After sharing the dates timeline here, I received so many kind words and well wishes. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write something nice. It genuinely meant a lot!

This weekend, I made another free revision resource, this time focused on geography questions from the French civic exam.

I found 53 geography questions across the official lists, so I put them all on one page, with a map that follows along as you scroll and a filter for your application type.

English version: https://recitecitizen.com/fr/en/civic-exam-geography/

Version française : https://recitecitizen.com/fr/examen-civique-geographie/

Thanks again, everyone. Wishing you all the best with your exam preparation. I hope you all do well ❤️

Hi-

I recently quit my job in Paris in June- returning to the UK this summer. I need to get my payslips from the past two years for various tax / financial (boring) reasons, but my company are completely ignoring my requests.

This doesn't hugely surprise me, but I REALLY need them now. I wasn't able to download them all as I left with a couple of months to still be paid (lots of holiday built up etc).

Do I need to lawyer up or something to put some pressure?

Cheers,

Dan

Hi all,

Looking for real experiences with this situation:

I am Algerian and at the moment I am in France under a student residence permit; since I will be completing my master’s this year, I will not be able to renew my status as a student.

I am already employed and would like to continue working without taking a break.

I am getting married to an EU citizen (not French), and we will live together in Lille, although he will work in the Netherlands as a cross-border worker on a Dutch contract and will be covered by Dutch social security, being registered with the French CPAM through the use of an S1 form.

My plan is to apply for the “carte de séjour membre de famille d’un citoyen de l’Union” through ANEF before my current certificate runs out.

My questions:

1. Would a foreign (Dutch) contract serve as evidence of your spouse's right to reside in France? Since he is not going to work in France, he should be classified under 'sufficient resources plus health insurance' rather than as an employee. Isn't there any problem with the prefecture accepting that?

2. Could you work with the récépissé or attestation while you wait for the card? Did yours clearly say "autorise son titulaire à travailler"? Mine would be a change of status, not a renewal.

3. Since it didn't say anything about the work, how then was it getting it repaired?

4. Has anyone done this at the Préfecture du Nord lately? How long did it take to get the récépissé, and then the card?

5. Did your spouse in the EU need their own residence card or was it sufficient to have their ID and proof of income?

Any positive or negative experiences would be very helpful. Thank you!

I am seriously considering moving to Paris for a year.

I spent 6 months there in a study abroad program and absolutely loved it, from the culture to the people to the language to the city etc. I’m in my younger 20s and would love to go back and spend a year, doing a language program or something of the sort.

However, I am aware of the different reality I’d be living. During study abroad I was funneled into a program of people who were similarly aged and spoke both English and French, (these people are who I spent most of my time with) and while I can confidently “speak” French I am by no means fluent if that makes sense.

Given that, what do you guys think, am I looking at the past through a warped and privileged lens? If I enjoyed it for 6 months will I likely enjoy it for a year? Anything I haven’t thought about?

Regarding housing, and finances, neither should be an issue.

Anything helps! Thank you all

In 2025 I changed from a student tds to a two year carte de sejour pluriannnuelle and now I need to renew it, but at no point have I ever been contacted by OFII after validating my initial student visa in 2022.

If I already have the CSP, do I need to go through the formation civique to renew it for two more years or is it just if I was moving from the carte de sejour temporaire to the CSP?

My ANEF application for renewal of my Carte de résident was closed because the Préfecture claimed I submitted my french language certificate late, although I uploaded it within the deadline.
After I challenged this, the Préfecture asked me to collect a récépissé, but I never received confirmation of a new application ( dépôt de demande).
Since then, I’ve received contradictory answers: once they said I had no active application, twice they said it was still being processed. The 3430 helpline also said it was in progress.
A lawyer told me the status may only become clear if a judge asks the Préfecture to verify it, which would involve additional legal fees.
My récépissé expires shortly before I return from a trip abroad, and I’m trying to find out whether I can renew it early.
Has anyone experienced something similar with the Paris Préfecture? How did you confirm your application status and resolve the récépissé issue without unnecessary legal costs?
Thanks for any advice or personal experiences.

I recently had a health emergency, and didn't have my Carte Vitale on me. The doctor filled my information on a brown paper (fiche de soin?) and made me pay for his intervention. He told me I should send the paper to Assurance Maladie. However, the office near my house was closed, and I am not sure where I should head. Alternatively, I was told I could send it by post but that I will have to share the original. How can I pick the correct address? And what are the risks of it not arriving to the correct destinator? And should I add any other paper to the enveloppe?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,
Has anyone in Paris successfully renewed their récépissé more than 15 days before its expiry due to upcoming international travel?
My current récépissé expires shortly after I am due to return from a trip to India. Unfortunately, I will be outside France during the usual 15-day renewal window, so I need to apply earlier to avoid problems returning to France.
My original residence permit renewal application was submitted through ANEF but was closed despite my uploading the requested TCF B1 certificate within the deadline. Following my communications with the prefecture, I received a convocation to collect my récépissé. I am now trying to renew it, but I’m unsure whether the Paris Préfecture will accept an early request.
Has anyone faced a similar situation? Were you able to renew your récépissé early, and what procedure or documents did the prefecture require?
I’d appreciate any advice or recent experiences. Thank you!

I’m exhausted and annoyed and all I want is just to move on with my life and work, I understand the job market in the world isn’t it. And I’m genuinely trying my best. Even done differently studies provided by France Travail (Which I am not complaining about) but it is an endless cycle.

I came to France and had a company drop the contract last minute. Shit happens, I am young and can look for opportunities elsewhere (but it was already too late to go back to my home country for various reasons) I got rejected multiple times by the CPAM to get my Carte Vital, which made me late on getting my social security number, which made me not possible to subscribe with France Travail without one (nor opening a bank account etc) my lovely family inlaw helped my massively by briefly hiring me in their company. Which gave me finally the opportunity the obtain my SS number. By then I couldn’t apply for a chômage anymore (despite always having worked inside another EU country, which gave me a greenlight to demand for it in France)

In the 3 years this has happened, I have worked brief interims or did studies, which gave me some money (not even close to enough to provide for a life, but I have an amazing supportive partner that financially supports me, but even than it is a struggle and we don’t live luxurious at all, not our goal either) which I have all saved up for driving lessons one day.

Because my partner is the sole earner at the moment I go to where he has to work. As his job is a certain niche, it isn’t always in the area of friends and family. At the moment we are located around poitiers, where I have worked on studying for the code the la route (which I passed first time little yeey for me) and thus I could start driving lessons. But my partner’s contract isn’t extended and we do not know if we financially could stay here. And therefore I haven’t started lessons yet. As I cannot afford or justify starting lessons and than have to move elsewhere possibly in less than a month.

In this time I am also talking to a company that is directed to me by France Travail who is ‘supposed’ to help me with finding work. But this is what is making me exhausted and annoyed, I have explained to my conseiller the situation and that I really need to have a job before I can start my license because let’s get real life is not cheap. I told her I was flexible with walking and bicycling and that on certain moments my partner could drive me, depending on location and times. I know it is difficult and it is easier to find work with a license, but it isn’t gonna appear in 1 month.

She agreed, told me to it was gonna be a but harder to find jobs, and I agreed with her. She told me she would put the search circle to 10 KM.

Later I received offers from the other way of poitiers, which is 1,5 hours of driving by car. ~5 hours by bicycle what maps said to me😓 I pointed it out the other rdv and she was like yea not possible it is 10KM max.

It happened again all offers 1,5H away from me by car. And she finally saw it in by herself.
Then she tells me she has a job offer nearby on call and I asked her where she found it as I would love to look and apply to it. She told me she would email it to me and I could apply after the meeting.

She never did. I had to dig for days for it by myself and by the time I applied and called the position was filled (unfortunately it wasn’t mentioned on the listing)

I am getting annoyed as when i call my conseiller, she doesn’t answer, if I ask for things, she doesn’t supply, if I ask her in general questions (which she mentions in call that I can email her questions and she would reply) she doesn’t reply. Hell I have to run after het every time I have a rdv with her as she doesn’t even email me links to the rdv, she emails them like 1 minute before the rdv happens. When she can email me when a rdv doesn’t work in her favour and asked me to reschedule. Even there she mentions in the email: I will send you to link for our new rdv this afternoon. And surprise she never did.

I’m genuinely getting pissed off as I not only have do the job hunting myself (which is a given) but someone that is supposed to help me out, isn’t and I have to run after that too?! (As FT made it noticeable to me the rdv with this company are obligated)

I genuinely feel like she isn’t putting any effort into me (as the government doesn’t pay me chômage, si what do they have to lose?), sure she probably elsewhere is a kind lady, but I just feel so much struggle with her.

I hope for me and the situation we can go back to temporarily live with the inlaws, not ideal, but it gives me ground for doing my license and having a roof over my head. And possibly go back to volunteering at my local La Croix Rouge which I genuinely enjoyed and gave me already some great experiences, that I hope to place on my cv so I can use for future too. Because I know what I want to do when I have my license and that is work for ADMR or something similar.

TLDR:

Anyone else have a ‘shitty’ conseiller provided by a company that is forced on you by France Travail, how do you deal with it?

Or anyone happy positive stories after having job struggles in France market too?

Bon jour!

Hello everyone, I (M) am currently 33 years old living in LA. I'm latino and first generation. I'm gay, single, no kids and don't want any. I have a good job in the finance industry and I make $100k which is good but it's not good enough to buy property out here since everything is so expensive so I'm renting an apartment. So, I'm at a crossroads in life. The job I'm currently at is no good so I need to start applying. My standard path would be to grind it out in the financial industry and do long hours and work hard and try to be financially successful and buy a house or condo down the line. But I'm also seriously considering moving to France. I've sought some guidance and seem that I can get my AMF certification and potentially an EA certification and target niche firms in France to service American expats. It's a niche target but potentially allows me to get the talent passport visa. I would also have to get my French up to B2 or even C1 so I can make this transition in 1.5 years. I'm open to working in Paris since that's a big finance hub but truly I would prefer living in a smaller city like Lyon. And I'm actually really enjoying learning a new language although I'm aware that it will be challenging and often times feel isolating out there.

I fear that I'm romanticizing European life too much, which Americans often do. I know income will be much lower than in the states. But honestly I feel like I'm not giving up much now. My current job isn't stable and I don't have a family or property. Thinking about living to work and only two weeks vacation per year seems bleak.

I know there's no right or wrong answer here. It really just depends on personal preference in regards to lifestyle but I wanted to see what people think? People who have done something similar, what has your experience been like? I'm 33 so not exactly a spring chicken, am I too old to be making this gamble? Also, is this career option even viable? I would love to hear from people who have actual boots on the ground experience finding employment in France. Is this plan of action even feasible or am I being totally unrealistic. Thank you so much in advance for any input!

Hello everyone,

My wife’s visa is currently stuck at the prefecture des Hauts-de-Seine, after five months and the biometrics being collected. She also has now a foreigner identification number.

We have no updates on the ANEF website. Has anybody gone through the same situation ? If so did you do something specific to resolve it ?

Hi, i recently had my us passport stolen, and then replaced but my student visa was not in my new passport. I have the official receipt confirming the valid visa, should this be enough to leave and reenter france? I also have police reports proving it was stolen. thanks. I also have a super shitty photo of my visa, but half of it( the middle half with all the info) is covered.. you can still see my visa number and face though. any comments appreciated

My husband and I are planning a month-long scouting trip to France (we are in the US) early next year. We aren't decided on whether to actually move there, but in any case are hoping it will at least be an interesting vacation. Our flight is into CDG.

We've narrowed down an itinerary to these places: Lille, Angers, Strasbourg, Dijon, Lyon, and Paris (though I don't think we'd want to live in the city, how could we go to France without spending some time there?), with 4-5 days in each.

We don't want to rent a car. What would be a good train travel plan amongst these cities? Would it be feasible to do Lille-Strasbourg-Dijon-Lyon-Angers (would have to go through Paris of course)-Paris? Are there any other not-to-miss cities or towns in that general area of the country?

TIA!

I’m a US citizen and would like to move to France upon receiving the long-term visitor visa. I will not work in France and will rely on investment income.

I have a job now and intend to quit before leaving the US. Would my visa have a good chance of being approved if I stated my intention of quitting or will I actually have to quit before applying for the visa?

Thank you.

Bonjour à tous !
Je suis actuellement en France avec un titre de séjour étudiant qui expire en mars 2027.

Je suis censée avoir mon diplôme bientôt (cette année) et, entre-temps, j’ai reçu une proposition d’embauche pour un poste qui commencerait en janvier 2027, donc avant l’expiration de mon titre de séjour actuel.

Mon employeur m’a expliqué qu’il ne pouvait pas m’embaucher directement avec mon statut étudiant, et je me demande donc quelles sont mes options pour changer de statut.

J’aurais quelques questions :

- Est-ce que dans ce cas je peux demander directement un Passeport Talent après l’obtention de mon master, si le poste et les conditions de rémunération correspondent aux critères requis ? Ou est-ce que je dois obligatoirement passer par un autre statut, par exemple APS ou un le titre « recherche d’emploi / création d’entreprise » ?

- Est-ce que je peux commencer les démarches avant la fin de mon titre de séjour étudiant, afin de pouvoir commencer à travailler en janvier 2027 ?

- Concernant le Passeport Talent, est-ce qu’il faut obligatoirement avoir reçu et avoir en main la carte de séjour pour commencer à travailler, ou est-ce qu’un avis favorable de la préfecture suffit pour pouvoir commencer ? Je n’ai jamais eu de Passeport Talent, donc je ne connais pas du tout la procédure ni les délais…

- Est-ce qu’on doit prendre rdv à la préfecture pour aller récupérer son titre, comme on fait avec les titres de séjour étudiants ?

Merci beaucoup pour votre aide !

Hello/bonjour,

I am moving to Lyon from the UK. I have obtained my visa a couple days ago and will move on the 1st November. It’s been a dream of mine to move to Lyon and immerse myself in a good culture and learn the beautiful cuisine and style of cooking in your great Bouchons.

I am making this post as I’d love any tips, recommendations or advice. When it comes to flat hunting which I’m doing now I’d love some more advice and direction for someone like myself. Also tips of where to go in the city, how I am join some clubs for English speakers would be great or just sone great recommendations for places to go and see what I wouldn’t have thought of before.

My main goals are to get to a good level of speaking French, make some friends who are locals and expats, immerse myself into the food culture and become very knowledgeable on lyonnaise cuisine. Really any advice would be welcome. Thank you!

Merci!

Hello everyone!

I’m married to a French citizen, and in a couple of months, I’ll need to renew my titre de séjour. As I understand it, under the new rules, I may be exempt from the civic exam and the B1 French language certificate requirement, as long as we are renewing it.

However, I have two friends who recently went through a similar process, and their experiences were quite different. One of my friends told me that the prefecture didn’t give her any other option and that she had to apply for a 10-year residence permit. My other friend was offered the same option but declined and applied for a regular renewal instead, at a different prefecture.

I’m a bit confused about how this works now. Has anyone recently renewed their titre de séjour as the spouse of a French citizen?

Do we really need to pass the civic exam and provide a B1 French certificate, or are we exempt under the new rules? Also, can the prefecture require us to apply for a 10-year residence permit instead of renewing our current one?

Thank you so much in advance!

You’ve never had a proper kouign-amann, have you? How can you move to France and not eat this every morning with French Roast? You expats should feel ashamed of yourselves.

I am currently using Free mobile plan of 20€/month but I want to change to a cheaper forfait. Tho I don't want a trashy line that has unstable internet and a very low (less than 20Go/month). And I would like to know your experience with the low-cost versions of Orange or Bouygues, etc. Which company or line do you use and suggest?

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for a free or very cheap indoor space in Toulouse where I can have video calls for 1–2 hours without disturbing others.

Ideally somewhere near Matabiau or the city center.

Does anyone know of any libraries with private rooms, community spaces, or other places where talking is allowed?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

My French other half and I are seriously considering a move to France from Ireland.

Some background - we’re based in Dublin, homeowners with one child. We’re both employed but struggling to make ends meet. We’d like to have a second child but we’ll realistically outgrow our small two-bed within a few years. Prices here and the cost of living are really squeezing us, even though we’re pretty good at cutting our cloth and live modestly.

We’ve previously lived in Paris for a few months but other than that, I’ve never lived in France. We wouldn’t go for Paris as we’d like a house with a good-sized garden, and we’d like a generally lower cost of living.

My partner would be the main earner and I’d look for some work but would focus on looking after our kids for the next few years at least. My mum, who lives alone here, would probably also come with us (she’s super keen and has lived in France before but a long time ago), so ideally we’d be able to get a property with a main home for us, a converted outbuilding for her and another outbuilding to do holiday lets for income.

We’re looking at north-western France mainly (Nantes, Niort, La Rochelle triangle) as it’s culturally more our vibe, it’s not too far from the coast/on the coast, it’s near-ish to the ferry ports and there are some air connections too. It’s also not too far from my partner’s family (two hours’ drive).

I’d love to hear from other people who’ve made similar moves - either Irish in this part of France or people who’ve moved to France to try and get a lifestyle not possible otherwise. What is it like? What has worked and hasn’t worked? What is your main advice or take away? TIA!