MERDE! We got it wrong.
Carolyn is feeling ANXIOUS.
When my mother read our February 20th newsletter about signing one French contract four separate times, she told me that people might not like reading something that made them so anxious. This was her way of telling me it made her anxious. I explained that the point of our newsletters was to share not only the excitement of moving abroad but also the difficulty and stress that comes with it. What’s the point of sharing what we’re learning if we sugar coat everything?
In general when I talk to friends about moving to France, they tend to get the same type of expression which is wide-eyed with enthusiasm but also fearful. If your child said they seriously wanted to be an astronaut you would think, "Wow, bad ass. But will you be smart enough? Fit enough? What if you run out of oxygen? What if your ship blows up?" I’m not saying what we are doing is anything as brave as working for NASA, but there is a sense of "Only children say they will be astronauts or move to France."
Like many people, I go through life with a steady stream of anxiety (see note about my mother above). I became so overwhelmed with anxiety in my mid 30s that I began to take Lexapro, which I still take today. If we are acquaintances this may surprise you. If you know me well, this will not. Lexapro is good at stopping anxiety with no real source. However, in my experience, it does not stop anxiety that does have a source.
Below is a sample list of the concerns I have about buying property in France that run through my mind if I should wake up at 3am and not be able to fall back asleep (or maybe I can’t fall back asleep because of this running list of concerns).
How will we travel back and forth to France with our two dogs who have never flown?
What happens if/when a dog poops on a plane?
What if they bark constantly in the new apartment and antagonize our French neighbors?
Will plane tickets to Europe continue to be exorbitantly expensive?
What if the euro becomes 1:2 to the dollar- what will our life look like?
If we rent out our apartment in France, who will take care of the dirty laundry and upkeep while we are away? Same question if we decide to rent out our house in Austin.
What if my mother decides she can no longer travel that far?
What if Montpellier becomes unbearably hot and we can’t manage to put in decent AC?
What is the French phrase for "We’ve made a horrible mistake"?
These specific concerns bounce around in my head next to the general fear that I have missed or misunderstood some huge fact that will have major repercussions.
Two weeks ago this fear was realized when I I discovered that we had completely misunderstood the rules for becoming French residents. In our December 26th newsletter, I wrote that "to become residents we must spend 183 days a year in France for five years." This seemed totally do-able and a nice way to divide our time between Texas and France. I can’t even remember now where this fact came from, but I know Roberto was very certain of it, and, therefore, I accepted it as truth. I know I’m throwing him under the bus here, but you should know that his favorite personal mottos is, "Often wrong. Never in doubt."
The bad info was uncovered when I had a Zoom consultation with a Frenchman whose business is to help Americans move to France (worth his weight in gold!). I assaulted him with questions for an hour. Once he confirmed that my understanding of French residency was as accurate as my use of the French subjunctive, he sorted me out. Here are the various visitor visas we will be dealing with:
A three month tourist visa requires no paperwork before arrival, but you will need to prove you can support yourself while in France using bank statements. Also a good idea to be able to show them your tickets home.
A six month tourist visa requires a visit to a French embassy before you leave the US (we will have to go to Houston). There is paperwork that involves at least three bank statements, proof of accommodation (in our case, the deed to the apartment), and proof of travel health insurance for a minimum amount of $30,000 (an American health insurance card is not an acceptable proof of adequate coverage).
The consultant advised me that we could go in and out of France as many times as we liked on the tourist visas over several years. (There are some rules about how long you need to be away before you can return).
We then discussed becoming residents (please double check all the facts because the French seem to change the specific requirements of the process as often as they change scarves).
While still in the US, you apply for a long stay visa for one year. In addition to the requirements for the six month tourist visa (above) the long stay visa requires evidence that you have income or funds of at least equivalent to the French minimum wage. In 2022, this was roughly $16,000.
That visa gives you the right to enter France and apply for a temporary one year residency card. You must apply for that card within 90 days of arriving.
Each year, as you continue to live in France, you must renew the one year temporary residency card.
After you have renewed your temporary residency card 5 times, you can apply for the ten year residency card.
Health Insurance
You may apply for the national French health insurance after living in France after only three months! You are required to apply for it after living there one year.
A wise person once told me that life was like being on a trapeze and that the secret to happiness was to learn to enjoy the time between letting go of one bar and grabbing the next—to love the time in the air.
Now is one of the times when this advice seems most salient, because I feel I am soaring high above the ground. I must remind myself that there is a net. No one is forcing us to move. We aren’t refugees who can’t go back home. We are lucky people at the beginning of an exciting journey.
And to my mother, who I know is reading this with a tight stomach, je suis désolée for the stress, but everything will be FINE.
Jusqu’à la prochaine fois (until next time)
Carolyn & Roberto
Not sure if France is the same, but in Spain a temporary residence visa requires that you stay at least 180 days, or you will not be able to renew it. This can be inconvenient and it also means that you'll become a tax resident there. You'll also always be liable for US taxes due to its citizen based taxation.
You are doing all the due diligence. There will still be surprises…there always are. But how exciting!!!