I'am French and I'am very happy to see good people coming here, friends always welcome, enjoy your life ! Love from Bandol

Super vidéo, je suis super content d'entendre que les journées d'instruction civiques étaient bien utiles et intéressantes. Cela fait plaisir, d'entendre que quelque chose marche correctement en France, souvent, nous les Français, nous pensons que tout est mieux ailleurs qu'en France. Merci pour la vidéo.

I love my country and I'm very proud of it, as are many of my fellow countrymen. It's true that we're sometimes grouchy, but we learned at school that critical thinking (for good or ill) is a blessing for self-improvement and that sincerity always pays off (I don't hesitate to tell a friend that he or she is dressed “like a sack”, for example, because I don't like my friends to be made fun of :)) ) in short, we love life, we also love work (but not overwork :)) and taking care of others (ideally, but in our villages it's more obvious than in the city). From the North of France (a Ch'ti :)).

Wow, thanks for all the helpful information! It sounds like France really tries to make sure its new residents are well informed and assimiliate as smoothly as possible.

Bienvenue en France et bon courage ! Et quand vous vous intégrerez vraiment, vous verrez que 1h30 de Bordeaux et 2h30 de Toulouse, c'est loin. En France, "pas trop loin", c'est moins d'une heure de route. La distance ne compte pas vraiment. Juste le temps de trajet. Because, the less time you waste on commuting, the more time you have to enjoy your days.

I love the idea of civics classes. I would totally nerd out on this too! 😁

I wish all the best for your cute family in your french life. I hope sincerly that you might like our country. Your daughter has already a french accent. It's incredible in a short time.

I opted for the “artistique Culturelle” talent visa in France and am doing video and animation freelance work in Lille, France. I chose this visa instead of the visitor visa because the visitor visa does not lead to a path to citizenship, and does not allow people to work either within France or anywhere remotely abroad. No income can be generated on that visa at all, and if the French government finds that people have been working from anywhere on the visitor visa they will cancel the visa and require the visa holder to leave France. Very valuable information to know.

I’m not French, nor do I live in France, but I find the fact that the French government gives you mandatory Civic classes a great idea. In My Country, Switzerland, I also had Civic classes as a teenager from 13- 14 years old where we’d study the civil code, know our rights and obligations, how society works, etc. I find it very important, to know how your country works and how you are supposed to behave. I’m very curious, do you have anything like that in the USA? Civic classes taught to middle school kids like I had in Switzerland? I can’t help but wonder when I see USA police officers’ body cam videos on KZfaq and how people over there behave…

WOW thank you for this informative video and the new updates you have put in as 2024 you have to do a language test. I am doing my extra French language learning on-line via teams and meet the assessor at the end and at the beginning of the course. My medical for 2024 was now a 2-day medical, X-ray of the lungs at a main hospital, then on the second day small interview with the nurse. Eye test, a mental health questionnaire. blood test was optional. Best to bring proof of your medical vaccinations , They wanted to know if you have Hepatitis C vaccine. If you have a COVID Pass, ( document that proves you had the COVID vaccine ) if you had the COVID vaccine. What one, What vaccines you had as a child etc . Then seen by the DR, for the summary evaluation. Passed got paper stamped on my way. Please get your paper stamped its a must many ppl just walk out not getting their paper stamped, You can import your car free of tax if your able to prove the car was in your procession for more than 6 months before entering France. And then apply for the control technique at a garage, (road safety test ) and then get French car insurance , Then you have to apply for your carte grise permit, ( car registration in US ) I did all that with my car with Florida plates and now we have French car licence plates. Lucky that Florida has a driver's licence exchange scheme. No need for a test, I can drive for one year I been told before the driver exchange. In my experience as a younger independent person and younger people are at a premium more help was given to find work. And at my medical all the younger people went first straight in. The retired age group got left hanging around and still waiting when we had left. Hope thats of help, as i am living the experience right now,

Yes. Welcome to France ! ❤

Another amazingly helpful video…thank you, Raina and Jason! The scenery behind you is gorgeous!

Gotta love the horse cameo and the overall very relaxed, almost ASMR vibes of the video. How to get properly informed AND relaxed in one go 😊

very informative .. thank you so much for taking the time to help others. -Daniel (Paris)

Great channel! I am actually French, I have been living in the UK for a very long time. My wife isn't French, and all this is so informative and useful. Great work, thank you so much for sharing your experiences.

As always, fantastic information - thank you! We always love your videos because they're just so informative and helpful. Raina, I absolutely love your excitement around the civics classes - I'd be the same way! We're coming on retirement visas so I don't think we have to take them but if I can find those classes, I might crash them lol. I too really appreciate that the French are so welcoming and really want you to get off on the right foot. So incredible and so unlike the US! I do have a couple of question - how the heck did you get through your immigration medical appointments in French? Also, what kind of visa does Jason have? Thank you again for these fantastic videos. You've put our minds to rest on so many of these questions. Merci beaucoup!!

Thanks for the informative video. I am in the process of getting everything ready to go here if I decide to rent out my house or sell before making the move to France. Where are you currently residing? The countryside is beautiful and looks like somewhere I would enjoy living.

This was really useful guys, thank you

Very happy to see you stay here with all the trouble that the french administration could put someone through 😅 ( french natives included). Good luck for your future. endeavours.

I loved this! Thank you so much, this was very helpful to know!!

This is such a cool attitude Raina has: use the system, learn as much as you can, get the most out of it, they are giving it to you for free, what"s wrong with you ?! People who keep complaining never get anywhere, only in their own misery imho. Go Raina!

Great information. Thanks!

The nature behind is pretty. Can i ask you where is it exactly ? Thx you.

You should listen french everyday like youtube videos etc for the 10 next years and it can helps you a lot

Super helpful and informative, Thanks. I am hoping to have EU citizenship by descent before moving to France but it is nice to know the process in detail what to expect.

Interesting! I'd be curious when the Civics classes and other items on the entrepreneur visa requirements are required for long stay visa vs. deferred to citizenship. The basic language test descriptions were helpful. We're a few years out and have started classes, but will be retiring early and going the visitor visa route. Thanks!

I love hearing your stories! Thank you for sharing with us. But I haven't yet figured out what you do, Raina. Are you working remotely for an American company?

Interesting...the language test must be a new requirement for the Profession Liberale. It wasn't a requirement before.

The higher requirement about language is not for 'European' immigrants, but 'third world' ones (even if the gov would say nope...) because 'third world' immigration is a big issue here like elsewhere in Europe.

have you done any long stay video requirements for someone who simply wants to retire...not work...in France?

Thanks Jason and Raina. Your video is so helpful. In regards to the required medical check-up being quite a bit of time after validation and my apartment search is uncertain, would it be wise to validate my visa toward the end of 3 months in hope that by then I have a longterm rental address to register on the validation site?

Off-topic: I like trains, but I am not a train nerd. You don't like the French Tacos, so a fast high speed train to Spain is needed. In this way, we get a US train review and you get an original Taco. Win Win 😉

We move later in the year,glad hubby has eu status,so no visa needed

Hello, when is the next video in French. You are adorable

My question is about buying your airplane tickets, did you purchase a one way ticket or both way, thank you in advance

Thank you for all the great information you provide in your videos! My husband and I hope to be on this path in a couple of years. Some of your anecdotes are particularly relevant knowing you’ve lived in Colorado! 🏔️ And this is so encouraging to hear how well the French help people truly integrate. 👏

That sounds like a B1 language test. How come you both didn't have to do this?

I would never envision to go and live in a foreign country without knowing its langage...always amazes me how anglo-saxons go everywhere with only their english in their pockets and witout any worry, only some rightful self surprise and condescendance on how the locals do only speak their own local language, besides some weird local coutumes.

Hmmm, I have a question, i'm curious (and I'm French and I live close to you ^^). You have a driving license US, but to drive in France (you wanna live in forever). do you have any steps to take? 'cause we have a lot of differences with United States on the road. PS: sorry, I understand english american except Texan accent haha but I don't speak & scribe well).