I have 2 copies myself. This is because I acknowledged half a dozen people at the front who had assisted in one way or another. For instance a former school friend who is a retired Home Office Pathologist, and others in various ways. One was for a lady who lived just down the road here, I can’t remember what she helped me with but she got a mention. Unknown to me she had a very jealous husband who went mad when she showed him her free copy, ‘so just what did you help him with then?’ he shouted.
Sadly she thought the better part of valour was to return it to me.
But back to your problem to fill your time meaningfully without contravening earnings laws. 25 years ago I arrived here and immediately got a job driving a lorry. I enjoyed it but after 3 years got fed up with trying to sleep next to a rattling freezer trailer motor and retired early at 60.
After a few years of comparative inaction I missed the camaraderie of the road, spending evenings with lorry drivers in the resto stops. I filled my time only with fostering rescue dogs, but one day I was asked to deliver a dog, long distance. For the next 10 years or so I criss crossed Europe with car and small caravan doing just that, no wages, just reimbursements of running costs. I made very sure from the outset to keep a record of every euro claimed and paid, with detailed justification so as not to fall foul of the tax man. I knew that the real cost of running a vehicle was way below what the taxman authorises in France, couldn’t believe they were so generous, so I knew that I would never get into trouble, and was never challenged.
So, whatever you do, just make sure there is no profit, and be able to prove it.
I am still not quite clear what you have in mind.
A study program has to meet certain criteria to entitle those students to a student visa. It is not a case of, you are here on a student visa and if you get a certificate at the end of it those years count towards residency and if not they do not count. The point is that you will not have a student visa unless you are enrolled on an approved course.
If you want to enrol on a language course you can do that on a visitor visa. The student visa is designed for students in that it has a much lower resources requirement and allows you to take student jobs, but presumably those are not issues for you.
Of course if you want to study seriously for its own sake, something awesome as you say, then that will be its own reward. But as an investment of money, time and effort in order to notch up years towards a carte de séjour 10 ans which you can get more easily via the usual routes, it makes no sense to me.
@David_Spardo: Good on you for putting something positive out there. I admire your service to rescue animals. Where I am, life is hard for unhoused cats and dogs. Maybe some sort of volunteering would work for me as well.
I’ll keep in mind your advice about documenting everything. Of all the conflicting things I have read about France, once constant is a begrudging respect for the taxman. They sound like forensic accountants.
Bummer for me because I hate paperwork though. I just want to be free to ride my machine without being hassled by The Man, haha. Sounds like that wouldn’t go over so well in France.
Thanks, @Sandcastle. I get what you are saying. Ultimately, I think we are in agreement.
I understand that I could pursue institutional study of language, philosophy, etc. under a carte de séjour. Initially, I was exploring whether there was a way to use the right to work from a student visa so that I could also freelance or consult. As you helpfully pointed out, that seems to be a nonstarter.
So that leaves you and I in the same place analytically. There is no benefit to pursuing the student visa route. I am going to follow up with some law school contacts I have and see if there is an education path that would qualify me to teach in a Legal English department. If that is not too onerous, then that could be a reason.
At this point, I have come full circle back to retirement visitor visa, no working until or if I get residency, then maybe doing a micro-enterprise at that point if that is an option. During that time, I’d just keep doing what I’m doing but don’t make any money, study French like it was my job, travel, and enjoy some earned rest.
Plus, I hate paperwork. I’d rather take the path of least resistance. And yes, I appreciate the irony of a lawyer that hates paperwork. Like a fish that hates water.
Thank you for helping me work through everything. Sorry if I was unclear. Some of that was just me thinking out loud. I appreciate your patience with me.
FWIW, I have been advised that passive income from overseas sources is OK if your a retiree - it’s just that you can’t work actively in France on an “economically inactive” visa.
In my case it would be income from the sale of stock photographs where I am paid in US dollars by Adobe Canada and Shutterstock (USA), which I would like to continue after I retire in France. It’s only a few hundred dollars a year but every little helps!
I found it hard to find specific information online about this, but other SF members who know more about the rules than I do seem to to think it’s OK.
Don’t take my word for it, but it sounds like income from book sales would be OK if the book is published outside France and the royalties come from an overseas source.
