Getting A Carte De Séjour In France (As The Spouse of An EU Citizen)
“If you walk into the préfecture with less than your standing height of paperwork, you’ve probably forgotten something” Quote from a forum
Over the past few months I’ve immersed myself in quite a few French-related forums on Facebook, and one of the standing jokes is how much paperwork you have to prepare anytime you want to do anything official through the French government. We bond over stuff like this, because it keeps us sane 🙂
In all honesty however, it’s really not that bad!
When I first moved to the US I went through a boat-load of immigration and it took a good 20 years, and several standing heads of paperwork to get from student visa to citizenship. It was a long and tedious path, but very worthwhile, and I would do it over again in a heartbeat. Today, I’m lucky enough to hold dual Danish & American passports, which is pretty darn sweet.
French immigration is really not much different. Yes, the paperwork is long and yes, there are tons of steps and you’ve got to do it all in French, but that’s just part of the deal of coming here. As long as you follow procedure and read the fine print, you are generally good to go.
So what ARE the exact documents you need to get a carte de séjour? And how long does it take? We’ll go through ALL the juicy details in this post…..
Americans Need A Visa To Stay More Than 90 Days in France
So, why would you even need to worry about immigration? Well, as I’ve mentioned in my post about EU stay limits, if you’re a US Citizen you can come and vacay in France (without any prep or paperwork), but only for 90 days out of every 180. That’s the limit, and if you want to stay longer than that you need to apply for a special visa.
If you do not have any ties to Europe (i.e. no family here), then the visa you need is a long-term stay visa, and the application process must be completed through the French Embassy or Consulate in your home country before you arrive in France. Then there’s several additional steps that you must complete after you get to France (e.g. registration with OFII), to make it all legal. Once you get all that done, you’ll be allowed to stay for up to a year, and then if you want to stay longer you’ll need to apply for a residence card (“titre de sejour” or “carte de séjour”) before the year is up. There’s lots of nitty, gritty details to all this including which long-term stay visa to apply for (there are several different types, only some of which allow you to work), and exactly what paperwork you need and when, so if you’re going down this route, you’ll want to check out these links:
- French Long-Term Visa Application Website (official French government site -> this is where you’ll start your application)
- How To Get A Long-Term Stay Visa For France (by LuxeAdventureTraveler -> great, detailed account of the entire process from start to finish)
- How To Get A Long-Term Stay Visa for France (by TwoBadTourists -> another personalized account)
Americans Traveling To France With An EU Spouse Get Benefits
If you happen to be married to an EU spouse* (say, a Danish gal like me) however, and you’re traveling together with them to France, then you get the benefit of skipping a few steps. Instead of applying for a long-term visa before you arrive, you can actually wait until after you get here to start the process. Also you’ll be able to skip the long-term visa step and apply directly for a carte de séjour (CDS = residence card) which will not only give you the right to stay, but also to work in France. It’s a pretty sweet deal.
*NOTE1/ It’s Different For Spouses Of French Nationals: If you’re married to a French national, the application process is different yet again! I won’t be covering how to apply for a CDS if you’re married to a local. For that, read more HERE.
What Carte De Sejour Will You Be Applying For?
There are lots of different types of Carte de Séjour that you can apply for in France, but if you’re the spouse of an EU citizen you will be applying for “Carte de séjour de membre de la famille d’un citoyen de l’Union/EEE/Suisse”. You can read general information about this CDS on the French government website HERE.
What Should You Prepare BEFORE You Arrive In France?
Before you arrive in France, I recommend doing a bit of prep-work to make sure you have all the documents you need from US side in-hand. Not all of these are required, but getting them while you’re still in USA will make your life infinitely easier (trust me):
- Valid Passport -> Make sure your passport is valid and the expiry date is more than a year out. If it expires sooner, renew it while you’re in the USA before you come. Your EU partner must also have a valid passport.
- Marriage Certificate -> Make sure you have a valid, official marriage certificate. I would strongly recommend (might not be required, but I think it’s a very good step) to get it apostilled** too.
- Birth Certificate -> Get several copies of your official birth certificate from your state of birth. This is actually NOT one of the required documents for the CDS, but birth certificates are often needed in France for various legal reasons, so it is well worth bringing a few (you WILL end up needing them!). Plus we were actually asked to show it during our CDS interview. Again, I strongly recommend getting it apostilled** too.
**NOTE2/ What Is an Apostille? An apostille is basically a way of assuring a document is legal. It is an official stamp/certification that authenticates the document for acceptance in all countries that are members of the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. Both France and US are members, so if you get a document apostilled in US, it is accepted as legal in France. In US, you can get an apostille through your State apostille office. For example, in Florida we ordered a printed copy of Paul’s official birth certificate online, then we mailed it to the Department of State apostille office with $10. A week later we got it back with the apostille on it.
When Must You Apply?
You must apply for the CDS within the first 3 months (90 days) after you and your spouse arrive in France. It may take several months after that to complete your application, and that’s fine. You just need to be “in the system” as having applied before your standard 90-day stay limit us up. As long as this is the case you are considered in situation régulière (= basically you’re legal). If you apply after the 90 day period is over you’ll be in situation irrégulière ( =“sans papiers”, or without papers), which is not how you want to start your relationship with the French authorities.
Where Do You Apply?
This particular CDS must be applied for at your local préfecture. Mainland France is divided into 96 departments, each of which has both préfectures and sous-préfectures. For the most part the CDS can only be applied for at the MAIN préfecture for your department, although there might be exceptions, depending on where you are located (e.g. Paris has several application locations). In our case, our main department préfecture is located in the center of Toulouse around an hours drive from our home, and it’s the only place we can apply.
What Are The Steps?
Important Note/ Always, always check the requirements of your local préfecture before you start the CDS process. Although the application process is very similar across France, local préfectures will often have slight differences. So, they might have slightly different paperwork requirements (including which pieces might need to be translated), plus they might have slightly different systems (for appointments and such). Don’t just take my word for it. Check local requirements on your prefecture website first!
That said, the process to get your first CDS typically requires 3 separate in-person visits to your local préfecture.
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Waiting to register at the Haute Garonne Prefecture in Toulouse. Not fun, but part of the process…. Register Your Request At Your Local Préfecture – Within 3 months of your arrival in France, you must present yourself at your local préfecture to register your request to apply for a CDS. At this visit they will enter your request into the system, and you will receive an appointment date for deposit & review of your full application, likely some weeks or months later. It’s a good idea for both you and your spouse to go to this first meet together, and you should bring (at a minimum) your current passports, proof of residence/address (see below) and a French contact telephone number. You may also be asked for other documents (depends a bit on the person at the préfecture), but most folks seem to get through this step with just those details. Note that some préfectures are only open certain days for this. For example, in our department in Haute Garonne, you can only make a “premiere demande” (= first request) on Mondays (Note/ as of 2020, this is now done entirely online), whereas in other departments it might be first-come-first-serve on any day, by appointment only, or online only through the prefecture website.
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The recepissé is the official receipt showing you’ve submitted your dossier Deposit Your Dossier & Complete The Interview -> At your official appointment date at the préfecture, you’ll be required to deposit the full “dossier” for your CDS application, including all supporting documents (see below). You will likely also be interviewed and asked questions about why you’re asking to stay in France, and how you plan to support yourself while you are here. Again, it’s best for both you and your spouse to go together to this, and if you do not speak enough French to make it through the appointment, it’s a good idea to bring a friend or interpreter who can. If the prefecture accepts your dossier, you’ll be given a recepissé (basically a paper receipt) that shows you’ve applied for a CDS.
- Pick Up Your Carte De Séjour -> Once your dossier has been processed and your card printed, you will receive notice that your carte de séjour is ready to be picked up. Once again, you’ll need to make the trip in person into your local préfecture to do this. This time however, all you’ll need is yourself, your passport and your recepissé.
How Long Does It Take?
So, like everything in France “it depends”. We’ve gone through it ourselves and we’ve seen a few others go through it, and all-in-all it seems to take around 3 months to get the whole thing completed end-to-end, depending on how busy the local prefecture is, and how big the backlog of CDS applications is. At current time, because of Brexit & a big influx of UK citizens seeking CDS for the first time, application times seem to lengthening. Take this into account if you’re applying within the next year.
In our case, it took a total of around 3 1/2 months*** and ~9 hours of waiting to get the whole thing completed. This was exactly how each step went:
- Registration (4 Hours Wait) – In Haute Garonne, registration for a premiere demande is only allowed on Mondays between 9AM-3PM, and it’s a first-come-first-serve process (Note/ as of 2020, this is now done entirely online). You show up, you’re given a ticket with a number to wait in line, and then you’re seen in that order. We arrived at 10AM and the prefecture was already packed with people, so our wait was 4 hours before we were called. We had ALL our documents with us (the entire “dossier”), but we were only asked for passports, proof of address & telephone number. 10 mins later we had our appointment date.
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Only an inch worth of paperwork. Easy! Appointment (+73 days later, +1 hour) – We arrived 30 mins early, but our appointment started exactly on time and lasted exactly 30 mins. Our documents were reviewed, questions were asked (why do you want to stay in France? how will you support yourself?) and we were given the recepissé. We had everything they needed and more, so it went smoothly.
- Final Card (+36 days later, +4 Hours Wait) – Just over a month after we got our recepissé, we got a text that Paul’s CDS was ready for pick-up. Once again we needed to go to the prefecture, get a number and wait in line to be seen. It took 4 hours to get through the queue, but only ~5 mins to pick-up the card once we were seen.
***NOTE3/ Beware Travel Restrictions: As a US citizen you can travel within the first 3 months of being in France since you’re still within your 90-day regular (tourist) stay limit. However once this time is up, it’s not recommended that you travel outside French borders until you get your CDS. There are ways to do it (e.g. once you have your recepissé, you can apply for a “visa consulaire de retour”), but honestly it’s a pain. Best not to travel until you have that final card in-hand.
What Does It Cost?
The “Carte de séjour de membre de la famille d’un citoyen de l’Union/EEE/Suisse” is FREE!
What Documents Are You Required To Present?
As I mentioned above, make sure to check with your local préfecture for their specific requirements, as they may differ slightly, depending on location. The following list meets general requirements & were the docs that were required for our interview in the Haute Garonne (official list HERE). We were required to present ORIGINALS and PHOTOCOPIES of all documents so we bought 2 complete files of “stuff” (they reviewed the originals & give them back to us, then they took the photocopies for their files):
- Application Form (Maybe!) – Some préfectures have application forms, but many do not. In Haute Garonne they do happen to have a form.
- Valid Passport – For both you and your EU partner. Make a color photocopy of both.
- Three Official Identity Photos – The photos must conform to ISO/IEC spec 19794-5 in size & appearance. Basically they’re just full-face, neutral expression, neutral background photos of a specific size. You can find photo booths in most supermarkets in France where you can get these done. Most prefectures also have booths for this.
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An “attestation d’hebergement” is a common doc in France when you live with someone else Proof of Address (= “justificatif de domicile”) – This must be dated within last 3 months. The most common proof is a recent (less than 3 month old) electrical bill (EDF) in your name. If you are renting or live with family then you must get the owner of the house to provide the following three things:
- an official letter stating you live with them (this is called an “attestation d’hébergement” and you can find blank examples on the web, like this one)
- a copy of their latest electrical (EDF) bill, dated less than 3 months
- a copy of their identity card or passport
- Proof of Family Link (= “justificatif du lien familial): This is your official marriage certificate. Some prefectures require this to be officially translated into French***. Not all do, but I think it is a good precaution to get it done.
- Proof of Sufficient Support (= ” justificatif du droit de séjour dont relève l’accueillant”) This is always one of the hardest parts of the application and the one most folks get worried about. Basically the French government wants to make sure that your EU spouse (the “accueillant“) is in good standing in France, and that you can support yourselves without becoming a drain on the system. If your EU spouse has a job or salary, then you simply need to present proof of that (e.g. work contract, monthly salary statements etc.) and you’re good to go. If your EU spouse is not currently working, then you need to present proof of sufficient funds (e.g. savings, bank account statements, 401K statements -> basically anywhere you have money). Plus you’ll need proof of health insurance for the both of you:
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ASPA numbers are referenced by several préfectures & seem to be good base to use How Many Savings Are Enough? This is tricky since there’s no absolute official guidance on it. However I’ve seen several application forms (for example this one from Préfect De La Haute Savoie and this one from the Préfet du Bas Rhin metion a minimum amount “équivalent au RSA ou ASPA, calculé en fonction de la composition de la famille”. The larger of these numbers is ASPA and in 2018 for a couple without children this equates to 1,293.54 € per month (or 15,522.54 € for the year). I think this is a good minimum base reference. To be safe we listed much more than that. Also, in order to show that our savings were “stable”, we printed out 3 months of statements as proof (3 months seems to be the charm for just about anything here in France). That worked for us.
- What Kind Of Health Insurance Do You Need? Again, there seems to be no official guidance on this, but any travel or private health insurance that meets Schenghen visa requirements (= minimum of 30,000 € coverage with emergency medical evacuation and repatriation) should be sufficient. We bought a 1-year plan through American Visitor Insurance which provided us a visa letter that we included in our “dossier”. That worked perfectly.
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I always bring a healthy number of backup docs Back-Up Documents. So this is the wishy washy part of the application. I’m a big believer in bringing back-up documents, especially when dealing with government entities, and I always bring a big stack of them “just in case”. For Paul’s CDS I brought extra print-outs of bank statements (going back 6 months), birth certificates (for us both), criminal record checks (yes, I’m that detailed), blog income info, and a bunch more. Out of everything, the only thing they asked for in the interview which was NOT on the official list, was our birth certificates. I’m so glad I had them!
***NOTE3/ Official Translations: If your préfecture requires that a document be “officially translated” into French, they are asking for something very specific, which you can only get done here in France. Your translator must be a certified translator, officially accredited to a French Cour D’Appel (French Courthouse). They are called traducteurs assermentés and you can find a list of them HERE. Most of these translators will work with you via mail, and charge you around 45-50 € per translation. Do not work with one that is not accredited!
Other Nationalities Married To EU Citizens
I‘ve written this whole post from the point of view of an American married to an EU spouse. But what if you’re not a US citizen?
Well, if you’re married to an EU citizen and from one of the many countries that do not require a visa to enter France (i.e. you can stay in France for 90 days without the need for special paperwork), then your application procedure will be identical to what we went through. You’ll simply travel into France as a tourist, and then apply for the CDS within the first 3 months of your arrival. Someone from Australia or Canada, for example, would fall into this category.
If you’re married to an EU citizen and you’re from a country that requires a visa to enter France however (you can check HERE), then your CDS application procedure will likely be different. You’ll probably have to apply for a temporary visa before your arrival in France and/or get other approval before you come here. Someone from Thailand or China, for example would fall into this category. In this case you should contact the French Embassy or Consulate in your home country before you travel to France.
Civil Partnerships & Same-Sex Partnerships
A final note on civil partnerships and same-sex partnerships.
In France you can chose to be PACSed (pacte civil de solidarité) to a partner of the same or oppposite sex. It is defined as a “contract concluded between two physical persons who have reached the age of majority, of different or the same gender, for the purposes of organizing their life in common”. It is the French equivalent of a domestic partnership and it provides legal benefits similar to (although not exactly equivalent) to marriage.
If you are PACSed to an EU citizen and you can prove “un an de vie commune” (= one year of living together), then you can apply for a “Carte de séjour de membre de la famille d’un citoyen de l’Union/EEE/Suisse“, in the same way as a conventionally-married person. This will allow you to reside and work in France (valid 1 year, renewable). To read more about PACS and how it’s done read HERE. To read more about PACS and the CDS application, read HERE (scroll down to appropriate section).
So Are We Good Forever Now?
HA!!! Not even close. Paul’s first carte de séjour is only valid for a year (which is pretty typical). He will need to renew it 2 months prior to it expiring, which means another appointment, another set of documents (pretty much the same ones we presented for his first appointment, just updated) and another interview. Hopefully his next card will be longer than 1 year and we can get a reprieve until the next, next renewal 🙂
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Sending you a loud Drum Roll with Fire Works!!!! TaDaaaaaaaaaa
Thanks! I do rather feel like fireworks should have gone off, after we picked up the carte de sejour…. 🙂
Nina
Merci, this is exactly what we needed! Thank you so much for this detailed information!
Quick question – We arrived from the US at the beginning of September to Aix-en-Provence and sent information to OFII via registered mail. The post office sent us notice on September 12 that the package was received. However, we have yet to hear from them, and it’s been almost a month! I heard we should have gotten at least a letter from them (saying to wait for another letter for an appointment) within 2 weeks. We’ve tried calling and emailing OFII in Marseille, and haven’t gotten through or received an answer to our question. Do you think this is a problem or as you said that with Brexit we should just be patient?
Are you coming in on a long-term visa, or as the spouse of an EU citizen? The reason I ask is that the whole OFII procedure is usually only done if you come here on a long-term visa (the kind you apply for in US). If you’re applying as the spouse of an EU citizen, you apply after arrival in France and there’s no OFII procedure involved.
Anyway assuming you are on a long-term visa, I’m not sure what the common delay is for OFII appointments. They shouldn’t be impacted by Brexit since the brits are all applying for carte de sejour (which don’t require OFII). I’d ask on one of the Facebook forums (e.g. Americans In France). They’ll know.
Nina
This post is awesome on so many levels. We, myself and two daughters, went to cross the border from US to Canada. We had passports and other identification. Still we were detained for 20mins because I didn’t have a note from my wife saying I was bringing the kids across the border. That is how life works today. Countries have borders. If you wish to be part of their society signup and play along. Congrats to your success. We hope to travel Europe in a couple of years as the kids high school education. Thanks for posting.
Yeah, immigration and paperwork are part of living in our modern world. It’s simply how life is. I do my best to roll with it, rather than fight it 🙂
Nina
Hi I live in Paris and want to get care de séjour and I have all the paperwork but I have one year and helf looking for interviews in the prefecture Bobigny but I can’t
Please I need help
I am not sure if this is a serious comment or not, but if you’re already in France and making a first request for CDS then you simply present yourself at the Prefecture. There is no appointment. You must just show up at the correct time.
Here is the link which shows all the times for Bobigny: http://www.seine-saint-denis.gouv.fr/Demarches-administratives/Etrangers-Vos-demarches/Sejour/Ressortissants-d-un-pays-hors-Union-europeenne/Premiere-demande-d-un-titre-de-sejour/Vous-etes-deja-en-France-et-souhaitez-deposer-une-premiere-demande-de-carte-de-sejour
Nina
Wow! Does this qualify for passing first year of Law school? Very interesting and so many details. I am so happy for you and Paul. Let the new journey begin!
LOL…it pretty much takes a degree in document-reading to get all this done…and then and another degree in patience & persistence. Thankfully I actually kind of enjoy figuring it all out (I’m really strange, I know). I know that for many others it’s a major headache. Hopefully this post helps them out.
Nina
Wow! This was soo helpful! My husband is an EU/American citizen w/ a fresh Irish passport. We are leaving for a 4 mo. trip, first to Portugal for ten days, and then on to Paris for about 110 days. I was told in Boston I didn’t need a visa as the wife of an EU citizen by the co., based in Dubai or somewhere, that the French consulate has recently outsourced all its visa work to…so I didn’t apply. But they wouldn’t put that in writing. A terribly disorganized service who do not seem to know the basic information themselves! So I didn’t quite trust it. Then I read that I could apply for a visa when I was in France but the procedure was unclear. We are both over 65 and retired. After reading stuff on the internet I’m starting to think I DO need a visa to stay four mos. Hence I found your post. But this sounds way too involved for a total of four months trip. I probably wouldn’t even be around to receive it if you have to pick it up in person?! Plus it’s only good for one lousy year?! My “retirement plan” has always been to spend 4-5 mos in France every year. I speak French now after laboriously brushing it up the past few years. I would be devestated if I were barred from returning as I fly home fromParis. Do you think I’ll have a problem? I don’t have time to apostille my marriage license but we’re bringing it, along with proof of funds to support ourselves. Just in case we’re questioned. I must say we don’t look like folks who would be out there stealing jobs from the French, or working under the table! :-). I’m spending money traveling in my retirement, God willing, not on plastic surgery. Aaargh. Any advice? Should I try to apply for this type of visa as soon as I arrive and just pray ? I don’t have any special kind of medical insurance, nor the apostilled marriage license you wisely suggest! Btw I’ve heard Americans have the right to spend 90 days in France , then go home, and then they can come back and spend another 90 days “as long as they go home”. Someone from the actual French consulate told us this a couple years ago. Before they outsourced their work to this awful co. A bilateral agreement w the US he called it. Is that correct? If I decide to fly under the radar this trip that’s what I’m doing next year if it’s legal. I have no interest in running afoul of the authorities! Bravo on your husband getting his papers! My grandpa was Danish!
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you cannot stay 110 days in France without registering for a CDS, even as the spouse of an EU citizen. You do have travel rights, but you need to adjust your upcoming plans.
1/ Traveling through EU: As the spouse of an EU citizen you have the right to travel with your husband throughout EU, but each country only allows you to stay 90 days without registration. This is granted through ‘European Directive 2004/38/EC’. If you stay longer than 90 days, you must go through the residence/registration process. So, feel free to travel, but keep it to less than 90-day increments in each EU country. Read this (most excellent) blog post for more about this: https://www.travel-cook-eat.com/schengen-rules/
Given how long it takes to get a CDS, IMO it’s not worth going through that process just so that you can stay 110 days in Paris. It’s going to be much easier just to chop the trip down to below 90 days. That way you can come, and do your travels without any extra documentation.
2/ Settling down: In the future, if you decide semi-retire in France and spend more than 90 days here, then you’ll need to apply for a “carte de sejour” in the same way we did, after you land with your EU spouse in the country. Again, you can only stay 90 days in France without this, even with an EU spouse.
Nina
Hello,
I’m Indian citizen. I came to france last year on a student visa and i finished my studies. I recently married my partner and she is spanish and she has a doctorat contract in Paris for 3 years. I wish to stay in France with her and work. I visited prefecture and they gave me a list of documents but i don’t understand which documents for me and which one for my spouse. Could you please help me with this?
Thank you
If you are getting a CDS through your EU spouse then all documents from the prefecture will be for you. As an EU citizen your spouse does not need to do anything to stay and work in France. She does not need a CDS or any other residence document. So it is only you that needs to apply.
Of course you will have to provide proof of marriage (translated into French), financial means and home address in France as well as whatever other documents the prefecture requested from you. It should all be listed in the information you received.
Nina
This is a great resource, thank you so much for taking the time to post this.
My wife (EU Citizen – not French) has accepted a job in France this summer.
I (American Citizen) plan to apply for the same CDS you described. Do I need to specify that I plan to work in France? Or is the right to work automatic with this type of CDS? Will the card automatically include “le titulaire a droit A l’exercice de toutes activites professionelles” when issued? Just worried that after going through the whole process that I forget to specify I want to be able to work in France during our time there.
If you apply for your CDS through your EU wife (the way my husband did), you will automatically get the right to work. You can ask about work in your interview if you wish, but we never specified anything. It was simply granted as part of this type of CDS.
Nina
Hello, Thank you for the details of what is needed to obtain the Carte de Sejour. I just have a few questions which I’m sure you can answer. My husband is an EU citizen (Irish passport), and I am an American. We want to travel in Europe for one year starting next May 1st. We will be using an American motorhome we are purchasing in England. We are thinking that if we started in France, I could apply for the Carte de Sejour and while I am waiting for the first appointment, we could travel in Spain for a little less than 90 days and then come back to France. Since you have said it took over 90 days to receive your Carte, were you out of compliance with the 90-day rule or because you had applied you could stay until you received the Carte? We are retired and not looking for work so that would not be part of my application. If I am approved for the Carte, am I then allowed to travel throughout the EU or must I stay in France only. Is there any reason that I would not be approved if I have given the Bureau all of the proper paperwork? Thank you so much, Michele PS Even though my name is French, I do not speak the language. Would I need an interpreter to accompany me to the meetings?
Within the first 90 days in EU you are still under your visa-free entry status, so you can travel anywhere you want in EU. You definitely want to apply for your Carte at the Prefecture within those first 90 days (or at least apply for an appointment), but then there’s nothing that says you can’t travel to Spain while you’re waiting for the next step.
Once your first 90 days are done however, then you need to stay in France until you get your Carte de Sejour in hand. As long as you have an appointment for your CDS interview you will be legal to stay (even if you’re past the 90 days), but you MUST stay in France during this time.
As for approval, there is no reason you shouldn’t get approved for the Carte unless your paperwork is not in order. You have a right to travel with your EU husband in EU so approval rates are generally very good. Note that you still need to meet the income level requirements (show that you have enough resources to live in France). Also you need to provide proof of address in France.
As for traveling once you get the Carte you can certainly do this. However it’s important to understand that the CDS only allows long-term residence in France specifically (NOT all of EU!). If you plan to spend more than 90 days in any another Schengen country (e.g. Spain) then you are supposed to re-register for a long-term resident card in that country. It doesn’t mean you can’t travel. In fact EU law (Directive 2004/38/EC) specifically allows you to travel freely throughout EU with your spouse. It just means that you have to limit your travels outside of France to less than 90 days in each EU country. This is really key.
As for speaking French this will very likely be needed for the appointment. You might get lucky and get an agent who can speak English but you should not count on it.
Oh and one last thing! If you purchase a motorhome in U.K. you will need to re-register it in France (since you will be declaring residency here), so make sure it conforms to EU rules, otherwise importing it into France could be a nightmare. The dealer should help you with this. Do not buy if he/she cannot guarantee that it can be imported to France.
Nina
Hello! I just got my recepisse today, and was wondering if I am now allowed to work or do I have to wait for my carte de sejour to be ready? My husband is Italian and I’m American.
It depends on what it says on your récépissé. For example on Paul’s récépissé it said “le titulaire a droit a l’exercice de toutes activites professionnelles” which meant he was allowed to work. I believe most EU family CDS récépissé have this wording (they’re one of the few exceptions that do), but check for that language on your certificate just to be sure.
Nina
Hey there,
This is awesome information and was really helpful before I came and did the same process. I have an Irish spouse who has moved to France as self-employed and I am Australian. I’ve applied for my CdS in the prefecture of Ain last month (Sept 2019). We had a similar problem with the recepisse, that my work status wasn’t mentioned. When questioned, the immigration official said that they have recently updated the system across France and the right to work is no longer put on the recepisse for anyone – causing a whole heap of problems and confusion for them and for us! However, the immigration officer said that I definitely had the right to work with the recepisse, but you should probably seek advice about your own circumstances.
Mitch
Mitch,
Thank you SO much for that comment!! That’s a small, but very confusing change. Immensely helpful to know.
Nina
Hello,
As others I found your article extremely helpful. I’m Irish and my wife is from Hong Kong. We are moving to Paris in the next month. Are you recommending against getting a long-term visa? Does it complicate things when we apply for the CDS? I’m thinking if you have a LT visa and you need to leave the country, it might help. Not sure on this point. Also, I assume that with the CDS one can study since family members of EU citizens are supposed to enjoy equal treatment. Also, do you or others know where in Paris to apply? There seem to be many different offices. Thanks so much for any advice!
Hi Mark,
Since your wife is from Hong Kong I do not believe she has 90-day visa-free entry into Europe, so I do think she will need to apply for a visa in Hong Kong (at the French Embassy) first, before you arrive in France. Then she will do the rest of the documents afterwards (once you are both here). However I am not 100% sure on this, so I recommend using this visa quiz link (official link of French government) to double-check:
https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/ai-je-besoin-d-un-visa
I also recommend checking this with the French embassy in HK.
To answer your other question about study. Yes, of course. Your wife will be able to study in France once she has her visa here. She will have rights both to work & study with EU family member visa.
Lastly, regarding the process in Paris, you will go to the location linked to your Paris address (once you have an address in Paris).
Nina
This is fantastic! My husband is American/Irish and I’m American, both retired. We have been living half the year in Ireland (and half in the U.S.) and are deep into the planning for moving our “winter” half year from Nevada to the south of France. I’ve been reading everything I can find on line and your post is sooo helpful – details that I had not seen before. We lived in Paris for three years MANY years ago so the language and customs (including bureaucracy) are familiar.
Thanks so much for all the helpful hints!!
Excellent. Glad the blog post was helpful! Enjoy your up-coming time in France.
Nina
Hello,
this post is really helpful! Thanks for your thorough description of all the steps to get the CdS!
I am Italian and my husband is Canadian. We would like to move to France the coming year.
Do you know if for all the 3 steps you mentioned (Registration, actual Appointment, final card pick up) my husband would have to be there in France in person? I guess that for the appointment he’ll have to be there, but how about the registration and the pick up of the card? Can I be the one handling them?
Would it be possible for him to fly in just for the required appointments and to stay in Canada i.e. not being in France the rest of the time?
I am asking this questions because our plan would be for me to move to France first, my husband to keep his job in Canada as long as he can and try to move just when the CdS is completely approved. This would mean us staying apart for some time, but it would help his career not to be paused for too long.
Thanks again for your advices!
Elisa
Normally yes, he would have to be there. There might be some exceptions depending on **where** you plan to live in France. You see, each prefecture has their own procedures, or rather each prefecture can be a little different in how they handle things. So it just depends.
For step #1 (registration), there are *some* prefectures that allow you to skip this and make the appointment for CDS deposit (step #2) directly online, instead of having to come in person first like we did. So that would potentially eliminate one step. If the prefecture requires you to be there in person, then your husband has to be there, but if it’s an online procedure then he doesn’t. Look on your (future) prefecture website to see what their requirements are for this step.
For step #2 (dossier deposit and review/interview) he MUST be there. No way around this. You should both be at that appointment.
For step #3 (pick-up), I do think he has to be the one to pick it up. The prefectures usually require in-person pick-up for that very reason. However he may be able to delay pick-up by some time (perhaps some weeks?) and he may (may !) be able to designate someone to do it for him. I’m not at all sure on this last point, so I would ask the prefecture when you go for step #2.
Hope that helps!!
Nina
Hello,
Thank you so much for the information you provided, as for my situation i will have my touristic visa to get married outside France with my girlfriend she is Portuguese but she works in France. After getting married we are planning to go to france and start the process of application for the CDS. So surely i have some questions and i hope that you help if you can. Will it be possible to apply for the CDS on a tourist visa, is the same case for a gay couple, and can it be refused as its a fresh marriage.
Hi Eve,
Congratulations on your up-coming marriage and move to France!
I’m not completely certain of all the requirements for same-sex marriages, but I do have some ideas. As I understand it you should have similar rights to mixed-sex partnerships, but there may be some additional requirements:
1/ Length of marriage: If you are just married then you need to be able to show 1 year of communal life together to qualify for the EU-partner CDS. This is true for all marriages & partnerships (heterosexual or gay). In French they call this “Justificatifs établissant la vie commune sur 1 an” and it can take the form of documents such as “relevés bancaires, documents fiscaux, certificat d’assurance, attestation d’emprunt commun etc.” So you definitely want to prepare for that (Note/ If you have less than 1 year together, you may still be able to get a CDS, but it may initially have to be a different type, or limited in time-frame).
2/ Recognition of a marriage done outside of France: France legalized same-sex marriage in May, 2013 (within France), so it is certainly legal here. What I’m not 100% sure of however is how France recognizes same-sex marriages performed in OTHER countries? It’s very possible your non-French marriage will be accepted as-is, but it may also depend where you get married. If it is not is not recognized in France, then you may have to get re-married here, or conduct a PACs here (https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/N144). Either way, it should not be difficult, but may require some additional documentation.
Before you come to France, I would recommend contacting the French embassy or consulate in your home/resident country to get confirmation of both these things, just to be 100% sure.
Good luck w/ everything. Hope that helps!
Nina
Hey Nina, thank you so much for your reply.
Unfortunately I can’t contact the embassy in my home country as same sex marriage is illegal and not recognized, and for us this is the only why to do it as its impossible to get long stay visa. Another problem is that we dont have a one year life together we have been together for almost a year but never shared a life together!
As for marriage, we will get married in Denmark and they assured us that they deliver marriage certificate recognized in Europe.
Regards,
I would still recommend contacting the French Embassy in your home country. Even though same-sex marriage may is illegal where you live (I’m so sorry to hear that!!), France DOES recognize it. So the French embassy should be able to advise you on your up-coming marriage in Denmark & what you need to do to legally enter France thereafter. If you are worried about talking to the French embassy in your home country (for fear of persecution or any other reason, which I completely understand!), then I would recommend contacting the French embassy in Denmark (where you are getting married) or in Portugal (where your girlfriend comes from). Perhaps they can advise?
And yes, your Danish marriage certificate will definitely valid in France. But proving the 1-year of living together sounds like it will be tough. Hopefully the embassy can help find a solution!!
Nina
First congrats for your successful application for your husband
I have only one question
does France provides biometric titre de sejour ?
did your husband provided photos or photos for documents got taken by officials at the prefecture you applied ?(like DMV in US )..fingerprinting etc ?
thank you
Yes and no….hubby did have to provide fingerprints (at the Prefecture), but the photo was something he had to bring along. There are photo booths all over the place that do “official” photos. You can find them at the supermarket, at the Prefecture etc.
Nina
Hi again Nina,
Seeing as though your blog post was so helpful to us when we applied for the Carte de Sejour (I commented last year), I thought I would add an update.
As with your husband, we were given a 1 year residency card – my spouse is Irish and I am Australian. However, we know that the EU Directive states that the residency card should have a validity of 5 years. So we took the case to Solvit (https://ec.europa.eu/solvit/), which deals with disputes between EU citizens and EU public administrations.
Today we got an email back confirming that I am indeed entitled to a 5-year residency permit, which they are issuing asap. The French authorities are consistently breaking EU law by only issuing permits for a year for non-EU family members. If you challenge it through Solvit, they seem to eventually back down and issue the 5-year permit as provided for in Directive 2004/38/CE.
Thought you might find this helpful. Beats applying every year for a new residency card and dealing with French administration.
WOW!!!!! This is incredibly helpful. Thank you SO much for writing about it. We are coming up to our 2nd renewal (they’ve only given us a year card each time), so I’m going to use your method.
Thank you again!!!!!
Nina
Just want to thank you again. I read through the whole of directive 2004/38/CE and it is indeed VERY clear on the 5-year thing. In fact it’s opened my eyes to other rights (such as longer-term EU travel with an EU spouse) that I was not aware of. This changes everything!
For others reading this post, if you click through to the directive HERE, and then scroll down to Article 11: Validity of the residence card, it is clearly stated;
Validity of the residence card
1. The residence card provided for by Article 10(1) shall be valid for five years from the date of issue or for the envisaged period of residence of the Union citizen, if this period is less than five years.
2. The validity of the residence card shall not be affected by temporary absences not exceeding six months a year, or by absences of a longer duration for compulsory military service or by one absence of a maximum of twelve consecutive months for important reasons such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, study or vocational training, or a posting in another Member State or a third country.
THANK YOU Mitchell for pointing us all to this important piece of EU legislation!!
Nina
Glad I could help!
It did take a while for Solvit to solve it – they are a bit inundated with Brexit cases I think (took about 3 months).
It might be better if you wrote to the Prefecture that you got the residency card first just in order to say to Solvit that you tried to resolve the situation yourself. The Prefecture will either not reply, or in our case, the Ain Prefecture gave the most ridiculous response in the first instance, so we took it straight to Solvit after that.
If it works for you, let me know! Spread the word! 😀
Mitch
Definitely!! We have our next renewal coming up in May/June. I don’t think it’s worth trying to fix anything before that date (just based on how slow all this documentation stuff is), but I am going to bring a copy of the EU legislation you indicated with me and will ask directly for the 5-year card for hubby. If they don’t give it to us, I’ll take the case through Solvit. Either way I am definitely blogging about this once we get through it all (likely in a few months) so we can spread the word.
Nina
I am a retired American citizen married to an Irish citizen. We are wanting to move to France. My pension is over 4000 euros a month and my wife does not work. Can we move there together and use my pension as the financial basis for living in France without employment? Or does my wife need to be the one with the pension?
Yup, no problem. You just need to show sufficient financial resources. Doesn’t matter if those resources come from you or your wife. You should be all good to go!
Nina
Great, thanks for your reply!
Just to be clear (and thank you so much for your time!!), my wife and I can go to France together, and once we are in the town we want to live in and have an address, I can apply for my residence permit.
I don’t have to do what another person said needed to be done (on an expat site):
Yeah, technically, to get a carte de séjour (residence permit) for France as the spouse of an EU national, you do need to be “joining” your EU spouse who is settled in France. The spouse needs to show they have a “statut” (working, student or retired) and a place of residence plus health insurance cover for both of you.
Actually, if you apply for a visa (as a “visiteur”) your pension should more than qualify you for the visa. Just make sure you get a renewable visa (tick the box saying you plan on staying for more than a year).
Depending on where you are currently located, you may get a slight argument from the visa processing agency (or possibly even from the consulate) saying that you “don’t need” a visa because you’re married to an EU national. But technically speaking, you probably do “need” a visa in order to get that first titre de séjour.
I don’t know who wrote that comment, but they clearly don’t understand how the process works for EU spouses. In fact the process they outlined is completely wrong. The “visiteur” visa is the WRONG visa for EU spouses. What you need is a “carte de membre de la famille d’un citoyen de l’Union/EEE/Suisse”, as outlined in my blog post. And you apply for it directly at your local prefecture, after your arrival in France.
To re-iterate. As the American spouse of an EU citizen, you have the right to travel to France together with your wife, and then apply for your residence permit once you are both here. You need to apply within your first 90 days in France (that’s key), and you have to buy health insurance and prove you have sufficient financial resources to stay, but you do not need to do anything visa-wise beforehand. Also your wife does not need to have a job here. You just travel to France together and do it all here.
If you have ANY doubt at all about this, then read through the official FR government link that explains the process here:
https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F19315
Also, the rules for EU are outlined very clearly in ‘European Directive 2004/38/EC’. Again if you have ANY doubts about your rights as the spouse of an EU citizen read through this:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32004L0038
This is how hubby and I did it. It’s how all other EU spouses do it. Ignore the person who obviously doesn’t know and hasn’t gone through the process themselves.
Nina
I received this from Your Europe Advice on the EU’s website after asking them who had to have the resources, me or my wife:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please find below the reply to your enquiry. Please note that the advice given by Your Europe Advice is an independent advice and cannot be considered to be the opinion of the European Commission, of any other EU institution or its staff nor will this advice be binding upon the European Commission, any other EU or national institution.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email.
The European Union Directive 2004/38/EC (also called “Free Movement Directive”) sets the conditions of the right of residence in France for more than 3 months for EU citizens and their family members. Article 7 states:
“1. All Union citizens shall have the right of residence on the territory of another Member State for a period of longer than three months if they:
(a) are workers or self-employed persons in the host Member State; or
(b) have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State during their period of residence and have comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the host Member State; or
(c) — are enrolled at a private or public establishment, accredited or financed by the host Member State on the basis of its legislation or administrative practice, for the principal purpose of following a course of study, including vocational training; and
— have comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the host Member State and assure the relevant national authority, by means of a declaration or by such equivalent means as they may choose, that they have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State during their period of residence; or
(d) are family members accompanying or joining a Union citizen who satisfies the conditions referred to in points (a), (b) or (c).”
In practice, article 7.1.B of the Directive 2004/38/EC allows your Irish wife to prove that she has sufficient resources for herself and you not to become a burden on the french social assistance system during your period of residence AND have comprehensive sickness insurance cover in France;
Source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32004L0038&from=FR
To sum up, your wife needs to be the one with the pension/sufficient resources according to article 7.1.D of the Directive.
Best regards
YourEurope Advice
Well fair enough, I’m not going to argue with Your Europe Advice, but as long as your pension is paid into a joint account (that also has your wife’s name on it) I can’t see an issue. At least that seems to be the way the French interpret resources from my experience, and others I’ve seen go thro’ the process. I do think it’s important that your wife’s name is on all savings/investments/accounts.
Nina
Again, many thanks for your time!
Hi There!
All this info is so great and thanks for the post. I am going through the CDS process (or at least trying to) and was wondering if you had some info that could help? I am an american married to a EU Member (English). I am in france on my 3 month (90 day) tourist visa and went into the Prefecture in Carcassonne to apply for my carte with all my documentation and the they told me I need to go back to the states and get a long term visa before I can apply. This goes against all info I have found on all websites including French visa, French GOV and EU and countless other stories including yours. I have a little more time until my 90 days are up. Any Idea how to proceed? I am sure Brexit is the culprit but English and their family members still retain their EU rights till the end of the year.
Thanks for your time
Unfortunately this is all very likely due to Brexit. Things are already changing in France due to Brexit. For example, UK citizens were not allowed to vote in the latest municipal elections, despite still retaining EU rights thro’ the end of the year. And as the spouse of a UK citizen the prefecture may be hesitant to do your CDS for the same reason (i.e. even if you are able to get your CDS this year, you won’t be able to renew as the “spouse of EU citizen” next year). Unfortunately that puts you into very grey territory, which makes the paperwork complicated.
I guess my first question. Was your UK husband able to get a CDS? If he has, this means he’s already established (and proved) his residence rights pre-Brexit in France, and that should help you to get yours established too. If not, I’d recommend joining RIFT and asking about all this. The CDS process for UK citizens may be stalled right now (I believe a new system is coming online, but not until July?), but perhaps there is still something you can do in-between? Either way, RIFT may have the best pointers for you on how best to move forward on this right now.
Here’s the RIFT site: https://www.remaininfrance.fr/
Nina
Thanks again. Really appreciate your insight!
Hi..
Me (American) had planned on marrying my (French) girlfriend this fall. I understand the current travel restrictions. She is in France currently me in USA..
My question is if we marry in France in her hometown, how and where do I proceed with obtaining a CDS?. I was told I would have to return to the U.S. and apply at the French Embassy here. Or can I apply in France after we get married?.
Gracias…
The process for the spouse of a French citizen is different than for that for the spouse of an EU citizen. Normally you have to go back to your home country (USA) after your marriage and start the process there, applying for a “visa de long séjour (VLS), vie privée et familiale”. At least that’s what most folks do. The process is here:
https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/long-stay-visa
That said, I have read some accounts of spouses of a French citizen making their “premier demande” for a “carte de sejour, privée et familiale” directly in France after marriage. It’s a bit of a hack however. You have to live with you spouse in France for 6 months, which puts you in an “irregular” situation vis-a-vis your 90-day tourist visa. So you end up having to pay a 200 € fine, in addition to the 225 € cost for the visa itself. However if you decide to go this route, there is documentation on that here:
https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2209
Nina
I take it you got married in USA not Denmark? Did you have any problems with your marriage certificate being from US not Europe? I heard there could be problems and that a marriage has to be registered in France before they will accept it? I am the UK/US citizen wife of a UK/USA/German (the last citizenship only recently obtained so he has only the passport and naturalization certificate) hoping to settle in France when we retire to a home we have had there for 23 years.
We have birth certificates from England. Do I have to get those sent to England to get the Apostille stamp? Or can the American Apostille office do that too do you think, along with the marriage certificate? What about the translators at the French consulate here in Los Angeles? They have done official translations for us before. Would they count in France as an ‘official’ translator? Thanks so much!
Actually we were married in Hong Kong! Before we did all our paperwork in France we got our marriage certificate apostilled in Hong Kong (apostille stamps can only be done in the country of origin, unfortunately) and then officially translated here in France by a certified court-appointed translator. That worked a charm. The certificate has been accepted everywhere with no issues at all.
Since neither of you are French, you do not need to register your marriage in France (that’s only necessary if one of you is French or you got married in France). However I do recommend getting both your birth certificates and marriage certificates apostilled (must be done in your birth/marriage country). It may not be strictly necessary, but I do think it’s worth it. Also get all your translations done here in France by a traducteur assermenté. Don’t use anything else. Many will work with you via email, they’re very efficient and their translations are officially accepted everywhere.
Nina
Thanks. One more question for you. Are these translations and apostilles etc only valid for 3-6 months as I have heard?. Do we really need to do all this in the 6 months prior to application, or can it be done earlier? I would like to have all my ducks in order way in advance. It seems ludicrous they would expire. Were your husbands documents all issued within that period?
Thank you
Ann
The original certificates and the apostille can all be gotten ahead of time, but for the translation I would wait until a month or so before you need it. In my experience, as long as the translation is dated within 3 months you have no issues, even if the certificate or apostille is years old.
I always get all our translations done (or the date refreshed, if it’s a renewal) right before the prefecture appointment. The translator I work with does all this for us yearly.
Nina
great. That is extremely helpful. Thank you. I really appreciate it.