Unlocking france: navigating long-stay visas 🇫🇷✈️🔑

UNDERSTANDING THE CRITERIA AND THEIR DURATIONS FOR NON-RESIDENTS  Reader question: I own a small property in France and am no longer able to stay there more than three months at a time. I

have heard there is an option for visas between three months and one year – how do you get a year? Is the amount of time given just at random? No, it is not just given at random, but will

rather depend on your intentions as stated in your application for the visa. Any visa issued for more three months is described as being for a ‘long stay’, however if it is clear that you do

not intend to move to France and make the country your main home, and become a French tax resident, then the visa issued to you will be a visa de long-séjour temporaire – a temporary

long-stay visa. These do not need to either be ‘validated’ in France or replaced by a residency card and they cannot be renewed. Read more: Fight continues to ease visa process for long

visits to France TYPICAL VISA LENGTH While, technically, it is possible for a temporary visa to be issued for up to one year, this is rarely the case and they are usually issued for four to

six months, depending on your needs. As a general rule, if someone comes to France for more than six months in any given year, there is an assumption that they are ‘moving to France’ and

they are also likely to become French tax residents (exact rules on tax residency include several other tests, if this is in doubt). Where this is the intention, the person would be issued

an ordinary long-stay visa instead. Read more: Brexit cards: what are the rules around passport renewal and residency cards in France? One possible situation where a temporary visa may be

issued for 12 months would be, for example, coming to France for work linked to an artistic profession, where the project is lasting no more than 12 months. Note that there is nothing

stopping you combining time in France on the 90/180 days rule in the same year as time on a temporary visa, so generally speaking a second-home owner would have no need of a visa lasting

more than six months.