cheska15

Hi All
I am starting the research on living in Strasbourg for 12 months in 2019. Firstly sorry about the long post and will tell you a bit about us.

I am 60 and my DH is 65 and so far in good health and fit. We are aware of the visa requirements and should meet all of those. We have decided on Strasbourg( although not set in stone) because they seem to have a Masters squash organisation there, and we prefer a city rather than a town. Playing squash is not negotiable as my husband plays weekly. Mulhouse also seems to have a squash community but at a population of100,000 so we went for Strasbourg as it is a little bigger.

I have a few questions and would be grateful for any advice.

Rent
We will be required to provide a lease for the duration of our stay. Is €1,200 euro per month for a two bedroom apartment realistic?
Is it difficult to get a long term lease for a furnished apartment?

Heating
Is there a time of year that heating is turned on or off? We are used to very cold winters where we live in Australia as it gets down to -7 and it is a heat wave if it is 9-10 degrees during the day. We do get lots of sunshine in winter and I wouldn’t expexct this in Strasbourg.

These are preliminary thoughts and happy for a reality check

regardsa
Cheska

kerouac

I just took a look at the furnished 3-room apartments (that means 2 bedrooms) on www.seloger.com and it appears that 1200€ is adequate. Or you can spend more or less depending on your specific requirements. Naturally, the exact location will have an impact on the price, but Strasbourg has an excellent tramway network. It is also the most bicycle friendly city in France if you want to consider that means of locomotion during at least part of the year..

cheska15

kerouac thanks very much for the link. I will investigate further as there seems to be a few furnished apartments there. No doubt I will come back and ask a lot more questions once my research gets underway. I am trying now to find areas that play squash in France ( not Paris). Hopefully I will get some answers soon.

Regards
cheska

kerouac

Chiffres clés

Sarastro

YouŽll only know of the specific visa requirements after your initial embassy or consulate visit. Inevitably, the embassy will ask for something you have not prepared. Proof of health care coverage, a rental contract, a return ticket to your country of residence, and proof of financial independence are but a few of the many items youŽll need to prepare and submit.

This is a very complicated and potentially expensive undertaking and so far, your main concern is when the heat is cutout in a building for which you have not yet signed a lease?

Reality check indeed!

StCirq

Indeed to what Sarastro says. I would even posit that for a 12-month stay, which probably seems like a very long time for you, may or will not be worth it. You cannot imagine the intricacies of the French bureaucracy. We have been here for almost 3 years, and I have an Irish passport, therefore EU citizenship, and a phenomenal amount of our time has been spent at préfectures, notaires, traducteurs, consulats, medical insurance offices, and so forth. Worth it for us as we are here permanently, but I would never have done it for a year's stay. You'll spend half your time at French banks and bureaux d' impôts and centres d'assurances and driver schools and other minor local offices. And every time you visit they will ask you for something they didn'task for before., and you'll have to go back at the crack of dawn and stand in line. The dream of an idyllic life in France soon dissipates in the face of these realities. And it will cost you a small fortune for all these services.

Heat is the very, very least of your problems, and I hope you are fluent in French. Bonne chance!

kerouac

I would not paint such a dark picture of the project. I know quite a few Americans who have settled in France and had few complaints about the bureaucracy. Of course Paris is a very international city and pretty much knows how to deal with foreigners... but so is Strasbourg. That would be one of the main things in its favor compared to many other cities throughout France.

As for the heat -- it is entirely up to you. Some places have central heating and others have individual electric heating under your exclusive control.

Melnq8

cheska -

Just curious where in AUS the temp drops to -7C. Tasmania?

cheska15

Canberra often gets -7 in Winter.

cheska15

Sorry All I should have been clearer. The embassy has advised that as an Australian we do not have to come,etc a medical or meet language requirements either here when applying for a visa, or in France on arrival as you can see from the email below

Good morning
You must apply for a long stay (visitor visa), you won’t have any language test in Australia.
You can apply for a temporary long stay visa for 12 months, you won’t have to do any process
(language or medical check) in France.

We invite you to visit our website to fill the application form and to have the requirements : https://

So since this is an easier process it does seem to make it worthwhile.

kerouac I had emailed the link you provided and they have responded. They have offered to help in any way to enable my husband to play squash.

As for the comments about bureaucracy well I am used to it as it is my job. In fact I am one of the bureaucrats that people don’t like as I am always asking for further information

kerouac

Then I'm sure you will be well prepared for the sorts of things you will need. One huge improvement in recent years is that many documents can now be provided in digital form. Before then, you had to provide original documents and god forbid you try to give them a photocopy.

Sarastro

It is true that for a visitors visa you will not need to show language proficiency. However, if you are not proficient in French, youŽll certainly wish you were on your first visit to the bank or when you attempt to establish phone service or hook up electricity in your apartment.

As far as a medical check, the OFII may have different ideas about how medically qualified you may or may not be. And all of the paperwork you will have previously submitted to the consulate or embassy will need to be resubmitted to OFII upon your arrival in France. Unlike at the consulate, anything you submit to OFII will need to be translated into French at an official rate of about 50€ per page. Keep all of those copies because after 3 or 4 months when the OFII is finished with you, youŽll submit everything again to the local préfecture.

Many foreigners who come to France are sent by their employers and it is the employers who help with a lot of the required paperwork. If you are doing this on your own and you are not fluent in French, you have a lot of work ahead of you.

cheska15

Sarastro. This is the information provided by OFII<br />The following long stay visa categories holder will have a simplified procedure when settling in France and won’t have to secure a "resident permit" from the Prefecture anymore. They will be able to stay in France for the whole validity of their long stay visa, provided they have <a href="http://www.ofii.fr/qui_sommes-nous_46/ou_nous_trouver_mieux_-_flash_933.html?recalcul=oui">registered at the French Office of Immigration and Integration (OFII)</a>:<br /><br /><img src="https://au.ambafrance.org/local/cache-vignettes/L8xH11/puce-32883.gif"/> Visitor<br /><img src="https://au.ambafrance.org/local/cache-vignettes/L8xH11/puce-32883.gif"/> Spouse of a French citizen<br /><img src="https://au.ambafrance.org/local/cache-vignettes/L8xH11/puce-32883.gif"/> Spouse of a foreigner<br /><img src="https://au.ambafrance.org/local/cache-vignettes/L8xH11/puce-32883.gif"/> Training<br /><img src="https://au.ambafrance.org/local/cache-vignettes/L8xH11/puce-32883.gif"/> Student<br /><img src="https://au.ambafrance.org/local/cache-vignettes/L8xH11/puce-32883.gif"/> Researcher<br /><img src="https://au.ambafrance.org/local/cache-vignettes/L8xH11/puce-32883.gif"/> Professional<br /><br />

cheska15

I have included the financial requirements. The Consulate here has been very helpful. For anyone interested in doing this each person must apply for the tourist visa. I say this as when you apply for a visa here your partner is included as a dependant. So I am presuming that we will have to meet the financial requirements as individuals.

As the European Commission specifies, any foreigner seeking to enter France, since 19 June 2014, when applying for France Visa must be able attesting to the France Embassy or Consulate possessing the daily money amount of 120€ if holding no proof of prepaid accommodation. If the applicant has a prepaid hotel, then this amount reduces to 65€/dailyfor the period of covered hotel accommodation, while the rest is 120€. Also, in case the applicant proofs cheaper forms of accommodation the amount decreases to 32.25€/ day.

kerouac

I think you have done your homework very well so far.

I helped a friend who was actually living illegally in France to open a bank account once. All she had to show at the Caisse d'Epargne was her (American) passport, her electric bill and her official request for a resident card (which was later rejected). The whole process took less than half an hour. They never asked for an update and she stayed for six years. Naturally, I am not recommending this to anyone else -- she really had nerves of steel. I doubt if I would have been able to sleep at night.

cheska15

kerouac Thanks for the encouragement. I tend to do research, research and research.Hopefully then there aren’t too many surprises. I am not silly enough to think this will all be plain sailing. It has been our dream for forty years, and now that we are older we may be able to achieve the dream.

I would t be able to sleep at night either. The funny thing is many people have advised us to just go and overstay. That is not an option for us.

The reason I asked about heating and perhaps I should have been clearer is because in Italy there is a certain time of year that heating is turned on and off. Some places you can’t turn heating on until November. I was wondering if that is the same in France.

The dark pictures painted by posters on this forum are accepted with good grace. After all I do want to hear the good and bad. .

schnauzer

I say go for it!!! Strasbourg is a beautiful city with that 'feel' about it in my aussie opinion!! I'm just going through similar process to go to the UK for a few months... there's lots to do at both ends but I'm hoping it will be worth it. It sounds like you have done all the necessary research in order to stay... you will no doubt take out some sort of travel insurance because from memory, correct me if I am wrong, Australia doesn't have reciprocal health care with France. But for emergencies you are covered I think. But of course you will have full repatriation insurance just in case. I know in Italy and the UK you can get local health cover with the European Health card if you have a utility bill and proof of address. (I'm sure there's more to it than that but that is the gist) Or perhaps that is for people with an EU style passport, (I know there isn't eu passport but UK, Italian etc) do you have one of those, or just Aussie? I think the rules for Australians could be different to those from the USA, but again I'm not sure, rules is rules!!!

Start singing that song "It's now or never" and DO IT!! good luck. If the heating isn't on then wear thick socks and a woolly jumper!!! You'll fine if you're from Canberra, ha ha.

cheska15

schnauzer. Thanks. We will do our best to make this happen. As part of the visa requirements we have to have health cover including up to $50.000 reparation cost. This might be more next year though, because I’m not sure we will be ready this year. Weave to do some minor renovation on the house to rent out.( painting inside etc). You are correct about the non recripocal health agreement with France. We are believers in travel insurance anyway. Sadly we have only Australian passports, although at times we have tried to find some sort of European or English ancestry with no joy.
I hope your planning works out and you get to spend some time in the UK. Another beautiful country.

KayF

I just wanted to say good luck with your plans. We are Australians and went to live in the UK, for five years as it turned out. We loved it, though did have some difficult times (getting apartments and jobs particularly). I think if we had known how much work was involved, in Australia and in the UK, when we went, and when we returned, we never would have done it. It was one of the best things we have ever done.

Also we had a week in Strasbourg one Christmas and it was the coldest I have ever been. A beautiful part of the world but the freezing temperatures were too much for me.

Kay

cheska15

Thanks Kay. Yes we are expecting cold temperatures. I don’t minf the cold but my DH really feels it. We have all the Marino undergarments although they are a bit hot for me with one layer, and he wears ar least three. He will miss his electric blanket though. Last winter was particularly cold here with the temp still being minus at 11.00 am. I’m trying to convince him this puts us in good stead for a European winter. We have had a Christmas in Salzburg, and then went to Innsbruck where it snowed from Boxing Day to the 1st of January. It was fabulous. I love Europe in winter but the longest we have spent there at that time of year is six weeks. May be different when it goes on for months.
We were in Europe for 3 months last year and I found Italy far too hot in July.
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