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 Question: As I plan to move from Italy to France in a month or two, I would like to be aware of problems other people are experiencing. I am an American married to an Italian and working in Italy as an IT consultant and my Italian residence permit is family-based: “married to an Italian national - E.U.” I take it that I cannot just pack up and go to France to look for a job.
I understand I could easily join my wife if she chose to move to France but matters would get much more difficult if I had to settle in France first and have her join me later, which of course would be the right way to do things. What is the best scenario for me to settle in France?
ANSWER
I often use the image of a tractor-trailer to explain the procedure you are about to start since the trailer can only ever follow the tractor. First, E.U. regulations grant all E.U. citizens the right to live in any member country. As the E.U. respects matrimonial ties, there is always a procedure for a non-E.U. spouse to acquire full residency status.
Thus, there is only one logical, legal scenario: you move at the same time or slightly after your European spouse so that she establishes her right to live in France and you link your request for legal immigrant status in France to her stay here.
The alternative is to immigrate on your own merit. This would require you to get an immigration visa based on your American citizenship and your ability to survive in France. To achieve this, you need to prove you can move your IT business and continue to be successful. You would not fall under E.U. regulation even if you explained that your Italian spouse would be arriving a couple of months after you.
Your ideal immigration scenario can be quite difficult to explain to the authorities, even though there are often excellent reasons for the national spouse to stay in the country of origin and settle up there while the other spouse starts the process in the new country.
Under the current regulations, I see two possible ways to facilitate this scenario. One is for your spouse to start the process of moving to France, which also allows you to get into France, and then she goes back to Italy and finishes business there. The other is to use an Italian employer or your Italian business to sponsor you in France, since trade is totally free between the member countries.
The E.U. citizen starts the immigration process
It is relatively simple for an E.U. citizen to start the immigration process. The three main requirements are financial means, health insurance and lodging. The prefecture will want to know why the person is moving to France, whether it is to start a job with a French employer, open a new business or study. If no specific reason is provided, the E.U. citizen must stay in France more than three months in order to be seen as a French resident. This delays the whole process.
The American citizen prolongs his Italian residency
This solution, which can be difficult to grasp at first, can be summed up this way: You are physically in France but whatever work you do is cleared through a business in Italy. As an American you can get in and out of France without attracting much attention. Officially you are still an Italian resident and for business reasons you need to travel and stay in France at times to deliver some services.
This status should not last very long, but it lets you anchor your relationship in France in a practical and administrative way. Make sure you put everything in both of your names. This way, when your spouse is ready to come to France, you can go back to Italy and ask for an immigration visa based on her settling in France, which can be proved with utility bills, among other things.
Transitions are never easy and this is no exception. On the other hand, when it is properly done it helps the settling in quite a lot.
One last thing: it is possible for an American citizen married to an E.U. citizen to acquire French residency without asking for an immigration visa. But I want to be clear about this: it means you will start with illegal immigration status when you submit your request to the prefecture. Since you can thus avoid going back to Italy to wait for the visa to be issued, you may be tempted to apply this way. The prefectures are quite lenient regarding this procedure and there is no risk of being denied or hassled.
As you can see, no matter how you handle the everyday issues and practical matters, from an official point of view your spouse will always appear to be the tractor and you the trailer, following her lead.
Jean Taquet holds a masters degree in law from the Sorbonne University and the French BTS accounting degree. He served as a jurist officer in the French Army in1985. He has been managing the refugee ministry of the American church since 1993, and has written the Question and Answer column in the Paris Free Voice. Read his complete bio .
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