canadian wanting to move to france indefinitely

[qtlemon]

hello everyone!

i'm a canadian and i have an internet based business (consulting to mostly north american clients).

i would like to move to france and stay as long as possible.

i'm not concerned about the employment aspect, but just the legalities of extending my temp residence permit.  what factors determine whether they will keep extending it. typically how long will they let me stay? only a year?  longer?  can i keep reapplying and extending it?

i understand i must get my extended stay visa before leaving canada in order to apply for a temp res. permit.

my fiancee will be coming with me. she is japanese and currently in canada on a visitor's permit. i understand she will first have to go back to japan to apply for her longstay permit.

if a non EU foreigner like a canadian went to france with no longstay visa, and overstayed the 3 months, what would happen? i understand you become an illegal alien. does this mean french prison if a cop catches you speeding and examines your passport?

thanks for all your insights and advice.

 

 

 

[Nick Trollope]

[quote]hello everyone! i'm a canadian and i have an internet based business (consulting to mostly north american clients). i would like to move to france and stay as long as possible. i'm not concerned a...[/quote]

I think that you need to check with your nearest French (and Japanese) consulates!

There are concessions for persons from the "French" bit of Canada (is that you)? My neighbour comes under this category, as far as I am aware, she has been here for years, but still holds a Canadian passport.

I doubt if you would get imprisoned if you were "illegal". Just deported. Mark you, France is rife with illegals (as is most of Europe), so you would blend in with the crowd!!

Seriously though, you biggest problem will be with health cover. You must subscribe to the French health system to get any treatment, you can't simply buy insurance, without subscribing first. France is pretty much a police state, so "getting away with things" is rather more difficult than you are used to. That said, I suspect that, if you can prove that you can contribute to the state, you would be made welcome!

But don't believe me, I've only been here 2 1/2 years...