Hi,
I would like to bring my family of 6 to France to live and ski next winter. My kids will all be in elementary. Can anyone recommend cities/towns in the Pyrenees or Alpes that would be suitable. While it's much more affordable, I'm finding towns in the Pyrenees quite far from the actual ski resorts. I LOVE Annecy, but it's costly and still over an hour to ski.
Any other tips on living abroad for ~6 months would also be greatly appreciated!
Someone's going to say it, so I'll rip off the bandaide...
Do you have your pathways to visas sorted out? Aware of the Schengen 90/180 rules for ex-EU nationals?
Thanks for being that guy, it's certainly an important topic. VISA research is underway! It's still a year out, I'm hoping we have all our ducks in a row well before.
Visa issues could be more complicated than you might be assuming. They're specific to each country—I'm very familiar with Spain's, but no one else's. And with visa issues come issues of tax residency...
Tax residency is after 180 days and we'll definitely be less than that. France has many VISA options, I have to determine which one is the most appropriate. It's definitely in the high priority column on the to-do list.
Grenoble is cheaper than Annecy and can be nice to live in if you want a mid size city with all the services. There are several ski resorts within 45 minutes, and bigger ones within 1.5 hours.
For something closer to major resorts, Bourg Saint Maurice is a nice small town. Saturday traffic is annoying during winter school holidays but otherwise, you have direct funicular access to Les Arcs and good road access to Val d'Isère, plus 2 other smaller resorts. Securing accommodation there might be tricky at what is becoming relatively short notice (unless you're looking at 2023-2024 season?); it is very popular with seasonal ski resort workers.
Further south, Briançon is a good choice too with direct gondola access to Serre Chevalier and a good selection of other resorts spilling over into neighboring Italy, but it is a choice with a higher risk of snow drought (2021-2022 season was especially bad). By "snow drought" I do not mean "green hills", but meager depths.
I recall reading something on this forum about tourists not technically being allowed to work while you are there. Something to look into if you are considering doing this while working remotely.
To clarify, are you saying that I couldn't get a tourist VISA and work for my Canadian company remotely? My understanding was that the tourist VISA would prohibit from working for any French company, but it doesn't seem to limit remote work. Do you happen to remember where you saw that?
"To clarify, are you saying that I couldn't get a tourist VISA and work for my Canadian company remotely? My understanding was that the tourist VISA would prohibit from working for any French company, but it doesn't seem to limit remote work. Do you happen to remember where you saw that?"
If you do a quick search on the internet you will see that the answer is that you are not supposed to get a tourist visa and work remotely while in France. Go to https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en/web/france-visas/tourist-or-private-visit and scroll down to Stay exceeding three months. Note the part where it says "You must also formally agree not to engage in any professional activity during your stay in France." So you are not to work remotely while in France on a tourist visa. Are there people who do it? I do not know for sure but my guess is yes in this digital age. You'll need to submit documentation that you will be able to support you and your family while in France. If you need to show your paycheck to show that you will be able to afford this year long trip, you are going to have a problem because the visa will likely not be approved.
Thanks for clarifying! I was looking on that same site and see the last line "You must also formally agree not to engage in any professional activity during your stay in France." I interpreted it to mean no professional activity in France (as in working under the table), but I can see how you are reading it makes sense too. We can prove we have the means to be visitors for a year, I may have to look into being able to work remotely.
I think the strict interpretation of the rule is really out of synch with the current digital world and the work you will be doing will not be taking any jobs away from French persons so I do think that people are doing remote work in France. I certainly do when I am there because I have a job that requires me to be reachable even when I am on holiday but I have never stayed for more than 90 days and had to state that I would not engage in professional activity while in France.
The remote work question can be answered if you join the closed Facebook group Strictly Legal France. With new forms of work, things are changing.
