it takes a minimum of 10 years of continuous legal residence in Italy to qualify to naturalize as an Italian citizen, although there are a couple exceptions in the law allowing shorter waiting periods if you qualify.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

You may want to read the Service Public (i.e. France) site for more information about the "long term residence card for EU residents" https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F17359 and click on the tab for _Conditions de délivrance de la carte._

A couple of lines kind of jump out here:


> Vous devez justifier de 5 ans de séjour sous couvert de cette carte dans un pays de l'Union européenne (UE) , dont les 2 années précédant votre demande en France


and


> Toutefois, certaines absences sont autorisées (absence maximum de 6 mois consécutifs pour un total d'absences de 10 mois) et prises en compte dans le calcul des 5 ans.


and the text under the heading _Intention de s'établir en France_
Cheers,
Bev


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## cinzia88 (Jun 6, 2015)

BBCWatcher said:


> If you have been continuously legally resident in France for at least 5 years you can apply for an EC Long Term Residence Permit. That type of permit then gives you mobility within most of the EU/EEA with the exceptions of the U.K., Ireland, and Denmark. That mobility is subject to the same treaty limits that EU/EEA citizens have, meaning (to oversimplify slightly) you cannot be a burden to the state, and the new country can require you to carry minimum medical insurance or better if it wishes. (Some do have that requirement.) That's the only "permit exchange" that I'm aware of, and it's really not an exchange as such.
> 
> You also may wish to investigate naturalization as a French citizen before you leave since French citizenship has the same minimum residence requirement (5 years). French citizens have more rights than EC Long Term Residence Permit holders. Moreover, if you move to a new country then your "naturalization clock" starts again. Normally it takes a minimum of 10 years of continuous legal residence in Italy to qualify to naturalize as an Italian citizen, although there are a couple exceptions in the law allowing shorter waiting periods if you qualify.


Hi, BBCWatcher,

Thank you for that. I have my 10 Year Residency Carte from France - it's valid until 2022. I was married to a Frenchman up until last month and lived full time in France for 7 years. Our divorce however left me in a financial mess so I had to return to the US (where I have a home and consulting contracts) to build my business again to where I have enough income to live. I'm working on getting all of my income online/remote so that I can move back to Europe. However, because I'll be out of France for about 2 years building my business, I will lose my right to apply for citizenship because I must be in France for the 5 years preceding the naturalization application. That means starting all over and waiting 7+ years to apply. So I'm rethinking my life. 

I lived in Italy for 3 years in the 1990s and loved it. I speak Italian better than French. Housing is more affordable. So I'm now thinking of just moving to northern Italy (which would put me only 2 hours from my French stepchildren in Chambery) in two years instead of France. I'm trying to figure out how to do that with my 10 Year French Residency Carte. From what you said, I can do that quite easily and rapidly. Do you have any links that would give me instructions on how to do it - paperwork requirements, timing, etc? I am very grateful for your help. My life has been turned upside down in the past month so any assistance is truly appreciated.


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## cinzia88 (Jun 6, 2015)

Bevdeforges said:


> You may want to read the Service Public (i.e. France) site for more information about the "long term residence card for EU residents" https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F17359 and click on the tab for _Conditions de délivrance de la carte._
> 
> A couple of lines kind of jump out here:
> 
> ...


Thanks, Bev, I already have my France long term 10 Year Residency Carte. It's valid until 2022.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

cinzia88 said:


> Thanks, Bev, I already have my France long term 10 Year Residency Carte. It's valid until 2022.


If my (admittedly rusty) understanding of French is correct, then one of the quotes Bev gave, states that you cannot be absent from France for more than 6 months consecutively, or more than 10 months in total, without invalidating the carte

So if you've been (or will be) away for two years, will yours still be valid?


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## cinzia88 (Jun 6, 2015)

xabiachica said:


> If my (admittedly rusty) understanding of French is correct, then one of the quotes Bev gave, states that you cannot be absent from France for more than 6 months consecutively, or more than 10 months in total, without invalidating the carte
> 
> So if you've been (or will be) away for two years, will yours still be valid?


My understanding (and I actually have confirmation from the Prefecture) is that in order to get the carte, you can't be gone for those periods of time. I have an email from the Prefecture in response to my concern as well as documents I pulled off the France EU site that says I can't be gone for 3 *consecutive *years without losing my Carte. If I come back and forth into France, I'm okay. However, now that I lost my residence in France, I may have the problem that even coming back and forth may not be acceptable and I may lose it after 3 years. That's still an unknown. I have stepchildren in France so I will be going to France regularly in the meantime.


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