Christmas is around the corner, and my office will be open for less than two weeks before closing for the holidays on Friday, December 13th. 

I would like to wish you all happy holidays. We can hope that 2025 will bring what we wish for, even though 2024 did not do it for about half the American population. I hope we all can find a way to sincerely exchange best wishes with each other, even though in some instances it might take a near miracle. There will always be worries and looming dangers. The aftermath of the US election has resulted in a wide range of emotions and a lot of uncertainty about the future. That being said, I wish you all.

A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

Duel is a 1971 American road action-thriller television film directed by Steven Spielberg. It concerns a traveling salesman, played by Dennis Weaver, driving his car through rural California to meet a client when he finds himself terrorized by the mostly unseen driver of a semi-trailer truck. The screenplay is by Richard Matheson, adapting his short story of the same name published in the April 1971 issue of Playboy magazine. The story was and based on an incident on November 22nd, 1963, when a trucker dangerously cut Matheson off on a California freeway.

I associate two very different thoughts with the plot of this movie. What makes the film so scary is that, since we never know anything about the truck driver, the truck becomes a character that seems absolutely determined to kill the traveling salesman.

During the US presidential campaign, each side warned and often complained that the other side planned to destroy American democracy. What I heard was something like this: “If the other side wins, we will be victims of their wrath!” It went way beyond just winning or losing an election.

The Republican Party will soon control the White House and Congress. Its message during the interim is that its plan will be carried out with full force because it has a mandate from the people. This message gives the impression that there will no longer be any guide rails, oversight, etc. The Senate is likely to approve the announced Cabinet nominees. It will be interesting in the next several months to see the balance of power between the White House and Congress.

The Encycopaedia Britannica describes a duel as “a combat between persons, armed with lethal weapons, which is held according to prearranged rules to settle a quarrel or a point of honor. It is an alternative to having recourse to the usual process of justice.”

In the past, the expected outcome of a duel was the death of one of the combatants. In the movie, the truck loses, and its driver dies, while the traveling salesman survives. I continue to hope that there will be a strong spirit of compromise after these elections. One can hope. One can be a militant for peace and reconciliation. I have always dreamed of a time when all people could live side by side, tolerant of their respective differences.

A REGALIAN STATE: PRESIDENT TRUMP’S POLICIES

I followed the entire campaign carefully and listened to both sides, as I wanted to understand the ins and outs of each candidate’s vision. Most people in the media stated that Kamala Harris’s policies were well described with plenty of details. Donald Trump’s policies were not as easy to identify and evaluate, as he did not give many details. Unlike in the previous election, the definitive result was announced right away. Ms. Harris conceded the next day, November 6th. Almost immediately, President-elect Trump and the media started mentioning the names of proposed Cabinet members. Now much of the focus is on their personalities and expertise and, on the Republican side, how great they are or, among Democrats, how bad.

It took me a couple of days to realize that Mr. Trump’s governing vision was quite out of the ordinary. What I saw took me back to law school, studying constitutional law and the two fundamentally different forms of government, including within the scope of a democracy. These are the regalian state and the welfare state.

The regalian functions of government are generally understood to be:

The regalian functions of government are generally understood to be:

• ensuring external security through diplomacy and territorial defense
• ensuring internal security and maintaining public order, notably through police
• defining the law and dispensing justice
• securing monetary sovereignty by issuing money, notably through a central bank
• maintaining budgetary sovereignty by approving the budget, levying taxes, and managing public finances.

The welfare function of government can be defined as:

A system whereby the government undertakes to protect the health and well-being of citizens, especially those in financial or social need, through grants, pensions, and other benefits.

All Western countries have so far pursued various versions of a welfare state. The Western European countries have more or less achieved the maximum that can be done regarding the basic necessities of life. The USA has Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare programs such as food stamps, the Affordable Care Act, and so on. The US welfare state is thus less extensive than those in Europe, but there has been an attempt since WWII to move in the direction of improving and maintaining such programs. Democratic administrations have done more than Republican ones in this respect, and even this could be debated if the review goes all the way back to 1945.

President-elect Trump and the people he has chosen all say that several agencies will be eliminated, including the programs mentioned above. In short, the coming administration wants to create a regalian state as much as possible, definitively abandoning the welfare state. This is a radical approach to government.

Europe’s absolute monarchies were all regalian states. Louis XIV was famous for supposedly stating, “L’état, c’est moi” (“I am the state”). In short, he was all-powerful. The French Revolution and later Napoleon started to create a welfare state, even though Napoleon was emperor and a dictator. The founding fathers of the USA also had a kind of welfare state vision. In the archetypical Old West or Wild West, from about the 1850s to 1919, the federal government imposed law and order, the absolute minimum the regalian state must provide, as quickly as possible.

Attempts to downsize the government started picking up steam with Ronald Reagan’s election in 1981. They really took off, however, after February 20th, 2009, the day a Nationwide Tea Party Coalition held a conference call in which around 50 conservative activists participated. Supporters of the Tea Party movement would have a major impact on internal Republican Party politics. In other words, such ideas in the USA are hardly new, but now there is a possibility of people in power acting on them in a truly radical way.

KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FRANCE AND THE USA
Ever since moving to my current office in 2016, I have thought of writing about some obvious ways France differs from America. It started with the fact that my post office, just around the corner from my office, is identified by the Catholic name Sainte Marguerite. The building next to it is a kindergarten. The next building, facing the post office, is a drag theater. I have never heard any of my neighbors comment about this. When I point out the situation to Americans as we walk by these three buildings, they are always surprised.

Saints’ names are used so much in France. It can be where it is perfectly normal; it is for the square facing a church and the street in front of it to share the same name. It does not take long for tourists to see how prevalent Catholic names are. Even some municipalities are named for saints.

A recent poll in France found that 51% of respondents said they did not believe in God, while 44% said they did. Of those polled, 29% said they were Catholic, 10% identified as Muslim, and 9% professed other Christian affiliations. The thing I find especially interesting is that 50% of the French population claims some relationship with Christianity. This means a significant portion of French people do not believe in God but see themselves as Catholic. Let me explain this oddity within the French culture.

As France has been molded by the Catholic faith for centuries, society manifests this environment and these ties. Frequently couples who are both nonbelievers get married in a Catholic church because it is a family tradition. Another illustration is the French national holidays. Six of the 11 are religious: Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Assumption of Mary, All Saints, and Christmas.

Many guidebooks and blogs draw comparisons between France and other countries one item at a time, singling out the differences. This can be useful information as well as entertaining for many. Such resources will have sections on tenants, employees, health coverage (Assurance-Maladie), banking, and more.

Seeing an image is often more powerful than reading a long, detailed description. Many Americans in France have a hard time accepting the changes they need to make in how they live to adapt to life here. Regardless of how many books, movies, and documentaries people aspiring to move to France, Americans never really register deep down how different French life is!

It takes a personal, vivid experience of time in France as an immigrant, no longer a tourist, for the difference to sink in. Immigrants then realize how much they need to change and how far they must go out of their comfort zone. They often disbelieve that such change is really needed. They are sure they can manage the transition without having to go so far in changing who they think they are. But humans can be a lot more adaptable than they think. Every foreigner moving to France to settle as an immigrant goes through a reality check, often quite a painful experience, before finally recognizing what big changes are needed to have a pleasant and fruitful life in France.

Sometimes, personally experiencing something that to American common sense can seem a complete oddity will help people accept living in a new world, a new environment, pretty much a new everything. Maybe newcomers should try walking to the Cité Souzy, at the southern end of the 11th district. Looking at those three buildings could help some unsettled foreigners get over what is holding them back.

INCREASE IN URSSAF SOCIAL CHARGES
Many of my clients have asked for an explanation regarding the increase in social charges collected by URSSAF. The official explanation seems flimsy to me. The rise is supposed to secure the future of the French retirement organization CIPAV to keep it well-funded. The reality is that France is deep in debt, and many measures to improve its solvency will be taken.

Here is the schedule of the graduated increase over the next 18 months. It started at a rate of 21.1% of gross income. From July 1st to December 31st, 2024, it is 23.1%, with two more increases to come:
– from January 1st to December 31st, 2025: 24.6%
– starting January 1st, 2026: 26.1%.

There is not much I can say except that this is a truly sharp increase.

“WHY ARE THE PREFECTURE PROCEDURES SO SLOW?”
I hear this question all the time on forums and elsewhere in the expat community. I do not yet have the complete explanation, but I know enough to understand what has happened.

Before the COVID pandemic, everything related to immigration procedures included an in-person meeting with a civil servant, who first reviewed the file. Many applicants had the experience of hearing this civil servant say condescendingly that the file was not complete, then hand-write the so-called missing documents on a small piece of paper and issue a new appointment. Those who were in France in those days remember! The good side of this was that no matter how unpleasant the civil servants were, they told the applicant what was missing and sometimes gave an explanation.

Often when I discussed a case with the civil servants, they accepted a different document in place of one that was on the list. Nevertheless, I will never forget the long hours waiting to be called and having the impression that no one was working for half the day. I feel the same when I recall waiting in line outside the prefecture before it opened; sometimes one needed to be there several hours beforehand.

Today there are hardly any appointments at the post-pandemic prefecture. Increasingly, procedures are done completely online and one goes to the prefecture only to pick up the plastic carte de séjour. The many benefits of this new approach are real, especially when nothing is missing in the file and it is approved on the first try.

Prefectures across France reassigned their workforce, asking who would agree to review files online and who wanted to stay in the office open to the public. I learned that one office somewhere in France gets all the requests submitted through the Étrangers en France website and reassigns them to the appropriate prefecture, which means your request is rarely reviewed by the prefecture you belong to geographically. It also means a couple sending two basically identical files can have them reviewed by different civil servants in separate locations who probably have differing expectations as to the documents that should be submitted, e.g. for the visiteur immigration status. One reviewer might ask for a birth certificate, marriage license, or spouse’s passport, even though none of these are needed. But if you say you are married, the civil servant may want proof of it and who the spouse is.

Below is a basic outline of the current steps I have identified in these online immigration procedures.

1. You can submit a renewal request four months before the expiration date to have a chance to complete the procedure while holding a valid French ID the entire time. You will probably be asked first to change your password, as the system considers it obsolete after three months, according to my observations.

2. Expect at least one request for more documents, possibly including the translation of documents into French. Be sure to check your junk/spam mailbox, as ANEF emails almost always go there. And you will need to log on to your ANEF account to know what they are asking of you.

3. If your carte de séjour has expired or is about to, at about the same time as you are asked for more documents you should receive an attestation de prolongation d’instruction that extends the card’s validity and ensures that you are still legal in France. It is quite important to be able to show this document when asked to prove your legal status by the French administration, an employer, or others.

4. It currently takes about two months for the request to be approved once they have all the documents they have asked for. When that happens, you will receive a statement of approval, an attestation de décision favorable.Valid for three months, it will allow you to travel after your carte de séjour expires. That is important because …

5. … after you receive the attestation, it will still take three or four months before the carte de séjour is ready to be picked up. In my experience, the prefecture sends text messages when the card is ready only about 50% of the time. Hence, you should make a note in your agenda to contact the prefecture after that amount of time. On the page linked below, you can communicate with the prefecture about picking up the card. Do not book the appointment without getting confirmation that the card is there; otherwise, the civil servants will ask you to leave the line and exit the prefecture, not even giving you a chance to ask why.https://www.prefecturedepolice.interieur.gouv.fr/demarches-et-services-en-ligne/particulier/ecrire-au-bureau-des-titres-de-sejour

SHIP STUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL STARTING JANUARY 1ST, 2025
The SHIP studio is currently available to rent on January 1st. The dedicated website for this studio details everything there is to know about it and my neighborhood, which is located in the 11th district, and the link is below. It has been months since I started working on the website. I do hope the studio will be occupied most of the year 2025; the rent stays the same, 1,400€, and it includes everything.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/home-in-paris

OFFICE CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS VACATION
The office will close for three weeks over the Christmas holidays, starting on Friday, December 13th in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday, January 6th. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. Of course, Sarah or I will honor prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.Best regards,

Best regards,

QUESTION

WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE OFII MEDICAL VISIT?

I hold a long-stay visa, which I have registered and I am waiting for the medical. I have heard horror stories about it and I have been asking about doing an antibody titer test as a substitute for having my vaccination card shown to OFII. Is there a French vaccination schedule similar to this page from the US?
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/imz-schedules/child-adolescent-age.html

QUESTION

GETTING AN ADDRESS FOR THE VLS-TS VISA AND REGISTERING AFTER ARRIVAL IN FRANCE

I am about to submit my visa application, and am hoping that I can get my appointment in Chicago. I believed I had properly nailed down the French address issue, but I am having second thoughts, especially after reading on some forums that I must sign a one-year lease when all I have is a three-month Airbnb in the city of St Malo, in Brittany. Indeed, I have chosen to live in the greater Western part of France, which for me is la Vendée, la Bretagne, la Normandie, and maybe la Sarthe. So I need to be fluid, drive many places, and book Airbnbs as I progress in my research. Being stuck for three months in one place is already a serious imposition. This is why I chose to start with Brittany as being a larger territory with a lot of interesting small cities. I think I can occupy myself for three months, cruising on all those small roads. How do you think I should handle the address issue?

Time takes a cigarette
Puts it in your mouth
You pull on your finger, then another finger
Then your cigarette
The wall-to-wall is calling
It lingers, then you forget
Oh, oh, oh, oh
You’re a rock ‘n’ roll suicide
You’re too old to lose it, too young to choose it
And the clock waits so patiently on your song
You walk past a café
But you don’t eat when you’ve lived too long
Oh, no, no, no
You’re a rock ‘n’ roll suicide
Chev brakes are snarling
As you stumble across the road
But the day breaks instead
So you hurry home
Don’t let the sun blast your shadow
Don’t let the milk float ride your mind
They’re so natural
Religiously unkind
Oh no, love! You’re not alone
You’re watching yourself, but you’re too unfair
You’ve got your head all tangled up
But if I could only make you care
Oh no, love! You’re not alone
No matter what or who you’ve been
No matter when or where you’ve seen
All the knives seem to lacerate your brain
I’ve had my share, I’ll help you with the pain
You’re not alone! 
Just turn on with me and you’re not alone
Let’s turn on and be not alone (wonderful) 
Gimme your hands, ’cause you’re wonderful
Gimme your hands, ’cause you’re wonderful
Oh, gimme your hands

“Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie on the album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars,” released on June 16th, 1972. 

A friend of mine committed suicide in October. It happened that he was a public figure, even though he did everything he could to avoid becoming one. As a webmaster for his employer, absolutely nothing in his life should have made him known. His employer was the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. He was the first victim of the January 2015 terrorist attack simply because his office was the closest to the entrance. He barely survived his wounds.

Election day in the USA is on November 5th. So much is being said by so many people about so many topics during this campaign. These last few weeks, I have had the impression that the same things are being repeated, with each campaign amplifying its core message. This is only to be expected: all candidates do it. But this time, it feels like the candidates are not talking about the same country or the same American citizens. Can a country commit suicide? Each side pretty much says that, that is what will happen if the other side wins. How can the outcome be so close that everyone talks about the margin of error, incapable of figuring out who will win?

There is always a reason to hope, a way to believe in a better future. Even though the result of an election has consequences, we all have lives to live, as well as family and friends to love. I believe in the power of loving and caring.

THE MARGIN OF ERROR: POLITICAL VS. SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ELECTION
This year, once again, there is a talk in all the media outlets about the importance of the margin of error and the swing states. For French people, having elections decided at the state level is difficult to understand. The polls identify potential voters by race, gender, age, education, socio-economic status, religion, and so on. This leads the candidates to tailor communication to micro-segments of the population. According to the polls, the election is so close that focusing on a tiny fraction of the population can change the outcome. A majority could be decided by less than 1,000 votes, making the result in some states impossible to forecast.

The two main party candidates’ visions of the future USA could not be more different. As Churchill put it, “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Even so, the result of this election could be determined by a few who do not vote on November 5th – those who do not feel like it, or who were having a great time with their friends after work, or who did not have an opinion, or who had a cold and did not want to stand in line for hours, and so on.

Intellectually, it is mind-boggling that such a radical choice is dangling by a thread, depending on people who are not that interested in this election or, of course, its outcome.

I remember the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W Bush – the agonizing hours, then days and weeks while the votes in Florida were counted and recounted. Much has been learned and improved since then; today no one has to look at a ballot to determine if there is a hole in it or not. In 2020, the procedures, equipment, and technology were so much better that the recounts were accurate two or three times in a row.

Alongside the extreme polarization of the population, a growing portion of Americans seem not to care and do not follow politics or want to be involved. They are beyond despair, believing that things cannot get better, that their lives cannot get better.

A SPECIAL FRIEND DIED LAST MONTH 
On October 17th, Simon Fieschi died at the age of 40. Here is what I wrote on Facebook when I learned about his death:
“He was my client. I felt like he was my friend. We shared our stories and our projects. With his permission, I wrote about him in my column. I saw him less than a year ago at a premiere. Rest in peace. It is a tragedy in so many ways. He survived the Charlie-Hebdo terrorist attack. He has just committed suicide.”

On October 18th, the newspaper Libération reported: “Simon Fieschi lost 7 centimeters on January 7th, and the use of his legs and hands. Evacuated to the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital, he was placed in an induced coma for a week. 

“As a result, I found out about the January 7th attack a week later, on January 14th.” It was his mother who told him when he woke up: the massacre, the hunt for the Kouachi brothers, the Hyper Cacher, the January 11th march.

“It took me several hours to understand. Then I couldn’t remember who was alive or dead. And I had an absurd sense of embarrassment; I didn’t dare ask anymore. … The physical pain is so intense that it takes up all the space.”

Below is the section of my September 2016 issue describing how I met him.
WHEN THE REALITY OF TERRORISM KNOCKS ON MY DOOR
Since the early days of 2015, terrorism has been in the news, and terrorists continue to hit targets all over the world. They struck once again in France this past July. We all read about it. The news coverage depends on where the attacks happened, how many people died or were injured, and so on. It is very sad to say, but in France, it is starting to become a fact of life; it is clear that the Bastille Day attack is unlikely to be the last one. Getting information, or maybe an excess of information, through the media for such events still does not make these attacks real or personal unless you know someone who is a victim. Then, you are faced with the evidence of what a mauled life is.

No one in my close circle of friends or my family has been a direct victim of one of these attacks. But this summer, one of the victims, a survivor who was badly hurt, came to my office and sat in front of me. Then I was faced with what terrorism does. Adding insult to injury, the couple has been sent back to the prefecture again and again for close to a year. Yes, they are also victims of the too-familiar runaround: being told that a document is always missing, that “this is insufficient information.” To add to the problem, the French spouse is dealing with a severe medical condition, does not have perfect documentation, and never mentions that the physical handicap came from being the victim of terrorism.

A beautiful soul in a broken body is my visualization of what terrorism does to people. In many ways, I feel honored that they came to me on the immigration issue. It made me feel humble at a time when I was impatient over everything that was needed to make a move and change in my professional life possible. When I compare our situations, my struggles become minuscule and should be put in perspective.

I never know who will walk through my door when a first-time client arrives. Sometimes my work takes on a different dimension. Fixing the lives of these victims is impossible; most of the time, they are left with a permanent handicap. But I can do my utmost to make sure that this couple’s administrative situation is swiftly fixed. In many ways, I feel like I owe this to them, and not just because I am paid. It feels like too little, too late.

The victims of terrorism now have a face.

RENTING A HOME IN FRANCE
Renting lodging in France is complicated because tenants are heavily protected. Therefore, landlords are always extremely suspicious. All aspiring tenants need a solid guarantor on top of earning at least three times the amount of rent, and their income must be stable enough to indicate that there should be no problem paying in the future. I have broken down below the information tenants need to provide so as to avoid the most common mistakes when looking for rental lodging.

1. Le dossier de location numérique de l’État – a government tool to prevent identity theft

DossierFacile is a free public platform, launched in 2018, that aims to make it easier and safer to compile an online rental file. Its objectives are to simplify the search process for both tenants and landlords, ensure that the information transmitted is reliable, and to protect applicants’ documents.

The service covers single people, couples, and multiple roommates. Identification is via FranceConnect for both tenants and landlords. If users have questions, they can use the online chat or consult a detailed guide. The site says it will provide an answer in less than six hours.

In the personal space, users upload all their documents. These are checked within 24 hours by an operator, who helps users to add or remove documents. When the file is complete, users receive a URL where their file is found in PDF format and protected by a watermark. They can then transmit it to the property owners in complete security. Users can delete their files at any time, keeping control of their personal data. The file is government-approved, which reassures landlords.

In the owners’ area, lessors, owners, and real estate professionals can add their properties to the rental list and receive search requests from DossierFacile applicants. Putting tenants and owners in touch with each other simplifies the process. (Based on information in French from www.dossierfacile.logement.gouv.fr)

2. Garantme – for those who need a guarantor

I am not promoting this business. For a long time, French banks served as tenants’ guarantors, putting a lien on the tenant’s savings account to secure the landlord’s right to be paid rent and compensation for any damage resulting from the tenancy. Today, it is increasingly common for landlords to buy insurance against the possibility that a tenant will not pay the rent. At the same time, the landlord requires the tenant to have a solid guarantor. Some tenants find the premiums for such policies expensive, but the cost is minimal compared to the alternative: selling part of an investment in the USA and moving the money to France to be invested in a French bank, which charges fees linked to the mutual fund the money is invested in, plus a fee to manage the lien. I have learned that one can even be approved by Garantme while living in the USA, before moving to France, and thus before choosing the property one wants to rent. https://garantme.fr/en

3 – L’état des lieux d’entrée et de sortie – inspections of the premises before and after

tenancyThe requirement of these two inspection visits is by far the most important part of any rental agreement. Theoretically, the place should be in perfect condition when you arrive, and you are expected to keep it that way. By American standards, much French housing tends to be old and poorly maintained. Theétat des lieux (state of the premises) document should describe precisely the condition of the property. One of at least three adjectives is usually used to describe the state of the property: new (neuf), normal tear and wear (usagé), and damaged (abimé). Only in the last two cases will there be an exact description. The landlord or agent will tend to describe everything as new. When you sign the document, you become responsible for all existing minor and major damage, and you will be held liable. This is the most common way that renters “legally” lose their deposit. It is worth seeking help with this. One way, albeit rather expensive, to be sure things are described correctly is to have a huissier (bailiff) draw up the description, accompanied by photos taken by this professional. In such cases, the document is a sworn official document from a representative of the French Republic. It is virtually impossible to override a constat d’huissier (bailiff’s report). The cost of this service is split by the tenant and the landlord since it is supposed to be an impartial document that protects both parties.

Huissiers wear three hats. First, they are the eyes and ears of France. As such, their duty is to be a notarized witness, which is useful when you want an official description of the state of the premises. Their second role is to be a kind of glorified mail carrier: bailiffs deliver highly official mail like court orders, subpoenas, certain letters from the landlord, etc. Their third one is as a bailiff per se, drafting the inventory of possessions and assets found on the premises and collecting money with or without a court decision.

Keep in mind that the end-of-tenancy inspection can take hours, even for a studio, and the slightest scratch, stain, hole, or crack is considered to result from something the tenant did, with the tenant being charged for its repair.

SCHEDULING THE OFII MEDICAL VISIT
In recent years, the scheduling of immigration medical visits at the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII) has been unreliable. After arrival in France, the delay between the registration of a VLS-TS visa and the day of the medical visit can range from two to six months. Occasionally, most of a year goes by without the visit even being scheduled.

That is less of a problem now that renewal of visiteur immigration status is done online and does not require the OFII statement of good standing. But for other immigration statuses, such as self-employed and employee, it can make the difference between getting a one-year or four-year carte de séjour and thus has a serious impact on applicants’ rights.

In the past, I sent an email to OFII’s Paris office, and eventually, they would send the appointment, usually sooner rather than later. A few weeks ago, a client told me there is now a phone number to call to get the appointment, and one can choose the day of it, which is a huge improvement. OFII number for the initial appointment: 01 40 02 96 89.

SHIP STUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL STARTING JANUARY 1ST, 2025
The SHIP studio is currently available to rent on January 1st. The dedicated website for this studio details everything there is to know about it and my neighborhood, which is located in the 11th district, and the link is below. It has been months since I started working on the website. I do hope the studio will be occupied most of the year 2025; the rent stays the same, 1,400€, and it includes everything.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/home-in-paris

OFFICE CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS VACATION
The office will close for three weeks over the Christmas holidays, starting on Friday, December 13th in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday, January 6th. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. Of course, Sarah or I will honor prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

Best regards,

QUESTION

DENIED SELF-EMPLOYED VISA REQUEST: NO FRENCH CLIENTELE

I have had a career as a consultant specializing in small businesses in third-world countries, mostly Africa. A while ago, I rented a place in Paris to facilitate my travels and my connexions. Indeed, most of my flights are now less than three hours, starting in Paris, and I always have direct flights. The other reason is that close to the entire African continent was colonized by either France or the UK. The International Organisation of La Francophonie was created in 1970 and is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a customary language. So, I recently submitted a self-employed visa to the DC French consulate via a VFS office. My business plan and my description were about my years of working in these Francophone countries, often with French businesses partnering with the local businesses, earning very good money, and my network in the French administration and the lower level of government. I was flatly denied for not having a French clientele residing in France. Can you explain that?

QUESTION

BANKING IN FRANCE WITH THE FATCA-IRS REGULATION

I read with interest, as usual, your October newsletter. Something struck me as yet another discriminating point against Americans: ‘having money credited to the French account’.How is this even possible when it is very difficult for an American to even open a French account due to our friend FATCA? Fortunately, this is not the case. I am naturalized French, and so far, my accounts at 2 French banks have not been challenged. However, it is a known challenge for Americans moving to France.

You boys are surprised to see me
Never thought I’d get out of jail
Took eight long years to spring me
And two hours to ride the rail
Took only 30 minutes to find you
Asking every snake slithering in the street
“Where’s the man with the golden tattoo? 
The man who let me take the heat?” 
… You’re surprised in your neon lair
By the power underneath despair
… Power underneath
Power underneath
Power underneath despair
Power underneath
There’s a power underneath despair
Power underneath despair
… Power underneath
There’s a power underneath despair
Yeah, the power underneath despair
Power underneath
There’s a power underneath despair
Power underneath despair
… In solitary for two still years
Thought of you 60 times an hour
Fighting madness and fighting despair
Digging the hidden power
Thought about you in the yard
When your punk slipped me the blade
Thought about you in the hospital ward
When I gave it back to him in trade
… And my smile is the last sight you’ll see
As you feel the power from inside of me
… Power underneath
Power underneath
There’s a power underneath despair
Power underneath
Power underneath
Power underneath despair
… Power underneath
There’s a power underneath
Power underneath despair
Power underneath
Power underneath
There’s a power underneath despair
… Power underneath
Power underneath
There’s a power underneath despair
Power underneath
Power underneath
Power underneath despair
… Power underneath
There’s a power underneath
Power underneath despair
Power underneath
There’s a power underneath
Power underneath despair

“Power Underneath Despair” is the third song on Heaven Forbid, Blue Öyster Cult’s 12th studio album. It was released on March 24th, 1998. John Shirley, an American science fiction and horror writer, penned the lyrics for most of the songs on the album, including “Power Underneath Despair.”

I discovered the American rock band Blue Öyster Cult when I entered high school, and I have listened to them ever since, owning a large number of their albums, especially the earlier ones. Their lyrics can be obscure, carrying a message. When they do a so-called love song, it is titled “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” At first sight, that should call their sanity into question. I used it as the title of my March 2020 issue when we were all locked in our homes, fearing death when we went outside.

In the past few days, many things have made me think along those lines. As I was growing up in a Catholic school, I heard this kind of message: “Hardship makes you stronger” and “God is testing you for a reason,” and I could go on for a long time. I always disliked the attitude that there is something good in suffering, that there is a reason for suffering. I have never found anything good in hardship, pain, suffering, or despair. A recent sermon at my church addressed this issue the right way, for once. I thanked the pastor afterward.

On the other hand, I have seen countless times that those who survive and overcome severe hardships have some mighty power and serenity in them. They do not show any of it off; it is within them. This is something totally different, as few people are capable of rebuilding their lives after having gone through such hardship. My heart bleeds for all those who are crushed and never get free of their trauma. I help many such people in my volunteer work.

There was also the realization that, after Democratic voters’ despair when President Biden was the candidate, a powerful momentum has been surging among those voters that does not seem to be stopping and is even growing. There was also the increasingly obvious realization that many Republican voters will react strongly if Donald Trump loses the election.

On a much smaller scale, immigrants face deep feelings of despair because, too often, it seems to them that nothing is going right. It is known that adapting to a new country is an excruciating process. Many manage to overcome those difficult moments because their heart is full of enthusiasm and they love the new country, new life, and so on. Some are crushed and move back to their country of origin, licking their wounds for a long time as the cuts are deep. Others get through the first years OK – and yes, it can take five years or more to reasonably adapt and feel part of the new country, the new culture, to be really ready for this new life. Sometimes, in casual conversation, a wound becomes visible for a split second. We should not fool ourselves: the wounds are there, we learn to live with them, and some of them make us better people.

Power underneath despair should be acknowledged for what it is: for a few, it is a fact of life. For most, it is a tormenting experience. Some people manage to gain exceptional strength this way. The real truth comes when they tell me about their inner souls and acknowledge that if they had had the choice, they would have preferred not to go through the trauma. This puts a lot of things in perspective.

THE 1960 AND 2024 ELECTIONS
I have been thinking of the John F. Kennedy presidential campaign. He was successful, becoming the 35th US president – but he won the popular vote by only a thin margin against Richard Nixon: 49.72% versus 49.55%. Much of the media had argued that he could not become president because as a Catholic he would obey the pope, which would compromise the independence of the USA. This hate campaign was vicious and personal, intended to destroy any chance that he would be elected. Having studied this campaign and this election, I could add many more details.

Today, however, I am interested in a different topic related to JFK’s campaign and presidency. He managed to galvanize people, creating a popular momentum that grew continuously. When he won, the country felt a new era had started. Of course, evaluating his presidency and that of Lyndon B. Johnson, which followed it, is highly subjective given their breakthroughs, losses, and failures. This era ended with the election of Richard M. Nixon in 1968. I believe the USA as a country radically changed during the eight years of JFK and LBJ. The momentum ignited during JFK’s presidential campaign pretty much lasted for a decade.

I am intrigued, surprised, and impressed by the ever-growing popular momentum of Kamala D. Harris’s campaign. If she wins the election – which, of course, will be uncertain until the definitive results are certified – will this momentum continue past her inauguration? I believe one needs to go back to the 1960 election to see a similar momentum. Many are comparing it to the campaign of Barack H. Obama and identifying resemblances, although that is not the aspect that interests me.

These thoughts are not meant to imply anything regarding my political views about any of these people. I just wonder if the election that will take place in a little over a month will lead to changes similar to those of the 1960s if Kamala Harris wins.

SHOULD FOREIGNERS WORRY ABOUT THE NEW FRENCH GOVERNMENT?
A reader sent me the following excerpt from a Guardian article of 5 September reporting the appointment of Michel Barnier as French prime minister:

“In 2021 [Barnier] stunned observers by lurching significantly to the right and hardening his stance on immigration and security as part of an unsuccessful attempt to become a presidential candidate against Macron the following year.

“At the time, Barnier claimed that unregulated immigration from outside the EU was weakening France’s sense of identity. He believed the UK’s vote to leave the EU showed the dangers of allowing societal divisions to fester. 

“Shocking many in Brussels, he called for a French moratorium of three to five years for non-European immigrants, under which even family members joining immigrants would be stopped.”

I have several reactions to this.

Almost everybody wonders how long the Barnier government will last and even whether the cabinet can be sworn in. That uncertainty alone should put things in perspective for worried foreigners in France.

It is true that members of the far right would vote for such a provision, so it is not impossible. However, the French judicial system would strike it down as violating both the French and EU constitutions. So, I strongly doubt that such a measure will ever become law.

The sad reality, however, is that it would not take a new law to make regroupement familial (family reunification) more difficult. There are many requirements to meet before a legal immigrant can have the spouse and minor children move legally to France. Here are some of the most basic ones for a procedure done in Paris for a child:

1. The applicant must be married and not legally separated from the spouse.

2. The applicant must have lived in France legally for at least 18 months and hold a carte de séjour or carte de résident.

3. The minimum earned income must be equivalent to the French minimum wage (SMIC) for at least a year.

4. The lodging must be at least 32 square meters (just under 345 square feet), with two separate rooms so the child has some privacy.

As it only takes a change in the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Interior, it is always possible to tighten these requirements by, for instance, increasing the time spent legally in France to three years, limiting the types of carte de séjour allowing this procedure, demanding more than the SMIC, or adding 50 square feet to the lodging size. Doing so would drastically limit the number of foreigners able to move to France under this procedure.

When the government announces such an anti-immigrant policy, it is very rarely what will actually happen, and this is just to scare the immigrants and flatter a portion of the French electorate. Considering how politically conservative the new government is, the requirements may be made stricter for certain types of immigration status. But I cannot imagine the visiteur or passeport talent categories being affected, as these are generally not used by the type of immigrants such a government would go after.

WHO IS MICHEL BARNIER AND HOW LONG CAN HE LAST?
Many French people believe that President Emmanuel Macron violated the most basic democratic rule after the snap parliamentary elections that he called earlier this year. Ordinarily, the new prime minister comes from the party with the most representatives in the assembly, and this person then names the rest of the new government or cabinet. Macron’s refusal to follow this practice may be seen as corrupting French politics.

Michel Barnier, whom President Macron chose as prime minister, is instead from the party that won the fewest seats. In some countries, such a situation can happen when the major parties have tried and failed to form a cabinet from among the elected representatives. This politician, usually from a party that came in third or fourth by the number of deputies, is assumed to be centrist enough to build a coalition of representatives from both sides of the aisle that can secure enough votes to form a majority.

But in the current French situation, Macron refused to give a chance to either the largest party represented (actually a leftist coalition) or the second largest, the far right. Instead, he named someone he considered to be able to govern in difficult conditions without securing the support of anyone in the National Assembly.

In short, President Macron refused to accept the results of the election and acted as if he had the power to impose his will on the National Assembly.

THE ADMINISTRATION NOW WANTS THE FRENCH INCOME TAX STATEMENT
Until a few months ago, I had never heard of an American citizen renewing visiteur immigration status being asked to send the avis d’imposition sur le revenu – the document issued by the French tax office after worldwide income has been declared.

It used to be that the monthly French bank statements and proof of foreign means were the only documents asked for. My American clients would often send a Social Security statement or records from a retirement account, portfolio, or the like, which backed up the two essential elements of compliance with visiteur status.

The first of those requirements is residing in France, spending at least the equivalent of the French minimum wage (about 17,000€) per year, and having money credited to the French account from a personal account held in a foreign country.

The second is proof of sufficient assets to last another year, whether in savings, passive income, or retirement income.

Strictly speaking, when it comes to the immigration procedure, that is enough. Yet someone who claims to be a French resident is also a French fiscal resident. French law requires all French residents to declare their worldwide income. Thus, under strict application of the law, the prefecture or the Administration Numérique des Étrangers en France can rightfully ask for proof that this has been done – i.e., the avis d’imposition.

Those who think this is of no real consequence are wrong. I know many holders of visiteur cartes de séjour who are determined to never declare their income to France, regardless of their reasons. They regularly tell me that it would be a deal breaker if they had to declare to the French tax office. It will be interesting to see what happens if these people are given a choice between making the declaration or losing their carte de séjour.

So far, the only people I know of to whom this has happened live in the countryside; no one I am helping in Paris has been affected thus far. I will keep readers posted about this evolution, which might be game-changing for many.

SHIP STUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL STARTING JANUARY 1ST, 2025
The SHIP studio is currently available to rent on January 1st. The dedicated website for this studio details everything there is to know about it and my neighborhood, which is located in the 11th district, and the link is below. It has been months since I started working on the website. I do hope the studio will be occupied most of the year 2025; the rent stays the same, 1,400€, and it includes everything.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/home-in-paris

OFFICE CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS VACATION
The office will close for three weeks over the Christmas holidays, starting on Friday, December 13th in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday, January 6th. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. Of course, Sarah or I will honor prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

Best regards,

QUESTION

HAVING A FRENCH WILL AND ASSETS IN THE USA

Would you be able to advise my French wife (US non-resident alien) and me (US and French citizen) on estate tax issues for both the US and France so we have our estate in order with regards to both tax regimes? We reside in France. We recently worked with a French notaire for our French assets, but I’m a bit concerned about my US assets (retirement accounts, a joint mutual fund account, a partnership in a couple of businesses, and two pieces of property held in a family trust) in the event I predecease my wife. We have only a French will at this time, as we were advised by the notaire not to have another US will.

QUESTION

LIMITS ON CHARGING TVA/VAT WHEN SELF-EMPLOYED

I registered my French business a couple of years ago. This year, in nine months, I made 34,541€ in sales as a consultant. Assuming all my clients pay me on time before the end of this year, I may be at a level where I need to charge TVA. Can you advise me on the level of turnover declared that requires me to begin charging TVA?

WIKIPEDIA

“Chicago” (often listed as “Chicago / We Can Change the World”) is the debut solo single by English singer-songwriter Graham Nash, released in 1971 ….

Backround

The title and lyrics of the song refer to the anti-Vietnam War protests that took place during the August 26–29, 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the subsequent trial of the Chicago Eight, where protest leaders were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot. The first line of the song, “So your brother’s bound and gagged, and they’ve chained him to a chair”, refers to Black Panther leader Bobby Seale, the sole African-American defendant, who was gagged and chained to a chair in the courtroom following repeated outbursts in protest of rulings by Judge Julius Hoffman. …

On the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young live album, 4 Way Street (1971), Nash dedicates the song to “Mayor Daley”, a sardonic reference to Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, who was notoriously antagonistic towards anti-war protesters.

Though your brother’s bound and gagged
And they’ve chained him to a chair
Won’t you please come to Chicago
Just to sing
In a land that’s known as freedom
How can such a thing be fair
Won’t you please come to Chicago
For the help that we can bring
We can change the world
Rearrange the world
It’s dying … to get better
Politicians, sit yourselves down
There’s nothing for you here
Won’t you please come to Chicago
For a ride? 
Don’t ask Jack to help you
‘Cause he’ll turn the other ear
Won’t you please come to Chicago
Or else join the other side? 
We can change the world
Rearrange the world
It’s dying, if you believe in justice
It’s dying, if you believe in freedom
It’s dying, let a man live his own life
It’s dying, rules and regulations, who needs them
Throw them out the door
Somehow people must be free
I hope the day comes soon
Won’t you please come to Chicago
Show your face? 
From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains on the moon
Won’t you please come to Chicago? 
No one else can take your place
We can change the world
Rearrange the world
It’s dying, if you believe in justice
It’s dying, and if you believe in freedom
It’s dying, let a man live his own life
It’s dying, rules and regulations, who needs them
Throw them out the door

Clearly, I am completely stuck in the 1960s, and not only in terms of the music I listen to. I cannot remember exactly when I bought the album 4 Way Street. I believe it was right after graduating from high school and getting ready to enter the Sorbonne University, i.e. the summer of 1979. I could go on and on about how similar as well as how different the 1968 and 2024 Democratic National Conventions in Chicago were. I believe it is extremely important to look at history for a better evaluation of what is happening today. A long time ago I studied the 1968 convention and everything that went on before, during, and after it. People forget the level of violence all over the USA, not just on many campuses. I believe all American citizens should study the history of the 1960s, especially the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam War protests. The latter are illustrated once again by CSNY in the song Ohio.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_(Crosby,_Stills,_Nash_%26_Young_song)
Too many Americans do not know what happened in those days.

THE OLYMPIC GAMES HAVE COME AND THE PARISIANS HAVE GONE
Major events spark controversy, as everybody has a strong opinion about how they could have been organized differently. French elites have a high opinion of themselves whether in success or failure. I believe one striking success of the Olympics was to have the games in the middle of the city and in some neighborhoods far from tourist sites. One example is the cycling race that went up Rue de Belleville in the 19th arrondissement. Furthermore, a lot of the venues built for the games are outside the beltway called the Péripherique, in some of the poorest cities in the Parisian suburbs and possibly in France. This was a gamble but it may help pull these neighborhoods out of poverty, given the excellent quality of the sites, which drew not only athletes but also locals. As the games continue, more and more people visit these sites and the effort becomes more of a success every day. French political and cultural leaders are definitely elitist and enjoy showing off a wide range of knowledge. That is why the opening ceremony of the Olympics constantly referred to either French or Greek history and culture.

WHERE IS THE NEXT FRENCH CABINET AND PRIME MINISTER?
France is experiencing a situation that has never existed in the country before. The Fifth Republic, which is the political system now in place, went into effect on October 4th, 1958 – not that long ago, all things considered, especially compared to how old the American constitution is.

General Charles de Gaulle, the father of the Fifth Republic, imposed his view of what the balance of power should be among the three branches of government. For the parliament, he envisioned one party or coalition of parties holding a majority of seats and forming a cabinet led by a prime minister, the leader of the party that won the general election. He also thought the president’s political party would have the majority in the parliament. In other words, the executive and legislative branches would be on the same side and the elected representatives in the lower chamber would always approve the president’s agenda. In De Gaulle’s mind, a government must be efficient.

Thus, within a few years after the end of the Fourth Republic, the French political spectrum radically changed as two blocs emerged: conservatives and progressives. There were no more centrist parties in power, as none survived the new system. The Radical Party, which had been at the center of power for about 80 years during the Third and Fourth Republics, evolved into the Radicaux de Gauche and Radicaux de Droite. 

In many ways, the rise of Emmanuel Macron seemed to come out of nowhere. He started on the Socialist Party side as minister of the economy under Prime Minister Manuel Valls. In April 2016, he launched a new centrist political movement, En Marche !, which he claimed was “left and right.” In late August 2016 he resigned from his ministry post to stand as a candidate in the presidential election, running against candidates from across the political spectrum. He won the 2017 presidential election in the second round against Marine LePen.

Soon thereafter, a coalition led by his party won a parliamentary majority, as De Gaulle had envisioned. But in the 2022 presidential election, he won by a much narrower margin, and in the succeeding legislative election, he and his allies did not get a parliamentary majority. That was a clear sign that his hopes of having a centrist party govern France would not be fulfilled. The second sign was the European Parliament elections, which sealed his fate: The far-right Rassemblement National (RN) got 31.37%, his party Renaissance got 14.60%, and two progressive parties combined won 23.72%. This led President Macron to dissolve the National Assembly. A key unknown of the resulting legislative election was whether the progressive side would be able to unite to have a chance of winning a majority of the representatives, ordéputés. While they did not gain a majority (289 seats), they did unite, thus evoking the traditional opposition of conservatives vs progressives. It was the progressive coalition against the far-right RN, ignoring everybody else. The progressives got the most candidates elected. There are now three blocs that refuse to govern with anyone. The situation is therefore totally blocked.

The progressive coalition has 192 seats, Macron’s party 163, the RN 143 seats, and the traditional Conservatives 66.

President Macron keeps saying he will attempt to form the next French government after the Paralympic Games in September. In the meantime, he is clearly doing his best to ensure that the next Prime Minister will not represent the progressive coalition. This goes against all the basic rules of the French democratic system. We shall see what happens.

THE FRENCH POLITICAL SPECTRUM 
During the 1789 Revolution, as the republic was emerging and political inclinations were allowed to be represented, four political groupings emerged. We might describe them as conservative nationalists, conservative internationalists, progressive internationalists, and progressive nationalists. During most of the Fifth Republic, those respective parties were the Gaullists formed by De Gaulle (conservative nationalist), the Union pour la Démocratie Française, led by the one-term President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing from 1974 to 1981 (conservative internationalist), the Socialist Party led by François Mitterrand (progressive internationalist), and the Communist Party (progressive nationalist).

This is of course way oversimplified. I just wanted to illustrate and explain the structure of the French political system. Although Emmanuel Macron started his political career as a member of the Socialist Party, his initial 2016 presidential campaign was an attempt to unify the conservatives and progressive internationalists and his first government had ministers from both sides. Over the years, his political positioning slid more and more onto the conservative side. This, among many other factors, may explain why the progressives got such a good result, which would have been unthinkable just six months before the elections.

“WHO SHOT THE SHERIFF” IS A SONG ERIC CLAPTON COULD HAVE COMPOSED
Below is a link to Eric Clapton’s recorded reaction to the death of the English bluesman John Mayall on July 22nd, 2024. Most artists who reach worldwide stardom have had a teacher or mentor who was critical in their life and who often is unknown or much lesser known. I must be one of the few people who are true fans of John Mayall and not of Eric Clapton. In addition to Clapton, Mayall helped launch the careers of Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac, Mick Taylor, and many other artists who, while still lesser known, were more popular than he was.

The main origin of the blues is the African American genre known as spirituals, most of which began as religious-themed work songs and, after emancipation, evolved into hymns sung in Black churches and eventually far beyond the churches. The Chicago electric guitar blues and the jazz of the same period both had their roots in Black music. I find it fascinating that many British male teenagers in the late 1950s and early 1960s listened to that music, were inspired by it, and wanted to play it. The vast majority of British bands of the 1960s and 1970s are blues-based.

For French audiences, when Louis Armstrong sings and plays “When the Saints Go Marching In,” they consider it jazz. But it is still sung today in some Black churches as a traditional hymn.

Early African American music expressed the hard living conditions, pain, and suffering of Black people. British youth of the 1950s, while not claiming a direct comparison, felt that this music resonated with what they were living. Most of the musicians came from the working class. Their music and lyrics continued the tradition of describing their hard lives and those of the people around them.

The editorial angle of the first section of my column often changed throughout the summer, but I finally chose to stick to what I consider to be my music while paying attention to its lyrics. Some 60 years after the rise of British bluesmen like John Mayall, has the world changed all that much? Has hardship disappeared with the abundant wealth created during all those years?

RENEWING THE CARTE DE RÉSIDENT
This immigration ID is valid for ten years and grants an unrestricted right to work in France, excluding only posts that are restricted to French citizens (emplois dits de souveraineté). To obtain this ID the first time, the applicant must show five French income tax documents proving an income of at least the French minimum wage and must show that they have at least an A2 level in French.

Many think a similar file is required to renew this card, but French law states that renewal is automatic and eligible foreigners are legally entitled to it. The law puts the onus on the state to prove that an applicant is not qualified to have the card renewed. There are only three situations the state can cite to block renewal:
Serving jail time in France
Engaging in terrorism
Living outside France for more than three years.

All that applicants need to prove to renew the card is that they reside in France. This is why I tell everybody that, aside from the passport and the expiring card, the minimum needed is proof of address. If the person feels this is not enough and fears that their request will be refused, I advise adding the last French income tax document. This definitively proves that the fiscal, and therefore actual, residence in France matches the address found on the proof of address (usually a utility document or internet provider bill).

Until recently, renewing the card required making an appointment at the prefecture and giving the file to a civil servant. This summer the procedure was changed. It is now done on the internet at the website
administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr

The office handling the procedures submitted via this site is the Agence Nationale des Étrangers en France (ANEF). The change took effect on July 10th.

THE ARTISTS MENTIONED IN THE MAY 2024 ISSUE GOT THEIR RENEWAL SWIFTLY
In the May issue, I described difficulties renewing two cartes de séjour artiste since I could not describe how they were artists and what their global artistic project was. Therefore I put all my attention on the projects they were involved in, who created them, where they were performed, who bought tickets to them, and what the artists’ personal interactions were. ANEF took fewer than three weeks to approve their request, which is exceedingly fast. I am not sure I will do it like this all the time, as it is rare to collaborate with such famous people. One thing is certain, the amount of money earned as an artist and who you are working with are the two most important elements in those files. I knew it before, and I know it even better now!

INPI ROLE IN THE REGISTRATION AND CREATION OF A BUSINESS
As I mentioned a long time ago, the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (now usually just known by its initials, INPI) took over the task of registration of businesses. Self-employed consultants and other professional jobs that were part of the profession libérale status, however, could still be registered with the CFE URSSAF, which was simple, easy, and fast. INPI offers one form that supposedly fits all but is really aimed more at corporations rather than tiny self-employed activities. Now URSSAF has stopped processing such registrations, which is terrible news for those affected.

First, doing anything on the INPI site requires having an identité numérique, which the authorities say is a wonderful form of ID allowing access to nearly all the websites of the French administration. Theoretically, that is true, but the experience in my office is that it is really complicated to get. The procedure starts at the post office but the decisions are made in another, unreachable office, and the people working on it do not seem to know much about how it is done, what the procedure really is, and what documents are really needed (it is not just the one mentioned on the list).

To start with, there is a section on La Poste’s website to create the file. Several pages of information are gathered. Then there is facial recognition, which in our experience does not work well. The alternative is to go to the post office with the file and the ID asked for so the file can be validated. It seems the communication there is poor.

Sarah, my assistant, has been able to get her identité numérique, and she now handles the business registrations, modifications, and terminations for our clients.

This is how INPI sells the identité numérique. Access hundreds of sites with a single login
No more headaches about managing multiple accounts and passwords! Digital Identity is all you need. 
Save time with online procedures
No need to fill in long forms and send in your ID to prove who you are. You’ve already done it by creating your digital identity. 
Protect yourself against identity theft
You’re notified every time you try to log on. Is it really you? You validate. Suspect fraud? Block it.

https://aide.lidentitenumerique.laposte.fr/kb/guide/fr/comment-creer-mon-identite-numerique-sur-le-site-web-4Sh9tRaiKE/Steps/869948

URSSAF INCREASES THE RETIREMENT PART OF THE SOCIAL CHARGES
URSSAF has notified all auto-entrepreneur self-employed people that their social charges increased on July 1, 2024, from 21.2% to 23.2%, which is an increase of 2 points. CIPAV has decided to implement this increase in order to strengthen the self-employed’s rights to retirement and disability as well as death benefits.

SHIP STUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL STARTING NOVEMBER 1ST
SHIP studio is currently available to rent on November 1st. There is a dedicated website for this studio detailing all the services and benefits offered and the link is below. The monthly rate is 1,400€.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/home-in-paris

Best regards,

QUESTION

WHAT IS THE DATE D’ENTRÉE EN FRANCE?

We arrived on Sept. 19, 2019, relocating to France from the USA, and have not been out of the country since, mostly because the COVID pandemic kept us grounded in France, so it was not planned that way.We thought that we held a year-long renewable tourist visa. But it was a nonrenewable one!A year later, amid the COVID pandemic, we requested permission to stay in France from the prefecture, hoping to get a temporary immigration ID. The prefecture made us apply for a titre de séjour visiteur without having to return to the US to do so. Our cards have been renewed three additional times since then. In short, we will be five-year residents of France come Sept. 19. Two years ago we purchased a home in our remote countryside and have begun restoring the garden and house.Here’s the question: are we now eligible to request a multiple-year card or residency permit? I have read alternative opinions, namely that the right to request such a permit begins five years from the arrival in France or after having held five successive titres (visas not counting)?

QUESTION

PROVING ALLEGIANCE TO FRANCE WHEN REQUESTING NATURALIZATION

After almost ten years of living in France under several different immigration statuses, I want to become French. I have countless reasons for wanting to do so. I feel completely estranged from my country of birth. My professional and romantic life is grounding me in France. Because of my work, I am often in contact with elected officials at the city level as well as in the French parliament. I want to be fully involved in the life of the city where I live and maybe become a French elected official. 

I have two major concerns:1. I have written a cover letter attempting to focus on several key points, namely:- Close ties to my family living here (my siblings and their spouses all live in France)- The solidarity I experienced living through the COVID pandemic in a small city in the Parisian suburbs. Specifically, the solidarity within the school I went to, my involvement in the community, the families I lived with there, and our commitment to working together at a local non-profit helping people stranded in their homes.- In Paris, my involvement in local organizations (volunteer theater work, participating in other associations/groups like soup kitchens, and assisting often lost and destitute foreigners.So, how can I describe all this while keeping the letter reasonably short? The current draft is six pages long and I am not done with everything I want to say. 
2. I am also stuck regarding the net worth declaration, as there is no form to fill out. The prefecture is asking for this:
– Déclaration datée et signée précisant la nature, l’origine et l’évaluation de votre patrimoine.
– Attestation bancaire précisant le montant des revenus mobiliers et/ou immobiliers en provenance de l’étranger, ainsi que la périodicité des versements. (Dated and signed declaration specifying the nature, origin and valuation of your assets. (Bank statement specifying the amount of foreign income from movable and/or immovable property, and the frequency of payments.)

I am not sure how much detail I need to give. I’m aware that everything should line up with the information given on my avis d’imposition. I would like to avoid having to get pages of bank statements etc. translated unnecessarily, but also want to avoid requests for further information, as this could slow things down.

I would like to wish you all a great summer and a very nice vacation,
enjoying the freedom of the moment.
I will close my office on July 5th.

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy’s rich and your ma is good-lookin’
So hush little baby, don’t you cry
One of these mornings, you’re goin’ to rise up singin’
And you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take the sky
But ‘til that mornin’, there’s a-nothin’ can harm you
With daddy and mommy standin’ by
One of these mornings, you’re goin’ to rise up singin’
And you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take the sky
But ‘til that mornin’, there’s a-nothin’ can harm you
With daddy and mommy standin’ by

During the years when my wife was singing more regularly, I often asked her to include this song in the program or otherwise find a way to be able to sing it.

Although I was never certain how much the lyrics made sense, watching the opera Porgy and Bess a few times helped me to understand the context and have better insight into what Bess was singing as a lullaby.

WIKIPEDIA

“Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward’s play Porgy, itself an adaptation of DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel Porgy. Porgy and Bess was first performed in Boston on September 30, 1935. …The libretto of Porgy and Bess tells the story of Porgy, a disabled black street beggar living in the slums of Charleston. It deals with his attempts to rescue Bess from the clutches of Crown, her violent and possessive lover, and Sportin’ Life, her drug dealer. The opera plot generally follows the stage play.

It would be easy and thus lazy to find parallels between scenes in the opera and what exists today in American society. This opera is sad. A common saying is that all the great operas end with the soprano dying on stage while singing. Another one often used is “It ain’t over till (or until) the fat lady sings”. There is none of that in this opera.

I am fascinated by the fact that an opera composed by a Jew, about exploited African-Americans, found an audience and is now considered a classic work of the early 20th century. It also shows them eking out a miserable existence that includes fights, drunkenness, and drug abuse. How can such a somber story about African Americans living in such conditions be so popular?

This year, for many people, summertime is associated with fear, high-stakes choices, and violent rhetoric. I thought about taking the song “Summertime Blues” as my theme, but I already used it in the past and I do not believe it really fits the situation. I might believe that it is just me being affected this way, except that I have rarely heard conversations this year about summer vacation plans and people getting excited about going away. This is unusual for the month of June when I am used to hearing about people getting ready at the last minute and counting the days before going on vacation.

This issue is on the short side, and one of the reasons is that I did not find much to write about that I wanted to share. I am looking forward to these weeks of vacation, as I know I am going to have some really nice times. I also hope that all of you will enjoy your summertime.

THE FRENCH LOGIC SUSTAINING THE SYSTEM
I often remind my readers and clients that the 1789 French Revolution led to the Napoleonic government, which exercised strong power over the population to protect their freedom from the power of the aristocrats. There is still a belief in France that the state protects the people and secures their freedom. But the two terms of President Emmanuel Macron, as well as those of some previous presidents, have significantly eroded this belief and a growing minority now fears the authority and administration of the French government.

By contrast, the birth of the USA stemmed from a revolt against the tyranny of the British monarch. Therefore, it is assumed that the state infringes on the freedom of the people in the USA. Lately, a growing portion of the American population aspires to have the federal government regulate issues to protect what they consider to be their rights, which they see as being taken away. It is interesting for me to see the trends in both countries going in opposite directions.

UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS IN FRANCE CAN EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS
When it came to many rights in France, when she first moved to France, my American wife was sometimes shocked and sometimes surprised by the fact that undocumented aliens could take their cases to court, go to the police station to file a criminal complaint, and demonstrate in the streets to demand a legal stay – surrounded by police, as is always the case with demonstrations, even the most peaceful ones.

Once when she expressed such surprise it was because a large group was demonstrating on our street and we were looking at them from our window. What amazed her was the significant number of police officers in uniform walking alongside the demonstration, protecting the participants from troublemakers wanting to disrupt it. She wondered why the police were not arresting and deporting the undocumented aliens who were protesting.

At first, this idea might seem to make sense. However, there is a huge difference between the USA and France regarding the rights an undocumented immigrant can exercise. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that if such an immigrant living in the USA were to file in court or press criminal charges at a police station, they could face immediate and automatic deportation. By American logic, they cannot exercise their legal rights because they do not have the right to be in the country in the first place. The immigrants called the Dreamers have had a special status and have been vocal and have strongly advocated in favor of their obtaining a legal stay in the USA. 

In France, in-house legal experts of non-profit groups working with immigrants, as well as their outside law firms, use the laws on the books to make sure that undocumented immigrants have their rights recognized as employees, tenants, and so on. A new court decision is critical in that regard. It follows French logic in holding that illegal immigrants have the right to obtain legal aid if they meet all other requirements.

In a decision handed down on May 28th, 2024, the Conseil Constitutionnel ruled that the condition of legal residence imposed on foreign nationals by the law of July 10th, 1991, to benefit from legal aid was contrary to the Constitution.

This ruling, effective immediately, applies to all future cases, including those that were underway and had not been decided by May 28th. Although the context of the decision was a dispute brought before the Conseil de Prud’hommes (labor court), it is of general application, whatever the nature of the dispute, as long as it is likely to give rise to an entitlement to legal aid.

Keep in mind that it takes a documented presence of three to five years in France to obtain legal residency in France. Often it requires taking the prefecture to court. This decision is a game-changer in that situation too.

www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/decision/2024/20241091_1092_1093QPC.htm

AN ELECTION SEASON FULL OF UNCERTAINTIES
After a New York court announced its verdict in the hush-money case against Donald Trump, I thought for a few minutes that I might use the Elvis Presley song “Jailhouse Rock” for this month’s column. I do not mind being facetious at times! But it did not feel right and it would not have served the purpose. Many democratic countries have sent former leaders to jail after a fair trial. It might even happen in France, considering the series of court cases that former President Nicolas Sakorzy has been losing.

The results of the European Parliament election held on June 9th were not good, so I was not in the mood for goofiness. The dissolution of France’s elected Assemblée Nationale (the French equivalent of the House of Representatives) and the calling of early elections on June 30th and July 7th made the atmosphere even darker, considering what was now at stake. I did not know how to address this topic. But I did have an interesting exchange about it on Facebook, which I used in this column (see Q/A section below), with the approval of the other person.

In the USA, polls put the two presidential candidates more or less neck and neck, within a margin of error. The politicians and commentators on both sides express their unshaken belief that their candidates will win.

The United Kingdom is also having a general election, which the Labour Party could win even though there is little public enthusiasm for its candidates or policies. The current Conservative leadership is so hated by most of the population that people will just vote against it.

THE SHIP STUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL STARTING JULY 1ST
The SHIP studio is currently available to rent on July 1st. I finally have a dedicated website for this studio finalized and the link is below. It has been months since I started working on the website. I do hope the studio will be occupied during the Olympics – at the normal monthly rate of 1,400€.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/home-in-paris

OFFICE CLOSED FOR SUMMER VACATION
The office will be closed for seven weeks over the summer holidays, starting on Friday, July 5, in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday, August 27. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. This year, because of the Olympics occurring in Paris, I will be away from Paris for most of that time. But the service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. And Sarah or I will honor the prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

I would like to remind everyone there will be no August issue.

Best regards,

QUESTION

QUESTION ABOUT BANKING IN FRANCE – PART 1

I am reacting to your June issue where you discuss the French banking regulations. You say there’s a per-month transfer limit set at $8,000, correct? Not a per transaction limit. In the US it is a $10k limit per transaction before it is reported. So one could do $9k per week without triggering any reporting.Anyway, just want to be clear in France it is not $8k per transaction. Thank you.

QUESTION

QUESTION ABOUT BANKING IN FRANCE – PART 2

I am puzzled by the item in your June Q/A column about bank transfers. Since 2006, I have regularly transferred money to our French bank account from the U.S., never for less than 50,000€, and I have never had to provide any documentation for it. Why didn’t that 10,000€ limit apply?

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FRENCH ELECTIONS

Regarding the next Q/A, I would never have expected to deal with French politics and national elections in this section, as I try my best to stay away from political issues. But the results of the European Parliament election in early June and the subsequent call for early legislative elections in France are major events with long-lasting consequences that currently are difficult to forecast. I hope the following Q/A, which is based on an exchange on Facebook (and edited for clarity), illustrates what is happening right now in France and explains the dynamics that brought us to this point.

QUESTION

EXCHANGE ABOUT THE FRENCH ELECTIONS

After President Macron dissolved Parliament on Sunday night, various parties scrambled for alliances. Eric Ciotti, President of Les Républicains, the conservative party that De Gaulle started in 1947 under the name RPF, went – without consulting his fellow party members!! – to Marine Le Pen, who represents the far-right party. The other Républicain party leaders said, in effect, “Over my dead body”, and brought a lawsuit against him.
And I haven’t even told you about the drama on the Far Far Right and the confusion on the Left. Indeed, I believe Macron thought people would vote for the center but that’s looking less and less likely.
On the other hand, in my opinion, it was the only thing he could try. The relative majority he’s been dealing with since 2022 has been disruptive enough. If he continued with the same chamber PLUS Le Pen’s RN – buoyed up by their European results for another three years – it would have been chaos anyway.
What is sad is that the Left is papering over its (wide) differences as best they can to present a united front for the election, but those differences will have to be dealt with themselves later if they win. I’m not sure today’s Front Populaire is as solid as the short-lived 1936 one, especially on today’s international issues. We shall see.The right is shattered and shows its irreconcilable differences. The result is that the “united” part is more to the right than some voters would prefer. The risk is that they win and then can’t provide what their most fervent voters want.

QUESTION

THE ISSUE OF FINGERPRINTING AT THE PREFECTURE

I obtained over a year ago my long term visa through VFS-Global in Boston. I registered it shortly after landing in France without any problem. I was told to renew it about four months before its expiration date, which I did pretty much at that time. A couple of weeks later I received the decision that my renewal request was approved. This was about nine months ago. These last months I called the prefecture and was told that the case was pending. I sent messages and never got any answer until now. They sent by email an appointment for me to go to the prefecture to complete my file, as I must be fingerprinted!!!
So now I am really scared, and I have several questions.
1. Even though I received the attestation of approval of my renewal request in November, does this mean that there is a problem with my dossier?
2. I have a reservation to fly to LA on July 20th. Do I need to respect this convocation no matter what? Should I try to change my flight? 3. I still don’t understand why the fingerprinting is needed and why the procedure is starting all over again.
4. I checked my online space and they no longer show the attestation de acceptation. Does it mean that my renewal request is now denied?
5. Do you think they have lost my dossier?Thanks so much for whatever explanation you can give me.

WIKIPEDIA

“I’m Still Standing” is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, from John’s 1983 studio album Too Low for Zero. It was the second single released from the album in the UK, and the first single released in the United States.

Lyrics

You could never know what it’s like
Your blood like winter freezes just like ice
And there’s a cold lonely light that shines from you
You’ll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use

And did you think this fool could never win? 
Well, look at me, I’m a-coming back again
I got a taste of love in a simple way
And if you need to know while I’m still standing you just fade away

Don’t you know I’m still standing better than I ever did? 
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
And I’m still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah

Once I never could’ve hoped to win
You’re starting down the road leaving me again
The threats you made were meant to cut me down
And if our love was just a circus you’d be a clown by now

You know I’m still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I’m still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah

Don’t you know that I’m still standing better than I ever did? 
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
And I’m still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah

I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah

I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah

I am not a real fan of this artist. At the same time, his music is popular and because of that, I know several of his songs. I have been moved by a few.

The idea that one is still standing after a crisis, a romantic rupture, or other setback is a common image conveying the message that life goes on: I am strong enough to continue my life. A foreigner who has lived in France for a few years might say this after going through the most difficult years of adaptation to a new life in France.

Recent events made me think of this song differently. In the USA, politicians caught red-handed doing something that is frowned upon would once have faced a media campaign that would have ended or at least considerably reduced their political careers. At one time it seemed every presidential campaign had at least one candidate stepping down, often because of a sex scandal. Here is the example that came to my mind:

WIKIPEDIA

Gary Warren Hart (born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. He represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1975 to 1987.

I thought of him because I was living in the USA at the time and experienced what happened firsthand.

In recent weeks, however, we have seen people standing behind a podium, often for press conferences, facing adverse media coverage but continuing their political activities as if the coverage did not exist. What I find interesting is that, unlike in the old days, I now see two distinct media worlds, each conveying the political message of one side of the aisle in Congress and therefore in the country. I believe these politicians’ capacity to stand tall regardless of what is being said about them by the other side is only possible because their side of the media gives them support and reassurance.

But the song also means something quite different to me, and it is this meaning I prefer. I am talking about discussions I often have with my clients, my readers, and throughout the community, when I hear comments like this:

“It was hell then. I was doing one wrong thing after another as I thought I was adapting to France. Slowly I learned from my mistakes and managed to achieve a decent and enjoyable life in France.”

That is the kind of message I prefer to associate with “I’m Still Standing.” Being an immigrant always means being more resilient than one had thought possible. It also means multiplying the errors and catastrophes and finding a way to manage them.

Some people do extensive research and learn a lot about all aspects of France and the immigration procedure before moving to France. Others buy their plane ticket on the spur of the moment, and make a snap decision to settle in France. The first type limits their expensive mistakes and goes through the transition more quickly and smoothly. But there are always challenges, traps, and errors that cannot be foreseen.

In short, anyone who manages to settle well in France in less than five years can consider themself a hero, the winner of the challenge. This is not said often enough, and it should be acknowledged as a success one can be proud of: “I’m Still Standing.”

A NEW CAP ON BANK TRANSFERS WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION
For a long time, the limit on wire transfers was 10,000€. Below that amount, bankers considered such transfers to be pretty much normal business. Above that limit, the client had to prove where the funds came from and the legitimacy of the transaction. Now the regulatory threshold for bank transfers is set at 8,000€.

The documentation to submit can be related to an inheritance, Social Security and company pensions, sales of real estate in the home country, and so on. If the customer does not provide satisfactory proof, the bank blocks the transaction. It will also inform Tracfin, the French intelligence agency charged with combating tax fraud, money laundering, and terrorism financing.

For many people holding a carte de séjour visiteur the new limit is unworkable. Furthermore, such transfers often come from a checking account and represent money earned by working or having worked. It can be difficult to provide satisfactory documentation in such cases.

I always give this advice: early on, ask to meet your branch manager and explain how much money you need to sustain your standard of living in France. For some, 8,000€ is what you need monthly. Once you have reassured your banker, you can wire the money without worrying about the limit, since you cleared it beforehand. You might occasionally be asked to update the documentation given to the bank. Reminder: the French tax authorities require you to declare foreign bank accounts, life insurance policies, portfolios, and other financial products when you fill out the French income tax declaration. That alone should help reassure your banker, as the money you receive in your French bank account comes from one of those accounts, one would hope!

THE LATEST ON FRENCH LOANS FOR REAL ESTATE PURCHASES
I rarely comment about bills discussed in the French parliament, as a lot can happen and often no law is passed in the end. In this case, though, there is a proposal whose concept is interesting and which truly would benefit clients and prevent banks from gouging fees and costs.

“La portabilité des prêts” (loan carryover) is a concept similar to what has long existed for mobile phone numbers. In the old days, when you changed phone service providers, you got a new number, always a true hassle. Then a law was passed making it possible to change providers but keep the same phone number.

In other words, portabilité conveys the notion that nothing is closed out; instead, the service or situation is continued. With the bill still under discussion, the current situation is that when someone buys a piece of property while holding a mortgage on a different property, the bank closes the first loan to open a new one to finance the new purchase.

The concept of portability of home loans would allow borrowers to transfer an existing loan from one property to another without having to take out a new loan under what may be changed market conditions.

The député sponsoring the bill, Damien Adam, aims to make this practice systematic and compulsory, enabling homeowners to benefit from more advantageous credit terms obtained in the past.

I am sure the French banking industry will try everything it can to torpedo this bill, as it would result in banks losing a lot of money. Let’s hope for the best for consumers.

RECOGNIZING A CHILD’S PARENTAGE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
In former days, questions about children’s parentage rarely arose. The obligation to be married to have legitimate children made it clear to society who the parents were. The reality might be quite different, but the rigid norms of society kept things in place.

Within European Union countries today, however, there are major differences regarding what it takes to define who is a child’s father and who is the mother. As EU citizens have the right to live in other EU countries, issues about parentage can arise more easily. For instance, conservative countries have a hard time accepting that same-sex married couples can both be parents.

The real problem is that the children are the first victims of such situations. Hence the European Commission and Parliament are looking into having a unified rule for all member states so that such situations no longer arise.

Here is an excerpt from the relevant European Parliament memo:

“If you are a parent in one EU country, you should be recognized as a parent in every EU country.

Today, more than two million children may face a situation where their parents are not recognized in another EU country because of differing national rules.

Parliament is backing the recognition of parenthood across the EU, irrespective of how a child was conceived, born, or the type of family they have.

This will not mean any changes to existing national rules, but it does that a child’s rights concerning maintenance, custody, or succession are respected across the EU.

Parliament also supports the introduction of a certificate of parenthood that could be used to cut red tape and costs.”
https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/civil-justice/family-law/recognition-parenthood-between-member-states_en

THE SHIP STUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL STARTING JULY 1ST
The SHIP studio is currently available to rent on July 1st. I finally have a dedicated website for this studio finalized and the link is below. It has been months since I started working on the website. I do hope the studio will be occupied during the Olympics – at the normal monthly rate of 1,400€.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/home-in-paris

THERE IS A NEW PAGE ON MY WEBSITE
As I was working with my webmaster to put together the SHIP studio website as part of my website, he came up with the idea to have a page dedicated to subscribing to my column. His idea was to introduce the column and its history with a space to subscribe at the bottom on this new page. Previously, there had been a small space in the upper right corner of the home page. The subscriber page is now available and can be accessed directly.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/newsletter_subcribers/

I HAVE A PARKING SPACE AVAILABLE FOR RENT NEAR MY OFFICE
I own a parking space in the building just across the street from my office in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. The parking space is in the first basement of a residential building at 58 rue Montreuil. The space is 10 square meters (107.64 square feet). It is the space on the right in the photo accompanying the ad linked below. Secure access is by beeper. The access gate is somewhat narrow, so suitable for smaller cars, although my Peugeot 2008 (4.16m x 1.74m) fits fine.

The rent for a single vehicle is 80€/month, all charges included. An initial deposit of 80€ is required. I am willing to accept motorcycles and other two-wheeled vehicles for this space, which can house up to three such vehicles, depending on the size. The rental fee for such vehicles will be 50€ per vehicle.
https://www.seloger.com/annonces/locations/parking/paris-11eme-75/nation-alexandre-dumas/215283031.htm

OFFICE CLOSED FOR SUMMER VACATION
The office will be closed for seven weeks over the summer holidays, starting on Friday, July 5, in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday, August 27. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. This year, because of the Olympics occurring in Paris, I will be away from Paris for most of that time. But the service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. And Sarah or I will honor the prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

Best regards,

QUESTION

SPOUSE’S IMMIGRATION AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS

My family and I are moving to Toulouse. My husband has a profession libérale visa, and I have the visiteur status. My question is: Are our children and I permitted to be part of his French business in order to get more benefits? My husband is the sole provider so it’s not an option for me to apply on my own application for a profession libérale visa.

QUESTION

WHICH STATUS TO CHOOSE TO MOVE TO FRANCE?

I’m an American currently living in Germany considering a move to France to start my own business as an artist/designer. My questions are – Do you know if work as an artist (creating textile, ceramic, metal, and photography-based works) could also be classified under the profession libérale visa scheme? It seems that it would be for the manufacturing or service categories, but this isn’t very clear. Also, in terms of the cover letter for a profession libérale application, would I apply in German since I reside there now? Or English due to my nationality? Lastly, I’ve been working exclusively as an English teacher in Germany for the last seven years; would that work experience (despite two degrees in design) hinder the acceptance of my visa application?

WIKIPEDIA

The Trial (German: Der Process) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best-known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader.

In my teens, I read several books by Kafka. I like his ability to describe his main characters’ feeling of helplessness, caught in something unstoppable and nonsensical to which there is no way to adjust. That is what makes his stories scary. Unlike in The Trial, the norm is to live in a normal society governed by the rule of law. The procedures, the timing, the people involved, and their respective rights and obligations are clearly defined and known. There is a sense of security about knowing these things, about being able to anticipate the next step. The scary part as described in The Trial is that the crime is not known, and the people in charge of the trial are not known. The story describes a completely arbitrary procedure where the private individual has absolutely no rights. This is what happens under the rule of a dictator.

The world appears to be focusing on a trial occurring now in a tiny Lower Manhattan courtroom. I have listened to the commentators, the parties, and their lawyers with great interest. The defendant’s description of what he thinks is happening sometimes could vaguely resemble the plot of The Trial.

I am used to court proceedings where the defendants and their lawyers dispute every element the prosecution presents in the best way possible, with facts, proof, explanations, and so on.

PARIS IS CHANGING – SORT OF!
There is a street in the 5th arrondissement called the Rue du Chat-qui-pêche (“the fishing cat”). It is one of the smallest streets in Paris, being 1.8 meter (6 feet) wide and 29 meters (95 feet) long. Built in 1540, it survived Baron Haussmann’s 19th-century demolition rampage. It is not the oldest street in Paris (a title variously claimed by Rue Saint-Jacques, Rue Mouffetard and Rue Saint-Rustique in Montmartre). Today, Fishing Cat Street is fully pedestrian.

With Paris hosting the Olympic Games, a lot of new infrastructure has been built, both within the city and outside it. In addition, work is being done to reduce the street lanes dedicated to cars and trucks in favor of public transport vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, and so on. As a result, today 11.2% of Parisians use bicycles, and only 4.3% cars and trucks.

FRENCH INCOME TAX DECLARATION TIME HAS STARTED 
I always send revised information on the tax schedule, as the dates change every year, but this time I should have sent it earlier. Sorry. I hope this information is still soon enough for everyone.The paper version of the 2023 income declaration must be filed in France by midnight on May 22nd, 2024. The declaration forms have been available at www.impots.gouv.fr on April 13th. That is also the day you could start filing your declaration on the same website. To do so, you need your tax ID number (numéro fiscal) and a password.

If you are making your first income declaration to the French tax office, you should do so using the paper form and checking the “first-time” box on the form (CERFA #2042) where it says Vous déposez une déclaration pour la première fois cochez (“Check here if this is your first declaration”). It is possible to get the tax office to give you the information needed to declare for the first time electronically, but I advise against it because using paper documents makes it much easier to see and understand how the system works.

Note that the deadline for online declarations is later than that for paper declarations. The schedule depends on your postal code:
• Départements 01 to 19 must file by midnight on May 25th.
• Départements 20 to 54 by June 1st.
• Départements 55 and up by June 8th.

Reminder: if you are self-employed in France, the quarterly declarations sent to URSSAF do not constitute income tax declarations, which must be sent to the tax office. Many foreigners are under the impression that the quarterly declarations are their only fiscal obligation.

You are a French fiscal resident if you:
• stay in France 183 days in a calendar year, whether you have legal immigration status or not
• have immediate family members (spouse and/or minor children) who are living in France and therefore are French fiscal residents
• have a French employer
• run a French business, even something like tutoring schoolchildren in English.

Occasionally you may have a year with no tax owed to France, either because you only had foreign income not taxed in France or because your taxable income is too low. Then a problem can arise if the prefecture wants to see your income tax bill (avis d’imposition sur le revenu), as happens with many types of immigration status.

Unlike in the USA, filing is a two-step process. The income declaration is sent in, with no payment attached. Then, starting in August, the tax office issues the avis d’imposition sur le revenu based on the declaration, and the deadline to pay the income tax is September 15th.

Many organizations in France, in both the public and private sectors, may require you to furnish an avis d’imposition. For example, the Caisse d’allocations familiale (family subsidy bureau) uses this document among others to decide if applicants deserve aid and, if so, how much.

COMMON PITFALLS OF THE INITIAL RENTAL WALK-THROUGH
Recently two clients got caught in what I call the walk-through scam. This is how it works.

At the end of the lease, the final walk-through is meant to describe the lodging with all imperfections – scratches, stains, chips, and so on. This document is compared to the initial one, which describes the place as perfect with nothing broken or stained. With each item described in the final one that was not mentioned in the first one, the tenant is liable for compensation to the owner. If the scam is well done, 100% of the security deposit can be lost this way.

To achieve this result, the agency or owner rushes the initial walk-through. The new tenant is usually ecstatic to have found a nice place and has been chosen among numerous candidates. With this mindset, it is difficult to be critical of the place and see all the tiny holes in the walls, the stains, and the cracks. So the unscrupulous professional manages to have this walk-through done in record time. When the tenant asks for something, it is not written down, but a verbal answer is given that has no legal weight. In one recent example, the plastic WC cover was obviously broken and the answer was: “Buy a new one and deduct the price from the rent.” With no signed document to this effect, however, the tenant will never get reimbursed. When the money is deducted as instructed, the agency sends a second notice for rent not paid and never acknowledges the agreement.

Considering what is at stake – the security deposit is often a large sum – the tenant is better off being accompanied by someone used to this procedure. The definitive way to avoid this problem is to hire ahuissier (bailiff), a neutral professional who will describe everything and take pictures. No one can dispute what is stated in the huissier’s report.

HOW THE PREFECTURE DEFINES AN ARTIST FOR PASSEPORT TALENT STATUS
People expect the prefecture to hand out a list of documents for every immigration status; the applicant must provide all the ones mentioned and sometimes a lot more, depending on the specifics of the situation. But for two types of passeport talent status, this kind of list is not provided: sub-category 9, primarily for performing artists, and sub-category 10, for internationally famous professionals in the scientific, literary, artistic, intellectual, educational, or sporting fields.

I regularly have to deal with the issue of how one defines being an artist today. I often work with foreigners seeking to prove that they qualify for one of those two types of immigration status. They do not care how they are defined. Many enjoy combining multiple activities, some of them artistic and others not. Yet their entire career is driven by art.

Rather than trying to define something whose definition today can be extremely difficult to pin down, I propose that such people ask for sub-category 10: internationally famous professional. That way they do not need to define themselves, as the category is wide enough for the vast majority of what they do to fit in.

Then the focus when putting together the file shifts from “What do you do?” to “Who do you work for or work with?” “Where do you work?” “Where is your work seen?” They only have to prove that they work in an artistic environment and that famous people recognize them as artists.

Instead of the usual list, the prefecture asks for documents establishing the applicant’s reputation in a scientific, literary, artistic, intellectual, educational, or sporting field and attesting to their recognition by their peers. These include:

• 1. Articles or studies in the specialist press, reference works, etc., show the foreigner’s recognition by their peers.
• 2. Proof of participation in festivals, biennials, trade shows, conferences, study days, and the like, including letters of invitation.
• 3. Documentation of national or international awards, grants, artist residencies, distinctions, and medals in France or other countries.
• 4. For artists, proof of the nature and size of the places where the foreigner wishes to perform or exhibit or has already performed or exhibited.
• 5. Other documentation of the nature, purpose, and duration of their professional project in France.

This broad description fits the way I describe how to put together the file for this status. Below are the prefecture’s suggestions in French.

«Tout document de nature à établir sa notoriété dans un domaine scientifique, littéraire, artistique, intellectuel, éducatif ou sportif et attestant de sa reconnaissance par son milieu professionnel :

• 1. la reconnaissance de l’étranger par ses pairs : parution d’articles ou d’études dans la presse spécialisée, ouvrage de référence… ;
• 2. la participation à des festivals, des biennales, des salons, des colloques ou journées d’études : production des lettres d’invitation… ;
• 3. obtention de prix (nationaux ou internationaux), bourses, résidences d’artistes, distinction et médailles en France ou dans d’autres pays. ;
• 4. pour les artistes, qualité des structures dans lesquelles l’étranger souhaite se produire ou exposer ou s’est déjà produit ou exposé.
• 5. tout document visant à établir la nature, l’objet et la durée de son projet sur le territoire français.»

THE MANDATORY OFII APPOINTMENT
I often refer to Ellis Island and the former US immigration procedure to explain the French legal procedure for obtaining and registering a VLS-TS long-stay immigration visa before and after the person lands in France. The final step of the procedure on the French side consists of two different steps that are not clear to many people. This leads to confusion, which makes the procedure a lot more difficult.

The first step is police clearance and the person has no criminal record. The normal procedure starts at the airport when the passport is supposed to be checked and swiped to make sure that you are not a criminal. In reality, border police officers seeing an American passport tend to do the absolute minimum, so you may need to remind them that the passport contains a visa that needs to be stamped. 

Once settled, the foreigner needs to register the visa through the Agence Nationale des Étrangers en France. The registration triggers the issuance of the French foreign ID number, which identifies the person as an immigrant. This concludes the police check.

After having registered, the person must undergo a visit with doctors at the Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration (OFII). Many clients ask me how long after the registration this visit takes place. Right now, it is difficult to know. It used to be about two months or less, but today it is commonly closer to four months and has even been up to six months.

This visit used to be just a medical exam, but now it is an orientation session, including a short movie introducing France, the signature of the contrat d’intégration républicaine (CIR) promising to comply with French law, and a test of the person’s French language level to determine if they need French lessons.

There is also a four-day civics course, which is mandatory for all CIR signers. It aims to help in understanding French principles and values, as well as the practical aspects of French society. The course covers:

• 1. French institutions
• 2. health
• 3. work 
• 4. housing 
• 5. support for parents, early childhood and childcare, school, educational guidance, and children’s rights.

All the above must be done by foreigners so that they obtain a multiyear carte de séjour or a carte de resident.

THE SHIP STUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL THIS SUMMER
The SHIP studio should be available on June 1, as the next tenant is scheduled to come in April and stay for two months. I finally have a dedicated website for this studio finalized and the link is below. It has actually been months since I started working on the site but I got busy helping clients. So I do hope the SHIP studio will be occupied during the Olympics – at the normal monthly rate of 1,400€.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/home-in-paris

THERE IS A NEW PAGE ON MY WEBSITE
As I was working with my webmaster to put together the SHIP studio website as part of my website, he came up with the idea to have a page dedicated to subscribing to my column. His idea was to introduce the column and its history with a space to subscribe at the bottom on this new page. Previously, there had been a small space in the upper right corner of the home page. The subscriber page is now available and can be accessed directly: https://www.jeantaquet.com/newsletter_subcribers/

I AM RENTING OUT A PARKING SPACE ACROSS FROM MY OFFICE 
I now own a parking space in the building just across the street from my office in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. The rent is 100€/month, all charges included. An initial deposit of 100€ is required.

The parking space is in the first basement of a residential building at 58 rue Montreuil. The space is 10 square meters (107.64 square feet). It is the space on the right in the photo accompanying the ad linked to below.

Secure access by beeper. The access gate is somewhat narrow, so suitable for smaller cars, although my Peugeot 2008 (4.16m x 1.74m) fits fine.
https://www.seloger.com/annonces/locations/parking/paris-11eme-75/nation-alexandre-dumas/215283031.htm

OFFICE CLOSED FOR SUMMER VACATION
The office will be closed for seven weeks over the summer holidays, starting on Friday, July 5, in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday, August 27. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. This year, because of the Olympics occurring in Paris, I will be away from Paris for most of that time. But the service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. And Sarah or I will honor the prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

Best regards,

QUESTION

CHANGING IMMIGRATION STATUS WHILE DISQUALIFIED FOR RENEWAL

I have a four-year student carte de séjour. I have not attended any classes for the last two years. I spent close to six months in 2022 in the USA to be with my family as my grandmother was dying. I admit I had to leave France to take a break as I ended up being severely depressed for most of the COVID-19 pandemic alone in my room.
My card is going to expire in the fall. I have been looking for work but I have two serious problems. Employers are questioning what I have done those last years and the fact that I hold student immigration status.
At the same time, a few of my previous American clients contacted me to work with them again as a freelancer. I am happy that I can pay my bills again! I have been feeling a bit better now and am ready to figure out what I have to do to stay in France. Maybe I could be a consultant in France starting with the money I am making right now.
I am guessing that I will have to gather documents from my French doctor, my psychiatrist, and my therapist. I hope that the prefecture will accept statements from these medical professionals to explain some of the months I was out of school and when I quit altogether.
The truth is that I am scared that I will be deported regardless of the file I submit to the prefecture. I cannot imagine that they will accept my request to change my status. I will show up at the prefecture with a four-year carte de séjour where I expect I will have to face a crabby civil servant, and for three of those four years, I have done nothing. I was not even in the country for months and months.I am discouraged and angry. I think that, that despite all the efforts I want to make to put together a convincing file, they may not even look at it and will send the police after me. Can they understand what I went through and act humanely?

QUESTION

SCAMS REGARDING A CHANGE OF ELECTRICITY PROVIDER

I moved into a very nice Parisian apartment and renewed my carte de séjour with my EDF contract for electricity to prove my address. EDF informed me that my monthly payment was too high and that I would receive a refund at the end of the first year of this contract.So when I got a call from an electric company I thought was a subsidiary of EDF to update my contract to the new amount for the next 12 months. I was not suspicious at all, especially since this man kept saying that my payments would be lower. I received an email almost right away and it turns out it was a provider I never heard from. When I did some Google research, I saw that this provider has a terrible reputation for scamming people. How can I get out of this trap? These people are crooks! So when I got a call from an electric company I thought was a subsidiary of EDF to update my contract to the new amount for the next 12 months. I was not suspicious at all, especially since this man kept saying that my payments would be lower. I received an email almost right away and it turns out it was a provider I never heard from. When I did some Google research, I saw that this provider has a terrible reputation for scamming people. How can I get out of this trap? These people are crooks!

QUESTION

GETTING THE “WRONG RÉCÉPISSÉ” AT THE PREFECTURE APPOINTMENT

I have had a consultant carte de séjour for a couple of years. I lost that card as I did not dare to ask for its renewal as I was sure I would be denied. My taxable profit was under 10,000€. At the time, I was in a relationship with a French guy. We got PACSed while I was sans-papiers and that was not a problem. Getting all the American documents was difficult. I asked for regularization about a year ago and a few days ago, I had my appointment at the police station in the 17th district of Paris. This was not the prefecture I was used to dealing with. They were happy with my file, even though they criticized it the whole time they were reviewing it. Indeed I got the récépissé, which was valid for six months, and I was told that I would get my new carte de séjour in about three months or so. In all of this, one thing does not make sense: the récépissé mentions self-employed when I asked for the private life immigration status and they told me that this is what I was getting. Should I go back and ask this to be changed? For sure I do not want my old card anymore

Where the Sidewalk Ends is a 1974 children’s poetry collection written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. I discovered it during one of my summer trips to the USA. I immediately loved it. It has everything I like. I am particularly moved by the mix of silliness and sweetness. Later, as a father, I shared this book with my children and bought a few other books by the same author. But this is still the one I like best.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_the_Sidewalk_Ends

The title does a good job of describing how I feel listening to the news. I cannot explain why, or what specific thing guided my choice. In recent years, many people have seen similarities between what is happening now and the 1960s with civil rights struggles and demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Those years were extremely violent. Many more people were killed then than have been in the past eight years. But yes, we are witnessing a powerful and scary protest against the current president and his policies. The thing that I find new and frightening is where the protest is coming from. In the 1960s it came from the left, with radical ideas conveyed by the hippie movement. The most popular bands, artists, and leaders were all patriotic, united around core American beliefs mentioned in the Bill of Rights and the rest of the Constitution. This has always surprised me as a French citizen.

Today the protest movement comes largely from the far right. On the fringe of what used to be the party of law, order, and tradition are people refusing to accept the core beliefs that the USA has always stood for. That is what is new and scary. The fact that in poll after poll and study after study this group makes up a significant minority of the American population is also scary.

The Republic of France was formed in a different way. It has rarely been united since its birth which took placeduring the French Revolution. The first stage of creating a democracy that led to a republic occurred between October 1791 and June 1793. The party in power was the Girondins. They promoted local government by the provinces and slow change. Their position could be compared to that of Thomas Jefferson favoring the states. During the second period, which ended in July 1794, power was held by the Montagnards and later by the Jacobins. The main Jacobin leader was Robespierre. After the Jacobins sentenced the Girondins to death and executed them, Robespierre and his group were sentenced and executed in turn, which stopped the Reign of Terror phase of the revolution. In all, the French Revolution calmed down quickly. Law and order were reestablished. Napoléon Bonaparte, a general since 1793, became the ruler of France in 1799.

This description illustrates that the French Republic has always been split in two, starting with the Girondins versus the Jacobins. The debate in those days resembled that of the American founding fathers about the balance of power between the states and the central government. That evolved into conservatives versus liberals. In France, for 50 years or so, the liberal side was respresented by a coalition of the Socialist and Communist parties, which promoted a radically different vision than that of French conservatives.

Going back to the USA, the American Republic was created by uniting the visions of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. This unity is in the DNA of the USA.

With his trademark silliness, the comedian and actor Robin Williams personified this unity, mixed, when he portrayed the American flag in the sketch “I Love Liberty,” dressed as the entire flag. The sketch demonstrated that he truly loved the USA.

“Where the Sidewalk Ends” might refer to the definitive end, the chaos that The Doors depicted so well. It fascinates me that the band called “The Doors” had a major hit with the song “The End,” since they wanted to open doors. It could also refer to the poetic silliness that Silverstein’s book describes so well. I miss Robin Williams for that kind of silliness.

FRANCE HAS ADDED ABORTION RIGHTS TO ITS CONSTITUTION 
The Constitutional Act of March 8, 2024, contains a single article, amending Article 34 of the French Constitution, which now states: “The law determines the conditions under which a woman’s guaranteed freedom to to have recourse to a voluntary interruption of pregnancy is exercised.”

The aim is to prohibit any future questioning of this freedom. The French Constitutional Council has not conferred constitutional value on this freedom as such. Nor have the European Court of Human Rights or the Court of Justice of the European Union.

With this text, France becomes the first country to recognize in its constitution the freedom to have an abortion, which is a matter for individual women alone to decide. This freedom will be protected under the control of the Constitutional Court, which will take up the matter either directly after a law has been passed or at a later date by means of a question prioritaire de constitutionnalité.

The act was the 25th revision of the 1958 Constitution.

The draft law, presented in application of Article 89 of the Constitution, was announced by the Head of State, President Macron, in late October 2023. It followed a vote by Parliament in February 2023 on a constitutional bill.

The text was passed unamended by the National Assembly on January 30, 2024, by 493 votes to 30, then by Senate on February 28, 2024, by 267 votes to 50, with 22 abstentions. Over 170 amendments had been proposed in the National Assembly. Two amendments had been discussed in the Senate: the first aimed to delete the word “guaranteed” after the word “freedom” and the second proposed to enshrine a conscience clause for healthcare professionals in the Constitution.

On March 4, 2024, both houses of Parliament, meeting in Congress, overwhelmingly approved the bill by 780 votes to 72, with 50 abstentions.

On March 8, 2024, the law was enshrined in the Constitution at a public ceremony at the Ministry of Justice, in the presence of the President of the Republic.

Abortion had been legal in France for 49 years before this. The “Veil law” of January 17, 1975, temporarily decriminalized abortion and provided a framework for its legalization. In December 1979, the law on abortion made the provisions of the “Veil law” definitive. Since then, several texts have strengthened the right to abortion, including the 2013 Social Security Financing Act allowing women to have free abortions, a 2014 law that removed a reference to a “situation of distress,” and the law of March 20, 2017 extended the offence of hindering abortion created in 1993. The last law to be passed was the law of March 2, 2022, which extended the legal time allowed for recourse to abortion from 12 to 14 weeks.

WIKIPEDIA

Simone Veil (13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French magistrate, Holocaust survivor, and politician who served as Health Minister in several governments and was President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, the first woman to hold that office. As health minister, she is best remembered for advancing women’s rights in France, in particular for the 1975 law that legalized abortion, today known as the Veil Act (French: Loi Veil). From 1998 to 2007, she was a member of the Constitutional Council, France’s highest legal authority.

A Holocaust survivor of both Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen, she was a firm believer in European integration as a way of guaranteeing peace. She served as president of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah from 2000 to 2007, and then as its honorary president. Among many honors, she was made an honorary dame in 1998, elected to the Académie Française in 2008, and in 2012 received the grand cross of the Légion d’honneur, the highest class of the highest French order of merit.

Here is what I heard when I listened to the French members of Parliament who voted on this amendment to the French Constitution.

The idea had been circulated for quite a while without gaining any momentum. Members of Parliament did not see any danger that would justify changing the Constitution. But after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, more French members of Parliament started to think that even though there seemed no risk of French law being changed in the near future, passage of a simple law someday could make abortion illegal again. Some European Catholic countries, including Poland and Italy, were considering changes to their abortion laws, which made the possibility even more plausible. The USA is often seen as pointint the way toward what will happen in Europe a few years later. This has been true regarding technology, entertainment, political ideas, art, and much more. The fact that the draft law became public in October 2023 means the groundwork must have started about a year before. In other words, it was a consequence of the US Supreme Court decision. That decision has had serious consequences in the USA on many levels. We now know how much it affected the rest of the western world, especially European Union countries.

THE SCHEDULE OF A REGULARIZATION PROCEDURE
I recently received two confirmations from the prefecture indicating that regularization applications had been accepted and the people concerned each got an appointment to finalize their procedure. Although their situations are totally different, the time until the appointment is pretty much the same. There are some misconceptions about the regularization procedure. I would like to explain how critically different the procedure is now. Grounds for a request for regularization can take one of two forms, described in the Circulaire Manuel Valls of November 28, 2012. One concerns family status (vie privée et familiale) and the other involves employment (salarié). From what I see, there is no difference between the two regarding the timing or the procedure itself. It is just that the requirements are obviously different.

Before COVID

There was only one rule for getting an appointment: the applicant had to reach the reception desk before noon. In some prefectures, the number of appointments available were only relatively low, such as 20 or 30 new cases. This is one reason people who have been in France a long time, and started their immigration procedure when nothing was online, talk about long lines forming way before opening hours. Some people would sleep on the sidewalk by the door to be sure to be among those getting an appointment. The waiting conditions were atrocious, prompting a lot of complaining. But there was a human being, a civil servant, at each step of the procedure, making it possible to interact and explain. Sometimes I managed to get clients’ files accepted by showing that the documents submitted were comparable to the ones asked for. I used to think the interval between getting the appointment and going to the meeting was long – a couple of months, sometimes three. But the applicant walked out with, at the very least, an appointment, with a convocationas proof. It was not much, but it protected them from being deported. For those people, getting that appointment (i.e., holding the convocation) was a radical change in their life.

After COVID

Today at the Paris prefecture (and I understand the procedure is similar elsewhere), the process starts with the applicant sending an email with attachments, which are the supporting documents the applicant is using to ask for a particular status. From the start, this ends up complicating the situation. Putting a file in a photocopy machine cannot be that difficult. Plus the file needs to be divided by years, topics and so on. Sending such an email means having to scan all the documents. For a file of about 120 pages (i.e., 10 times 12 months) and often a lot more, this means a lot of work to convert everything to PDF. The attachments also have to be compressed, as the email size limit is quite low. The applicant must have access to a computer and a scanner and know enough to have everything in the required size. Once the email is sent, the result is a document showing only that an email was received. It does not give any rights, protection, or sense of security. Over eight months later, the prefecture sends an email with the convocation. People agonize about having to wait for that long with no news. Calling the prefecture does not help. The files cannot even be visualized while the appointment is under review. The civil servant does not see them on the computer until the appointment is issued and the convocation has been sent. The emails I refer to above, received in early March, are for appointments in November 2024. By the time of the prefecture appointment, it has to review the file once more since it clearly needs to be updated.

THE SHIP STUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL THIS SUMMER
The SHIP studio should be available on June 1, as the next tenant is scheduled to come in April and stay for two months. I finally have a dedicated website for this studio finalized and the link is below. It has actually been months since I started working on the site but I got busy helping clients. So I do hope the SHIP studio will be occupied during the Olympics – at the normal monthly rate of 1,400€.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/home-in-paris

I AM RENTING OUT A PARKING SPACE ACROSS FROM MY OFFICE 
I now own a parking space in the building just across the street from my office in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. The rent is 100€/month, all charges included. An initial deposit of 100€ is required.

The parking space is in the first basement of a residential building at 58 rue Montreuil. The space is 10 square meters (107.64 square feet). It is the space on the right in the photo accompanying the ad linked to below.

Secure access by beeper. The access gate is somewhat narrow, so suitable for smaller cars, although my Peugeot 2008 (4.16m x 1.74m) fits fine.
https://www.seloger.com/annonces/locations/parking/paris-11eme-75/nation-alexandre-dumas/215283031.htm

OFFICE CLOSED FOR SUMMER VACATION
The office will be closed for seven weeks over the summer holidays, starting on Friday, July 5, in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday, August 27. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. This year, because of the Olympics occurring in Paris, I will be away from Paris for most of that time. But the service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. And Sarah or I will honor the prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

Best regards,

QUESTION

PAYMENT OF CONDOMINIUM CHARGES AND APPROVAL OF A RENOVATION

I own and rent a small apartment in Paris in an old building. Recently thesyndic communicated that the entire sewerage system in the ground has to be repaired, the ceiling of several cellars reinforced, and the concrete of the courtyard entirely redone before a ravalement can start before the general meeting was called. They are talking about two years of non-stop work. I was thinking about the global description the architect made, which was sent to all of us. I have two questions after reading it. 1. Has the syndic stated when the first appel will be that reflects the initial amount quoted? 2. Will all owners pay the same amount in the appels or will the fee vary according to the size of the apartment?

QUESTION

CHANGING IMMIGRATION STATUS IN FRANCE

I hold a long-stay tourist visa so I am not allowed to work and I would like to. My visa is valid from August 2023 to August 2024. I have recently learned from other students that it may be possible to work part-time on a one-year student visa with only three months of enrolled study required. So I plan on registering for a minimum of three months of classes per year to qualify for a student visa and I choose to go to the Alliance Française to be able to work part-time in France as well as in the EU.I don’t think I qualify for a profession liberale or a talent visa because I don’t yet have work to prove income in France as an actor. My acting career has exclusively been in the US and has earned me less than 30K per year in the last few years. I would love to apply for part-time jobs and audition for TV shows shooting in Paris this year.

QUESTION

BORDEREAU DE SITUATION FISCALE

I am in the process of applying for French citizenship after having lived in France for over five years. I recently graduated from the American University of Paris and I am living in Paris. One of the items being requested is a Bordereau de situation fiscale datant de moins de 3 mois portant sur les 3 dernières années. Do you know where I can get this document? I have been living and paying taxes in France for the past six years but I never heard of this document before..

Victor was born
The spring of ’44 
And never saw
His father anymore
A child of sacrifice
A child of war
Another son who never had
A father after Leningrad
Went off to school
And learned to serve his state
Followed the rules
And drank his vodka straight
The only way to live
Was drown the hate
The Russian life was very sad
And such was life in Leningrad
I was born in ’49 
A Cold War kid in McCarthy times
Stop ’em at the 38th parallel
Blast those yellow reds to hell
Cold War kids were hard to kill
Under their desks in an air raid drill
Haven’t they heard we won the war
What do they keep on fighting for? 
Victor was sent
To some red army town
Served out his time
Became a circus clown
The greatest happiness
He’d ever found
Was making Russian children glad
When children lived in Leningrad
The children lived in Levittown
Hid in the shelters underground
Till the Soviets turned their ships around
Tore the Cuban missiles down
And in that bright October sun
We knew our childhood days were done
And I watched my friends go off to war
What do they keep on fighting for? 
So my child and I came to this place
To meet him, eye to eye and face to face
He made my daughter laugh
Then we embraced
We never knew what friends we had
Until we came to Leningrad

“Leningrad” is a song written by Billy Joel, from his 1989 album Storm Front. It is about a Russian clown, Viktor Razinov, whom Joel met while touring the Soviet Union in 1987. The song compares major events from Razinov’s and Joel’s lives, while drawing attention to cultural and political differences and similarities between the USA and the USSR. The song was released as a single in Europe.

I discovered Billy Joel when I moved to the USA in 1986. I was well past my teenage years when I discovered most of the 1970s rock bands that have accompanied me ever since. As my readers know by now, I choose almost all the titles of my issues from that era. I like Joel’s music because it is quite eclectic, and the lyrics even more so. What I like the most is that his descriptions are acute while showing caring and empathy. I also enjoy his sense of humor, with a drop of sarcasm when needed.

“Leningrad” talks about the Soviet Union, and I do not see much difference between it and today’s Russia. Both children in the song grew up after WWII during the Cold War. For both of them, the other’s country was a threatening enemy and the fear of war was such that it felt like it could happen at any time. Many have forgotten what it was to grow up in the USA in the 1950s and early ’60s. Listening to the McCarthy hearings in the Senate gives a fair idea of the fear and what it led people to do.

Maybe because I have loved history all my life and am interested in the history of many countries, I tend to be skeptical by nature; I do my research and form my own opinions.

Leningrad is now Saint Petersburg: After the Soviet Union broke up, it went back to the name it held prior to the Soviet Revolution when it was a former capital of Imperial Russia. The first thing I think of when I see or hear the name Leningrad is the German siege of this large city in WWII.

From Wikipedia: “The siege began on 8th September 1941, when the Wehrmacht severed the last road to the city. Although Soviet forces managed to open a narrow land corridor to the city on 18th January 1943, the Red Army did not lift the siege until 27th January 1944, 872 days after it began. The blockade became one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history, and it was possibly the costliest siege in history due to the number of casualties that were suffered throughout its duration. An estimated 1.5 million people died as a result of the siege.”

Today the Russian army is fighting the war in Ukraine. The armies on both sides know they are in it for years, and defeat is not considered an option by either side.

I love the story Billy Joel tells us in his song. This kind of reaching out is possible. But 2024 is an election year, so it may be the best time to encourage reaching out against all odds.

It may be totally irrelevant, but it happens that my daughter lives in Taiwan and when I started drafting this issue, my wife was visiting her for the Lunar New Year celebration. Taiwan recently went through an interesting presidential election in which mainland China openly used all its power to get its candidate elected and he lost. Taiwan remained peaceful both during the campaign and after the election.

THE FRENCH MINIMUM WAGE HAS INCREASED
On January 1st, France’s salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance, better known as the SMIC or minimum wage, was raised by +1.13% to 1 398,69€ per month net (i.e., after deduction of social charges on a 35-hour workweek). For prefecture procedures, the yearly amount is now 16,786.80€ net.

Official communications always use the gross amount (before deductions), which is what employee contracts cite. The hourly SMIC is now 11.65€, the monthly gross is 1,766.92€ and the yearly gross is 21,203.04€.

Reminder: Almost all French immigration categories require the applicant to prove either means or income at least equal to the SMIC, or a ratio of it, especially for the passeport talent categories, which the French administration considers to be VIP statuses. I am seeing significantly increased scrutiny by the French administration about applicants’ means. Foreigners holding visiteur immigration status should make sure at least 17,000€ annually goes in and out of their French bank account. Note that if the bank is part of the European SEPA network, the administration considers it to be French.

CPAM IS PURSUING SOME VISITOR CARTE DE SÉJOUR HOLDERS
At first, I thought it was just one person picked randomly to prove they had permanent residence in France. Now, nearly a year after the first case, I see a clear pattern, which has become quite concerning. As many readers know, the public health coverage called Assurance Maladie, delivered by the local Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAMs), is available to all legal residents in France regardless of their immigration status. The legality of one’s stay in France is easy to prove: holding a carte de séjour or any of the other French IDs that foreigners get.

But CPAM is now focusing a lot of attention on the other requirement: physically residing in France. First, it claims that it sent a letter asking for information, which none of my clients received. Then comes a much more menacing letter, stating that since they did not reply the first time, the assumption is that they do not live at that address. They are given a very short time to send certain documents, such as rent receipts, utility bills or statements, and tenant insurance. If the person has declared income to the French tax authorities, it is an excellent idea to send the tax documents.

In the worst cases I have seen, CPAM closes the account. It is reasonably easy to submit a new file, which should be done as soon as possible. My clients in this situation have all had the carte vitale, which means they have a French Social Security number, so the new coverage is issued quickly. In the end, the reality is that the coverage is suspended for a short time, as the closing takes a couple of months to go into effect, and if the person reacts swiftly the “new” coverage starts the day the file is submitted.

Nevertheless, the situation is pretty serious. This is a vivid illustration of how important it is to have a valid mailing address in France. I cannot stress this enough. The prefecture has sent regular postal mail and registered mail for decades as a way of catching foreigners who do not keep their French address up to date. CPAM is doing the same thing. It would be most unwise to think one can leave mail in the mailbox for a month or so and have nothing much happen as a result.

Everybody who goes on trips for more than two weeks should make sure their postal mail is collected, either by having someone check the mailbox every day or two, or, for absences of more than a month, by paying for the mail forwarding service from La Poste, which is reliable and cost-effective. People who maintain only a secondary residence in France and therefore do not have a carte de séjour or CPAM coverage do not face this problem; at any rate, in such cases the vast majority of communications are electronic.

UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS OFTEN VOLUNTEER WITH NON-PROFITS (ASSOCIATIONS)
There are many reasons people without papers in France choose to work as volunteers with an association. Those without enough paying work to fill up their days can keep themselves busy this way. It is also a practical means of demonstrating their ability and expertise, in the hope that someone will hire them for their skills. Also, one of the requirements for regularization is at least an A1 level in French, and being among French people helps in learning enough French for this basic level. Another requirement is a certain level of integration in French society, so the applicant must show proof of things like friendships, association memberships, voluntary work, and participation in children’s school activities. Being known and appreciated by the leadership of a non-profit can thus help when applying for regularization.

This is why I have always advised foreigners wanting to improve their French and integrate more into French society to find a local non-profit promoting a cause they are fond of and volunteer there. Even the ones who do not have any immigration issues may have a hard time meeting French people and may feel like they are on the outskirts of French society.

Undocumented aliens often ask me how can they find work. I cannot help, as finding people who trust them enough to give them work is a complex process. I advise them to seek assistance from an NGO that helps foreigners and to sign up for the French courses given by local city halls. It can be hard to get them to understand that volunteering is a good idea when they desperately need money just to get basic food and lodging.

The following article gave me the idea to write about this.
www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2023/12/17/les-sans-papiers-sont-nombreux-parmi-les-benevoles-associatifs_6206318_3224.html

PASSING FRENCH NATIONALITY THROUGH THE GENERATIONS 
I have had many clients obtain nationality in a European country, usually Italy or Ireland, through one of their grandparents. I do not know how the procedures are done, as my professional expertise only covers French law. But such a process can make a world of difference for those who go through it and wish to live in France, as it means they no longer need French immigration status. Anyone holding a passport from another EU country has the right to live legally in France.

A few clients have asked if France offers a similar possibility. It does, but only if the grandparent and the parent remained a French citizen all their life. This means that being married or obtaining US citizenship could have triggered the loss of their French citizenship. Furthermore, French law requires proof that the parent was French at the time of the applicant’s birth.

The court case linked below addresses one aspect of such a situation: the legal concept of désuétude (non-use). In short, if you do not “use” your French nationality for a long time, you can lose it. This applies mostly to people born in the former French colonies during the colonial era. In this 2023 decision, the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) struck down an appeals court decision, ruling that the applicant’s grandmother had lost her French nationality and hence could not pass it on to her son, the applicant’s father. The fact that the son had lived in France for 50 years, which would have negated the principle of désuétude, was found to be irrelevant since he was never French to start with.

THE DETAILS OF THE CASE
Can foreign grandchildren obtain French nationality through their grandparents? This question of nationality and family lineage was clarified by the French Court of Cassation in a landmark decision on May 17th, 2023. In a case that began with a denial of French nationality to Ms. D (name withheld), born in Algeria, the court examined the concept of “ascendants” within the framework of French nationality law.

Ms. D, born on June 17th, 1992, had argued that she was the descendant, by filiation, of a French grandfather. The Paris judicial tribunal initially ruled against Ms. D, citing the application of the legal concept of désuétude as defined in Article 30-3 of the Civil Code. According to this concept, it was determined that she did not have French nationality.When Ms. D appealed this decision, the Paris Court of Appeals took a different stance. After analyzing the evidence provided by Ms. D, it was found that the conditions for désuétude were not met and that Ms. D had indeed proved she was a French citizen.

The case then moved to the Court of Cassation as the public prosecutor raised concerns about the Court of Appeals not having taken into account the paternal grandmother’s situation. The prosecutor argued that the 50-year foreign residence condition was fulfilled by Ms D’s father, not the grandmother.

In a significant decision, the Court of Cassation clarified that the term “ascendants” referred to in Article 30-3 of the Civil Code extends beyond just parents and includes grandparents.

Furthermore, it struck down the Court of Appeals’ decision to consider the residence of Ms. D’s grandmother in France, not solely the fact that her father had lived abroad for 50 years.

With this ruling, the Court of Cassation has, for the first time, explicitly stated that the notion of “ascendants” in Article 30-3 includes grandparents. However, applicants must still provide evidence that the grandparent established their habitual residence in France for the required 50-year period.

The other conditions outlined in Article 30-3 of the Civil Code remain unchanged.

While this is a significant development, applicants must still meet the stringent criteria, including providing evidence of a grandparent’s extended residence in France, to claim French nationality through lineage.

This decision reflects the evolving nature of nationality law and underscores the importance of legal clarity in matters of citizenship and heritage.
www.legifrance.gouv.fr/juri/id/JURITEXT000047570990

SHIP STUDIO SHOULD BE RENTED THIS SUMMER
A tenant is scheduled to come this April and stay for two months. A few friends and family members stayed in the studio in early 2024. I am hoping that the SHIP studio will be occupied during the Olympics at the normal monthly rate of 1,400€. I was never interested in any kind of last-minute rental during the games.

A long time ago I asked my son, Eric, to sculpt a stele representing a tall ship. I never got it, as he moved out of France about a year ago. But his last Christmas gift to me almost does the trick. Now I need to figure out how to display it.

I AM RENTING OUT A PARKING SPACE ACROSS FROM MY OFFICE 
I now own a parking space in the building just across the street from my office in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. The rent is 100€/month, all charges included. An initial deposit of 100€ is required.

The parking space is in the first basement of a residential building at 58 rue Montreuil. The space is 10 square meters (107.64 square feet). It is the space on the right in the photo accompanying the ad linked to below.

Secure access by beeper. The access gate is somewhat narrow, so suitable for smaller cars, although my Peugeot 2008 (4.16m x 1.74m) fits fine.

Best regards,

QUESTION

PASSPORT VALIDITY WHEN ASKING FOR A VISA

I am faced with a very complicated issue now that I want to send out my visa application since I will have my appointment with VFS Global in San Francisco in less than two weeks. The website states that I must provide at least the following:
“A travel document (original + copy) in good condition, issued less than 10 years ago, with at least two blank pages, which is valid for at least three months after the date on which you have planned to leave the Schengen Area, or in the event of a long stay, which is valid for at least three months on the date on which the requested visa expires. However, in the event of a duly proven emergency, this final requirement may be waived.”My passport expires in March 2025. I have asked that the visa start on May 1st, 2024, filling out the form with France Visa. I have asked VFS Global several times after I managed to get through to someone after countless attempts. They all state that I cannot submit an application for a long-term visa until I get a new passport. I read on the French Embassy website that the visa in this situation will last less than one year but it will still be a VLS-TS, which I can renew. I am ready to lose those two months of immigration status as I want to settle in France with my wife and children. Do you believe that VFS Global will enforce that rule? I cannot think of how I could claim this is an emergency so I can get a new passport in such a short period of time.

QUESTION

DIFFICULTY RENEWING IMMIGRATION STATUS THE FIRST TIME

I had an easy time getting the visa and the first renewal, as the husband of a French citizen, from the French DC consulate. A few documents with our address in France, the marriage license. That was just about it. It is now the third time I have been denied my request to renew a year later. They are asking for all kinds of stuff we do not have, such as a joint bank account, the French joint income tax document, the secondary health insurance called mutuelle covering all the members of the family, proof the children are registered in school called attestation de scolarité. I never imagined that the renewal would be so difficult when they accepted the original documents a year ago and issued my card. None of us is covered by the public health care system. I work for an American company and we have excellent coverage for everybody, including overseas; we use our American bank accounts and the American credit cards we have. Since we do not earn money in France, we did not see the need to declare to the French tax office, and the children go to a tiny private English-speaking school that has no ties with the French administration. I just want my carte de séjour renewed, I am married to her, we all live in the same house, what is the problem with the prefecture? Is there a way to explain to them that they are wrong in asking me all this? I have the right to run my life the way I want it.

QUESTION

BORDEREAU DE SITUATION FISCALE

I am in the process of applying for French citizenship after having lived in France for over five years. I recently graduated from the American University of Paris and I am living in Paris. One of the items being requested is a Bordereau de situation fiscale datant de moins de 3 mois portant sur les 3 dernières années. Do you know where I can get this document? I have been living and paying taxes in France for the past six years but I never heard of this document before..

First, I would like to wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2024! There is a point at which we need to fill ourselves with optimism, regardless of what is happening around us. Happy New Year!

I believe many of us, perhaps all of us, think that 2024 is going to be a challenging year. Just keep in mind that our personal and family lives are a lot more important than all the events related to the US presidential race.

This month’s title is not a song, a movie or even a book. I just could not find the right thing to capture what I was looking for. In early December I received a reader statement that inspired the title I gave to that section of this issue and finally the issue itself.

Is it appropriate for me to associate myself with Valentine’s Day in a professional setting? I have never done so before! After you read her statement, I will let you decide. I am honored to have received it, considering what it must have taken to tell me her story.

E-PHOTO REFUSED 
In recent months, several of my clients have had their e-photo refused by the civil servants handling files sent through the Étrangers en France website. There are two possible reasons for this.

The first reason is one everybody is supposed to know: the face must not be covered at all. It would appear that the website requirements are stricter than those accepted by the machine. The machine will not take the picture if the image is non-compliant. For example, if the hair is judged to be too close to the eyes when the picture is taken, the French administration may refuse it. To make sure your photo is accepted, pull all your hair back, no glasses, no hat, and so on. It might not be your style, but such pictures never show us at our best.

The second reason may be sneakier, especially for foreigners who rarely pay much attention to how they sign their name. I know many who have different signatures for different situations, such as women who do or do not include their married name. For French people, this is like writing your name, not signing. The French usually perfect their signature in their early teens, and by the time they are adults it has become a stylistic thing, totally illegible, that is kept for life. To confirm an e-photo, one must sign with a finger on the screen on the right side of the equipment. I have witnessed so many refusals that I now advise everybody who needs to take these pictures to bring their passport or at least a very good copy. If the signature closely resembles the one on the passport, the French administration is more likely to accept it.

THE NEW IMMIGRATION LAW WAS PASSED & MOSTLY STRUCK DOWN BY THE COURT
Below are provisions of the new law most likely to be of interest to my readers, as well as some details. On January 25th the Conseil Constitutionnel struck down many provisions of this law. I will keep my readership informed of is going to happen regarding this matter.

Quotas to regulate migration will be put into effect for certain types of immigration status. The French parliament will then vote on a law detailing guidelines to be valid for three years.

To benefit from the family reunification procedure, the foreigner must reside in France for at least two years, instead of 18 months as previously.

For most multiyear cartes de séjour, an A2 level of French is now required. Regarding issuance of the carte de résident, it is now B1, and B2 for naturalization.

The first issuance of an immigration status now involves signing an integration contract with France. Any breach of this contract by the foreigner could mean losing the right to stay in France legally.

Children born in France must inform the French administration of their desire to become French citizens no earlier than age 18. They lose this right if they are sentenced in France for a crime. The other requirements on this provision stay the same.

Spouses and parents of French citizens can request a carte de résident only after residing legally in France for five years.

Foreign students holding student immigration status must create an escrow account to obtain their visa, although some exceptions may be defined later. The money will be released later except to any person who disobeys an expulsion order.

The right to work is available to undocumented aliens. Other foreigners keep the same rights.

Regularization through work as an employee has been made easier. The person still has to have lived in France for three years, but only needs to have been an employee for one of the last two years of residence, which status is shown by submitting one year of pay slips, rather than two, as previously.

There is a new carte de séjour within the passeport talent status called talent – profession médicale et de la pharmacie to facilitate hiring people in these professions.

The offense of illegal residence (with an expired visa or without a residence permit) has been reinstated. It will be punishable by a fine of 3,750 euros and an additional three-year ban from France.

WHAT ABOUT HOLDING A CARTE DE SÉJOUR FOR FIVE YEARS?
There was a frenzy for several weeks in the expat community, including the media dedicated to this population, about fears that it would be impossible to renew the visiteur immigration status for more than five years. When I was asked to comment about this, I initially replied that the actions of the government and parliament are unpredictable, so it is impossible to anticipate what will happen, especially when dealing with an immigration law.

A provision of the new law obliges the foreigner to request a carte de résident after five years of continuous residence. People who have the visiteur immigration status are exempted! I see this as a double-edged sword. It will help foreigners who have dutifully met the requirements every year, have integrated well in France and do not need to go through the somewhat complicated procedure to ask for a carte de résident when there is no appointment at the prefecture scheduled. Currently, the websites do not offer the first request for a carte de résident option and therefore submitting it is difficult.

But it also puts serious pressure on foreigners who stay in their community, do not learn enough French and prefer their traditional way of life. The minimum level of French to obtain the card is B1, and the administration wishes to strengthen enforcement of the integration contract that all foreigners with legal immigration status must sign. I doubt the government really intends this to improve foreigners’ integration; I believe it is meant to punish those who do not wish to integrate.

Still, I am sure that those who are integrating will now be even more motivated to reach the minimum requirements. Reminder: holding a carte de résident means not having to go to the prefecture for ten years, having all rights to work and being assured of almost automatic renewal of the card. All it takes is to submit a basic request and the administration must accept it.

Here is the provision in question. After article L. 433-1 of the Code de l’entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d’asile (CESEDA), an article L. 433-1-1 is inserted, as follows :

“By way of derogation from article L. 433-1, no more than two consecutive renewals of a temporary residence permit bearing the same wording.

“These provisions do not apply to foreign nationals exempt from signing a republican integration contract mentioned in article L. 413-5.”

The list in L 413-5 includes visiteurs.

« Art. L. 433 1 1. – Par dérogation à l’article L. 433 1, il ne peut être procédé à plus de deux renouvellements consécutifs d’une carte de séjour temporaire portant une mention identique. »
https://www.senat.fr/leg/pjl23-224.html

THE REGULARIZATION PROCEDURE AFTER TEN YEARS IN FRANCE 
This provision existed de facto at first over 20 years ago and later became law: an undocumented alien who lives in France for at least ten years and can prove it with enough documents is entitled to a vie privée carte de séjour. Almost as soon as this went into effect, it faced strong opposition for granting a legal stay to someone who could not prove ties with France, whether personal or professional. The opponents asked what possible grounds there could be for granting this legal stay.

But the vast majority of people understand and accept that a ten-year presence is enough in itself on which to base granting such immigration status. There are many reasons to validate this decision, even though it may seem odd to claim a legal right grounded in illegal conduct. It is common knowledge that ten years’ worth of documentation means that the foreigner has actually stayed in France a lot longer, as it often takes several years to settle and have a life stable enough to generate the required documentation.

Hardly anyone can live in France illegally for ten years or more with no source of income, so the vast majority of those concerned have work but their employers refuse to declare them, pay the social charges and make the employment legal under French labor law, which fully applies to undocumented aliens. Thus they cannot get an employment contract or prove past work. It can also be assumed that if an undocumented alien has managed to live in France so long without being caught by the police, it is likely that they have never committed a crime and that they have an impressive level of integration in France.

As expected, the opposition to issuing such immigration status aired its views in the media and in parliament, raising fears that this provision would be maintained in the new law. So it is reassuring to know that in that law this procedure still exists, with the same terms. Note that an appointment to review the situation came about two years after the request was submitted, showing that the prefecture did not consider it a priority and gave it back-burner treatment.

I HAVE NOT YET FOUND MY NEXT TOPIC TO EXAMINE IN DEPTH 
When I sent out the December 2023 issue, I was sure I was done with my series on the living conditions of Filipinas in France. I reasoned that I had addressed all the situations I could that would illustrate the type of life they have in the West. The one I did not seek seemed too sensitive and complex: a Filipina who marries a Frenchman and obtains immigration status. Although I have helped a few Filipinas in that situation, I never asked them to tell their story: for some it is painful, or they may feel ashamed, and some aspects could be seen as illegal. Getting statements on the other situations had already demanded a huge amount of trust developed in a long relationship.

But then someone I have been helping recently learned about the statements I have published over the last several months and read them avidly. Out of the blue, she sent me hers: It was the situation I had not yet dealt with.

IS VALENTINE’S DAY FOR LOVERS?
Yes, this is a provocative title. With every February issue, I wonder whether to mention Valentine’s Day. But until now there has not been a pertinent topic I could tie to it. As I was drafting this section, however, I thought it might deserve the title.

There is a lot to say about the ways one can look at fake marriages. Even French law defines different situations.

When talking about fake marriages, people often think criminal organizations sell such marriages for a large sums of money. French law just defines mariage blanc andwhich are felonies under article L-623-1 of the CESEDA:

“Entering into a marriage or recognizing a child for the sole purpose of obtaining or having obtained a residence permit or the benefit of protection against expulsion, or for the sole purpose of acquiring or having acquired French nationality, is punishable by five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros. These penalties are also incurred when the foreigner who has contracted marriage has concealed his or her intentions from his or her spouse.”

Mariage blanc is when both spouses conspire to get married for the sole purpose of the foreign spouse obtaining a legal stay in France, while mariage gris is when the foreigner disguises the motive for getting married and fools the French spouse to obtain a legal stay in France.

The situations I have encountered are not like this, however. The Filipina who wrote the statement below explained to me that her marriage went wrong, and she details what happened to her. It fits a pattern I have seen again and again.

Regarding this woman’s statement, it does not matter when or how they met. He was a Frenchman and she was a Filipina woman, sans-papiers, with no prospect of regularization in sight. She does not say why; she had nice employers and she had been in France for seven years. I did not ask.

Here is the pattern I usually see: He was nice, so she enjoyed his attention and care, which were unusual in her daily life. He liked her attention and she expressed her gratitude. One thing led to another, and one encounter to another. If they continued to see each other, moved by reciprocal care and warm feelings, it often turned into serious dating, and shortly after they got married. This cannot fit the definition of fake marriage.

What interests me in this situation, and therefore in the statement below, is that she hints she was fooling herself even while being lucid enough to know that obtaining a legal stay this way was a very strong draw, which enhanced everything else. Women in this situation may be drawn, consciously or not, into such a relationship, going as far as getting married, at least partly because it is a sure way to obtain legal status and be able to enjoy the security and everything else that comes with private life immigration status. A somewhat similar comment can be made about marrying a wealthy and often an older man.

After the wedding, the woman must wait at least six months before submitting a regularization file to the prefecture. The file must include at least one document for every month on which both their names appear, proving their communal life. The procedure can be quite long as the French administration can be quite picky and suspicious in such situations. Eventually, she gets a carte de séjour valid for one year. It is critical to understand that she must stay married for at least three years (now five, under the new law) to retain the right to live legally in France. This often means she needs to please her husband so he does not want to divorce her during that time.

In the pattern I have often seen, the wife starts having a new life, possibly a better job, probably a more fulfilling social life. Not being scared of being arrested opens countless opportunities. The husband, who enjoyed being her primary and often sole center of attention, begins to feel disappointed by their relationship, where she has financial independence and can go anywhere worry-free.

The woman, realizing how he feels, must reach what may be a difficult and painful compromise to keep her husband from being so disappointed that he files for divorce, even as she wants to continue enjoying the benefits of her new life. The fact that she brings in more money than before may please him, provided she does not earn too much (i.e., more than him).

When it is safe immigration wise, and she feels the relationship has soured, she may find reasons to work farther away. This allows her to be at home less and less often, until one day she has de facto moved out. As a Filipina, she does not think of divorce but finds ways to move out or let him be home less and less. The Philippines is one of the rare countries where divorce is still illegal, and it is only beginning to consider changing that.

To sum up the usual course of events in such relationships:

1 – She idealizes him because he shows care and can get her papers, which mean freedom, so she is willing to do anything for him. He idealizes her because he typically is middle-aged, lonely and frustrated in life, and suddenly a young woman worships him. Her submission melts his heart, while she sees him as a path to freedom.

2 – She has to stay married five years. More and more she feels a disconnect between what she dreamed of in having papers and the life under his control. Feelings of resentment build up in her.

3 – When her immigration status is fully secured, she can live the life she wants. By that time, in most cases, either he has gotten tired of her or she has found a way to put significant distance between them.

If she trusts him to let her live her life during the in-between years, however, the couple has a real chance of lasting.

Here is the story that she sent me, lightly edited for clarity.

“I arrived in France in 2006 and spent many years working without papers. It was really not easy because I was hearing all the time something like oh, this person was controlled and arrested in the metro; the police were controlling somewhere, many times it was Belleville, but it was also somewhere else!

“My life, all things considered, was not that difficult compared to many others I knew because I had very nice bosses who really cared about me. Thank God!

“Sometime in 2013 I met this man and eventually he offered to marry me after having had a relationship for over a year and I agreed, I was so thankful. With all my proofs in the file plus his help, I arrived at the prefecture and I was approved. Thanks to him, I got my papers.

“We were married (and lived together) for seven years. Very early on, it was obvious that he was interested in young women. I discovered that there was one at first, then later I found out that there had been many more. At one point, I decided to separate from him.

“This was not at all the end of my life, I moved back to my old neighborhood in Paris and I continue working happily. Life is not perfect, we are still not divorced, we are just separated, and nothing legal has been done. I have God in my life and every day HE really gives me everything I need to live perfectly content and happy.”

HSBC IS GONE BUT CCF IS REVIVED AS THE FRENCH BANK IT USED TO BE
I have received a lot of emails regarding the situation with the HSBC and CCF banks. For people who have lived in France a long time, it does not raise concern and is barely news, as we know HSBC’s French presence has shrunk considerably and the bank has pretty much left France altogether.

In July 2000, HSBC purchased a major French bank, CCF, along with a few minor ones. It might seem that some 23 years later CCF reappeared just as HSBC was leaving the country, but that would be a slight exaggeration. In fact, la Banque des Caraïbes purchased HSBC’s French operations and is changing the name and logo on the former CCF branches of the bank, keeping all the branch employees. I have not done enough research to learn exactly who the new shareholder of this bank is. The new senior management could be such that many employees will leave.

Here is one of the messages I received regarding this issue.
“I received a letter today from HSBC regarding their merger with CCF and outlining the changes there will be for account holders. Of course, I do not have the vocabulary for this kind of information. Can I make an appointment with you in the next few weeks to discuss what I need to do?”

ANOTHER CHANGE IN PICKING UP THE CARTE DE SEJOUR AT THE PARIS PREFECTURE
To collect your residency permit in Paris, the booking link has changed. It is now https://www.rdv-prefecture.interieur.gouv.fr/rdvpref/reservation/demarche/4443/. You may also see it listed as RDV-préfecture.

Either link will take you to the same page. Sadly, the possibility of securing an appointment reasonably quickly – i.e., without having to try for weeks before getting one – has not improved that much, but there is a slight improvement there, and sometimes the appointments can be scheduled two months in advance or even a bit more so.

Here are the updated guidelines from the Paris prefecture as of 21st December 2023:

Reception by appointment only on the Préfecture de Police website.
Your residence permit can be issued if
• you have received an SMS informing you that your permit is available
• you have been informed by email that your permit is available.
To make an appointment, visit the RDV-préfecture website.

This is still rather theoretical, as most people never get the SMS on their phone. They wait and wait, sometimes to the point of jeopardizing their ability to renew their immigration status between four and two months before the expiration date of the current card, which they still do not have in their possession. Therefore, I strongly advise everybody in this situation to strictly follow these guidelines:

1 – Wait three months after the request has been approved, either by receiving confirmation or from the day of the appointment at the prefecture.

2 – Then go online to https://www.prefecturedepolice.interieur.gouv.fr/demarches-et-services-en-ligne/particulier/ecrire-au-bureau-des-titres-de-sejour and ask for confirmation that your card is ready.

3 – Once you receive confirmation, often about two weeks later, you can book the appointment as described above.

I AM RENTING OUT A PARKING SPACE ACROSS FROM MY OFFICE 
I now own a parking space in the building just across the street from my office in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. The rent is 100€/month, all charges included. An initial deposit of 100€ is required.

The parking space is in the first basement of a residential building at 58 rue Montreuil. The space is 10 square meters (107.64 square feet). It is the space on the right in the photo accompanying the ad linked to below.

Secure access by beeper. The access gate is somewhat narrow, so suitable for smaller cars, although my Peugeot 2008 (4.16m x 1.74m) fits fine.
https://www.pap.fr/annonces/garage-parking-paris-11e-75011-r447802638

Best regards,

QUESTION

WEIRD ANSWERS FROM THE FRENCH ADMINISTRATION WHEN ASKING FOR A CARTE DE SEJOUR

After four years in France with student status I prepared a file asking for the self-employed one as I currently hold an APS. I submitted a PDF file to demarches-simplifiees.fr, in which there was everything on the list and organized in the same order. I received this answer:
Votre demande de rendez-vous nºxx a été classée sans suite le 26/10/2023 pour la raison suivante : Bonjour xx, Pour la demande de changement statut d’étudiant vers la Profession libérale, il faudrait déposer un dossier complet avec les documents suivants : l’Insee, l’Urssaf, le business plan et le diplôme.
Translation: Your request for appointment nº xx was closed on 26/10/2023 for the following reason: Hello xx, To request a change of status from student to self-employed, you need to submit a complete file with the following documents: Insee, Urssaf, business plan, and diploma.Sounds like something went wrong. This is insane – all the documents they mentioned were in what I sent. What more do they want? How can I submit a request that they will read? This is a total nightmare, and there is no explanation for why they refuse to read what I sent them. I feel discriminated against. Please help.

QUESTION

A REASON TO REFUSE A NATURALIZATION REQUEST

I submitted my request for French naturalization while I was holding a carte de séjour carte bleue europénne. I had a student card before that and obtained my bachelor’s and my master’s in France. About a year after sending the file, I got the appointment and it went really well. The civil servant told me that I would get a favorable evaluation. So I understood that it was almost certain that I would be accepted and get French nationality. I was totally stunned when I received the registered letter telling me that my request was denied.
I was married in the USA, and my Japanese wife came to live with me with a family immigration status linked to my carte bleue europénne. We were married when I submitted my naturalization request and she wrote the letter that she did not want to become French as she would have lost her Japanese nationality, which was unthinkable. It happened that she had no residency permit in France after I had my appointment at the prefecture. It happened because she was on a long mission in an African country and did not know how to renew the card. She applied for a visa a few days ago at the French Consulate there and had no problem getting it, considering my status.Now that she is with me again, I want to appeal the decision since the reason for the refusal was that my wife did not have French residency anymore, that we did not live together, and that we were not divorcing. So their conclusion was that I was not committed enough to France as I had my wife living in a foreign country. I hope to prove that my roots are in France, that I have never wished to reside outside France, and that my wife’s expired carte de séjour was exclusively the responsibility of the French consulate where she was stationed. Do you think it is the right way to present this appeal and what are the chances of success?