Why I left France (...and why my French visa got rejected) | French visa application process

Bureaucracy in France has made many cry. It’s definitely not as orderly as Canada. I remember watching a video from “The Purple Palace” where she had trouble getting some paperwork done and she eventually burst out crying and the lady serving her literally looked at her deadpan and said “madam, I think you should do the yoga”😂😂😂. You learn patience and resilience in France.

As soon as you said, “I knew I was supposed to go to the office for my neighborhood,” I had a bad feeling how the tale was going to end. Not from France, but from similar experiences in Spain. You have to go to the office you’re meant to go to, and the system allowing you to make an appointment at a different office means nothing, because all of the systems in Europe, even those designed for foreigners, assume a base level of user knowledge about “how things work”. A Spanish or French person would never make an appointment at an office they’re not meant to go to, and the developers of these systems must assume foreigners will have that same base level of knowledge. It’s not a valid assumption at all, but it’s the reality. Thank you for injecting some realism into the “Emily in Paris” fantasies some people are harboring. I hope you haven’t given up.

This was such an informative video on a process that's so opaque. Thank you for showing so much empathy to other people who might want to move to France

Hey! That was such an informative video of the real situation. So sorry you had to go through this.

My friend went to a country in the EU that offered a dual citizenship with Canada and applied for there. She choice Ireland and it was super easy!!! Then because she now holds a EU citizenship is available to move to any other EU countries!

I've heard this from every American who has ever moved to France - I think the problem happens because in America often paperwork/bureaucracy and online applications are super easy, whereas in France and England for example, the opposite is true. Therefore if you go to France and expect things like logic and common sense to be present for any paperwork exercise, you will definitely be disappointed. One French person said to me, lower your expectations to zero, then you will always have your expectations match reality!

This video is so informative. The “realities” of living in France. Hope you’ll have more videos like this. 💗

As an American, I have experience in France dealing with the prefecture and system. This is how it is there in every aspect, no need to get irritated about it, everyone is on their own and if you choose to live in France you will be dealing with this your whole life there. By the way, the word, “beaurocracy” is originally a French word lol

MY GOODNESS!!! I hate when things like this happen with French admin. I always try to figure out how French people themselves deal with situations like this. Like with their own system that's sometimes just like "no, no, no" I wish you luck- seriously!

I am glad I came across your channel by chance. What you just shared with us is very important to me, or anyone who could be in the same position as yours. I hope that all is well with you at the present time, and everything has worked out. Good luck!

Maybe they tell you that it may take over a month because the lady who answered you is not in charge of your case, therefore she cannot guarantee how long the process will take. If they tell you that they will answer in x days but take longer, you have reason to complain. But if they answer in 3 or 4 weeks, then you whould be happy. Who knows?!! She may have even advocated for your case and that is why they answered sooner than expected. Hope you could go back and everything is ok for you.

Once I was given an appointment at the prefec’ on the 23RD DECEMBER, so I wasn’t going to be in France as I was going home for the holidays. In reaction, I turned up early back when you used to be able to do walk-ins at the Cité prefecture. In October. As such I effectively had my meeting early. I asked many times that it wouldn’t be an issue and that they would cancel my other meeting (the one on the convocation). Fast forward to January when I email them asking for an update regarding my carte de séjour. They said I’d missed my appointment so would have to book another. I said they already had all my info and that it had been sitting there since October. She puts me on hold. Obviously the woman on the phone was not helpful so I go back to Cité. Explain again that I did not miss my appointment, but had gone in October. They ask me who I saw at the desk in October. I miraculously remember her name so they tell me they’ll check her pile. They miraculously find my paperwork 😂😂 thankfully I now have my carte de séjour but the whole process took me 18mo. Nightmare!

This is also my first time hearing that the minimum wage was €500 for interns. From the info I have, interns normally are paid according to the city they are in. Interns in Paris are normally the best paid because of the higher cost of living. All the interns in know who worked in paris were paid nothing less than €700 euros. Those that worked in big companies got as much as €1200. Interns in smaller cities got nothing less than €580. I'm actually very surprised. Thanks for sharing.

Hey girl! I've been binge watching your videos. So so helpful. I'm so sorry you had to go through this and I'm hoping all is resolved now. Thanks so much

Did you know that family reunion applications to the USA can take literal decades to be processed?

My niece and her husband lived in Ireland for 3 years. Everything they did there was extremely difficult. Small or large. Canada is soooo different than anywhere in Europe. Sorry for your experience.

French administration and bureaucracy is so stressful. My visa also got denied and I have to go back to the states in a week. I'm devastated.

I hear you. I live in Italy, legally. The permission to stay-1 year/ permission to work visa/ permission to stay-2 years and then renewal of that/ finally residential permission to stay forever process is so hard. So hard. And that was 23 years ago. Things are 'easier' in some ways now -but more difficult for American citizens as well...since we are not part of the EU. This dream is not for sissies and yes, the struggle is real. Thank you for the share.

I live in France and you do know they do things like this to make work for themselves, plus deep down France is racist to all foreign people, once you bare that in mind you can work around it. Also I find the more you can do without needing anyone in France the better, I have learned to fix cars, pumping, electric work everything that avoids asking a French person for help, because they will let you down because you are not French.

Oh dear! I’m so sorry for your experience ...! I hope you have applied and approved and you’re at ease right now...! Stay safe ❤️