How Can I Get Dependent Visa For France

In the United States, the government agencies issue temporary visas to foreign nationals and permanent resident cards (green card) upon successful entry into our country. In general, there are many ways and regulations to acquire visa and become a legal resident in America, however, obtaining dependent visa to live in France is not so straightforward.If you are dependent spouse of French Citizens, then you are called a dependent spouse visa. Dependent spouse visa is a temporary VISA which provide possibility of living and working in France.

How Can I Get Dependent Visa For France

A Dependent Visa is only granted to family members who stay in France with the person they are dependent on. The possibility of obtaining a visa for family members can be authorized on 3 bases: -The existence of a direct relation between the sponsor and the member of his family. -The impossibility for the sponsor to obtain authorization for the entry, residence and the National Healthcare coverage without having this member of his family staying with him on French territory.A dependent visa is an official status granted to the spouse and children of French citizens as well as, under certain conditions, to children of non-EU nationals settled in France. It allows them to remain in France for a determined amount of time during which the family members enjoy their rights.

If you are moving to France to join a relative or spouse, you can apply for a French family reunification visa.

If you have family in France, you can apply for a French family reunification visa to join a relative or partner living in France. These depend on a number of factors, such as nationality, the type of French permit your relative has, and how long they have lived there.

If you are a citizen of the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you are free to come to France without any visa. Read our guide for EU/EEA/Swiss nationals moving to France.

This guide to getting a French visa to join a relative or partner in France includes:

• Relatives of EU/EEA/Swiss citizens
• Relatives of non EU/EEA/Swiss nationals
• Special status for families of certain occupations
• Relatives of French nationals
• Relatives of asylum seekers
• When you arrive in France

Relatives of EU/EEA/Swiss citizens

If you have a relative who’s an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen living in France, you may join them even if you aren’t from one of those countries.

You can get a tourist visa valid for up to 90 days if you apply to the embassy/consulate with a marriage certificate (if applicable), proof of your spouse’s nationality and a travel itinerary. To stay for longer than 90 days, you will have to apply for a family reunification visa (see below).

Information for family reunification for relatives of EU/EEA/Swiss nations can be found in our guide for EU/EEA/Swiss nationals moving to France.

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Relatives of non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals

Spouses and minor children (under 18) can apply to join family members in France who are not EU/EEA/Swiss citizens, living in France, under the following conditions:

• The family member you are going to join must be living in France for at least 18 months (12 months for Algerians), with a valid residence permit for one year.
• Your relative must have adequate finances (an amount equal to the monthly minimum wage: €1,149 for two to three people; €1,272 for four or five; and €1,387 for a family of six or more).
• There must be enough room for you: French standards range from 22 to 28 sqm for a couple (depending on which city or region you live in,) and 10sqm for an extra person.

Your relative must go in person to either the OFII office (for most countries) or the offices of the Direction départementale des affaires sanitaires et sociales (DDASS), which is the local medical and social services department, to file an application. He or she may be asked for proof of financial stability and the accommodation may be inspected.

If the application is successful, you can join your relative in France but you will need to get a long-stay visa (see Expatica’s guide to the French visa system) from the embassy/consulate in your home country, valid for one year, which then acts as a residence card (VLS-TS). The visa is free of charge. You must enter France within 3 months of receiving the visa, and you have to register with the local branch of the OFII (Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration) within two months of arriving in France. If you are staying for longer than a year, then you need to apply for a residence card (carte de séjour).

A medical test must be passed upon arrival in France for residents of Armenia, Cameroon, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Turkey, this text must be passed from your home country before arriving in France).

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Special status for families of certain occupations

If your relative holds a residence permit marked ‘talent passport’, including an ’employee on assignment’, ‘research scientist’ or an EU Blue Card, your family is automatically granted a ‘private and family life’ residence permit at the same time, for the duration of the spouse’s stay, allowing your family to work without a permit.

The passeport talent visa also includes families of those who have come to France to invest at least EUR 10 million and create at least 50 jobs are also granted a 10-year residence permit for exceptional economic contribution.

Relatives of French nationals

You can join a family member living in France if you are:

• married to a French national (the marriage must have been entered into the French Civil Register if you married abroad), and you’re still together.
• the parent of a French minor child living in France and you have been contributing to his/her support and education for at least a year.
• the foreign child of French nationals and are under 21 or dependent on your parents.
• the dependent parent of an adult French national or spouse.

If you’re from the EU/EEA, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino or Algeria, you can apply after you arrive in France; otherwise you’ll need to apply for a long-stay visa from the French embassy/consulate in your home country. You have to show a certified copy of your marriage certificate (the marriage must be registered with the French authorities) and proof of the French nationality of your spouse (e.g., copy of a French ID card, birth certificate).

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Relatives of asylum seekers

If your relative has been granted refugee status, you can be reunited in France if you are the spouse (married before the refugee status was granted) or an unmarried minor child (up to the age of 19).

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When you arrive in France

On arrival in France, you have three months to contact the OFII, who will carry out a medical examination, issue you with a residence permit and may ask you to sign the Contrat d’Accueil et d’Intégration (CAI). This agreement, which aims to ‘establish a relationship of trust and mutual obligation’ between you and France itself, is valid for one year.

During this time, you are obliged to attend sessions (in your own language) on France’s political and administrative organisations and the values of French society (e.g. secularism, equality), and about everyday life in France. Your language skills will be assessed and you may be asked to take a language course leading to a Diploma of Introduction to French (DILF) or be given a certificate (AMDFL) to exempt you.

You don’t have to sign the CAI if you:

• are an EU/EEA/Swiss national.
• have been educated for at least three years in a French secondary educational institution outside of France.
• are aged 16–18 years and are entitled to a residence permit because you were born in France to foreign parents, are living in France, and if France has been your main residence for at least five years since the age of 11.
• are joining a relative who holds a certain type of work-related residence permit for France, for example, those marked ‘employee on assignment’, ‘skills and talents’, or a Blue Card.

In 2015, due to the massive influx of refugees in France from places like Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan, the French government reformed its asylum application procedure, speeding up and streamlining the process for asylum. For more information on recieveing asylum in France, see the French Ministry of Interior’s Guide for Asylum Seekers in France (updated in November 2015).

For more information

• DIRECCTE – this is the French language website for the French Labour Ministry Directions régionales des entreprises, de la concurrence, de la consommation, du travail et de l’emploi. Go the main website and you can be redirected to the French region you need.
• OFII -– this is the English language version of the website for the L’office Francais de l’immigration et de l’intégration, the French agency in charge of migration (click the “EN” in the top right corner for English). There are offices all over France; look on the website for contact details of your nearest one.
• France Diplomatie – this webpage is the English version of the website for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for more information on visas and migration to France.
• ARS – this webpage is the French language website for the Agence Régionale de Santé and where you can find your local Direction départementale des affaires sanitaires et sociales (DDASS).
• Service-Public – this website is for the French government’s public services (in French). To find the contact details of your local mairie (town hall) see here, and for other local departments and public services, see here.