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Bureaucracy Expat Advice France

How I Got a Visa Vie Privée et Familiale With a PACS

You may have seen on my social media accounts that I recently changed my status in France, one that now allows me to work full time and will make my stay here much more stable. The new visa I’m on is called a vie privée et familiale, which translates to “private and family life”, and is based on a number of factors- namely, the fact that we’re PACSed and have lived together for more than a year. People commonly call this the PACS visa, but it’s actually the same visa status that they have for married people or those who have lived together for a number of years. Side note: I refer to this as a visa, as most do, but it’s actually called a carte de séjour. A visa is what you get in your passport from your consulate or embassy at home. In France, if you renew and stay longer, they do not keep your passport and put any more documentation into it- instead, you will receive a physical card from the prefecture.

Getting my PACS Visa Vie Privée et Familiale

Getting this visa has been a huge source of stress for me over the past year, so it’s such a relief to finally have it (and get down to the business of finding a real job). The biggest issue with it, however, is the lack of transparency around the process. Within the expat Facebook groups alone are easily 10 people who will tell you different things about what happened to them when they went in for their appointment. This isn’t even counting my friends who are on this visa status, whose stories are all so different from each others’ (though they’ve all had to go in more than once to deal with it) which isn’t helpful when trying to figure out how to prepare. So in the interest of all our sanities, I thought I would put together a guide of how to prepare for the appointment and what paperwork to get together for this status change. I’ve included the experiences of 3 others at the bottom of this article as well, so you can see how the process differs for different people.

DISCLAIMER: This is my own experience and that of my friends, not based on anything but that and the list of papers I was asked to provide by the prefecture to apply for a visa vie privée et familiale as a non-married person. It is subjective to the person who is handling your file- this is just my advice about how to prepare based on what happened to me. I am not a lawyer or immigration professional and this does not constitute professional or legal advice.

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UPDATE 2020: The Paris prefecture has changed the requirements for changing to VPF status- you still have to have 1 year of vie commune, but you must have lived in France for at least 3 years on another status. No official announcements have been made, however, so I’ll do my best to keep this post updated with the latest information about this.

BEFORE THE APPOINTMENT:

The most important first step you can take in getting this visa is to put as many bills and papers as possible in both names. The key here is to prove that you have been living together for at least the past year- they won’t be terribly interested in anything further back than that. Ideally, you should have 12 months of these papers with both names. In our case, this meant that we provided the following papers:

the contract of the joint bank account we opened together; the electricity bill in both names; the internet bill in both names; an attestation that we are both on his company’s health insurance plan (mutuelle).

If possible, it’s a good idea to have the rent in both names too, but it cost 200€ to change our lease so we didn’t bother. Additionally, you should prepare any other papers proving that you have both lived at the same address for at least a year. I told Didier we needed this and his response was “I don’t need to prove that, I’m French”, making it all the more amusing for me when our prefecture agent specifically told us that French partners tend to come in thinking they don’t need to prove they live there. Here you absolutely have to bring 12 months of proof at the same address– otherwise, they will send you away and ask you to come back a full year of proof, month by month. In this case, we each provided:

both of our payslips; both of our mobile phone bills; the rent receipts in his name; my bank statements.

If you are changing from a student status to a vie privée et familiale, you’ll need to provide proof that you were in school. For me, my exam results and inscription certificates were enough.

Paperwork for PACS Visa Vie Privée et Familiale

These were all the folders with the papers we brought with us to the prefecture- I’m not even sure how many are in here!

MAKING THE APPOINTMENT:

When I called to make the appointment in September, there was nothing available until January. I recommend you call at least 4 months in advance of the expiration of your current visa to avoid ending up like me and having a two month period where I had no valid visa and thus could not legally work. If you are currently on a student visa like I was, you are not registered with the Centre de Réception des Étrangères, and as you will no longer be under the jurisdiction of the student prefecture in the 18th arrondissement, it is highly unlikely you will be able to get an interim récépissé to allow you to be able to work. This is why it’s very important to make an appointment as early as possible unless you’re in a position where you are comfortable not working for the period between the expiration of your visa and the renewal appointment. If you are on another visa that is handled by the prefecture de police at Cité, you should be registered with the CRE and won’t have this issue, though it’s still good to deal with a visa renewal in a timely fashion.

When you call, it will be in French, so if you don’t speak the language ask someone else to make the call. It’s an automated system, and at one point they will ask you something that you won’t understand and you will need to press the pound key- just trust me on this one.

You’ll speak to an actual person and you’ll give them the number on your current visa (which can be found on the top of your visa sticker in your passport or vertically on the right hand side of your carte de séjour) so they can look up your information. You’ll tell them you want to switch to a visa vie privée et familiale and they’ll ask how long you’ve lived with your partner and whether you’re married or PACSed. They’ll tell you a date and time over the phone, but they’ll also send you a convocation in the mail with the date and time, location of the appointment, and the list of papers you’ll need to bring, with the boxes of papers required for you conveniently checked off by the person who sent them to you. Don’t lose the convocation! You’ll need to bring it to the appointment.

DAY OF THE APPOINTMENT:

We organized our papers in the following order: personal documents (passport photocopies of both partners, foreign partner’s old visa card, birth certificate and translation, PACS or marriage certificate [needs to be dated within 3 months, information for how to order here], 3 official-sized photos, housing justification); joint documents (joint bank account, mutuelle, electricity, internet); and separate documents with the same address (payslips, rent receipts, mobile phone bills, separate bank statements). They will ask for them in this order so it’s best to organize them like this ahead of time. You’re told to bring originals and copies, but we were only asked for the copies so have those at the front of your file. By the time we had put everything together, my bag looked like this:

You’ll go to your prefecture- if you’re in Paris, it’s the one on Île de la Cite right by the metro entrance. After you go through security, go out the doors at the back of the room on the left and you’ll come to an open courtyard/parking lot. The offices are divided by area of the world and marked by color, so you’ll go to a different one if you’re Australian than the one I went to, which is for Europe (non EU), the close Middle East and the Americas- Door 8, Yellow.

My appointment time was 13:30 but after having a friend be turned away the day before for the office being “understaffed” at the end of the day, we went early, taking no chances. The French partner is required to come with you, so Didier took the day off and we spent the morning ensuring we had every paper we needed. We arrived at 12:30 and were told we’d have to wait a little while before getting a number to officially be in the queue, so we sat down. A little after 13:00 the lady at the accueil called me over and asked for my papers in the order listed above, copies only. She took the personal papers, the joint papers, and both sets of our payslips, put them together in a white piece of paper acting as a folder and attached a number to it with a paper clip. We said we had more papers than what she had asked for, and she told us “normalement comme ça, c’est bon”- normally like this it’s fine. It was at this point and this point only that I began to relax a little bit.

However, this was also the point that I began to analyze each person working there and which one seemed the nicest and the most likely to say yes to my file. One agent seemed to keep joking with people, which appeared promising- however, the couple right before us who seemed to be PACSed as well walked out of the office empty handed, so I was very relieved when we were called up to see the lady with the glasses, who was the closest to us as we waited and thus the easiest to hear with the other patrons, and seemed very nice. We were right- she joked with us the whole time, bonded with Didier as she was also from the same region of the south of France, and was of the same opinion as the accueil lady that our file was fine. I started dancing in my seat and practically giggling at Didier as she walked away to go print out my récépissé, ecstatic that all the months of stress were finally about to come to an end. We were at the prefecture for a total of about 3 hours.

She gave me the récépissé, which is essentially a receipt that says that your application was accepted by the prefecture and gives you all the rights of your visa until you come back to pick up the physical card (meaning that I now had the right to work). She informed me that since I had not done a Master’s in France, I would need to attend a seminar at the immigration office (OFII) and bring the paper saying I had attended in order to collect my card, which I would be notified by text message when it was ready. The taxes to pay for the card cost 290€; there is conflicting information on the paper that says which papers to bring in, but this is the price if you already have a visa for France and have paid the taxes for it. You will need to buy timbres fiscaux (fiscal stamps) from a tabac for this amount and bring them with you to collect it.

We were extremely lucky that we got people who liked us and didn’t ask us for more proof about our vie commune (common life together) than what we had brought in, but I’ve heard stories of people who aren’t so lucky. Additionally, my payslips all had “chez” followed by Didier’s name written on the top because when I started working and receiving payslips, my name wasn’t on the mailbox and our gardien hadn’t put it there yet- I had heard other stories of people whose papers were disregarded because they said “chez” on the address, indicated that the French partner was housing them, not that they were living a common life together at that address. Fortunately, they didn’t care about that for us, but it’s something to pay attention to on your documents.

In the end, we ended up having to shred a ton of documents, as they didn’t even ask for most of the papers we brought. It may have helped our case that I speak fluent French and that it was clear how much we had prepared- I had even brought a copy of my agreement with our gym to prove that I have a life in France. I had my old host mom write an attestation for me saying that I have lived with Didier since moving out of her apartment, and a cop friend of Didier’s cousin also wrote us an attestation on his honor saying we lived together, and they didn’t ask for either of those. It’s always better to be overprepared than underprepared. The agents will respond well to you if you’re friendly and prepared- basically, if you make their job easy by providing everything you need to in the order for which it is asked, and do it with a smile and maybe a couple jokes (I made both accueil lady and glasses lady laugh, and in French no less!). A little cheeriness goes a long way in fighting the stress of the appointment for you and the long workday for the agents.

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OTHER TESTIMONIES:

N. is Colombian-American but uses her Colombian passport in France. Changed from a student visa. PACSed September 2015, visa January 2017.

She provided: personal papers: academic records; joint papers- bank statements, electricity bill, taxes declared together, health insurance; separate papers- phone bills, her personal bank statements, their individual payslips.

N’s Tip: Despite it being listed as a paper that proves the PACS on the list provided by the prefecture, do not bring only the birth certificate of the French partner- bring the PACS certificate. She had to leave the prefecture and go home to get it before they would give her her récépissé.

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B. is American. Changed from a student visa. PACSed August 2016, visa November 2016.

He provided: personal papers- academic records; joint papers- attestation from French partner’s mother; separate papers- payslips, bank statements, phone bills, electric bill in French partner’s name, rental agreement in French partner’s name

B’s Tip: Even if you don’t have a lot of papers together, just gather as many papers as you can with the mutual address on them. He doesn’t have a lot together with his girlfriend, but they had enough at the same address to be granted the visa.

N. and B. both said that they were initially under the impression that they needed to only bring proof of the first month and last month of living together in order to get the visa. Though if you’re reading this article, you already know that’s not true, it’s just further proof of the need for transparency around this process.

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K. is Australian. Changed from a long stay visitor visa. PACSed March 2015, returned to Australia to apply for new visa, returned July 2015, visa appointment June 2016, visa granted September 2016.

She provided: personal documents- OFII certificate from when she first arrived, proof of travel insurance, French language certificate, copy of livret de famille of French partner, PACS certificate; joint papers- tax return, rent receipts, electricity bills, joint bank account; separate papers- French partner’s payslips, rental agreement in French partner’s name. Additional papers: personal photos, plane tickets together.

K’s Tip: Go ahead and make the appointment even if you don’t have all 12 months of living together if your visa is going to expire. Since her visa was set to expire in July, she and her boyfriend called in April/May to make the appointment and got one for June. Despite not having the full year together, as not all of their joint documents were changed to include both names until September 2015, they gave her a temporary récépissé and she just went back in with the documents for those months once she hit the year mark in order to be officially approved.

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I hope sharing my and my friends’ experiences with the visa vie privée et familiale will help you be better prepared for this process! Honestly, in the end you never know what to expect, so just bring more than you think is necessary and be confident that they have no reason to turn you down. As a friend told me while I was freaking out about this process, it’s not their job to deny you! Good luck, and feel free to share your experience in the comments- I’d love to hear your story!

Are you or a friend going through this process? Pin this image to share it and save it for later!

How I Got a PACS Visa Vie Privee et Familiale

  • Reply
    Sophie Nadeau
    at

    What a useful guide! I’ve pinned it and I’m so glad you finally got the visa xo

  • Reply
    Taylor
    at

    Congrats! on getting your visa! I have a few questions in regards to the carte vitale; if you coud e-mail me please!

  • Reply
    Tammy (Bonjour Adventure)
    at

    This is such a great explanation of the process. Your article is really quite thorough and helpful. I’m going to link to it in my upcoming summary of ALL the French visas I’m aware of. 🙂 And congrats on your new status! <3

  • Reply
    Rajkumar Gaikwad
    at

    acknowledge, a very brief useful article.
    thanks Emily and yeah congrats on your visa.
    Happy travel 🙂

  • Reply
    Chris
    at

    Congratulations on your visa! I’m in a similar situation (just got PACSed to my French partner about a week ago — I found your article on the subject really helpful, by the way: thanks!), but we can only prove about 5 months of living together.

    I didn’t know you could apply for a new visa from within France. Where did you apply/call to make your appointment? Your local préfecture?

    Best of luck!

    Chris

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Chris! Thank you- I’m so glad you found my articles helpful! You can definitely apply for new visas from within France- I hope you haven’t been going back to your home country if you’ve needed to renew! It’s through your local prefecture de police, yes, and of the city you’re in, not the arrondissement (I know a lot of people end up with misleading information because they go to the prefecture of their arrondissement instead of the main one). Once you make the appointment, they’ll send you the list of papers you need! Five months of proof is great already! I hope that when the time comes, this article will be helpful for getting your visa. All the best!

    • Reply
      Ce
      at

      Hi Chris,
      I’m in a similar situation where I don’t have 1 full year proved of living with my partner but am considering this option as a way to get a visa eventually.
      could you tell me how your situation ended so far?

      • Reply
        Chris Borchert
        at

        Hi Ce!

        I actually just got my carte de séjour approved last Friday! I’m still pretty excited about it.

        My PACSée and I went to the préfecture for my departement (not sous préfecture… in my case, I had to go to Versailles rather than Saint Germain en Laye) a few months back after making that post to make an inquiry/rendez-vous. We brought as much of the documentation as we could at this first meeting. After waiting for our number for about 3 hours, a very helpful gentleman described what I would need (much of it I had together already), gave me documentation outlining these needs, and sent us on our way with an appointment for June.

        Included with this information was a sort of short application form you need to fill out — just basic identifying information — to be presented at the rendez-vous. He also explained that, as an American, I would not be judged as harshly. I think it bears mentioning as well that I’ve heard that this process is not exactly the same for everyone. It depends on a lot of things including the préfecture, who reviews the documentation, etc.

        We went back on the specified day of our rendez-vous with a thicker folder 15 minutes in advance of the specified time, took a number, and … waited for our number for 3 hours. Once we were called up, the same man looked over the documentation, talked with me a bit about what was in the folder (a sort of informal interview, maybe?), and told us to go take a walk for 15 minutes, and we would be called back to the window once the documentation was reviewed by his associate.

        When I was called back, the man told me everything was great, and that I’d be getting my carte de séjour. He took my finger prints, had me sign the printed récépisée, stamped it, and that was it 🙂

        Here’s what I provided at the second rendez-vous (all detailed in the paper that was given to me):
        – A copy of my passport with a Longstay Visa (type D) for my most recent entry. This was a 6 month visa in my case, not a 1 year visa.

        – As much proof as possible of vie en commune. For us this included:
        — PACS contract and a recent attestation de non dissolution de PACS. The latter I had to get in Paris in person since I was running low on time. It took about 30 minutes. Once I actually got to to the Tribunal de grande instance (https://lannuaire.service-public.fr/centres-contact/R22520).
        — EDF and Bouygues (internet) invoices from as far back as my name was on the invoice. If your name is not on the internet/phone and electricity bills with your partner’s name, I suggest arranging this change as soon as possible. These were the easiest ones for us to change. I provided 1 or 2 invoices from the beginning of the time I was on these as well as the most recent 1 or 2 invoices.
        — Invoices for shared expenses with both our names on them. Microwaves, moving van, bed, whatever you can get both your names on together.
        — Lease and rent payment slip in our two names (we just moved recently)
        — I was not able to get a joint bank account with my partner before the appointment, but it would be useful.
        — A copy of the written and signed attestation d’hébergement that my partner provided me with when I applied for my visa, along with a copy of her identity card.
        — About 6 hand-written and signed statements from friends and family members of my partner talking about how long my partner and I have lived together and my activities in the community.

        – As much proof as possible that I had integrated into French society. The statements of my friends featured here as did a contract at the gym where I go regularly. Things like societies and official groups you attend could help.

        – Bank statements from the last 3 months showing that I have means to support myself (same as for my visa)

        -Birth certificate with apostille (copies) and translations (originals). I used the same as what I used for the PACS since it happened just before I applied. Otherwise I think you need copies dated within the last 6 months.

        -Proof of health insurance that I used to get my Visa.

        I think that’s about it. Some things to note:

        – My partner and I were PACSed for not long at all before the first visit to the préfecture, but we figured it was worth it since my visa was set to expire in April.

        – My partner and I had proof of vie en commune dating back to October (4 months before our PACS) giving us about 10 months of proof. I didn’t feel like a much of the proof was very strong, and we had actually lived together for longer than that. I’d recommend getting stuff together as soon as possible (lease/invoices under both names, etc.)

        – There were items on the documentation that I did not know what to do with. Things like “Nature of family ties remaining in country.” I didn’t provide anything for this, and it turned out not to matter for me.

        – We got as much of the documentation as we could together before even stepping into the préfecture for the first time. I used lists such as provided on this site to help get stuff together. I can try to provide the actual list they gave me if you want.

        – The first meeting at the préfecture is just to get the appointment. They gave me a piece of paper detailing the appointment and a highlighted list of everything expected of as proof. They did look at the documentation I provided, and they gave me advice about what to bring the next time around. They told me that even though my appointment was in June and my visa expired in April, just to stay in the country. I did this without problems.

        – Just because you have an appointment for the second visit to the préfecture does not mean you won’t sit around waiting for 3 hours. You still need to take a number when you show up for your appointment and wait. I’d cancel other plans for the day.

        Hope this helps you and some others going through this kind of scary process.

        -Chris

        • Reply
          Ola
          at

          Hello chris.congrats.i got pacsed wit my partner in January and I applied for a rendezvous at prefecture Versailles for June.but I was asked to wait till my commune de vie complete a year bcos the only prove we had was EDF and rent bills.which carries my name from January.is it compulsory to present a joint account or an insurance with both names?.thans

          • Emily
            at

            Hi Ola, no, your EDF and rent bills should be fine, you’ll just need one full year of them before they’ll accept a VPF application. So you’ll have to submit the application next January. It’s not compulsory to have a joint account or joint insurance but it can’t hurt!

        • Reply
          colleen
          at

          Hi Chris,

          im worried now, whydid you have to go to the prefecture two times? we also have an appointment in june but now im worried it will be an inqueiry appointment. did they write something on the letter they sent you originally saying it wasnt your real appointment?

        • Reply
          Alex
          at

          Thank you, Chris, for these details ! Congratulations on getting your vie privée carte de séjour! You definitely seem to have an angel watching over you . I’m printing out your list of tips for my RDV (PACsed yesterday) so thanks again. One question: did you REALLY need the apostolite (sp?) on your birth certificate? I didn’t need one for my pacs, but I will need it for the vie privée carte de séjour? Merci !

    • Reply
      Sandra
      at

      Hi Chris
      I wanted to got pacs with my French partner but the thing is that I only have my birth certificate I lost my passport I don’t know by going there if they will take only the birth certificate. I really don’t know what to do

  • Reply
    Rimsha
    at

    So happy to hear that you got the visa! dealing with bureaucracy can be really stressful. Thanks for sharing your experience; I think it can be a very helpful read for a lot of people!

  • Reply
    Serena
    at

    This is lovely! enjoy France 🙂 love your instagram too.

  • Reply
    Audrey h
    at

    tHANK YOU so much for this information! You’re a god send! it is indeed a nightmare going through outdated forums trying to figure out the truth. i didn’t realize that you could change visa status from student to vie privee in france (i thought you had to go back to your home country).

    I’m not sure if you can answer this, but do you know if you can change any visa to a vie privee? for example, I’m applying to master’s programs for the fall (granting me a student visa) and will get pacsed while I am a student then change to vie privee after my studies (like you did). however, in the event that i’m not accepted i am hoping to do tapif and therefore have a travailleur temporaire visa. again, i would get pacsed while on the travailleur temporaire visa. do you know if you can change from that type of visa to vie privee,?

    Thanks so much for any help you can give!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Audrey! I’m not sure… I’m fairly certain you can switch to VPF from most statuses, but I’m no professional so you might want to consult someone else on that. However, if you’re planning to do a full year Master’s program and you move in with your partner and get all your ducks in a row for the VPF right from the start, I don’t see any reason that you’ll get rejected. As you can see in my post, not all of us were very adequately prepared, but if you have a solid file and you speak decent French they’ll most likely give it to you. Feel free to shoot me an email with any more questions, it’s a much easier way to reach me! Good luck!

    • Reply
      Qjames
      at

      hi audrey, yes you can, i came to france on a 6 month tourist visa, then found work and changed to a travailleur temporaire – i held this for three years then switched to a vpf, no problem 🙂 btw i’m from new zealand but i think it’s the same criteria for anyone outside the eu. good luck!

  • Reply
    Tra
    at

    Hello,

    this is super helpful! Do they look at your passport to see if you’ve left france or calculate how many days you’ve been in france based on you leaving and staying? I may be away from france for a few weeks at a time during the 12 month co-residence period. I would still have all my bills etc coming to the house, but I’m just wondering if they look to see if you are actually in france or not as there may be some time (several weeks) when I won’t be in france.

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Travis! I don’t believe they look- they didn’t look at the stamps in my passport when I was at the prefecture. As long as it’s just a few weeks for work or something and your official residence remains in France, you should be fine (granted, I’m not an immigration professional so take this with a grain of salt).

    • Reply
      Maria
      at

      Tra, I just came across your inquiry from a couple years back, and considering that I am going to be in the same situation, i wanted to know if they actually do look into that when considering the visa…
      I work on ships so I go at sea for months at a time but my main residence would still be in France…

  • Reply
    Ankur
    at

    thanks for this and the other article about getting pacsed. my girlfriend and i are planning to get pacsed soon but i have a question about getting the carte de sejour after that.

    i’ve been coming to france on a short term schengen visa for the past 2 years, so officially about 9 months of living together. would it be possible for me to get the carte de sejour or would i need a long stay visa first?

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Ankur! It has to be one consecutive year of living together so you need a long stay visa first.

      • Reply
        Lauren
        at

        Hello Emily. Thank you for this detailed post! Getting a bit overwhelmed by all the steps, but it’s extremely helpful. My partner and I have been together for 5 years, and living together for 4 years (I am South African and He is French – who has been living in SA for 10years). We don’t have many documents together with both out names on, but will be working to get this sorted immediately. (Internet Bill, Lease, Joint Bank Account, Letters from his family and mine / friends, and photo proof of us over these 5 years (living together in SA and visiting France to see his family and friends). My question is, would we have to show proof of living together in France for atleast one year, or can that proof be from living together in South Africa?

        We will be visiting France this July (so I’m hoping to get a long stay visa again this time. The last time we visited I got a 1year Visa). As much as I hope to have find a job by the time we plan to move back there, I can guarantee that so all my work experience would be from South Africa. I am planning to start my French Course and English Teach Course (As a back up for finding work while I look for a Job in the Music Industry in France – as I’m a booking agent / artist manager/ event producer.). It seems as though you all have lived together and integrated in France quite well before your applications, whereas although I visit often, we will essentially only ‘move’ there and settle there within the next year.

        I just want to prepare myself for what’s to come.

        Looking forward to hearing from you!

        • Reply
          Mariana
          at

          hello Lauren Im in a similar situation as yours, I’ve been leaving for two years with my partner in China Im Argentinian and she is French so Im wondering if it possible to present our chinese apartment contract. Thank you!

  • Reply
    Mya
    at

    Hi Emily! Thank you so much for the detailed posts ON pacs! We are so thankful that your previous post on PACS helped us prepare for our own pacs. My french partner and I (non EU citizen) were pacsed THIS MONTH in the french consulate in Amsterdam where we live. We have paperwork of living together since Jan 2016 though NOT IN France (Belgium AND NETHERLANDS). We Want to move to france in Summer 2018, which is when my partner finishes his project here. I would really like to have this carte de sejour so I can start working in france when we move there. Do you think I should apply right now for this long stay visa “d” and then after a year apply for the carte de sejour? or directly apply for one this year end? Would I be able to obtain this “visa” staying outside of france?
    Gathering the paperwork the french admistration asks of us is like climbing Mt.Everest in flipflops but it has to be done!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Mya! Honestly I have no idea how it works if you’ve been living outside of France- much better to consult an immigration professional! Good luck!!

    • Reply
      kiah
      at

      I think this reply is way too late, but in order to help others I can say that my french partner and i, despite having lived for a year together in canada while being pacsed, were unable to apply for the carte de séjour when arriving in france. i started on a student visa instead and hope to transition this summer.

  • Reply
    emilie
    at

    Hi Emily or chris,

    i recently got married to a french national and had my premiere demand conjoint francais appointment. they sent me to the accueil to make another appointment because my dossier was incomplete. do you know if the six months proof vie commune has to be consecutive or in general?? we have bank statements and fiches de paie for six months, however, we moved in the middle of october to his parents house where they obviously pay all the bills and do not charge us rent and his father’s attestion was apparently not sufficient enough. any advice what to do?? there’s a huge gap from october-january, but we never stopped living together!!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Emilie, as far as I know it has to be consecutive :/ did you change your cell phone bills or any other bills to that address? Do you have any mail that came to you at that address during each one of those months? Don’t worry too much about something having your name vs. his- they asked us for a year of proof for being PACSed and our main proof was our pay slips at the same address, so it’s okay to have different papers. You just need something for each month with your name and an address in common to prove that you lived together. Hopefully that will supplement the attestation and you’ll be good to go. Good luck!!

  • Reply
    Kev
    at

    Hello thank you very much for the article!

    I am a non-european and I have been living with my Spanish partner in France for over a year now, I am wondering if I am eligible for the visa privée et familiale in this case? We have checked that we can get pacs with no problem.

    Thank in advance!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Kev, I’d call the prefecture and ask in that case. They’re the only ones who will be able to tell you 🙂

  • Reply
    Selam Teruneh
    at

    Really really great article!! IT is so detailed and well written. I’ll be bookmarking it!

    I had a question and I’m not sure if you know this process or know anyone who’s gone through it but I am currently renewing my visa and as my student visa is expiring, I will have to apply for an APS. Is it possible to get PACS’ed and receive the CDS vie privée after the APS visa?

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Selam! I’m not sure but I imagine you can- you’ll just have to go through the process to change status and have proof that you’ve lived together for at least one year. The prefecture can tell you more, as you have to call to make the appointment if you’re changing status. Good luck!

  • Reply
    Shannon
    at

    Hi Emily,

    Thanks for all the great information! Just wondering what visa(s) you had before getting the vie privée et familial? Did you get PACSed on an au pair visa? Did you get a long-stay visitor visa after your au pair visa and then the VPF? I’ve found myself in a really similar situation. Met French guy, became au pair in Paris, pacsed with same French guy, got shipped back to the us because my student visa expired, now fighting the good fight with French administration to come back.

    Thanks!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Shannon, no, I renewed as a student for a year (so I could continue to work) and then changed status to VPF. The French administration doesn’t make it easy- good luck!

  • Reply
    Mary
    at

    Hey there, how were you able to get on the mutuelle without the PACS visa (or a social security number)?

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Mary! I had a social security number. Once we were PACSed, my partner contacted the division at his company who handles their mutuelle and they sent him a paper to fill out which also told us what additional pieces we needed to provide. A couple weeks later we received an attestation in the mail, along with our cards that have our mutuelle information on them. Your French partner would need to contact whoever at their company handles mutuelles, but you’ll need to be PACSed first so you have a legal basis to be making the request.

  • Reply
    francesca murray
    at

    Hi Emily – thanks so much for this! Do you know if it’s possible to get this visa if you are on a tourist visa? or do you have to have a valid carte de sejour?

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Francesca, you have to have a valid long-stay visa in France because you have to prove a year of communal living.

  • Reply
    Jenn
    at

    Bonjour tout le monde !

    I am french and I have an American boyfriend. We want to live in France and are wondering what visa he could get. here is what I think we could do : he should come here and we would get pacsed, then ask for a visitor’s long stay visa in order to get one year of living together. then apply for the vie privée one.
    my questions are : do you think he can apply from here to the VLS/TS visiteur after we’re pacsed ? or does he do it before leaving ?
    should he mention the pacs when asking for the visa ?

    Thanks a lot
    Jenny

    • Reply
      sara
      at

      He would need to apply for the long stay visa before he comes to France, otherwise he will have to go back home to apply for it. They don’t make exceptions for that, you have to apply in person at the French consulate in your home country for the long stay visa (I`m here on this visa)

      • Reply
        Jenn
        at

        Hello Sara,

        Thank you very much for helping !

  • Reply
    erica
    at

    Hi Emily! As everyone else here has already mentioned, thank you so much for your post! I’m from the states, and am recently pacsed, and will have my appointment in October for the VIE PRIVÉE ET familial “visa.” This blog has been a huge source of comfort for me especially because like you said everybody’s process can be extremely different! Quick question in terms of documents needed- When we got pacsed they collected my certified birth certificate as well as the official translation. i have photocopies of these two things but will that suffice for the appointment in october? I ordered these docs around Feb/march… so by OCt that will be about 7 MONTHS. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! (also, regarding birth certificates, does french partner also have to provide an up to date certified copy or just photocopy? Thanks!!

    • Reply
      Erman
      at

      Hi Erica
      How was your appointment? I hope everything was ok. Quick question, did u provide or did they ask French language certificate ?
      Thanks

  • Reply
    Erica Paredes
    at

    Hi everyone! My boyfriend and I just got pacs-ed and my student visa expires end of december. a few questions-

    1. Do we need the actual PACS certificate before i apply for a new visa ( they said it will take a couple of months)
    2. Where do i call exactly to make an appointment for the visa vie familale et privee? It sounds like people went to different perfectures, how do i know where to go or who to call?

    thank you!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Erica, no, you can use the certificate that they gave you when you got PACSed as long as it is still valid. If not, you’ll need to order a new one from the tribunal d’instance in the 19th. Your prefecture will depend on where you live. The only one I’ve ever gone to is the one at Cite in Paris, but apparently there is one in the 17th as well. Definitely call now though, you probably won’t get an appointment until January (they’re always pretty swamped). Good luck!

  • Reply
    betz uber
    at

    Hi Emily,
    Can you help me? My husband and i are both US citizens and he will be going to school in Paris for his masters. I understand that he will need a student visa but as his wife (married 18 years) i am assuming that i can accompany him – but – what kind of visa do i have to apply for? i can find nothing specific for clarity. Thank you for your time, i appreciate it.

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Betz, you will need some kind of spouse visa. If you haven’t found the right information about this on your consulate website, give them a call or send an email, or contact one of the other consulates if they don’t respond (which is likely).

  • Reply
    Rachel bli
    at

    HI emily,

    thank you for the lovely post. i just got married and will be picking up my carte de sejour vie famille at the Prefecture. i was just wondering if my husband needs to be present with me to pick up the card and also why they gave me an appointment time of 9:30-11am. Do you know if we are expected to be there the entire 1.5 hours?

    Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Rachel, no, your husband doesn’t need to be present and you will hopefully not be there the whole 1.5 hours. The appointment time isn’t even a real appointment- I picked up my card 2 months after my appointment date (oops). Anytime after that date/time slot, you can go pay for the fiscal stamps and pick up the card.

  • Reply
    loise gamboa
    at

    can i ask more infirmation in a private message thanks

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Sure, send me an email!

      • Reply
        loise
        at

        Hi! Emily how can i reach you via private message?

        • Reply
          Emily
          at

          Hi Loise, there is a Contact Me section under my About page on the top menu of my blog!

          • loise
            at

            thanks so much Emily…

  • Reply
    Emilie
    at

    Great article!

    I am French and my partner is from New zealand. We have been living together for 5 years in Australia. I have been told he cannot apply for a Vie privée et familiale visa cause we haven’t been living together in France.

    Does anyone knows if living together overseas ( we can proove it) counts?

    Thanks

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Emilie, you have to be living together in France because part of this visa is proving that he has integrated into life in France. You would either have to get married and apply for the VPF visa from New Zealand or he would have to come on another visa for a year until you can prove one year of vie commune.

  • Reply
    Sylive
    at

    Thanks so much for this article ! I just got a pacs yesterday in France with my French partner whom i’ve been living with for a year in paris. I made an appointment to change my status from student to vie privee/familiale, but the next appointment was five months from now ! Does anyone know if í’m allowed to stay in france and just not work until the date of the appointment ? thanks !

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Sylvie, what kind of visa are you currently on? You could go to the student prefecture and ask for a récépissé, which is essentially an extension of your visa, which will keep you legal and able to work until your appointment. If you don’t, you can stay since you have the renewal appointment, but you won’t be able to travel out of France without risking not being able to get back in.

  • Reply
    JS
    at

    Hi Emily!

    Thank you for your helpful article.

    I currently live in Germany but I will be moving to France in 2 months to join my French partner (PACS). Am I right to apply for a long-stay visitor visa (from Germany) to enter? Then once we have the 1 year of evidence I can switch to the visa vie familiale?

    All this info is so confusing, I really appreciate your help and insight!

    Many thanks,
    JS

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi JS! Yep, that will be the easiest way for you to get a year’s residence in France, unless you want to do a student visa (which would allow you to work part-time). Then make an appointment to change status about 5 months before your visa expires!

      • Reply
        JS
        at

        Hello again! Here is a second question… I think the situation that I’m in might be similar to the Australian friend you mention in your post..

        So I got a long-stay visa visiteur granted now, and am planning to come in a month.

        My question is: Do I send the OFII form from my visa appointment when I come back, even if I want to apply for the carte de séjour vie privée et familiale straight away (we lived together for 8 months before I moved to Germany so will have at least 10-12 months of living together by the time I get an appointment)?

        If I have to do the OFII thing and THEN apply for the new carte de séjour that means 250 euros twice??? That doesn’t seem right…

        If you have experience with this, or know anyone, I would greatly appreciate your advice!

        Thanks,
        JS

        • Reply
          Emily
          at

          Hi JS, yes, you’ll need to send your OFII form. The 12 months of living together need to be consecutive- they won’t accept them if you moved abroad for any significant period of time and your name wasn’t on the bills/you didn’t have a valid visa during that time period. You’ll need to pay for the OFII stamp for the visitor visa now and then, when you apply for a changement de statut and get the VPF carte de séjour, then you’ll pay the 269 euros in taxes for the new one.

  • Reply
    lUCILE
    at

    Hi !!

    This blog post is the best, thanks so much for the useful info and the hope it gives us ! We are French (me) /Chilean (him) couple, we have over a year of proofs (we put both our names as soon as we moved in France because we knew the VPF was our goal!) and almost a full year of being PACS’ed, so it shouldn’t be too bad! 🙂
    Reading everyone’s testimonies here, it seems that letters from friends and relatives and photos are not very useful nor necessary…. I might bring some though, can’t hurt! 🙂

    We’re now just waiting for my partner to get his new Student titre de séjour (he just renewed it for the second time), and as soon as he gets the card we’ll phone the prefecture to get a new rendez-vous for the VPF….. Crossing fingers !!
    Thanks again for the wonderful post, I’ve bookmarked it.
    Have a love day!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Lucile, thank you so much for the lovely comment! I’m so glad you found the post helpful 🙂 bonne chance à vous deux !!

  • Reply
    Heather
    at

    bonjour everyone!

    Happy to have stumbled onto this site. I am beginning the PAc’s process with my boyfriend and hope to be able to apply for the carte de sejour next year.

    Disclaimer: I am struggling to pick up french, and have been for a couple years now…do you think this will be a road block in applying/scheduling the appointment?

    Also: open to suggestions on how to improve and adapt conversationally in French. What have been some of your experiences with classes and best ways to pick up the language?

    Thanks in advance for the feedback!

    Heather

  • Reply
    Laura Durand
    at

    Hi there, I have a question that doesn’t seem to have been asked here. I was Pacs’ed last April. I am American and do a lot of traveling for work, so have not needed a long stay visa. (My job is not in France). I would like to make an appointment and apply for my carte de séjour, but wonder if you know if I HAVE to have a long stay visa in my passport in order to apply. It seems like I shouldn’t as I am legally able to stay in France for 6 months at a time. I want to heed your advice and make my appointment 3-4 months before April 2018, but I cannot seem to find an answer anywhere to this question. Even the consulate in New York gave me the runaround…Curious to hear your words of wisdom!! Laura

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Laura, since this is a long-stay carte de sejour that can’t be applied for outside of France (as your eligibility is based upon your vie commune with your French partner in France), I think you need to have a long-stay visa before you can apply for it. You can’t even make an appointment at some prefectures (at least in Paris, I’m not sure about the process for the rest of the country) without entering your current visa number. If you do manage to make an appointment, there’s a good chance they’ll question how you have 12 consecutive months of proof when you’re not legally allowed to stay in France for 12 consecutive months without a long-stay visa. Also not sure how it’s possible that you can stay in France for 6 months at a time without a visa- normally the rule for non-EU passport holders is 90 out of every 180 days, but perhaps you have a special situation? In any case I’m fairly certain you’d need a long-stay visa before applying for the VPF carte de séjour.

    • Reply
      airin
      at

      Laura, will u able to get the carte de sejour with short stay visa? This is my case as well since i’m not working in hk. dealing with this is a bit pain in the ass. I was PACSED with my boyfried Nov 2017. We tried to ask for carte de sejour but didn’t have proof of living together for 1 year yet. So they asked me to wait until nov 2018 and it’ll be easier for me to apply after 1 year pacs. I don’t understand how can it be easier after 1 year pacs. We just had our joint edf bill starting from jun 2018.

  • Reply
    Erman
    at

    Hi Emily!

    Thank you for your helpful article

    I have an appointment to change my status from visitor to vie privee/familiale.
    Pacsed November 2015, visa February 2017. (Long stay visa is late because i had an 3 years Schengen and i was working in Thailand).

    We have an electricity, mobile and internet bills over 2 years. Also we bought an apartment under both name. Attestaion from families, friends, Joint accounts, travel tickets, photos, insuarance etc etc. All documents are ready except my language certificate. My French is so so 🙂 I’m still taking private lessons at home, so i don’t have any certificate from Ofii or any school.

    Do i have to provide them language certificate for the first renewing? I didn’t see on the provide list but some people gave it to them.

    Thanks

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Erman, the only reason you would need the language certificate is if you were changing from a student visa to a vie privee (to prove you had been in class), or from the OFII if you were switching from salarié to vie privée (as you would have had to pass a language test with them during your integration process that is only done for visas like salarié and vie privée). So no need to worry, I don’t think they’ll ask you for it 🙂

  • Reply
    Kent
    at

    I LIVED WITH MY PARTNER FOR 1 YEAR WHILE I WAS IN france on a working holiday visa, but the only problem I have is that we we’re staying at her mother’s house, so naturally my name isn’t on any of the bills. i have my monthly bank statements and cellphone bill statements addressed there, but sadly from my understanding that won’t be enough ?

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Kent, they put a lot of stock into bank statements from what I’ve heard, so if you both have a year’s worth of bank statements at the same address, that may work. However, they have to be the last year- if you’ve left France already, you’ll need to come back for another year to be eligible.

  • Reply
    claudette avis
    at

    Hi Emily,

    I arrived here in France September 2016 to do my Master’s degree and I lived with my French boyfriend ever since, so basically we have more than a year now of living together. I’m planning to change my status from student to vie privee/familiale since my school course will end next year April, and I also want to look for a full time job here. But I just have few concerns regarding this.

    1) We do not have proofs of papers in both of our names. But I have my monthly bank statement where it’s written “chez” his name and his address. My phone bills and all my visas are under his address and I am also under his health insurance. Would this be enough?
    2) I am still not fluent in French but I am currently learning, do I need like a delf test result as a proof of my french level? or I just need to ask my language school for the certificate?
    3) I went to america for 3 months to do my internship during this one year, but my bills are still under his address? would this be a problem for the application?

    Thanks,
    Claude

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Claude, I honestly have no idea. Like I noted in my post, I’m not an immigration professional, and it will depend on the person you get at the prefecture. It may be enough, it may not- the only way to know is to try!

      For your French level and from your school in general, you’ll just need proof that you were in class- either exam results or an attestation d’assiduité. Since you’ll be changing from a student status, you’ll need to prove that you were actually a student while on a student visa.

      Regarding the internship, I’m not sure, that would be a question for the prefecture.

      However, since you’re in a Master’s program, why not get the APS visa once your studies are finished? You’ll have a year to look for work and you can gain time to make your application for the vie privée status stronger so they’re more likely to say yes. I would recommend putting at least one of your bills in both names, like electricity which is easy to do, and making sure that you are set to receive the factures as often as possible (for example, our electric company only sends factures either every 2 months or once a year). If you’re not already PACSed, I would recommend that you do that as well, because it is another way of proving the strength and legitimacy of your relationship.

  • Reply
    claudette avis
    at

    Thanks so much Emily! I really appreciate your response. I was actually thinking of doing the APS first and then I discovered about the pacsed and the possibility of getting a carte de séjour with it. Anyway, maybe I’ll just stick to APS for now. THanks again for suggestion 🙂

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Of course! It’s definitely possible that you could get the CDS with the PACS (supposedly they just changed the requirements? But I’m not sure) but I think it might be easier to just do the APS for now and then if you don’t find a job in your field during that year, do the VPF at the end of that visa. Either way you get to stay in France! 🙂

  • Reply
    Gizem
    at

    Hello!

    I would like to know if it is possible to apply carte de sejour privee et familiale from other country.

    I guess my case is also special to process.

    I lived in Paris with my partner for 2 years. I arrived in 2015 as a students and I got aps for one year.
    I pacsed with him on May 2017 and we started to live together in dublin again on october 2017.
    I couldnt apply carte de sejour for pacs before leaving France.
    But I want to get it.
    Do you think it is possible?

    Thanks a million for an answer!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Gizem, I’m honestly not sure. From what I know about the PACS, it’s based on your common life with your French partner living in France, so I don’t know if your time spent living in Dublin will count. Regardless, you would have had to have lived together for a year before you can ask for the card, so you wouldn’t be able to apply until May 2018. I would suggest contacting the French embassy or consulate in Ireland to ask how you should proceed.

      • Reply
        Mandy
        at

        ” had to have lived together for a year before you can ask for the card, so you wouldn’t be able to apply until May 2018″ — in that case, if his current resident card expired at May 2018, how to deal with the time gap between old and new card? since it might takes few months to get the new one.

        thanks so much in advance!!!

        • Reply
          Emily
          at

          Hi Mandy, I’m not sure I understand the question (then again, I realized rereading it that my answer doesn’t make a ton of sense either). Basically you have to have a valid residency in France to get PACSed, and have to be able to prove a year of vie commune (communal living) in order to ask for the carte de séjour vie privée et familiale. As long as you have an appointment to change status, you can stay in France while you wait for your appointment, even with an expired card. However, since he left France and no longer has a current residence card, he would have to move back to France and live here with his partner for a year before he could ask for this carte de séjour. Hope this answers what you were looking for!

  • Reply
    bomi
    at

    Hello, Thanks a lot for sharing your experience! I should have lived in Paris as I found the process is less picky than the Prefecture Nanterre of my department. I have one question regarding a récépissé. I came here as a student and made an appointment for the changement of statut from APS to partner PACS. The problem is that They delivered me a récépissé without a work permit… and It’s very frustrating cuz now I get a permanent job offer and I just have to wait for my card. Did your récépissé allow you to work ? How long did it take from the appointment date to the obtention of your card? many thanks for your answer !

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Bomi! I’ve heard this as well, the Nanterre préfecture is apparently a total mess. My récépissé did allow me to work when I got it, and I believe I got a text saying my card was ready in about a month. Honestly I would join some of the expat groups if you’re not already in them and ask others who live in the jurisdiction of Nanterre- there are a lot of you who have had similar problems! Good luck and hope they finish it soon!

  • Reply
    Kam
    at

    Hi Emily! Thank you for your sharing! I have so many difficulties while getting back to France after living with my GF in France for a year with a working holiday visa, and I hope I can get some helps here…

    I am in Hong Kong right now while my GF is in France, we had been living together from 2016 Nov to 2017 Nov, I only have some cell-phone bills written the same address as hers, and also I wrote that I will be living in her flat with her when I was applying for the working holiday visa, and also we have a lot of daily photos, traveling tickets, or some letters from friends and family around, is it fine to prove we have been living together for a year?

    WE are trying to get PACSed then carte de séjour privée et familiale (OR Visa de Long Sejour Valant Titre de Sejour? We are so confused about what visa I can apply for), but we can’t do the application of PACS separately. So I plan to go to France with no visa (which means it’s considered as travelling?), but we aren’t sure that we can get a PACS and any long stay visa after the PACS with this kind of “visa”(because it’s not really a visa but just a travelling).

    also, we aren’t sure there is a suitable visa for me to long stay in France after we get the pacs, because I can only stay in France for three months.

    We are so lost and so frustrated… I tried the business visa but after 3 months of waiting, they just rejected me with no explanation… I really hope I can get some helps here

    Thank you very much

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Kam! Okay, so to apply for this type of carte de sejour you need to already be in France on a valid long stay visa, and to be PACSed with your girlfriend. You can’t get PACSed with her if you’re not living in France and you can’t apply for any kind of visa once already in France, so you’ll need to apply for something in your home country. If the business one was rejected, your best bet is probably to come back on a long stay visitor visa or a student visa. The visitor visa will not allow you to work and you have to take classes on the student visa, but it will get you here for the length of time you need. Since your previous working holiday visa expired and you left France, you cannot use any of the year you were living together as proof. You would have needed to have documents (bills, bank statements, etc) together during that year- they don’t take photos or train tickets as proof (we brought some and they laughed at us). So you will have to come back to France after applying for a long stay visa in your home country, live here for a year, and make sure you put some bills in both of your names (electricity for example, which is easy to do), and ideally open a bank account together.

      A VLS-TS (visa long séjour valant titre de séjour) is literally every type of long stay visa for coming to France- the difference is the “mention” which can be visitor, student, salarié, etc.

      Unfortunately there’s no way around this, unless you were to get married and you were to apply for the vie privée visa from your home country (which you can only do if you are married). Because the PACS is more or less a tax status, you can’t apply for it outside of France and it’s not valid anywhere but in France.

      I’m sorry you didn’t have this information sooner to be able to do it when you were on the working holiday visa! Check out my post on how to get PACSed linked in the first paragraph as well for more information about how that process works. Good luck!

      • Reply
        Kam
        at

        Thank you for your detailed reply! I would like to be sure that, u meant the year we lived tgt doesn’t count bc my visa expired? Even we really lived a year tgt…? So if we wanna do pacs, we have to live an extra year again?

        Do u know what kind of long stay visa is good for me in my case? It is very difficult to find a good information in the embassy so I’m so sorry to sound like asking some stupid questions

        • Reply
          Emily
          at

          Yes, unfortunately the year together doesn’t count because your visa expired and you left. It has to be one year continuously living together in France, and proof from every month of that year (statements from a joint bank account, both names on the electricity bill or rent receipts, etc). You can get PACSed at any time while you live together, but will not be able to apply for the vie privée et familiale status until you can prove one continuous year of living together.

          Like I said in my last reply, if you can’t find a company to sponsor you (which is rare and difficult) then you can come back on a long-stay visitor visa (which won’t allow you to work) or a student visa (where you’ll have to take classes but can work part time). Those are the easiest options. A student visa will be easier if you don’t have the money to prove you can support yourself for a year, which is a requirement for the long-stay visitor visa, and you could also get a part-time job with a student visa, allowing you to make some money to help support you and your girlfriend. All of the requirements for each visa should be listed on your embassy/consulate website under the LONG STAY VISA tab.

  • Reply
    Elisabeth Wroth
    at

    Hi,
    Great article! I’m trying to make the same move and the numbers I keep calling aren’t going through. What number did you call?

    Congrats!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Elisabeth, thank you very much! I called the SDAE number 3430 I believe, but it seems like they’ve recently changed it so you can apply for a modification d’état civil on their website https://www.ppoletrangers.interieur.gouv.fr/?motif=modifsej (this is all assuming you live in Paris- if you don’t, you’ll have to search on the website of your local prefecture de police). Good luck!

  • Reply
    Caitlynne hollis
    at

    Hi! I have been using your guides religiously to get me through this paperwork of a nightmare in France. My situation for a cds vie privee is a bit funny. i am currently filing for pacs with my french boyfriend and we have been living together for almost a year (will be a year in august). but, neither of us pay any bills or have a joint account. i am an au-pair and the family i work for graciously lets him live in my flat because he was living with his grandparents in the suburbs. so we don’t have any of these proofs that you have listed or that i have seen online anywhere.

    what i figured we would do is the same thing we are doing for pacs and what i did for the bank, is get an attestation d’hebergement from the family i work for and hoped that would be enough. I’m thinking now that it might be good for rent purposes but maybe we need to prove more. would amazon prime shipments in both names work? an attestation from our doorman? we have been together for 4 years now and lived together for a year in germany, if i showed proof of our rent there would that count? valentines day cards dating back years? i really am trying to figure it out. my boyfriend is being wwaaayyyy to laissez-faire about it and saying that we have enough with the attestation but he has never had to deal with french bureaucracy for purposes of not being deported.

    Any help would be soooo appreciated. basically just if you think we have enough to prove we have been together for that long…

    (p.s. i told him when we first started living together to change some of his addresses to our apartment so it would be easier for me later on but since we didn’t plan on staying at our place for too long, he kept everything addressed to his parents home…men…)

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Caitlynne, I’m honestly not sure how to approach this since this situation sounds so tricky. I do know that they don’t accept personal things as proof (we brought photos with dates and the lady said it just proved that we were together at that time in that moment, not that we have a vie commune) and that you’ll need one document for each month of a year of living together in France, which it sounds like you won’t have. The attestation d’hébergement will help, but I doubt it would be enough for the vie privée.

      It sounds like a better bet for you might be to renew your visa for another year (or just renew as a student, which is what I did after I finished a year as an au pair) and get the paperwork together for that year. Now that you know what you need, that way in a year you’ll have an airtight dossier that you won’t have to stress about them accepting!

      p.s. My boyfriend dragged his heels on doing a lot of the paperwork stuff too- I had to really get after him to do it, but in the end I’m glad I spent that much time nagging because I needed almost all of it for our dossier.

      • Reply
        Caitlynne hollis
        at

        Thank you! Ive thought about renewing my visa as a student visa as well. Did you have to go back to the states to do this? And did you have to apply for university or just take french classes? I would like to renew my au pair visa for another 6 months until the end of 2018.

        • Reply
          Emily
          at

          No, you can renew from within France, though the process is a little different depending on whether or not you’re renewing as an au pair or just a normal student. You can do either, but I just did regular French classes to get my level up to a place where I could start applying for jobs once I got the VPF. Not sure how it will work if you want to be an au pair half the year and a regular student for the other half, so I’d consult with the student prefecture at Cité Universitaire on that one (if you’re located within Paris proper). Just fyi too, every time you leave France to apply for a new visa from the US, you restart the clock on your residency period in France (which is really only important if you want to apply for citizenship or the 10-year residency card, but it’s worth noting I think) 🙂

  • Reply
    sasha
    at

    THANk you so much for your sharing! I had the rendez vous today with the prefecture but unfortunately I have to go back the another day… they asked for a “attestation de non dissolution de pacs moins de 3mois” , I have been to the tribunal that we got pacs, (which is antony in my case) to ask for this paper. Then the people there sent me the mairie Antony because since 1/11/2017 , the pacs service is under the mairie. Okay! I went to the mairie, the woman there gave me a kind of certificate de pacs, but I asked for “non dissolution de pacs”, she replied me like “this is the paper you need!” Then today during the rendez vous, the lady told me that this was not the right paper, she said I have to get this paper at minister des affaires étrangères à Nantes, but my boyfriend and i can’t find any useful information on internet.

    Do you know where can I get this attestation?
    Thank you very much. We are so frustrated!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Sasha, the link for the email address you need is under the section in the post “DAY OF THE APPOINTMENT” in the first paragraph. Click the dropdown arrow under “Où s’adresser?” and the email address is there. Just send a formal email like “Bonjour, Je vous serais reconnaissante de bien vouloir m’adresser…” (your boyfriend should be able to help with this). Be sure that the email contains your full name and mailing address- the last time I sent it I also attached a photocopy of my carte de séjour. They’ll send you a confirmation email that they received your request, and then I got another one when my request was ‘traitée’. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks. Hope this helps!

  • Reply
    Christopher Borchert
    at

    Hi Emily,

    Thanks again for this great post. It’s been an amazing resource. I was wondering, since it’s been over a year since you got your CDS how your renewal process went. I’m once again not understanding what I need to take to the prefecture. Did you need another birth certificate with apostille and translation?

    What was your experience like for the renewal?

    All the best, and I hope all is going well,

    Chris

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Chris, have you made your appointment with the prefecture yet? They should have sent you a list of papers to bring, and in this case, it’s really all you need. The most important things will be your attestations of the civic formations you attended through the OFII, your language certification from them, and the avis d’imposition from declaring your taxes with your French partner.

    • Reply
      Erica
      at

      Hi Chris (and Emily)

      I always return to this site for all of my french visa related questions so Thank you again SO much for this paltform Emily! Like Chris I too have an appointment coming up to renew my titre de sejour vie privee et familiale. We are gathering the papers once again like last year but it’s not clear on their website whether we need only the last 3 months worth of statements (for example for our bank statements, edf, phone etc..) or like last time if we need about 12 months worth of statements. I also don’t know whether our same birth certificates and pacs certificate that we used last year suffice or if we need to request newer copies (hopefully we do not as it’s expensive for me to order another from the states and have it re-translated!) I’m hoping that my partner’s recent french birth certificate which now says we are PACSED will suffice. Lastly, we have not yet filed taxes together as I was a student last year and then applying for work and not earning an income. Hoping this won’t be an issue for them!

      Chris, did you happen to have your appointment yet, And if so, if you have any feedback or answers to any of the following questions? If so I would be so grateful! Thanks guys

  • Reply
    Ipman
    at

    Hello ! little question here, for how many years they gave you the visa privée familiale ? 10 years ?

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Ipman, it was initially for one year and then the renewal was two years. The 10 year card is something different.

  • Reply
    Alexandra
    at

    Hi.im from Russia ,is it possible to do that documents too?

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Alexandra, yes it is, you’ll just have to live with your French partner for a year in France first 🙂 I have also been unfortunately told that if you are not from the US or Australia, it can be harder, so make sure you have all your documents in order!

  • Reply
    sam
    at

    Hi emily – or others who might have answers! 🙂

    Thank you for your blog post – they’ve been helpful !

    I have a couple of questions for the VPF, which website did you use to get your list? service-public? I have checked it and it doesn’t give an option for those who are pacsed…did you use the epoux de francais list?

    Also, my current visa is a student visa. however it was just french classes at a private school…and I stopped going about 6 months ago. Do you think this will be an issue? I saw that you needed some paperwork related to it. I have the inscription, but no grades or certificat d’assuidite since I stopped going (ahh!)

    Thanks in advance for your response !

  • Reply
    git
    at

    I have this visa, just wondering what its like/what has to be done for renewal each year etc etc?

  • Reply
    S.
    at

    hi Emily

    Your blog is so instructive, it’s wonderful!

    I just have a few questions, and I’d be so glad to read from you. My girlfriend is from Australia and we’re moving to France using a working-holiday visa for her. We plan on getting PACs later this year.

    1) the working holiday visa being valid for exactly a year, do you think it’ll still work out if we apply say after 11 months?
    2) I also understand that if the application is approved, it’s in front of you at the prefecture, and so basically you don’t need to wait for the card to arrive for its benefits to kick in?
    3) Does living in Australia together just before moving to France would count towards the 1 year threshold?

    Thanks so much in advance

    Best,
    S.

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi S, so glad you find it helpful!
      1) It might, but you never know. Since a working holiday visa normally isn’t allowed to change status, I wouldn’t risk giving them more reasons to say no by trying to apply early. Also, make sure your dossier is ROCK SOLID. You’ll need it if she’s on that visa status beforehand.
      2) It depends on the situation- if it’s approved on the spot, then yes. Sometimes it takes longer to be approved and you have to wait for a decision- I’m not sure how that works because that was not my experience.
      3) Nope, you have to be living together in France for a full year. The PACS is nothing more than a tax status, so everyone would be getting it if you could live together in another country beforehand.

      Good luck!

      • Reply
        S.
        at

        Awesome thanks ! Last thing I was thinking about, if we do 11 months, she leaves and comes back on tourist visa for 3 months, then we should be alright then ? Just your opinion. I think I’ll seek legal advice anyways

        • Reply
          Emily
          at

          To be able to change status, she HAS to have a current, active visa- if she leaves and her visa expires, you won’t be able to do the status change, or at the very least it will be a lot harder. Better to try at 11 months than do that- though I’m curious why you wouldn’t just wait a year? As long as she has the appointment to change status, even if her visa expires, she can still stay in the country.

          • S.
            at

            Oh that’s News to me and that would solve everything!
            Do you have a link by any chance that backs what you said ? This was I can refer to that 🙂

            Have a great day ! Croissants and baguette on us if we ever get to meet you

          • Emily
            at

            Unfortunately I don’t- the prefecture is notorious for not actually giving people information, so it’s mainly stuff I’ve learned either via my own experiences or those of my friends/acquaintances. But I was here two months on an expired titre de séjour with no récépissé in between my student CDS and status change and had no issues (besides not being able to work). The appointments at the prefecture are so backed up that if they were to kick everyone out whose visa expired before their appointment, no one would ever stay here!

  • Reply
    S.
    at

    Thanks so much for everything!

  • Reply
    Chinmayee Naik
    at

    Hey emily,

    Wonderful to have someone who can explain this procedure so well and answered sooo many questions that the Prefecture won’t answer. I have a question for you, my boyfriend and i (both indian nationalities) have been together since 5 years, but have only started living together since May this year. My visa appoitnment for the status change is on 19th november, by then we would have only completed 6 months, I am afraid they won’t give me vpf visa (my bf already has a carte de résident). If we get our friends to write a letter about us being together since 5 years, do you think we will be able to go through with this? Also, i heard that they changed the vie commune 1 year clause to 6 months. Is that true?? awaiting your response urgently. Thankyou!

  • Reply
    Miguel
    at

    hi emily,

    Thanks for sharing your experience. I will share mine and ask you some questions at the same time.

    so here’s our story. I came to France (from Nicaragua) in september 2015 to study a master 1 and during the first month I met my boyfriend who is now my pacsé (french). We start dating in october 2015 and we moved together in august 2016.

    We opened a joint bank account the same month we moved (so august 2016) to pay the common expenses of the house (rent, internet, edf, food). However tenant agreement, insurance and Edf are on his name while internet, telephone, cellphones are on mine.

    On september 2016 I went to renew my titre de sejour étudiant to pursue the master 2 in alternance. We both continued studying during that year.

    In august 2017, we decided to PACS, we collected all the documents and we did it.

    After obtention of my master 2, i decided to do an advanced master (mastere specialisé) under alternance contract as well, because i wanted to improve my employability; so I renewed my titre de sejour etudiant on october 2017. At that moment I declared that we were pacs, but since i was asking for a student renewal, the agent told me it was not relevant.

    So they gave me my current tds etudiant on december 2017 (which expires on 29/11/2018). On february 2018, we went to the sous-prefecture antony to set an appointment for changing the status etudiant to vpf.
    we had to show the recepisse d’enregistrement, my tds, my passport, his id, and the attestation de non disolution datant de moins 3 mois. we waited all the morning and once we passed with the agent, he only asked if we had a one year of common life, we said ‘yes, even more’. So he gave us an appointment for 26/07/2018 for “presenting our dossier”.

    So i prepared all the documents, (i printed the joint bank statements since august 2016), my passeport, all my old tds and recepisses, my two previous diplomas (master 1 and master 2), our first avis d’imposition (this year’s), the tax d’habitation on both names, my fiche de paies, my alternance contrat, his id, his new CDI (he just graduated as pharmacien and started already working), the copie of pacs, l’attestation de non dissolution, my birth certificate translated, my c1 french diploma, photos and boarding pass of our vacations.

    When we arrived, we passed inmediately with the agent since we had RDV. she asked the photocopy of my passport, current tds student, the pacs, the attestation of non disolution, my internet bill (proof of adress), and the she asked for the proof of 1 year common life, i gave her the avis d’imposition of this year, and our joint bank statements since august 2016, and then she took them and said well only 1 year is necessary.and that was all she asked for!!!! then she told us that we were cute on the photos but that they werent necessary. Finally, she asked for my two previous diplomas and my current student certificate.

    she gave me something to sign and tld me since “your current tds expires on late november, you wont have a recepissé right now. if by any case, your new tds isn’t ready by then, come 1 week before the expiration of your current one to get a récépissé. it will be a student one, as we wont be able to change your status if our superiors have not made a decission on your dossier.

    she then took my fingerprints and i was thinking that she didnt even ask for my partner’s Id, nor his or my work contract and fiche de paie!!!!!!!!! So i asked her kindly, don’t you need his french id ?? and she said “oh i’ll take it”.

    I also asked for a proof of depot, and she said, there was not, she said be calm, your dossier was registered and my fingerprints were recorded so that i shouldn’t worry, that ‘ill get a sms once the tds is ready.. and that was all. it only took 10 minutes!!! and the prefecture was empty, she wanst on a rush.

    So now i worry that maybe the dossier will be incomplete because she might have forgotten to ask for more papers ?

    Also, she couldnt tell me how long would it take to have the tds or any news. She said she didnt know. In your case how long did it take since the moment you deposited the ‘dossier’ ?

  • Reply
    Sam
    at

    Hey everyone I’m also wondering where exactly we make the appointment – maybe I’m missing it in the post? What is the number/ website I should be contacting? Thanks !

    • Reply
      sam
      at

      UPDATE: After getting the run around by everyone at the prefecture (they all wanted to send me to the wrong visa (one that requires job sponsorship). I called (charged phone call ) to make the appointment. It is a SIX MONTH WAIT. I then went to rue truffaut in the 17th , with my convocation (proof of appointment), passport and photos & was given a recipesse that allows me to continue at least working student hours and allows me to travel without issues while awaiting my apppointment next year. Before making the appointment I had ALL my documents ready to go and they did not even look at them (they said that will take place on my actual appointment date and that since most of my documents will probably be out of date I’ll have to redo them all to make them less than 3 months). Hope this helps someone -_-

      • Reply
        Corentin D
        at

        HI SAM
        IM TRYING TO GET AN APPOINTMENT FOR MY GIRLFRIEND WHO HAS A WORKING HOLIDAY VISA. Could you give me the number that you called to get the appointment ?

        Thanks
        Corentin

  • Reply
    Heidi feldman
    at

    Hello Emily,
    Thanks so much for all of your help, it has gotten me through! I am an american living in Paris. I have a PACS with my french boyfriend. i “legally” live in a suburb of paris with my boyfriend, hosted by his parents…however I am living in Paris. 3 months ago we moved into a different apartment in Paris which FINALLY is official, legal with a contract from the owner and electricity in our names. I do not know if i need to declare this change of address to my antony prefecture? Because I see on the service-public.fr website that for a “titre de sejour de validite superieure d’un an, il faut declarer un changement d’adresse” …my visa is valid Nov 30, 2017 to nov 30, 2018, which is technically one year, not “plus de un an”….So i wonder if technically i do not need to declare an address change and if I can just go to the paris prefecture directly? because the antony prefecture is horrible and i know people have better luck at paris prefecture.
    Do you have any experience or knowledge about this? Thanks so much, any help is very much appreciated.

  • Reply
    James
    at

    Hi all. I have a Titre de séjour vie privée et familiale, et j’ai un RDV for the first renewal. After these renewals (I had a work visa previously so I’ve been through the renewal process), they usually send you an SMS after several weeks, telling you your card is ready and to come and pick it up. My Question is, I may be out of the country when the SMS arrives, is it possible to nominate someone to collect it on my behalf? Has anyone done this? (I’m going through the Rhone Prefecture)

    Thanks!

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi James! In my experience in Paris, as long as your récépissé is still valid, you can pick up your card anytime after the SMS says it’s available. I got mine about a week before my récépissé expired, two months after they said I could get it, because I couldn’t afford to pay the fee to pick it up before then. They shook their heads at me and told me if I had waited till after it expired, I would have gotten fined, but I just picked up my card like normal. I’m sure it’ll be fine if you just go to get it when you’re back in France!

    • Reply
      Erica
      at

      Hi James! I was wondering if you could share what you brought for your vie privée et familiale renewal appointment and how it went! I have one coming up soon and for some reason the list of paperwork needed for the appointment is not so straightforward…

      • Reply
        James
        at

        Hi erica,
        My appointment is not until 11 décembre (1 month after my current titre expires even tho I made the appointment 3 months in advance). I too am having trouble understanding the required documents, the Rhône préfecture website is not clear at all. If anyone else can help answer this question that would be great!

      • Reply
        James
        at

        Hi Erica, did you do the renewal appointment yet? My RDV draws closer and I’m still in the dark about what I’m supposed to provide. Please post on here how you went, and exactly what documents were needed! Good Luck 🙂

        • Reply
          Emily
          at

          Hi James, you don’t need to provide another year of proof- the most important thing they wanted to see for me was the OFII integration papers and our joint avis d’imposition. It’s one of the few cases when you can just follow the list of documents they gave you to renew 🙂 hope that helps!

          • James
            at

            Great! but they never sent us the list! I’m listed in the Rhône prefecture and they never help and their website says nothing. THey also never respond to emails and you cannot call them. So I’m 100% in the dark. The OFII integration papers – I did all that back in 2015 and they’re long lost. I guess I’ll have to contact OFII to retrieve them, but I thought I already went through it with my previous Titre de Séjour. Thanks for the heads up!

          • Emily
            at

            This is a separate integration thing than the original OFII medical exam, though if you were here before on a salarié visa or something similar then you may have already done them (it’s a two day class). Can you go to the prefecture and ask for a list? If not, check on another prefecture’s website- I doubt they vary much from place to place. If they complain, tell them they never sent you a list and show them their own website- they generally become more resigned when faced with their own inadequacies. Good luck!

          • James
            at

            Ah! yes I did the 2 day course, and received a certificate for attending… I took that to my RDV for my first Titre de Séjour. I guess that means I don’t have to worry… thanks!

  • Reply
    Bailey
    at

    It was such a relief to find this article after months of stressing about what to do about my upcoming visa expiration. I just wanted to add that I tried to call to make my appointment but was asked to bring all of my prepared documents to le centre de reception estranger just to make the appointment. I called the police prefacture, pressing various numbers to end up at some sort of étranger helpline. If anyone out there knows a way around it I’d love to know, I’d like to make my rdv now despite not having all my papers prepared. Thanks again for this helpful article!

  • Reply
    Ji-Soo
    at

    Hey guys, since this blog post helped me along my visa/pacs journey, I thought I would share my experience here, in case it can help some of you out.

    I am a New Zealand citizen and pacsed my French boyfriend in September 2017. I returned to France in Oct 2017 with my visitor visa. After 1 year of collecting all sorts of documents, I finally had my rdv today and it was accepted! They gave me a 6-mth recipisse which gives me the right to work (done at the Paris prefecture).

    They actually didn’t even look at most of the things I took (like attestations from friends, associations, travel tickets together, etc it was a bit disappointing after all the hard work I had put into it lol. They just looked at our IDs, proof of address, copy of our pacs and the attestation de non-dissolution and the last 12 months’ proof of living together. As proof of vie commune, I took 4 pieces of mail at least for each month, eg our joint account with both our names, quittance de loyer in both our names, his phone bill, my phone bill, his payslip, my bank account. I think they are just looking for 2 per month, but I wanted to be sure. EDF was really annoying because they only send us the facture twice a year.

    Anyway, they took some time to look through it, then said it was all fine! It was actually REALLY easy-going and I was in and out within 30 minutes! So don’t fret like I did, just be well prepared, I’m sure you will be fine!

    Best of luck to all 🙂
    Ji-Soo

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Ji-Soo, thanks so much for sharing your story! I had done the same thing with time-stamped photos of us and the lady was just like “okay… that proves you were there together at that time, not that you have a vie commune”, which I suppose makes sense. I’m glad your appointment went well, congratulations!!

    • Reply
      Sam
      at

      Hey Ji-Soo, I was wondering where you got the certificat non-dissolution de pacs? I went to my marie (where I was pacsed) and they said no such document exists…so they actually just reprinted my pacs certificate with the date I went to see them. Seems weird, my appointment is in six months so I got a bit time to figure this out haha Thanks in advance !

      • Reply
        Ji-Soo
        at

        Hi Sam

        You can get it by emailing pacs.scec@diplomatie.gouv.fr

        They will ask you for a few details, then they will send it in the post or email it to you !

    • Reply
      Marcus freitas
      at

      hello!

      were you here at first with the working and holiday visa? if so…
      you just left as you visa expired and came back on a normal tourist visa (visa on arrival)?

      thank you!

      • Reply
        Ji-Soo Kim
        at

        Hi Marcus,

        Sorry for my extremely late reply…. Yes I had moved to France in 2016 on a WHV, during which time I met my boyfriend. Then 2018 I moved to Berlin and applied for my French long-term visitor visa for 2018 from Germany. They are valid for one year. Hope this helps!

      • Reply
        Ji-Soo Kim
        at

        Sorry, I mean in 2017 I moved to Berlin. So it was like:
        2016 – France WHV
        2017 – Germany WHV
        2018 – France long-term visitor visa
        2019 – Carte de séjour vie privée familiale

  • Reply
    Shannen
    at

    Hey guys,

    I just wanted to share my experience as this post/ comments has helped me so much. I’m a US citizen, came to France on a student visa (au pair) in September 2016. Got PACSed February 2017. Applied in Nanterre (read: hell on earth) for the VPF in May 2017. Got rejected because they insisted we needed a joint bank account (never did this, turned out not to be an issue in Paris). Moved back to the US in July 2017. Came back to Paris on a long-stay tourist visa in October 2017. Spent months collecting more documents and made an appointment for July 2018. Finally got the CDS in August 2018.

    Documents I brought:
    Separate bank statements for every month as far back as I had them at the same address for each of us (I think I brought 15 months)
    Our lease agreement for our current apartment in both names
    A letter from our rental agency stating the date we moved in
    One statement from EDF in both names attesting to the amount of time we have lived at our current address
    A signed letter from his parents (we lived with them for about 6 months) as well as their water bill and copies of their IDs
    Pretty much any official document that had been sent to me–OFI, bank stuff, doctor stuff, etc.
    Letters from the language schools I attended
    My birth certificate and translation/apostille
    PACS certificate thing
    His birth certificate

    They didn’t seem to care that I had spent about 4 months in the US so we hadn’t technically been living together in France for 12 consecutive months. IT was actually all pretty chill and easy. Just make sure you’re prepared and have all documents in order and not stapled together. We got a lot of sass for having the audacity to staple documents together… Good luck!

  • Reply
    Julie
    at

    Hi there!
    I was wondering what visa you had prior to applying for this visa vie privée vie familiale ?
    My pacs partner Dan has a PVT and at the prefecture they told him twice he has to go apply from Canada which is not optimal as it takes 30 business days to go through and Dan works here in France 🙂
    Thank you for your help!

  • Reply
    BAILEY
    at

    Hi Sam, does this mean you cannot work for six months? Was this the first date available? I’m about to start the process and am terrified I’ll be out of work for months. Thanks in advance!

    • Reply
      Sam
      at

      Hi Bailey,
      No thankfully they give you a “recepisse de demande …” they guy said it allows me continue to work at my current status (for me it’s student so less than full time) and that if I travel to take it with me just to avoid problems.

  • Reply
    Marcus freitas
    at

    Hello!
    did anyone here get PACSed during the working and holiday visa and managed to apply for the vie de famile visa?
    because the visa lasts for one year only.. and though we’ve been living together since the first day I arrived here (for a litttle while with her parents not sure it can be used) I must leave the country once my visa expires…

    should I just come back on a turist visa to apply for it here? Apart from the time we lived with her parents we will have had roughly 10 months pacsed and in the same contract for a house… does that mean I come back on a tourist visa, sit here for tow months and just apply? or I can apply as soon as I arrived as we were living together since the beginning (chez her parents and not pacsed yet)
    thank you very much!

    • Reply
      jolene
      at

      HI MARCUS,
      what was the outcome of your situation? I am on an australian working holiday visa, now have PACSed my european partner, and will be applying to change to the visa vie privee/familiale. Is it possible?

      • Reply
        Erol
        at

        hi Jolene
        Im also in the same situation as you . Do you have any news ?

  • Reply
    Claude
    at

    Hello,

    how long after getting the récépissé did you wait before receiving the text message that your cds is ready for pickup?

  • Reply
    Mariah johnson
    at

    Hello ! How long was your VPF visa valid for?!

  • Reply
    Mustafa
    at

    Hello,
    my girlfriend and I got PACSED this week and i will apply for carte de sejour. I am on a short touristic visa now (3 months), they told me the analyzing and calling to the appointment could take 4 nonths. So my question is that how can i wait until my appointment if my visa expires in less than 3 months now ? And how can i even have common life if they dont allow me to stay? well they said its not problem if its 12 months passed or not, but just a proof that we live together. Thank you for the helps !

    • Reply
      Emily
      at

      Hi Mustafa, you can get PACSed on the 3 month visa exemption but you can’t get the associated residence permit unless you’ve already been living here on a legal visa/residence permit for at least a year. You’ll need to go back and get a different one from the consulate in your home country (student and visitor are easiest) and come back for a year to be able to get this.

      • Reply
        Mustafa
        at

        Hello Emily,
        First of all, i would like to thank to you for all your help. it really helped me big time and i am sure it is a good guidance for the rest of us. Anyway, i have an appointment on Friday ! (3 July 2020) and we are going eith the documents of electricity bills more than a year and tax declerances and pacs attestation. and the invitation letters which were sent to me by my spouse that are dated 207, 2018, 2019. we have a huge faith on those invitation letters because it is officially has been sent by my spouse and sealed with government signatures after reviewing my spouse eligibility. i think those proof pretty much well that we have been in a deep sincere relationship. we pacsed 1 and half year ago , so we rely well on this fact but we are still so worried about my absences in France since i had to came woth touristic visas before student visa and i didnt want to stay in illegal way. my last absence took 6 month before my final arrival in France because i had to wait for my semester in France (a language course) to begin. Anyway, i hope we wont have problem , just wish us a good luck , guys ! May all of us laugh with success and happiness. stay great ! bonnne journee !

      • Reply
        Mustafa
        at

        and we got it 🙂

  • Reply
    Murugesh
    at

    hello Guys and Emily,
    I am Murugesh from India, I have a visa “Salarie” with authorization to work. Because i found this job in paris when i was in india. My employer helped me to get the visa. I was already married with an indian since 2014.
    But for my wife, my employer told that they can’t help.

    hence, i applied the visa vie privee and fam, with her documents and my job CDI and visa which i received while i was in india. Finally i got the visa ” vie privee and fam” but nothing mentioned about the “authorization to work” in her visa. Also i got the visa for my minor son.

    because we all got the visa on same time, we traveled on same time.
    except my son, i and wife got the long stay visa for an year which is valid up to middle of august 2019. For me everything alright until now.

    But for my wife:
    After arriving and settled here in paris, i sent the visa copy and OFII form which i received from embassy india, Ofii siad that Her file can’t be processed at oFII and they asked me to visit Prefecture “versailles”. Now at the prefecture, they said she will get only “CDJ visiter” not the “vie privee and fam”. Also, Prefecture said she should not work in france. But, they said that later, she can apply for the change of status to get the cdj ” vie privee and fam”.

    in fact, my wife is an engineer and she was working in india. She wants to work in france also. Now, i really lost and don’t know how to get the CDJ with “vie privee” with the authorization to work. I would really appreciate your timely help.

    douments submitted:

    1. her long stay visa, copy of passport, her RIB(but no transaction).
    2.my OFII sticker(first carte de sejour),copy of passport, My three months payslip.
    3.our marriage certificate in english.
    4.my son’s maternelle school inscription form, and DCEM(identity card)
    5. rent receipt (in my name, not on her name.)

    Your kind suggestion will really help me a lot. Thanks in advance.
    Regards,
    Murugesh

  • Reply
    Guillaume
    at

    Hello guys,
    My girlfriend is from SOuth Korea, she’s currently holding a Working holiday visa until April 2020.
    We’ve been living together since she arrived in France and we got pacsed on june. Her name is on the renting contract and on the the bills as well.
    We will try to apply for the ‘vie privée vie familiale’ but the problem is we don’t know when we should do that since her visa only lasts for a year and we won’t be able to prove that we lived together 12 months. I’ve read that we should apply at least 2 months before the end of her visa but I’ve also heard that is it impossible to switch from a WHV to a “Vie privée via familiale”. If what I read is correct, she will have to go back to her country for at least 90 days before being able to come back here and she will also have to hold a “long stay visa” before being able to apply for the “vie privée vie familiale”.
    We have time to think about it but I don’t see any solution so far, so I would need your help please !

    Thank you!

  • Reply
    Enes
    at

    Hello Emily,

    During the preparation of my documents your blog was so so helpful and useful, im so thankful to you and the people who wrote comments and answers.

    Last week I applied for my card de sejour with PACS. (in Angers)
    and I have a question, until I get any answers from the Prefecture in this duration can I go out of France with récépissé? because my visa will expires soon, but I would like to go to my country to visit my family.

    Do someone knows about it?

    thank you.

    • Reply
      Mustafa
      at

      Hello Enes ,
      I consider that you are a Turkish citizen due to your name. we share a common situation here and we will apply for Carte de Sejour after 3 days 🙂 , i wouldnt play with going our of the border because the recepisse is only valid in France. i heard once in Istanbul at the airport , a guy was announcing ” please prepare your carte de sejour or valid french visa ” so, recepisse wouldnt mean anything in Turkey or other countries, you would be stuck there even if you case in France results well. please let me know the answer ! good luck!

  • Reply
    Clement
    at

    Dear all,

    Maybe I miss some informations… All this PACS and visa it’s chicken and eggs.

    (Im french and my GF is from Ukraine. We met in China, and I would like her to move with me in France)

    To apply for the VISA, we need to apply for the PACS (ok fine), but we need as well to prove that we are are living together for many months or even more than one year…

    But now the tricky question…:
    // how can we live together if she doesn’t have a visa to live together with me in France?
    // Chicken or egg?

    Does she have to live and come back every 3 months? Just with tourist VISA? But it’s not very right t do this?
    Does she have to apply for a student VISA (but what happen for older couple?)
    Does she have to work and have a work VISA? But she needs time in France to learn French and find a job?

    Is there any other VISA that I forget?

    THX you by advance

    • Reply
      Mustafa
      at

      Dear Clement, i have had the same problem, my spouse is French and we met in Lithuania back in 2015. i had to come all the time with touristic visas but wasnt eligible for applying carte de sejour. Finally i have taken a student visa and after 3 days, we have an appointment. what i would suggest for you is that your girlfriend get a long term visiting visa (yes it exists, i found out after) but you need to send her an official invitation letter sealed by the government for at least 3 months and then proving anything that she will be with you and she has financial situation and all bla bla. and after 6 month will be a renewal at prefecture and when it is 1 year you can get carte de sejour. good luck!

  • Reply
    Eric
    at

    Could you please provide me the source for your statement (as follows) because I can’t find the evidence for this anywhere: “UPDATE 2020: The Paris prefecture has changed the requirements for changing to VPF status- you still have to have 1 year of vie commune, but you must have lived in France for at least 3 years on another status. No official announcements have been made, however, so I’ll do my best to keep this post updated with the latest information about this.”

    • Reply
      Adrien
      at

      Hey Eric – did you find out any more info about this? I’ve scoured the web and French sites and have found nothing.

    • Reply
      Denis
      at

      Hello, Eric. There is no official source. I can confirm that : in my case, an agent of the Préfecture de police requested 3 years of presence too. I don’t know why…

  • Reply
    Jay
    at

    Hello!!!
    Love following your stories!
    I have a quick question for you, I see now that the prefecture of police is changing the way they are taking the appointments for the Titre de Sejour Vie prive and Familial. Now everything has to be done on the internet on the site prefecturedepolice.interieur.gouv.fr
    I see there that you can upload your Dossier and have it sent to them. However, there were not an option for PACS. Only option they have was MARRIED…
    I called the prefecture many times and they say that the platform for PACS doesn’t exist yet..
    Its been a while I have been waiting, would you have anymore information of where I can send in my dossier?
    Thank you

  • Reply
    A
    at

    Following!

  • Reply
    Anne
    at

    Hello Emily! Thank you for this really helpful article!
    I recently changed from a student titre de séjour to a Vie Privée et familiale ! (Last week).. I’ve been living in France and done all my university years in France (I’m currently finishing my first year of my Master’s degree).

    I have one question! Have you considered applying to ask for the French “naturalisation ” to become a citizen?

    I’m wondering if it would be a good idea to apply sin e I have the requirements but I don’t know how “severe ” they are…

    Thank you !!
    Kind regards,
    Anne

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