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Hello,

In which country are you living right now ? Have you contacted the French Embassy ?

Regards

Bhavna

I am living in US. I did not contact the French embassy. I guess I should do it.

Try looking on the French government website you can translate the page to English because there are different categories depending on your circumstances

Thank you.

@Orion3131

What you are going to do is provide evidence that you have a place to stay for AT LEAST the first 3 months for your long stay visa    This can be an Air B&B receipt or hotel booking reciept or if you know someone in France who is willing to "take you in" an Attestation d'Accueil certificate

best wishes,

christy

While we are on the subject of long stay visas, my wife and I are over 65 years of age what is the combine income minimum to obtain this long stay visa thanks

Christy, let me know if I understand correctly. I will use a concrete example. I want to go to France in June for example. Two months before in April I apply for a long term visa. The first question: does it mean that the French embassy obligated to provide me the response before June? Are they going to send the response to my address in US or to my new address in France? If I go to France in June I can stay there for 3 months with my passport, I do not need any visa. So, the French embassy need to know my address in France for June July and August? Or they want top know my address for September, October and November?

@Ron Howard If I remember correctly when we applied for a long stay VISA it was € 3,000 a month as a couple. But we didn’t need to rent as my daughter lives here so the money for accommodation in our case was less.

@Orion3131 Are you planning to stay here longer than 90 days in any six months period?  Because if you aren’t you do not need a long stay visa.  You just need to apply for a tourist visa. It’s more complicated to apply for a long stay visa. You need to check you qualify for the visa you want,  fill in the forms online and make an appointment at the French embassy where you will be interviewed and fingerprinted.

I want to retire in France.

@Orion3131 You can contact the French embassy in Washington DC for assistance as to which visa category you apply for, basically you need to be financially indépendant.  And as a previous person said you have to secure somewhere to stay for before you apply online for a long stay visa because part of the application process is to show you have somewhere to live.

@Orion3131

If you want to talk about this---I can set up a video chat and spend about 20 minutes explaining it to you.  Just send me a private message with an email address to send a google chat link to you okay?  I will give you a few links and try to answer your questions as best as I can.  You are going to need to show that you have at least the SMIC 

For a couple of course, it is more----

You will need to show at a place to stay for at least 3 months---this can be an air b&b or if you have family or a friend, they can complete a Attestation d' accueil--- ----they have to complete it, pay 30 euros and send you the original to take with you to VFS when you complete your paperwork.

It can be complicated, but if you have someone to show you the tricks of completing a visa, it isn't that hard at all----

best,

christy

What is the required income from a couple over 65 per month and are we required to show a curtain amount in our Savings Account?

You must show that you are able to support yourself---- as I said earlier----at a minimum, you must show availability of funds of no less than the SMIC for the year....so for a single person, that amounts to 1,383.09 a month (after taxes) or 16,597.08 euros annually----of course, this depends on the exchange rate, but the minimum you must show is 17442 annually.  Most people can show this with social security---- so a couple needs to show at least 3200 a month---but most people will expect more----you can probably live decently on that as a single person, but it could be a little tougher for a couple----depending on what your expectations are....

best, christy

@howar1996 As previously mentioned

Sufficient funds are typically based on France’s minimum wage. Proof of income includes bank statements, tax returns, or pension receipts. We had to produce our pension statements which I had previously needed to get translated  for something else (so not sure this is a requirement for the VISA). We also had to provide three months of bank statements, and an address where we would be living in France. All the ways this can be done was mentioned in a previous post.

@Christy Woodward

Thank you it is not much different than in the US.

Just to clarify, the money does not have to be income, it can be savings.  You need to show that you have sufficient funds as income and/or savings for one year.  You will need to continue doing this each year when you renew your CdS (residency permit).  The exact amount changes every year, but the numbers posted in this thread sound about right.

@Orion3131

Proof that you have been residing a particular place (apartment, house, hotel/AirBnB/gite etc) for at least 3 months.  Proof would be: 1. rental agreement + utility bill for house/apartment that has been established under your name for at least 3 months prior; 2. if staying with someone, will need copy of that person Carte d'identity + a written statement from that persons that you have been staying for at least 3 months prior; or 3. A copy of the AirBnB agreement/invoice etc. showing that you have been there for at least 3 months prior.