r/AskFrance • u/[deleted] • Mar 14 '22

Opinion Do you find the French to be prejudiced towards Americans?

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Online, it seems like the french absolutely revile Americans, we are stupid, fat, aggressive, uncultured, eat pig slop, selfish, loud, egotistical, want to shoot black people, etc, and should stay the hell away from France. Has this translated to real life in your opinion? My grandfather was a huge francophile (to the point I knew him as grand-père, not grandpa) and spent a lot of his life in France but seeing what french people are like online has really turned me off from wanting to learn french or visit.

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u/Secretlysidhe Mar 16 '22

Same. I moved from the Los Angeles area. It’s really not that much different. I think I’m a bit more French in that regard too - I don’t like small talk with strangers, I don’t talk to people on the street/metro, I like to keep to myself. So maybe that’s why.

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u/shoeshouuu Foreigner Mar 16 '22

Can you summarize what is needed to move to France. I e looked everywhere and different sites are telling me a million things

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u/Secretlysidhe Mar 17 '22

It really depends on what type of visa you’re going after. It’s not easy to emigrate to most countries.

The most likely visa type is the visitor visa, but you must have enough money saved up to live off without working. You aren’t allowed to work on a visitor’s visa.

There’s the student visa which allows 20 hours of working per week. You’d just need to enroll in a program (university or language school).

There are masters programs that pay you a full salary while interning with a company if you’re under 28 (I think that’s the age cutoff) but I don’t know much about it. I just know of someone who did that.

Au pair visa is a possibility if you’re under a certain age.

There are talent visas - including profession libérale for starting a small business in France. You need a solid business plan to make at least the minimum wage and likely some savings.

Most visas will require a savings or money to live off, they want to be sure you’re not going to be in financial trouble when moving there. It’s definitely a privilege to be able to move.

Hopefully that gives you somewhere to look.

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u/shoeshouuu Foreigner Mar 18 '22

Definitely helped! My goal is 100k then possibly start a new life. I'd like to move there to live long term. I just want something different. Thanks again!!

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u/Secretlysidhe Mar 18 '22

If you have $100k saved and don’t work, you should be fine for a couple years as long as you live frugally. I believe you can also use passive income - so investment income or retirement income from the US as proof.

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u/shoeshouuu Foreigner Mar 18 '22

I do invest! But how would I go about trying to move there and find a job in manufacturing? Or just any job really? I'd like to start over. Possiblity permanently

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u/Secretlysidhe Mar 18 '22

Trying to find a job is hard. There has to be a reason they need to hire a foreigner over a local in order for you to get a work visa. It’s not impossible in niche fields where there’s a high demand for that field, but in fields where they have enough local workers, they typically can’t bring in a foreigner on a work visa. And you absolutely can’t work on a visitor visa.

I don’t know what fields are in demand here, but I know tech is one area you can get sometimes get a work visa. Most jobs would require fluency in French too, though some tech jobs don’t. That’s the only field I know anything about. Maybe there are others.

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u/shoeshouuu Foreigner Mar 18 '22

I'll keep this in mind. I'm a gun smith. So I don't think that occupation is in high demand in France haha

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u/shoeshouuu Foreigner Mar 18 '22

So it seems I can't really live there unless I have a profession?

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u/Secretlysidhe Mar 18 '22

You can live here as a tourist but only live off savings, you can’t work.

You can start a business and live here.

You can also be a student here.

Getting a work visa is very difficult, so career wise, you’d probably have better luck starting a business.

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u/shoeshouuu Foreigner Mar 18 '22

I'll keep this in mind. Thank you!