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AMERICANS IN FRANCE

To work, study or retire: Why do Americans move to France?

New EU data has shed fresh light on the reasons Americans have for moving to France.

Published: 18 August 2023 11:44 CEST
Updated: 2 October 2023 11:24 CEST
To work, study or retire: Why do Americans move to France?
An American Airlines aircraft at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)

Moving to France from a non-EU country such as the United States involves getting a visa or residency permit – and while this can annoying or time-consuming on an individual level it does provide useful data on the reasons people have for moving.

Data from the EU agency Eurostat compares first-issue residency paperwork from around the EU and divides it into four areas; study, work (both employees and people starting their own business or working as a freelancer), family reunification and ‘other’ – which includes retirees or people who don’t intend to work or study in France.

READ MORE: MAP: Where do all of the Americans in France live?

And it shows that the biggest single group of Americans in France are those who are studying here.

Americans studying in France

Out of the 12,220 new residency permits awarded in France in 2022, over half (6,328) were for students.

However many of those people have no intention of staying in France for the long-term, and the vast majority of those students were staying less than a year in France and most were spending a single semester in the country as part of their American university course.

Just 499 people – or eight percent of the total number of students – were on courses of one year or more.

Most students came to France for under 11 months total, with about half staying for only three to five months, or the average length of a semester in an American university.

Campus France, the body promoting French higher education abroad, reported that 6,179 American students studied in France during the 2021/22 school year, which includes those who already held permits. 

Prior to Covid-19, the United States State department estimated that for the 2019-2020 year, over 8,500 American students studied abroad in France for academic credit (which includes short-trips for less than three months). 

The US News and World Report ranked France in the top five destinations for US students to study abroad, not far behind the UK, Italy and Spain.

While the United States is far from making up the largest non-French presence in higher education in France (that honour belongs to Morocco), it remains one of the most common reasons for Americans to cross the Atlantic.

Americans working in France

After education, work and professional reasons come second as to why Americans first move to France.

The European Union’s immigration data showed that about one in five (or 2,371 out of 12,220) Americans were granted their first French residency permit to work.

In terms of the types of jobs they hold, Emily in Paris may be a bit misleading – a large portion of Americans working in France are teaching English – many through the Teaching Assistant Programme in France otherwise known as TAPIF.

This allows Americans to move to France for seven months to teach English in public schools. The French Embassy in the United States estimated that for the 2021-2022 school year about 1,500 Americans moved to France to take part in TAPIF, and that on average the number exceeds 1,000 per year. 

Many other Americans in France hold other professional positions aside from teaching English, however. Notably, in recent years French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed to make the country more attractive to tech workers and foreign investment.

In fact, the country has even launched the ‘French Tech Visa’  (you can read more about this residency permit HERE) that allows you to work in France for up to four years if you have been offered a job at an eligible French company.

Family 

Perhaps surprisingly, moving to France with the dreamy French lover conjured up by the entertainment industry, was the least common reason for first moving – only 11 percent of first-time permit holders were given them for ‘family reasons’. 

READ MORE: Where does the ‘romantic, sexy French’ stereotype come from?

That does not mean that Americans are not moving to France for romance. Whether it is love for a French person or for the French countryside, twice the amount that move for family moved for ‘other reasons’, which includes permits handed out for visitors and retirees. 

Retirees

In total 2,218 people were granted residency permits for ‘other’ reasons, which includes the visitor visas given to people who are either retiring to France, moving while not intending to work or coming to France for only a short stay.

The visitor visa is one of the easiest visa types to get – provided you have the financial resources to justify it and are happy not to work while in France.

Of those permits, over half were for periods of between six and 11 months, while the other half were for periods of at least one year. Second-home owners who take a visitor visa typically have six-month visas in order not to lose their US residency.

One American reader, Robert Heuer, told The Local in a previous survey that “living in France was the best decision we ever made”.

Several readers mentioned a higher quality of life – from fresh food and delicious cuisine to public services like healthcare. 

READ MORE: Readers reveal: What makes the quality of life in France so high

Are you an American living in France? Let us know what you think of these results in the comments below

Member comments

  1. Not sure what you mean by “ Second-home owners who take a visitor visa typically have six-month visas in order not to lose their US residency and tax residency.”. That seems to be an error as unless we give up citizenship, we have to file taxes in the US until…well…we die (those are the only two sure things in the US, no?)

  2. I love living in France. It was the best decision we ever made. It’s less expensive here than where we lived in California. The food is fresh and delicious not always being recalled with something or being taken off the market for a time. The lifestyle the healthcare is wonderful I can’t say enough about it. I live in Caen and I love it!

  3. I love living in France. It was the best decision we ever made. It’s less expensive here than where we lived in California. The food is fresh and delicious not always being recalled with something or being taken off the market for a time. The lifestyle the healthcare is wonderful I can’t say enough about it. I live in Caen and I love it!

  4. Wait wait wait, does that mean that only FIVE HUNDRED Americans who move to France for work get residency permits a year in France as non TAPIF?

    Are Au Pairs represented in the data?

    1. Thank you for your comment! As the data is from Eurostat, it is not broken down to that level of detail, but keep in mind it refers to first-time permits issued. In 2022, 747 first-time permits for 12 months were issued, while the bulk (1,548) of work-related permits were issued for a period of 6-11 months. The estimation for the number of American TAPIF workers that come to France each year is from the French Embassy in the US.

  5. Based on your results for category ‘other’, it is surprising really that we’ve met two American couples, both of whom were issued retirement visas like us, in the same small community in SW France. We are newly arrived this year.

    The slower pace, kindness, and respect for others has been lovely.

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MOVING TO FRANCE

Moving to France: Language tests, new immigration law and jobs for non French-speakers

Moving to France - a country famous for its complicated bureaucracy - can be a daunting task. Fortunately, our new newsletter is here to answer your questions - this month we're looking at new immigration plans, acquiring language skills and healthcare.

Published: 8 December 2023 13:22 CET
Moving to France: Language tests, new immigration law and jobs for non French-speakers

Here at The Local we’re an Anglo-American team living in France – which means all of us have been through the simultaneously exciting and terrifying process of moving countries.

Our new newsletter is aimed at people who are in the process of moving, have recently moved and are still grappling with the paperwork or perhaps are just thinking about it – and we’ll share a monthly selection of practical tips. Our team is also available to answer questions from subscribers to The Local.

Let’s start with some news that I know has been worrying people who plan to move to France some day – the new French immigration bill.

The bill is currently making its way through parliament, with a lot of accompanying political drama and some very headline-grabbing amendments from Senators (most of which have now been scrapped).

This seems to be one of those cases where the political drama is in inverse proportion to the actual content of the bill – because it really doesn’t contain a lot that would affect people moving to France. We’ve done a complete breakdown HERE.

It won’t immediately affect new arrivals – but one thing that the bill does contain is a proposal for compulsory language tests in order to gain the long-term residency card (which usually happens after four or five years of residency, depending on your personal situation). We have a guide on exactly what language level would be required and a quiz so you can test yourself against the required standard. 

Language skills

I’m often asked how easy it is to move to France if you don’t speak any French at all. Ideally you would do some studying before arriving, but sometimes circumstances dictate a move while your French is still at a basic level (full disclosure – my French was extremely rudimentary when I first arrived).

Here’s a look at how easy it is to move to France if you don’t speak French – and what jobs you could do while you learn. 

Staying healthy

The other big concern for many people is healthcare – specifically how to access care in France, and whether you need to pay for expensive health insurance in order to move.

In good news, the French system is pretty generous – you can register in the French public health system after three months of residency and the state covers around 70 percent of medical costs, depending on circumstances. It’s worth pointing out, however, that the registration process itself can be lengthy – it’s not unusual to wait a year for your first carte vitale health card.

What you do in the meantime – and what health cover you need in order to get a visa – depends on your country of origin. 

Brits can use their EHIC or GHIC European health card as proof of medical cover, although it’s advised to get a short private health insurance policy too as there are things not covered by the European health card.

If you’re moving from an EU country you would be covered by the reciprocal EU health agreements between member states, but if you’re moving from the USA you will need private cover for your first few months in France (and not all American health insurance covers treatments outside of the US). 

Questions

The Local’s Reader Questions section covers questions our members have asked us and is a treasure trove of useful info on all kinds of practical matters. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, head here to leave us your questions.

Bon courage !

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