If you want to try living and working in France, it’s a great idea to get educated before you try taking the plunge. Maybe you’re a true Francophile – a lover of all things French. Maybe you finished up your Rocket French course, and you’re feeling ready to take the next step and actually use the language in France. Regardless of the reasoning behind your decision, living abroad in France is possible. That is, with the right preparation!

France, like many countries, controls its immigration carefully. They do so to protect French nationals from outside competition in the workplace, and to avoid overloading the social welfare safety net. France has a high unemployment rate, and isn’t eager to surrender valuable jobs to foreigners.

If you’re going to be staying in France for more than 90 days, you need to obtain a visa de long séjour. To ge this visa, you must prove you have medical insurance, pass a criminal background check, and provide a financial guarantee to ensure you will not be a drain on social welfare services. For those wishing to work in France, you must first find a job and obtain a work permit. At this point, you get the visa de long séjour, and head to France. When you’re in France, you must then get a carte de séjour. Your best bet for finding a job in France is to be in a highly specialized field, since French jobs are prioritized first for French citizens, then EU citizens.

Be advised that work permits can be very hard to obtain. A way around the bureaucratic hang-ups that prevent foreigners is to study in France, and obtain temporary work permits for limited working hours each week.

Spending a stint working internationally can really fill out your resume.

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