July-August 2026
I would like to wish you all a great summer and a very nice vacation,
enjoying the freedom of the moment, hoping for nicer weather in Europe.
I will close my office on July 3.
I’ve paid my dues
Time after time
I’ve done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I’ve made a few
I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face
But I’ve come through
(We’re gonna go on and on and on and on)
We are the champions, my friend
And we’ll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
Cause we are the champions
Of the world
I’ve taken my bows
And my curtain calls
You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it
I thank you all
But it’s been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race
And I ain’t gonna lose
(We’re gonna go on and on and on and on)
We are the champions, my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
Cause we are the champions of the world
We are the champions, my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
Cause we are the champions
Of the world
Wikipedia:
““We Are the Champions” is a song by the British rock band Queen, released from the band’s sixth albumNews of the World (1977), written by lead singer Freddie Mercury.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NATURALIZATION AND CARTE DE RESIDENT REQUEST
Over seven years ago, I had a conversation with blogger Stephen Heiner regarding the advantages of naturalization in France compared with getting a carte de résident. Our discussion was the basis for a section in the May 2019 issue, whose title was “Burn.”
After talking about the pros and cons of asking for one or the other, depending on the carte de séjour held at the time, we concluded that in the vast majority of situations securing the carte de résident first was the way to go.
Then, as now, the carte de résident immigration status is the best one for successfully obtaining naturalization. Back then, getting such a card for the first time was easy once the applicant had lived in France for five years and could prove they were a French fiscal resident. On occasion, the applicant could prove compliance with the minimum income requirement, French minimum wage, showing French bank statements and sometimes American fiscal documents. This issue comes up often for foreigners holding a visiteur carte de séjour who have never submitted an income declaration to the French tax office.
Since the beginning of 2026, I have been seeing a much stricter interpretation of the income rules, which just amounts to strict application of the law. In France, the only definitive way to prove the annual taxable income is to show the avis d’imposition sur les revenus. No other documents are as good, even though there may be some possible substitutes if the person works in France. But files relying on the 1040 form from the IRS, showing earned and unearned income, are now systematically denied. The civil servant explicitly states that the documents must be French and, of course, show euro amounts.
This opens a larger debate about what the goals of American immigrants living in France are. The French tax office makes it possible to back-file three years when the primary residency in France is clearly proved. This could result in another difficult discussion.
Oddly, I have seen the naturalization procedure being less strict about which carte de séjour is held but more strict about the level of integration in France, in the broadest meaning of the word. The most obvious evidence of this is the increased level of French now required and the addition of more tests. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Someone holding a four-year profession libérale carte de séjour has a fair chance if their integration is outstanding.
CELEBRATING VICTORY AND VANDALISM IN THE CITY
Soccer, or football as we know it in Europe and the rest of the world except the USA, is played everywhere. The World Cup is mainly happening in the USA, including the final game. Many question why it is being held in a country where this sport is minor compared to the main three: football, baseball, and basketball. Nevertheless, in a few weeks, at the end of the final game, a soccer team will be crowned world champion in the USA and will then be entitled to sing the song for which I have named this month’s column. Some people think the French team may win. That idea makes me fear there will be unrest up and down the Champs-Elysées.
Last month, on June 14, the New York Knicks basketball team won the 2026 National Basketball Association tournament. People rejoiced, and some were overexcited. The celebration turned chaotic: five school buses were set ablaze in Times Square, five police cars were damaged on Sixth Avenue, and a 17-year-old boy was shot in the foot. A total of 63 people were arrested overnight. Ten NYPD officers were injured. It would appear that this kind of violence is becoming more common in the USA in relation to high-level sports competitions.
Europe has been plagued for about 50 years by violence related to soccer games. The worst tragedy on record took place on May 29, 1985, in the Heysel neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, where aggression between British and Italian fans led to a stadium wall collapse that killed thirty-nine people, mostly Italians, an hour before kickoff. The tragedy also left more than 600 people injured. This was a painful wake-up call, and security inside stadiums has since been improved.
Now, however, violence often occurs in city streets after matches. In the latest such incident, on May 30 in Paris, the Paris Saint-Germain team won the Champions League title against London’s Arsenal. A total of 219 people were injured in clashes between football fans and police across France, hundreds were arrested, and dozens of police were injured.
There is an exception to this pattern that I believe is unique in Europe: the city of Lens has had a soccer team since 1906. It has almost always played at the National League level and has been among the best teams in France for most of its existence. This year, on May 22, at the Stade de France just outside Paris, it won the Coupe de France against Nice. Over 50,000 Lens supporters attended the match, leaving almost no space for fans of Nice in the biggest stadium in France.
After the game, not a single act of violence or destruction occurred outside the stadium, in Paris, or in Lens. There are several reasons for this oddity. Lens is located in northern France in former coal mining country. When the mining industry closed in the 1980s, the city’s football team became a focus of the pride the people of Lens felt they had lost when they lost their jobs and everything attached to them. The team has a small budget, so the players are local, with no stars bought from other clubs. People know the players personally.
To illustrate the impact of losing the coal industry on Lens, I would compare this region with West Virginia.
WIKIPEDIA
Coal mining in West Virginia
West Virginia had only a few active coal mines during the US Civil War, with fewer than 1,600 miners in the whole state. Coal mining would flourish, however, between 1880 and 1900, after competing railroad companies began carving routes through the mountains of Appalachia. West Virginia produced 489,000 tons of coal in 1869, 4,882,000 tons of coal in 1889, and 89,384,000 tons of coal in 1917. The quick expansion of mining in West Virginia prompted many mining companies to construct company towns, in which the mining companies owned many, if not all, housing, amenities, and public services. Miners were often paid in “coal scrip”, paper notes issued by mining companies that could only be redeemed at company-owned stores in company towns.
In other words, to understand the scope of this oddity, imagine Charleston, the capital city of West Virginia, winning the Super Bowl.
One summer, our family of four drove from Delaware through Virginia and then from Princeton in the southern end of West Virginia to Blackwater Falls State Park in northern West Virginia. We saw how poor and desolate that part of the state was.
Driving through parts of northern France feels similar to some places in West Virginia. My Taquet family roots are in northern France. But thanks to French social programs, powerful community solidarity, and aggressive public policy geared toward attracting new businesses, the region has rebounded somewhat. The Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing triangle, known as the Lille European Metropole, is a thriving area comparable to Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill in North Carolina.
I am not that interested in sports, competitions, and who the winner is. On the other hand, sports competitions say a lot about the country, as well as the local community, in which the team is located. In mining company towns, there were rows of tiny houses where the miners lived. In French, these neighborhoods are called corons. For a long time after the mines were opened, it was seen as shameful to live there, as it indicated one was poor.
Then, in 1982, singer-songwriter Pierre Bachelet released the song “Les Corons,” with words by Jean-Pierre Lang. Although neither writer was from the north, Bachelet spent part of his childhood in his father’s hometown of Calais. The song imagines a boy’s memories of growing up with his father, a miner, and the community where they lived. Like the Lens team, the song transformed shame, giving northerners pride in being from these cities, born and raised in humble houses. At all Lens games, the supporters sing this song at the top of their lungs. For example, this was recorded just before the Coupe de France final. https://youtu.be/VCJB58QfmrM?si=fvuMfn0zv-0PTpEJ
After this long reflection, which I hope has not been too boring, I ask who the champions are, who should be celebrated, and why. My choice is quite clear.
The Knicks and PSG wins got international media coverage. The victory by the Racing Club de Lens barely got national coverage in France. Violence sells media coverage; excellence and proper behavior are boring and do not sell.
THE SCOPE OF MY READERSHIP
I am not a masochist, but I enjoy receiving messages reacting to the latest issue of my column with criticism of what I wrote. Some of my readers are registered Republicans and vote Republican in all elections. They strongly disagree with much of what I write, stating that I criticize the USA and the current administration and president too much, while being insufficiently critical of France.
Regardless of how painful the message may be or how unfair I may feel it is, I see these communications as validating my efforts to address issues in a different way from most, so that I reach a wide range of readers. Some readers react this way to nearly every column, which at least means they are not cancelling their subscriptions! Each new issue does trigger a few cancellations, but I never know what the motivation was.
Here is an example of criticism from a reader:
“Here’s what I see about France’s worst blemish when I was revising what I viewed as a visitor. Here’s my point of view. Put this in your search engine search slot:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_21st-century_France
“I was based in Paris when I met you decades ago, and even back then, every weekend, the Palestinians marched the Paris streets to condemn the Jews and Israel, and the citizens of Paris cheered, the Antisemitism was pervasive all over France.
“And here’s something else to put in your search engine slot:
www.gisreportsonline.com/r/france-budget
“It’s clear to me that France is violating EU rules, with a deficit GDP, there’s no incentive to work, socialism allows long vacances & because the rich have left for better economic climes, Macron’s budget is a deficit that violates EU rules.”
THE DARK SIDE OF PLACE VICTOR HUGO IN THE 16TH ARRONDISSEMENT
This topic occurred to me just a couple of days into the heatwave that struck most of Europe in late June. In this context, people talk about the parts of the population that are especially at risk and need special attention during such a situation.
First, I want to digress a little and talk about the album The Dark Side of the Moon, which was the eighth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on March 1, 1973. When the moon is out, we can all see its bright side, from the full moon to the smallest crescent moon, magnified by its glaring light. Who would be interested in what the dark side of the moon looks like? There is nothing to see there. But in reality, that side is just interesting and looks the same once you stand on it.
I enjoy this parallel a lot, although I might be the only one. The Place Victor Hugo is a square in one of the most residential neighborhoods in Paris. It also has restaurants and shops all around, making it lively and giving it another layer of charm. Every summer when it gets hot, a different population gathers around the square at night. They sit on the benches, and their friends bring folding chairs; they share their dinner and have a quiet party. These are Filipinos, most of them women. They live right under the roofs in the maid’s rooms of nearby buildings, often up to four in one room. The temperature in the rooms exceeds 38ºC/100ºF during normal summer weather, not to mention the heatwave.
To stay alive and be able to eat dinner, they improvise picnics. Being together and enjoying company helps them handle their living conditions when they go to work the next morning. This way, they form a large enough crowd that people should notice them and wonder why they are there.
But, just like when they are at work, these Filipinos are invisible; they are the dark side of the square, one nobody sees. I have been invited to dinner in some of those maids’ rooms and have also shared dinner during one of their so-called picnics. When we experience record heat, I think of them, wishing that their living conditions could be better known, and people do something about it!
MY FEES WILL INCREASE ON SEPTEMBER 1st, 2026
I will be increasing my fees by 20% at the beginning of the next scholastic year, after the 2026 summer vacation. Here are the new rates:
1st meeting/1st work: 420€ euros for 2 hours
Extra hour(s): 180 euros per hour
Handling mail at my office: 50 euros per month
Surcharge for out-of-office meetings: 90 euros, assuming less than 30 minutes’ transportation
Surcharge for meetings and phone calls at the client’s request after 7PM weekdays, all weekend, on national French holidays, and during vacations: 30%
Clients paying by wire to an American account must add $20 to the fee to cover the bank charge for processing a wire transfer.
Bounced checks incur a charge of $20 or 20 euros.
THE SHIP STUDIO IS AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL IN JULY 2026
The SHIP studio is currently available on July 1st if the current tenant does not extend the lease. I am finally getting a lot more requests and have had to refuse a few lately, as it was already rented. When people contact me about renting it, I send them to the website. I hope it shows how cozy the accommodations are. The monthly rent of 1,400€ is all-inclusive. While I continue to favor rentals lasting between two and six months, under certain conditions, I have accepted one-month rentals.
https://www.jeantaquet.com/home-in-paris
OFFICE CLOSED FOR SUMMER VACATION
The office will be closed for seven weeks over the summer, from the evening of Friday, July 3rd, to the morning of Monday, August 24th. 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, and Sarah or I will honor prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a few other engagements. Like last year, I should be away from the office for most of the time, but I will stay in France, specifically in Burgundy.
I would like to remind everyone there will be no August issue.
Best regards,
QUESTION
GETTING THE CARTE DE RESIDENT THE FIRST TIME
I have renewed my visiteur visa six times already without ever having a single problem. I know the drill! I own my apartment in Paris, I have lifetime worldwide health coverage linked to my pension, and my means are more than enough to comply with the French minimum wage requirement. Last year, I asked for the carte de résident by adding my five IRS income tax statements and a letter explaining how much I love France and that I am too old to take all those French tests. They never answered my request and received the approval for my visa renewal. This year, I wrote in the letter how much income I receive each year and applied the exchange rate to show it in euros, referring to my American declarations. I wanted to make sure that if they had problems reading the 1040 form, I explained everything. This last month, I received once again that my visa was renewed, totally ignoring my request. This time, I feel insulted. I spent a long time drafting this letter; it had all the information they needed. My request should have been approved. What can I do? Is there a way I can appeal the decision even though my request was never formally denied? It feels like I will never get it even though I deserve it!
ANSWER
To answer you, I need to cite the pertinent article in the law:
Article L413-7
La première délivrance de la carte de résident prévue aux articles L. 423-6, L. 423-10 ou L. 423-16, de la carte de résident portant la mention “ résident de longue durée-UE “ prévue aux articles L. 421-12, L. 421-25, L. 424-5, L. 424-14 ou L. 426-19, ainsi que de la carte de résident permanent prévue à l’article L. 426-4 est subordonnée à l’intégration républicaine de l’étranger dans la société française, appréciée en particulier au regard du résultat obtenu à l’examen mentionné au sixième alinéa de l’article L. 413-3, qui doit être supérieur à un seuil fixé par décret, et de sa connaissance de la langue française de nature à lui permettre au moins de comprendre des conversations suffisamment claires, de produire un discours simple et cohérent sur des sujets courants et d’exposer succinctement une idée.
TRANSLATION
The initial issuance of the residence card provided for in Articles L. 423-6, L. 423-10, or L. 423-16; the residence card bearing the notation “long-term EU resident” provided for in Articles L. 421-12, L. 421-25, L. 424-5, L. 424-14, or L. 426-19, as well as the permanent resident card provided for in Article L. 426-4, is subject to the foreign national’s republican integration into French society, as assessed, in particular, based on the score obtained on the examination referred to in the sixth paragraph of Article L. 413-3 – which must exceed a threshold set by decree – and based on the foreign national’s knowledge of the French language, which must be sufficient to enable him or her to at least understand sufficiently clear conversations, produce simple and coherent speech on everyday topics, and briefly express an idea.
Article L426-17
L’étranger qui justifie d’une résidence régulière ininterrompue d’au moins cinq ans en France au titre d’une carte de séjour temporaire ou pluriannuelle ou d’une carte de résident, de ressources stables, régulières et suffisantes pour subvenir à ses besoins et d’une assurance maladie se voit délivrer, sous réserve des exceptions prévues à l’article L. 426-18, une carte de résident portant la mention “ résident de longue durée-UE” d’une durée de dix ans.
Les années de résidence sous couvert d’une carte de séjour temporaire portant la mention “vie privée et familiale” retirée par l’autorité administrative sur le fondement d’un mariage ayant eu pour seule fin d’obtenir un titre de séjour ou d’acquérir la nationalité française ne peuvent être prises en compte pour obtenir la carte de résident prévue au premier alinéa.
Les ressources mentionnées au premier alinéa doivent atteindre un montant au moins égal au salaire minimum de croissance. Sont prises en compte toutes les ressources propres du demandeur, indépendamment des prestations familiales et des allocations prévues à l’article L. 262-1 du code de l’action sociale et des familles ainsi qu’aux articles L. 5423-1, L. 5423-2 et L. 5423-3 du code du travail.
TRANSLATION
A foreign national who can demonstrate at least five years of uninterrupted lawful residence in France under a temporary or multi-year residence permit or a resident card, as well as stable, regular, and sufficient resources to support themselves and health insurance, shall be issued, subject to the exceptions provided for in Article L. 426-18, a resident card bearing the notation “long-term resident—EU” valid for ten years.
The years of residence under a temporary residence permit bearing the notation “private and family life” that was revoked by the administrative authority because of a marriage entered into solely for the purpose of obtaining a residence permit or acquiring French nationality may not be taken into account for the purpose of obtaining the residence permit provided for in the first paragraph.
The resources referred to in the first paragraph must amount to at least the minimum growth wage. All of the applicant’s own resources are taken into account, excluding family benefits and allowances provided for in Article L. 262-1 of the Social Action and Families Code, as well as in Articles L. 5423-1, L. 5423-2, and L. 5423-3 of the Labor Code.
Your question indicates that you are old enough not to have to take the French exams, and therefore Article L. 413- 7 does not apply to you. What is left is the other one, L4260-17, related to the length of presence in France, the financial means, and the health coverage.
Clearly, your presence in France exceeds the minimum required in all cases. The proof of income section goes into detail on what kind of income must be excluded: government financial help, subsidies, welfare, and so on. Thus, the income you are declaring fits the type of income that the law demands. The problem implied here is that you need French documents issued by the French administration or private authorities. The law does not state that the income can be proved by just any means. As for health coverage, the article says nothing about it.
Submitting American tax documents used to be accepted sometimes; I have seen it happen several times. Today, however, it seems pretty clear that what the applicant must show is five avis d’imposition sur les revenus.
Start declaring to the French tax office and see if you can back-file the three years that French law authorizes. This is the only solution I see. I am sorry.
QUESTION
PROOF OF ADDRESS FOR ONLINE IMMIGRATION PROCEDURES
I got my long-stay visa over a year ago, and I registered it. Everything went fine using my Parisian Airbnb contract I had at the time. Time to renew, so I went onto the website while staying with a friend in the countryside for a week before going back to the USA for just a month. I have my old Airbnb contract, which expired a week before I submitted, and I have the new one starting on August 1 in Paris. Since I could not prove any address in my own name, I asked my friend if I could use his as I was there when I submitted. ANEF asked a couple of days ago to prove my friend’s address. He refused to give me anything since I do not live there and it was just a visit. What can I do?
ANSWER
The demand for proof of one’s address in France is an oddity for numerous foreigners. It seems that nobody understands this fixation on the address. The explanation is that when Napoléon created the Civil Code, he made the address one of the definitive elements identifying a person, alongside first and last name and the date and location of birth. The key consequence is that a person who cannot prove an address cannot exercise his/her legal rights.
Several NGOs offer domiciliation services. They are licensed by the French administration – specifically, the prefecture – to give an address to people who do not have one: the homeless, for example.
I assume you have had a hard time finding a long-term rental and were only able to get Airbnb-type rentals, hopping from one place to the next..
It is good news for you that your friend refused to give an affidavit of lodging at his address in the countryside. Your immigration file would have been dealt with by the prefecture of that place, and you would have had to pick up your carte de séjour there. That could have created some problems, as some prefectures are quite remote.
It will sound counterintuitive, but the best thing is to cancel this request. One way to do so is to ignore the request for address proof. You have thirty days to answer, after which your file will be closed and archived. Once you are back in France at your new Airbnb in Paris, submit your request again, and it should go through.
The regulation states that any request submitted less than two months before the expiration date is charged an extra 180€. This is the lesser of two evils, however, as you have no alternative to this solution. Even if your visa has expired by then, the prefecture has told me several times that visiteur status can be renewed a couple of months or more after the expiration. So you should not be worried about this.
I fully understand your concern, and I can even sense some panic. But once you have fixed the current situation by submitting the new renewal request on ANEF, you should seriously look for more stable lodging, choosing a regular long-term French residential lease.
DISCLAIMER
Please forward this message to all those who would be interested in its contents. The information contained in this newsletter is intended only as general information. I strongly urge readers to seek professional guidance concerning the legal and tax matters mentioned. This newsletter is intended as a general guide and is not to be taken as professional advice.