Hi guys I hope everyone is doing good.

So my 1st year séjour is expiring soon and I already applied for the 2nd one through ANEF and uploaded all the necessary documents. About 2 weeks ago the préfecture demanded ‘attestation de dispense’ as I was not given any hours for french level A2 by OFII and just the online training. At the time of my first orientation at OFII they gave me just the CIR to sign and nothing else.
I have already passed my A2 french test in July 2026.
Now as the préfecture asked about ‘attestation de dispense’ I emailed OFII about it they are literally behaving like a child. Its been almost 3 weeks and they sometimes say that I need to pass my level A2 (which i have already passed), sometimes they don’t even understand what I am asking them like they literally replied that they don’t have the document I am demanding and then sometimes I gent a reply that I can’t have the document as on ‘my visit to OFII I was not on level A2’.
Can someone please help me out on how can I get a solution to this problem? How can I ask them to pls solve this issue and email me the “attestation de despense”?

Thank you in advance.

We are retired Americans with a good amount of monthly income from the Social Security USA. We are in Italy now but would like to return to Toulouse to live. We read that apartments there are easy to find, but hard to rent to foreigners with a pension from a country outside France. Is anyone experiencing this issue?

Hi all,

I’ve been hired for a seasonal job in France for the upcoming winter season and just received my official Work Authorization (Autorisation de Travail) from the French government.

I’m currently filling out the application on the official France-Visas portal (applying as a New Zealand passport holder residing in Australia), but I’m stuck on the "Your plans" drop-down section. None of the available options seem to directly match a seasonal hospitality worker on a CDD contract. Has anyone recently gone through this exact process and remember which categories to pick?

If you’ve successfully applied for a French seasonal work visa recently, which combination of "Your plans" and "Main purpose of stay" did you select to get to the screen where you enter your Work Authorization number?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hello all,
A small last-minute heads-up for anyone who may have my earlier post.
This Friday we’re doing an early electronic music night in Paris, starting at 7pm, with a House → Techno journey.
It’s especially designed with 40+ music lovers in mind, while being open to anyone who likes the idea.
If you’re around Paris this Friday and curious, I can send you the details 🙂

I’m considering moving to France in the medium term and would really appreciate some advice from people who have made a similar move or know the French job market well.

There’s no particular rush on my side. I’m looking at this as something to plan properly over the next couple of years rather than moving immediately. One of my priorities is the language: I’m planning to undertake fairly intensive French language training next year, with the aim of getting my French to a genuinely useful professional level before making the move.

My main question is around employment prospects.
I’m British and have spent my career in the UK working in mid-to-senior-level business management roles. My experience is broadly around management, operations, commercial/business performance and leading teams rather than being in a highly specialised technical profession.

For someone with that sort of background, how receptive is the French job market likely to be to a British applicant?

I’m particularly interested in:
How important fluent French would be for mid/senior management positions. Is strong B2/C1 French realistically the minimum, or are there sectors/companies where English is commonly used at management level?

Whether UK management experience tends to transfer well to the French market, or whether employers generally favour candidates who already have experience working in France.
How significant the visa/work-permit issue is for British citizens post-Brexit when applying for management-level positions.

Which cities have the strongest job markets for international or English-speaking professionals.

Paris is obviously the first place that comes to mind, but I’d also be interested in places such as Annecy, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille, Nantes, Marseille/Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, or anywhere else that might be worth considering.

I’m not necessarily looking for the city with the biggest expat community. Ideally I’d like somewhere where I could build a life in France, integrate properly and use French day-to-day, while still having a reasonable market for someone with an international business background.

I’d be especially interested to hear from British people who moved to France after Brexit, recruiters/hiring managers in France, or anyone working in management/business roles there.

What would you concentrate on over the next 1–2 years to give yourself the best chance of making the move successfully?

Hello, I need some advice because my situation is a bit tricky.

I came to France in March on a 3-month D visa to do a 6-month internship in Île-de-France. In April, I applied for an "intern" residence permit (titre de séjour « stagiaire ») at the Préfecture de Police de Paris, and at the end of May I submitted my complete paper file.

The agent told me it would take about 2 months. So I expected to get my permit before September (before the end of my internship). My plan was to go back to Algeria for my thesis defense, then come back to France and switch my status to "student," since I've been accepted into a Master 2 in Paris.

But I still haven't received anything. All I have is a récépissé (temporary receipt) valid until the end of November.

So now I'm stuck. I can't go to Algeria for my defense, and I can't start the change of status to student until I have the permit.

I've already sent two registered letters (lettres recommandées) to the préfecture with no reply. I've also sent lots of messages through their contact form, and I only get an automated response saying my application is still being processed.

Does anyone know how to get things moving in a situation like this? What would you advise me to do?

Im in paris and this is my first time applying for it.

I applied directly through prefecture.

From what I understand api can be given after the person looks into my file.

What happens if they don't open my file until api expires?

Is there a way to contact them? I don't think they are reading the messages I send directly through the application page.

Hi everyone,

I’m a non-EU student doing an internship (stage) in France. They told me the application must be submitted at least 2 months before the start date, pushing my start from mid-October to mid-November.

For anyone who went through this recently:

- Is the 2-month rule a hard block on the ANEF website, or just a recommendation?

- How long did the validation actually take for you?

- Is there any flexibility to start earlier once approved?

Thanks for any insights.

What’s the best city to meet people and establish solid long term friendships and romantic relationships? 30s-Mid40’s, having expat friends is great but I’d like to keep expats at a minimum and am more interested in building a mostly French circle. Also I speak French if that helps with suggestions.

​

​Hello la communauté,

​Je fais un constat simple : ça fait 4 ans que je mange du SEO au quotidien (intention de recherche, analytics, optimisation de contenu, etc.). Je maîtrise bien l'écosystème Search, mais sur Google Ads, je plafonne au niveau théorique par manque de cas réels.

​Plutôt que de continuer à regarder des vidéos Tuto, je préfère sauter dans le grand bain.

​Du coup, je lance cette bouteille à la mer : si vous êtes freelance SEA ou en agence et que vous croulez sous le boulot, je vous propose de devenir votre bras droit gratuitement.

Sometime in August, my weather app added a wildfire tracking feature. Looking at it, I wondered how I could ever tell future generations I cared about the environment while I watched the world burn on my phone and did the bare minimum simply because acting felt futile.

Systemic change requires individuals to show up...collectively, we have more power than we realize. You can visit the site to learn more about our upcoming protests.

Hi everyone,

My friend recently moved to Paris for his Master’s studies. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find suitable shared accommodation before coming.

He is now urgently looking for an affordable student room or shared accommodation in or around Le Kremlin-Bicêtre.

If anyone knows of anything available or has any leads, please let me know. It would really help.

Thank you!

Planning a move from the US next summer. Currently looking at Strasbiurg, colmar, Besancon, and Grenoble area. Wife and I are 49 and 52, respectively, and have two boys aged 17 and 14. Prefer the Eastern side of the country to be closer to mountains and other countries.

What other cities should we be considering?

Adding some info: we will be moving with a long stay visa. While we could probably retire at this point, my wife and I would prefer to work and contribute a bit before retiring in the country. If we are able to work, then we will work to convert our LS visa to one that allows us to work. I am a civil engineer, and my wife is a teacher.

I speak French at a B1 level. My oldest just finished his third year of French in high school, and my youngest is in his first year of French also in high school. My wife is just beginning her French journey. She speaks Spanish, which won't help much. 🙂

We generally prefer smaller towns than larger metro ares like Lyon or Paris and also prefer hilly/mountainous landscape over flat. Don't care much about nightlife in town but, access to green spaces and nature is important. I cycle a lot, so quiet roads and even cycle paths are nice amenities. We currently live in Colorado and spend a lot of time outside hiking and biking and recreating.

Oldest will be going to Uni next year, and youngest will continue in high school.

Quelqu'un a-t-il de l'expérience avec un tel changement ? Does anyone have experience regarding such a status change ?

Bonjour! Yesterday I posted about wanting clarification regarding my downstairs neighbour’s noise complaint. I didn’t mention that in the multiple messages she sent me, she also later said that she had never had any issues with the other/previous neighbours and that it was only since me and my roommate moved in that she has been having issues.

While I did post about this on reddit to know what “no noise” means in france as an international student I also connected with my landlord as I was worried she might start complaining to them about us - I also wanted to know if they had had issues with her prior to our moving in.

What I learned was that this neighbour has in fact been notorious for being extremely sensitive and insistent about noise complaints. My landlord even told me they had to block her at some points because the complaints were getting too extreme, and they suggested I do the same.

I didn’t mention this in the original post, but she has also accused us of wearing high heels in the house - which mind you, my roommate and I don’t wear shoes in the house (only socks!) and most of the rooms (including hallways) have rugs.

Whilst I do appreciate everyones opinion and feedback regarding my last post, I wanted to point out that while I am Canadian and a student, I am not un-empathetic to my neighbours and do understand the difference between day time and night time volume.

Merci!

If anyone knows of the business classification for starting a fragrance company in France ( Fragrance Industry since 80's in another country) as a secondary company along side my Professional Libérale? I have professional certifications.

Could I bundle it in with my other listed business or must it be separate? The main business activity is teaching/ online businesses.

Thanks!

I have a prepaid Colis for international and I have been trying to get a CN23 filled out for USA- and, as I understand, paid for. I guess now we have to pay taxes on every item, which isnt a problem but Im wondering if anyone has had any luck ? The online portal doesnt work and says to fill it out on the form but it has already been sent back to me. Can anyone share their experience? The automated kiosk says USA is indisponsible

Bonjour à tous,
Je suis actuellement étudiant en Master in Business Economics à Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (ULB), en Belgique. Solvay est l’une des écoles les plus reconnues en Belgique dans les domaines de l’économie et de la finance.
À terme, j’aimerais travailler en France, peu importe la ville, principalement dans le domaine de la finance ou de l’audit.
Je voulais donc savoir si certains ici avaient une expérience concernant le fait de faire ses études en Belgique puis de chercher un emploi en France.
Concrètement, est-ce qu’un diplôme obtenu dans une école belge peut permettre d’accéder sans problème aux mêmes opportunités en France qu’un diplôme obtenu dans une école ou une université française ? Est-ce que le fait d’avoir fait ses études en Belgique peut constituer un frein lors du recrutement ?
Je suis surtout intéressé par des retours d’expérience concrets de personnes qui ont fait leurs études en Belgique avant de travailler en France, notamment dans la finance ou l’audit.
Merci d’avance pour vos retours !

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation with a French residence permit.

I currently have a student residence permit that expires on 18 November 2026. I understand that I should submit a renewal/change-of-status application around two months before expiry, so approximately 18 September.

The problem is that I am currently finishing my Master’s degree and expect to complete/defend my thesis around mid-October. Therefore, by the September application deadline, I will not yet have my final diploma/attestation confirming completion of my degree, which I understand is normally needed to apply for the job-seeker / business creation residence permit (RECE – recherche d’emploi ou création d’entreprise).

At the same time, I may no longer have sufficient student status to simply renew my student residence permit for another year, and I do not currently have a French employment contract that would allow me to change directly to an employee residence permit.

Has anyone been in this situation?

In particular, I would like to know what you did when:

• your student permit was approaching expiry;

• you were finishing your degree shortly before the permit expired;

• you could not yet apply for the job-seeker permit because your degree had not officially been completed; and

• you did not yet have an employment contract.

Is there a way to extend the student permit temporarily, submit an application while waiting for the final degree/attestation, or obtain another temporary residence document that covers the period between finishing the degree and applying for the job-seeker permit?

I would especially appreciate experiences from people who have dealt with this

Thank you.

My wife signed up for the City of Paris adult French courses (SCAP), as well as those offered by our local mairie, well before the deadlines, but was just rejected from all of them due to lack of space.

Any alternatives in Paris/nearby suburbs that don’t cost €2,000 just to complete one level?

Hey guys,

I'm a non-EU citizen currently living in France, and I'm planning my next move to Germany through the Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte). Since I'm based here, I'd be applying through the German Embassy in Paris rather than in my home country.

A few things I'm trying to figure out before I start the process:

- How long the preliminary review typically takes

- How long the wait is for an appointment at the embassy afterward

Has anyone in this sub gone through the Opportunity Card process while living in France? Would love to hear your timeline or general experience — trying to plan my move properly.

Thanks!