"I think it's Americans, who expect another country to help support them, while living off the benefits of their home country's social services, who are a bit arrogant."

Who are you referring to? No one is supporting us. We earn our own income. We pay taxes in France and the USA. We do not receive any income assistance from either country's government. Contrary, we pay a lot into both. We have private health cover, which we pay a a lot of money for. We pay into BOTH country's Social Security systems. We live in France, so we pay property taxes here.

We are not of an age to earn back the SS we paid in either country. Even if we were, it would be money from a system we paid into (for many years).

Who are you referring to who is 'living off the benefits of their home country" and 'expecting another country to help support them?"

Are you referring to immigrants living in France and collecting CAF money and other govt aid?

I am not talking to you, relax. And frankly, not going to engage on this thread again.

Good luck to the OP.

"It's the American government that is arrogant about Americans wanting to retire in France?"

No, it's the American government that is so arrogant as to expect that other countries will make it easier, or easy, for Americans to stay for long periods while making it harder for citizens of those other countries to stay for long periods in the U.S.

OP, WHAT is it you want, other than a lot of conversation for you to banter with, which I am beginning to see as the "end" game here. Now we are to being mad at the arrogant US government for not letting people come here!!
Have you gotten your answer about "living" in France? How will you handle your health insurance since Medicare won't? Can you afford it in the final analysis? Inquiring minds want to know. there have been so may side trips.

You can't make everyone happy, lots of people complain about foreigners in the US taking away American jobs. And this isn't just a case of undocumented workers on farms, etc., there are lots of people with long-term visas doing regular work in the US, I knew a guy from Denmark working in the US and while he had some experience in his field, I fail to believe there was no person in the US who could have done that job (he had a basic engineering degree). I also worked at a place that got a visa for a Canadian to do general management work in a cosmetics company, just someone the boss knew, that's all. So I don't know the history or reasoning behind the current US visa system, but suspect there were some reasons for it, it didn't happen in a vacuum.

And just being in a place and living there permanently, you do use some social/govt resources just by being there (eg, roads, transportation, schools, fire dept, libraries, etc.).

"And just being in a place and living there permanently, you do use some social/govt resources just by being there (eg, roads, transportation, schools, fire dept, libraries, etc.)."

Yes, of course. You also contribute in various ways, some of them quite significant. Did you know that Cesar Millan came to the U.S. as an illegal immigrant and only became a citizen relatively recently?

katkat1950 I know this thread is old but I was wondering where you are in your move to France. I am in the same situation as you. My mother was born in France and moved to the United States after the WWII to marry an American. She became a U.S. citizen. I was born in the United States. I have a house in France that she left to me and I want to move to France to live permanently and want to gain French citizenship.

Eve,

You should be asking the French consulate about your potential citizenship.

Well, My Mother is a French and a Canadian Citizen, and my Father is Dutch, but now a Canadian. They married in the Ntherlands and then moved to Canada 49 years ago, and I am now 48.

Here's what I did just did two days ago... and this is what you should do as well. Call the Local French Consulate closest to where you were born, preferably, in the same state if at all possible. Get an Agent on the phone and this is what they will ask you...

They will need to know your Mothers Maiden name and where she was born in France and the Family name from your Father's side just in case if they are having trouble locating your mothers name and her birthdate. They will want to know exactly how the last names were spelled out on "Your" Birth Certificate, very important because this how they find you and or your mother. The system that they use is refered to as the Family Book. I guess it's like a Family Tree.

Anyway! This is very important, so, that they can look it up to find your mother in the system. The French Consulates data base actually runs from France. So if your Mother is French! They will find her and then from their you will need to provide the French Consulate the following:

Long form (Original) U.S. Birth Certificate
Photocopies of your drivers license, two signed photo's of yourself with your current address and a bill of some sort that verifies that your address is real and that it's you!
A photocopy of your Mothers Birth Certificate
A photocopy of your parents Marriage License, If you don't have this they can get it easily

If you can produce this information! Then you can apply for a Birth Certificate, which will make you a French Citizen and then you can apply for a French Passport.

Your Done!

Best of luck!
Eric

That is really quite interesting to know, because one of my nephews might find it useful to have EU nationality. My brother has French nationality (and probably doesn't even know it) just as I do, because our mother is French -- we were both registered at a French consulate in the U.S. at birth, but I am the only one who took advantage of that when I decided to move to France.

The only problem is that I am pretty sure that the fact that my nephew did not know to claim his rights before the age of majority cancelled his chances. But frankly, I am not going to worry about it, because he is a lawyer and can certainly find out everything for himself if necessary.