Days 1–7: check for VLS-TS, entry and expiry dates. Keep passport, visa, proof of residence and entry. An application for a card imposed by the visa follows another procedure.
Within three months of entry: confirm the VLS-TS on ANEF, pay the tax for your category and download the certificate. Three calendar months do not always correspond to 90 days.
Days 7–30: accommodation, insurance, bank account and CPAM file. The opening of rights depends on work, education and residence. Respond to the OFII if your category belongs to the visit or CIR.
Days 30–90: Prepare the renewal according to your status. The first plastic card usually comes when the VLS-TS expires, not automatically on the day 90. For many ANEF steps, the deposit is made between 4 and 2 months before expiration; check your category.
Avoid: Do not confuse validation with renewal; keep the PDF and the OFII convocations.
Check your country for studies in France via Campus France. Admission, visa and stay are separate. Prepare diploma, translation, resources and accommodation.
For CROUS, see the Student Social Record, its calendar and the terms of the scholarship: the student title is not enough. Without the right to a grant, ask for housing and specific support for the social service.
The student title generally allows for employment up to 964 hours per year, all contracts combined. Algerian nationals and some cases follow special rules. Student status does not automatically allow a micro-enterprise.
Before expiry: check the change to employee with work authorization or RECE after an eligible French diploma. RECE has its own conditions; the limit of 964 hours does not apply.
Avoid: Do not count 964 hours per employer; a CROUS scholarship is not automatic.
Identify the foundation: visitor with resources and insurance, family of a French/European or family reunion. A pension does not automatically confer a right of residence.
The family reunification of an alien usually involves a spouse and minor children, with the duration of stay, resources and housing required. Check the special rules, especially for Algeria.
Parents are not part of regular family reunification. Dependent ascendant is a separate route, especially for the family of a French/European: prove filiation, dependency and visa conditions.
Before a transfer, check payment abroad, life certificate and acceptance by both banks. Tax residence and tax treaty are separate; do not circumvent bank restrictions.
Avoid: Do not link parents to regular family reunification; do not assume that a pension transfer will be accepted.
Before registration, check the right to self-employment. Micro-enterprise is a tax and social scheme, not a residence permit. Report via the INPI Single Window, then check registration and account URSSAF.
Choose activity, periodicity of turnover declarations and compulsory insurance. A declaration may remain mandatory at zero. Distinguish income, turnover, contributions and TVA.
ACRE is not universal: check criteria, time and rate according to the start date. The rules have changed to 2026; use URSSAF and Public Service Enterprise.
Entrepreneur/Professor liberal and talent — project leader requires their own proof. Bpifrance Creation supports business plan and financing, without visa or grant guarantee.
Avoid: Do not immaculate before checking the right to exercise; do not use an old ACRE rate.
From November 1 to March 31 in designated areas, equip the four wheels with suitable tires or hold chains/shoes for at least two drive wheels. Check commons and signs.
After the transition period, M+S alone does not replace the strings: search for 3PMSF. Signage B26 can impose chains; train to put them down.
For skiing, check track rescue, search, evacuation, care, civil liability, repatriation and off-track exclusions. A mutual does not automatically cover mountain rescue.
Seasonal: written contract, hours, wages and accommodation. Check separately for permission and seasonal title: usually six months of seasonal work per year and habitual residence abroad.
Avoid: Do not rely on M+S alone; check the right to work before a season.
At home, make the death known by a doctor; suspicious circumstances: police. In the hospital, the institution intervenes. Municipal declaration and copies of the death certificate: request the urgent circuit from the town hall or funeral directors.
Inform banks, employers, CPAM, CAF, insurance and pension funds. Do not use the deceased's credit card. Gather will, deeds, contracts, assets and debts for the notary.
In particular, the notary is necessary in the presence of real estate, will or complex international succession. The tax return is usually due under 6 months for a death in France, 12 abroad; check exceptions and applicable law.
Deaths in the country of origin or repatriation: consulate, funeral operator, insurance, authorizations of both countries and translation of the act. The consulate does not automatically finance the transport; go through the operator.
Avoid: Do not exceed the tax period and do not use the card of the deceased.
Mutual consent usually involves two lawyers and deposit with a notary; a conflict is the responsibility of the JAF. Specify accommodation, property, debt and international recognition.
Set the child's residence, visitation and maintenance. In case of unpaid, contact CAF/ARIPA. There is no universal percentage; legal aid depends on the conditions.
Divorce does not automatically remove joint authority. Check judgment, IST/OST and destination rules. The general purpose of the AST is to cover a minor travelling without parental authority, not any journey with a single parent.
Risk of abduction: Police and JAF in emergency. In case of violence, use the way of protection. The stay after break requires a check of its foundation and protections.
Avoid: Do not unilaterally cease the pension and travel against a judicial decision.
Immediate hazard: 17 or 112. If you can't speak, text to 114. The 3919 listens to and directs women victims; it is not the emergency police.
If safe, consult doctor, police/gendarmerie and CIDFF/France Victims. Keep the evidence out of the reach of the author; on a shared device, do not enter any personal data here.
The protection order asks the JAF without prior mandatory criminal complaint. It can relate to housing, contacts and children. A lawyer or association helps to establish danger and evidence.
The issue or maintenance of a title depends on the basis, the breakdown due to the violence and the protection; a declaration is not sufficient in all cases. Consult an association or a lawyer. Quick output replaces this page without deleting history.
Avoid: Do not use the 3919 instead of emergencies; do not store a starting plan on a shared device.
For a lasting or severe difficulty, contact the doctor or CMP of your area: public care, possible waiting. Ask for an interpreter when making an appointment.
My psy support: up to 12 sessions per calendar year with a partner, 50 € per session; usually 60 % Health insurance and 40 % additional, with case of full support. Possible direct access; a severe crisis falls within another circuit.
Use the Health Directory and My shrink support directory; confirm Russian, registration, price and refund. Psychologist and psychiatrist are distinct; an unqualified counsellor is not a caregiver.
Suicidal thoughts: 3114, 24 h/24. Vital hazard: 15 or 112. Don't wait for a scheduled session.
Avoid: Do not assume free private meetings; do not wait in a crisis situation.
In case of refusal, request the attestation and verify the right to the account with the Banque de France. Subject to conditions, a bank is designated for basic services, without any guarantee of credit or international transfer.
For a transfer from Russia/IEC, check with both banks sanctions, currency, origin and motive. European and banking rules are changing; an accepted old transfer does not guarantee the following.
Do not split to avoid controls and do not hide the provenance via an intermediary. Keep contracts, income proofs/sale and pension basis.
Tax residents report foreign accounts opened, held, used or closed via 3916/3916-bis with revenues. Check exceptions and digital assets; zero balance does not exempt.
Avoid: Do not neglect a zero-pay account; do not bypass sanctions controls.
Specify the purpose: education, unregulated employment or regulated occupation. ENIC-NARIC provides a certificate of comparability; establishment or employer decides its value for the file.
Prepare diploma, readings, courses and translation requested. Check eligibility and files on France Education international before payment.
Doctors and nurses are subject to professional authorization, possibly testing/adaptation and order. ENIC-NARIC does not authorize treatment. Distinguish engineering job and protected title of graduate engineer.
The VAE validates the experience for a precise certification, without automatic conversion of a foreign diploma. Consult France VAE for certification, support and access.
Avoid: Do not present comparability as a medical exercise permit.
The exchange depends on the country of issue, the category, the date and the conditions for obtaining, not only the nationality. EU/EEA: separate scheme; other countries: official simulator below.
Check separately Russia and CIS countries in the reciprocity list: possible limits by category or date. Without exchange, pass the French permit before the end of recognition.
For a facility with a licence outside Europe, the deadline is usually one year, according to the first title or validation of the VLS-TS. A student may retain a recognized permit during his or her studies; the change of status opens a separate time limit.
Prepare valid licence, translation required, supporting documentation and certificate of driving rights. Deposit via France Titles/ANTS; the deposit does not make an expired permit valid.
Avoid: Do not wait until the end of the first year; nationality alone does not determine the exchange.
Dog, cat or ferret outside the EU: check chip, valid rabies vaccination, official certificate and entry point. Identification precedes vaccination; primary vaccination imposes an expectation.
Country not exempted: sampling at least 30 days after vaccination, approved laboratory, result ≥0,5 IU/ml; usually three months after withdrawal. Exceptions exist for documented reintroduction since the EU.
Russia and Belarus are no longer exempt from titration since 16 September 2024. An old passport is not enough. Check the certificate deadline and commercial transport rules/more than five animals.
After arrival, find a registered veterinarian, check I-CAD and vaccinations. Ask for tariffs and emergencies; a human mutual does not cover the animal.
Avoid: Do not vaccinate before identification; calculate titration times before booking.
For an Orthodox parish, confirm jurisdiction, address and calendar. Russian and frequency are not guaranteed by the name. Filter the directory by city and cultural/religious contacts.
Russian weekend schools: check the regional catalogue, then confirm age, level, schedule, cost and registration. They complement, without replacing, compulsory schooling.
Libraries in Lyon, Grenoble, Annecy, Chambéry and other cities have their own subscriptions. Check the catalogue and fonds in Russian, then availability before moving.
Choose Rhône, Isère, Savoie, Haute-Savoie or another AURA department via the cities. Confirm availability and timeliness; do not entrust originals to an unknown association.
Avoid: Do not assume that a parish speaks Russian; a weekend school does not replace compulsory schooling.
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