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VISAS

Ask the experts: What’s the deal with remote working and France’s visitor visa?

It's a legal grey area - on the one hand we have a visa system that was last revised well before remote working became an option for most people, on the other hand we have the exponential rise in the number of people working remotely. The Local asked some experts for their views on remote working while on a visitor visa.

Published: 26 October 2023 16:21 CEST
Ask the experts: What's the deal with remote working and France's visitor visa?
Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP

France’s visitor visa is a common choice for non-EU citizens – the short-stay visitor visa is popular with second-home owners wanting to spend a little more time here, while the long-stay visitor visa is the usual choice for people retiring to France.

EXPLAINED How to get a visitor visa for France

The visa’s rules were last revised in 2005, and part of applying for the visa is making a declaration that you will not “exercise a professional activity in France”.

Back in 2005, that was pretty clear – you couldn’t work in France, but you could do some work overseas, perhaps on a visit back to your home country for a special project or maybe doing some short-term work in another country.

Since then, remote working has exploded in popularity and now it’s not particularly unusual for a person to be physically in one country, while working online for a company that is based in another country.

But it’s far from clear whether declaring that you won’t exercise a professional activity “in” France refers to you being in France, or the work that you are doing being in France. 

And this creates a confusing legal grey area. 

We asked the experts for their take.

Type of work

The first thing to be clear about is the type of work we are talking about – this does not refer to any kind of work that is physically performed in France. So if you are here on a visitor visa you cannot work as a waitress, take on plumbing jobs or hold in-person English classes – to give just a few examples. 

This would also extend to running a gîte or B&B in France, or even renting out property on Airbnb – all of which would be counted as running a business. 

We are talking about remote working, where you’re online working for a company or client based elsewhere.

But even within remote working there is a distinction – if you’re working with French clients (perhaps giving online English lessons to people in France) or you’re working for a company that has any professional activity in France then this counts as working in France.

The grey area exists if you’re working remotely for a company based in another country that has no connection to France – for example you’re a copy-editor working for a UK-based company that operates only within the UK. 

Visa requirements

We asked Daniel Tostado, a lawyer who specialises in French immigration, for his view.

He said: “My interpretation is that remote working would be allowed on a visitor visa, provided that the work has no connection to France – you’re not working with French clients and your company has no presence in France.

“There isn’t national legislation on the matter of remote working internationally, so I freely admit it is a bit of a grey area legally and we’re looking at interpretations of the existing rules.

“But we’ve asked multiple French consulates and French préfectures this question and they have indicated in writing that they do accept remote working so long as the work is not done with French clients or a French employer.

“We’ve also searched the legal archives to find if anyone has ever been sued for working in France while on a visitor visa – or if anyone has counter-sued the French government over denial of a visa due to remote work while on a visitor visa status – and have come up blank.”

Specialist immigration lawyer Maître Haywood Wise, of Haywood Martin Wise, agreed, saying: “The answer is yes: in theory it can be done and remote work is not a problem. The problems are often more practical than that, and there are a number of issues.

“When we work with clients going for a long-stay visitor visa, very often we include a letter from the US employer in the visa application – that way nothing is being hidden, it’s being presented to the consulate in a transparent fashion.”

Complications

Unfortunately, however, the visa is only part of the equation – if you’re thinking of working remotely from France you also need to consider tax, social security contributions and insurance.

Tostado explained: “If you’re living in France on a visitor visa but working remotely for a company in the US, UK or similar then you’re in a sort of ‘one foot in, one foot out’ of France.

“For example when it comes to taxes if you pass the threshold for tax residency you would make the annual tax declaration in France and you would pay taxes (impôts) in France, and tell the tax authority in the country where you are working (eg the IRS if you’re American) that you have already paid in France.

“But the general principle is that social charges are paid where you do the work – so if you’re working remotely in the US, you would be paying US social charges, not French ones.”

This has an impact on access to things like medical care, unemployment benefits and pensions in France.

Tostado said: “After three months of residency you can apply to be registered within the French health system via PUMa, but you might end up paying an annual cotisation (charge) for healthcare, because you’re not paying the social charges relating to health.

“Likewise if you lost your job, you wouldn’t be entitled to unemployment benefits in France, because you haven’t been paying in to the system, and you won’t be making any contributions to a pension in France.”

Long-term goals

Whether you’re happy with the “half in, half out” status ultimately depends on your long-term goals – if you just want to spend a year or two in France and don’t see your future here, it’s probably less important.

Equally, if you’re a second-home owner with no intention of ever making France your long-term home, then doing some remote work while on visits to France is probably not going to create too many problems for you. 

However if you intend to settle in France long term, you may find that your unusual status becomes more of a problem, especially if you intend to eventually apply for long-term residency or even citizenship. 

Fiona Mougenot, an immigration specialist and founder of Expat Partners, said: “If you are a ‘Digital Nomad’ and you’re just in France for a few months that is one thing, but if you want to live in France, then you need to consider your longer-term access to French residency, maybe citizenship one day and in the shorter term healthcare and benefits.”

She added: “It’s complicated, this is a real grey area as most of the rules were put in place before remote working became widespread. Everyone’s circumstances are different, but when we have clients making this decision once we have pointed out to them all of the knock-on effects people almost always decide that it’s better to be officially working in France.

“Many people have a desire to avoid the French admin, which is understandable, but if you see yourself staying in France for any kind of long or medium term future it’s inevitable and if you want to do things like registering children in school or retiring in France and having access to healthcare then you will need to engage with the system.

“And if you want to apply for a 10-year residency card or citizenship one day then you need to show that your main economic base is France, if you have been declaring that your work was done elsewhere then you may find that these years don’t ‘count’ towards the five-year mandatory residence period for citizenship, for example.”

Legal advice

Ultimately it’s complicated, and anyone who is thinking of doing this would be well advised to take legal advice – and also speak to a tax expert about the tax implications of their choice. 

It’s often the case that something that works from a legal point of view creates tax problems, or vice versa, so you need to ensure that any solution you opt for does not create further problems for you down the line. 

This article is intended as an overview of the issue and should not be taken as a substitute for independent legal advice

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READER QUESTION

Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

As cafés in Spain launch a crackdown on remote workers who hog tables for hours without buying anything, what's the etiquette over working from a café in France?

Published: 16 May 2024 16:30 CEST
Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

Reader question: I’m visiting France shortly and I will need to do some work while I’m there – is it socially acceptable to go to a café and use my laptop there?

Over the border in Spain, cafés in Valencia, Barcelona and Santiago are reportedly ‘on a war footing’ against laptop-users, with some cutting the wifi during peak hours or just banning them altogether.

Fortunately in France, things are a little more relaxed – although this will depend on exactly where you are and how busy the café is. 

First things first – there are no local or national laws about laptop use in cafés (which you might think is a given but France does love to legislate) so the rules are up to the individual café owner and their staff. 

Culturally, however, there is something of a tradition of working in French cafés – famous writers from Victor Hugo to Ernest Hemmingway wrote novels while loitering in cafés, philosophers from Voltaire to Jean-Paul Sartre held discussion groups in Paris cafés and poverty-stricken artists have attempted to pay for their drinks with paintings (usually unsuccessfully).

In more modern times it’s completely normal for work-related meetings to be held in cafés while in cities where people tend to live in small apartments it’s common for social groups such as book clubs to meet in cafés.

But how does this all relate to opening up your laptop and getting down to work?

Well is varies, but there are a few things to think about;

Location – working on a laptop is undoubtedly more common in cities than it is in smaller places and in areas like the Paris or Bordeaux businesses districts it is a common site to see people typing away, perhaps in between business meetings that they have lined up in the café. 

Café size/occupation – take a look around you, is the café busy with people waiting for tables? Is it a tiny place with only space for a few tables? In these cases you’re less likely to be welcome to loiter for hours. If, however, things are quiet and there are plenty of tables it probably won’t be a problem to spend a few hours catching up with work 

Time of day – while this may vary in smaller towns, most city cafés are open all day – catering for the breakfast crowd, then into morning coffee, lunch and leading into the apéro hour and dinner.

Naturally cafés get busier at lunchtime (12 noon to 2pm) and when apéro starts (usually about 6pm) so you’re likely to be less welcome to take up a table for long periods during these times. If you’ve been there all morning and the server pointedly starts adding cutlery to your table, it’s probably a sign that they want the table back for the lunch-time busy period. You could of course order lunch yourself. 

Type of café – not all cafés are created equal and there are many different types. While most places have no problem with people working there, in recent years some Paris cafés have decided to impose limits on laptop use.

One of those is the Fringe café in the trendy Marais district. Owner Jeff told The Local: “I’m not against laptops, but I am against the minority of users who will sit down for four or five hours, with the cheapest drink. That’s not respectful to the space, so the decision came about because of those few who do that. We call them squatters.”

However this view is far from universal. Nix Audon, a server at Café de la Poste, said: “We evolve with the times, we even offer wifi for free. People can come, relax, and do what they need to.”

Before Nix worked at Café de la Poste, he was a customer. “I would come here every day after work just to relax. For me, café culture is about being able to chill, and sit for however long you want. Cafés are a huge part of social life for Parisians and café culture is intended to be inclusive of everyone, including those who want to sit and work on their laptops.”

While this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, we’ve noticed that most of the places that do have laptop bans are more ‘coffee shops’ in the American style (think loads of different coffee types with elaborate alternative milk options and big slabs of cake) than traditional French cafés (oat milk is for baby oats but the wine selection is excellent).

Do you need to order something? Yes, absolutely, it is only polite to order something if you intend to take up a table for long periods and no that thing cannot be tap water (which is free in French bars, restaurants and cafés).

How much you need to order depends on how long you want to stay – but staying all day and ordering a single espresso (roughly €2) would definitely be regarded as pushing your luck.

That said, French cafés mostly have a ‘no hurry’ policy and you’re unlikely to be rushed out as soon as you have finished your drink unless the café is very busy and you’re in a very touristy area. Lingering over a single coffee while you people-watch and/or think great thoughts is definitely part of France’s traditional culture.

Just ask – of course, you can just ask if it’s OK to work there. The places that don’t appreciate laptop users usually have a sign up to that effect, sometimes just covering a specific time like asking people not to use laptops at weekends or in the evening.

But if you’re unsure, just ask your server 

J’aimerais travailler sur mon ordinateur pendant quelques heures, si c’est possible ? – I’d like to work on my laptop for a couple of hours, if that’s OK?

Je peux utiliser un ordinateur portable ici ? – Is it OK to use a laptop here?

Alternatives – if you want to do more than a couple of hours of work, you might look for a more formal solution. France has a variety of options for people who need a work space, with the most popular being ‘un co-working‘ – a shared workspace where you pay for your time by the hour or the day.

Many of the larger and more business-orientated hotels also offer work spaces and meeting spaces.

Meanwhile in the larger cities there is the trend of ‘un co-homing‘ where people open up their apartments – for a fee – to people who need a space to work, plus a little social interaction.

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