wvdthree

Thanks to all for your thoughtful responses! I now have many more resources to tap in my pursuit of moving to France.

Best,
Vance

kerouac

There are also some villages in France that sell houses for one euro or let you buy a piece of land for that price (on which a house must appear in three years).

Also, the city of Roubaix will let you have a house or apartment for next to nothing since there are more than 4000 empty ones, of which 2000 are walled up.

Christina

I checked my bookcase last night and couldn't find that book I was thinking of, so think I threw it away. Sorry. I think it could be that link I posted, though, it was similar.

lavandula

Our local newsagency regularly has a magazine, Living In France. I have bought it in the past and it is a good resource for mostly Brits aiming to move. It has a lot about the legal system and the ins and outs of property purchase. You could do worse than starting there.

Lavandula

wvdthree

Thanks again to all for the input. I have have spent some time on https://www.expatforum.com/expats/fr...living-france/

There are many American expats who seem to use it and there are a wide variety of subjects discussed. One of the main moderators who posts daily is an American expat who has a wealth of knowledge with regard to legal/Visa/home buying-restoring/cultural issues.

Thanks TravelerNick for the link to that site!!!

Best,
Vance

Alec

And she is a qualified accountant in US and France, and an active contributor to Expat Tax sub-forum.

StCirq

I've owned a house in France for 27 years and lived here permanently for the past 5. And I've never met intolerable expats. Sure, I suppose there are some, mainly Brits, who deplore the lack of good fish 'n chips, and plenty who haven't bothered to learn French or who speak it deplorably, but it's their loss, certainly not mine or the locals'. Never met a "militant" expat. Most people we know, whether locals or expats, are very happy to live here, apart from all the paperwork that plagues all of us equally.

jpie

One more paid resource that might be useful is Jean Taquet. He works as a consultant in Paris and helps navigate a lot of admin/visa/legal issues for a fee. But he also has a a monthly newsletter with Q&A articles that could be useful to glance at.

https://www.jeantaquet.com/

kerouac

Oh, you should see some of the ones in Paris. Those who came voluntarily often find that Paris is not the dream world that they thought it was, and of course those who were sent for work find it inadmissible that the French do not cater to them when they snap their fingers. This said, the worst expats that I have met have been from Germany or Sweden where "everything" is better.

StCirq

I guess I've lucked out. I don't spend much time with expats. We prefer to hide here in our little village with the locals. We do have a few expat friends - Canadians and other Americans, but they are totally cool and part of the landscape - no issues with language or blending in or anything. It's the expat group thing that really sets my teeth on edge - like InterNations in Bordeaux, which is basically a dating service you can't unsubscribe from.

Envierges

"Could people provide me with websites/books with information specifically geared towards retired Americans,with means,moving to France and buying a home"

Before I moved here 25 years ago, my best sources of information turned out to be the book suggested above, "Living and Working in
France," and friends of friends of friends. So put the word out and you might be surprised with what information you get. Based on their experiences and suggestios, I decided on Paris, buying an apartment and staying just half the year here. I didn't relish doing all the paper work a full time stay would involve and I like living in the USA too. Each situation is different. The more conversation you can have the better.

Sarastro

The French government has apparently simplified the visa application process. Much can now be done on line. Also, there is some new rules for those wanting to visit as tourists for a period greater than the old 90-day limit (stays between 4 and 6 months).

You might want to review the items under Stay exceeding 3 months for what is required.

scrb11

How serious are they about having a good reason to want to move to France?

I would think most expat Americans still maintain ties back home -- citizenship, family and friends, financial assets, property, etc. -- while they may rent or buy a second property there?

So you tell them you've enjoyed visiting France, want to spend more time there? That's not enough or do you have to demonstrate "particular interest in French culture" by singing Edith Piaf songs or something?

kerouac

Since this question dates from a year and a half ago, I think that if the OP is still interested, all sorts of rules will have been changed by the time we get back to normal (new normal?). People with sufficient funds might find it much easier to settle in France if the new economic situation determines that it is in the national interest.

wvdthree

Still here and still planning on moving in a year and a half. I'm having to wait until the dust settle to even get back to France to make some location/research trips. In the mean time the government is not processing visa applications at all and as you indicate the requirements may very well change. I am deep into what the requirement have been and will just have to roll with whatever develops going forward.

J62

Speaking from 1st hand experience.

The path to Irish citizenship is pretty straightforward, assuming you meet the criteria (grandparent born in Ireland). Collecting the necessary documents takes time, but not too much pain. DW did this about 10 years and just recently go her Irish passport. (also painless, after citizenship is established)

The path to Italian citizenship is more convoluted. For me the key criteria is "was my grandfather (who was born in Italy), naturalized as a US citizen before my father was born" ? Even finding that detail took a lot of legwork. Turns out that even though he filed to become a US citizen years before, it was not finalized until after my fathers birth. Then I had to collect original or certified copy, issued by the original issuing authority of numerous birth, marriage, and any death certificates. The Italians keep whatever you send, so you can't just take your original out of your drawer and sent that away. Additional steps of county and state certification, translation of any non Italian documents, various application forms and attestations, - those also notarized and internationally certified by the state. Then came the hard part - scheduling an appointment at an Italian consulate serving the region where you live. Mine only does appointments 2 or 3 days a week, and only a handful each day. The appointment window opens up 2 year in advance, and the clock is reset a midnight (Rome time) each day. After about a month of unsuccessful 6pm my time attempts, I lucked out nabbing one for 2022.

Due to the pandemic they are now accepting the documents submitted by mail, postmarked on exactly the day of my appointment. Date is bookmarked!

Carlux

I don’t know if anyone is still thinking of moving in this environment, but I thought I would say thatI agree with Kerouac’s opinions on expats - we moved to France in 1994, and have never considered ourselves to be expats. To me the assumption for an expat is that they are here temporarily, and will go ‘Home’ some day. I tell people we are immigrants. We moved here to live here. Canadians with British passports, we now have 10 year Cartes de séjour (residence) and are waiting for the response to our request for citizenship - only 10 months so far.

jpie

Although I realize this is a very old post, for others interested in the topic I just wanted to mention that there are a number of relevant groups on facebook on specific topics asked about here. Americans retiring to France is one and there are also specialized groups around houses for sale for under 50K Euros and 100K Euros in France for instance.