Work Visa : the key for working in France
Millions of people from around the world enjoy visiting France each year. Some of those people are so enchanted by France that they seriously consider moving to the country as either a student or as an employee.
However, with each passing year and the continuing high unemployment rate in France, the process of living and working in France has gotten increasingly more difficult for foreigners.
Some tips to obtain a Work Visa in France
Even so, it is not impossible to obtain a work visa in France. There are several ways in which you can do this:
- Secure employment with a French multinational company (Total, AXA, etc.) and petition to spend time living and working in an office in France.
- Work for a multinational company of any sort that has offices in France and seek to be stationed there.
- Find an employment niche that a French national will not be as qualified to do, and seek to find a job in that field. Certain highly specialized fields (health and IT fields, to name two) have a shortage of workers from the EU.
- Go to France on a student visa, and while there, work for a French company that has perhaps given you an internship during your student days.
As for which countries provide the most foreign workers in France, the law clearly favors citizens from EU nations. If you are from a non-EU country, you must first find a job, then obtain a work visa in France, then get a visa de long séjour (your employer should help with this) and then, upon arriving in France, apply for a carte de séjour, which will enable you to stay in the country for a year, the length of your contract, or some other period of time (it truly depends on the region and bureaucrat approving the request!).
As part of your goal to obtain a work visa in France, it cannot hurt to become more skilled in French. France, like many countries, is re-thinking the linguistic requirements of its inhabitants, correctly reasoning that fluency in French is desirable among all residents and key to reinforcing a national identity. If, for instance, you have been able to prove that you can perform a certain job in France better than anyone else in the EU, then fluency in French you will need to demonstrated at least limited fluency in French.
Some language schools in France understand this and give specialized courses to people who are working in France and want to become more fluent, especially in their area of employment.