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Moving to France with American spouse

Last activity 10 February 2019 by SpaceWombat

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Sarahmimosa

Hi, all

I am French and my husband is American, we married in the US four years ago and we registered our marriage in France. We currently both work and live together in the US, but we are planning on moving to France at some point. What is the process I must got through to get my husband a French/European visa (and which visa)?

I saw everywhere on blogs and forums that the French spouse must live in France already in order to have his/her American spouse joining. It seems that you must provide an official address and such in order to get a visa. But how do you get this sorted if you live abroad?
Did anyone go through this process or know about it and could enlighten me?

Thank you!  :)

Sarah

Pescaraplace

Pourquoi ne pas aller poser la question au consulat de France de ta circonscription?

Diksha

Hello,

> Sarahmimosa: Please note that your topic has been moved to the anglophone version of the France forum since the subject of your topic concerns France more than the USA.
If you wish to post on the francophone version of the France forum, kindly do so only in French.

- Forum France (francophone version)
- France forum (anglophone version)

Thank you,

Diksha
Team Expat.com

Guest1230789

Hi Saramimosa,
I am American, and my husband is French - we moved to France two years ago. The visa process has changed a little since then, so applying for it will be different, but the requirements are essentially the same.
Your husband needs to apply for a visa through the French consulate that is responsible for the region where you live.
Everyone has the same issue with the housing requirement, but all you really need is a temporary address where you will stay when you first arrive in France. Many people use Airbnb or VRBO. You have to have a longer-term place fairly quickly, as your husband will have only 3 months to provide this new address to OFII, meet with them, and get his titre de séjour completed. (The first half is his visa in his passport, the second half is the OFII vignette, also in his passport).
Here's my story: http://slowtravelin.blogspot.com/2016/1 … -visa.html
You can see all my posts on moving to France by using the "France move" label.
Good luck,
Julie

Sarahmimosa

Thank you, Julie! Those informations are really helpful!  :)

Tevisbuckles

Hi,
Same thing happened to me 14 years ago so things might have changed since then. At that time, my American husband got a one year visa and a "contrat d'integration" including 400 hours of French classes. At the end of the one year, he had an interview at the local "Prefecture" to decide whether he would be eligible for a 10 year stay.
Check with the French consulate on the current requirements.

SpaceWombat

Since you've been married more than 3 years I believe your husband could apply for French citizenship if he wished (even without living in France). And both France and the US allow multiple nationality.

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