Practical guide: visas, settling, and working in France. Young person, mobile in hand and dragging a suitcase. Apextra Language Solutions.

Welcome to this guide! Are you planning to settle and work in France? You’ve come to the right place.

Here are the important steps you’ll need to take to make this happen:

1. Get a work visa 

First of all, if you are a European Union national, you should be able to work in France without a work visa. However, for non-EU nationals, getting a work visa is an essential step. If this applies to you, please note that the translation of required documents, such as your employment contract, must be done by a sworn translator (to find out more about sworn translators, see this article). For this reason, make sure your translations are certified by a sworn translator based in France.

2. Find a job and validate your employment contract

Secondly, job hunting in France can be done via online platforms(LinkedIn, Indeed…), specialized agencies, or directly with companies. Once you’ve got the job (congratulations!) you must have your employment contract validated by the DREETS. Once again, a sworn translation of your employment contract is a strict requirement, since it guarantees its validity in the eyes of the law and the Direction Générale des Étrangers en France.

3. Apply for a visa

The body responsible for issuing work visas is the Direction Générale des Étrangers in France. To meet these requirements, sworn translations of supporting documents, such as employment contracts and proof of accommodation, are essential. A sworn translator must provide these translations for them to be recognized by the French authorities. The authorities also frequently require that sworn translators convert any amounts in a foreign currency into euros.

4. Sign up for social security

Once you’ve settled in France, another vital step is registering with the French social security system. Once again, to facilitate the registration process, all required documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.) must be translated by a sworn translator.

5. Open a bank account and other administrative formalities

Finally, to manage your money, you’ll need to open a bank account in France. So make sure that your bank statements, rental contracts, and other documents also have sworn translations, so that they can be accepted by French institutions in accordance with legal requirements.

6. Last thing

…welcome to France!

In short, the sworn translation of official documents is crucial to the process of settling in France, as is the affixing of an apostille. At ApexTra, we are used to facilitating the visa application process with our sworn translation service. This way, you can be sure that your documents won’t be returned, which will speed up your administrative procedures considerably. We look forward to helping you navigate the French bureaucracy!