We’re French home owners on a year long vls-ts visa so planning to apply for the Carte de sejour 2-3 months before our visas expire . However we just read that the visa has to match exactly the carte de sejour category and we didn’t apply for the the Visa with “entrepreneur/profession liberale “ as we should have done as we’re both self employed . Has anyone experienced this or know if there’s any way to amend it ? We don’t want to start paying tax etc in France if we can’t actually get the right carte de sejour when the time comes …
You can apply for a change of status but by all reports the application can be refused by the préfecture, or can take a hugely long time to be processed, and can then be refused,
It is generally advised to reapply for the correct visa from your home country and apply online and just return hone for the interview. But for an entrepreneur visa you do need to get an avis favorable on your business plan first.
I’m presuming that you are not working at the moment while you are in France. But do note that whether or not you have to pay tax here is a matter of law, not choice!
Thanks Jane , perhaps we should wind down the business and retire instead…. If we do that and still earn money from a uk property do you know if we are able to keep that income ( pay tax on it obviously ) but remain on an ordinary VLS-TS visa ? ….
Perhaps we also need to hire the services on a visa specialist …. ! Aaghh !!
There is really no need to spend money on a visa specialist! You just need to get your head round the rules and decide which is the best fit for you.
Unless of course you are working while here? As that would be a problem on the visa you have. With the info you’ve given it’s hard to be sure that I’m giving you the best advice.
What actually do you want to do? Have a business here and work? Or retire and live off existing income/savings + future pension?
We’d like to work part time for another 5 years before retiring on the income from a property in the uk , so I think with your advice and with what I’ve read we have no choice but to return and re apply for the correct visa for next year. Then I presume we’ll have to tackle the complications of self employed business paperwork!
Setting up a business here is pretty straightforward. - remarkably! As long as it is not something that is a registered profession or very specialist like horticulture/agriculture.
Your problem might come with the words “part-time”. If you are British then you need a visa (as you know) and there are set criteria for each type. To be able to get a visa to set up a business and work then the business must be able to stand on its own. It makes no difference to the immigration authorities if you have millions in savings, what they have to see is that the business will turnover an adequate amount. I forget precisely what, but generally viability is seem to be the minimum wage, SMIC, which is just under €17k a year unless you want to run a gîte when it is higher. You will have some leeway in first year when you can draw on savings, but your plan should get to the threshold in second year. If you don’t the risk is that your visa will not be renewed,
I suggest you tailor your plans to this.
The visa wizard is a good starting point
https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en/web/france-visas/visa-wizard
Yes this seems to be the crux - I haven’t made the move to France yet, but in my planning I originally hoped to work as a photographer part-time after the move, but from my research it doesn’t seem that this is acceptable - it has to be a viable full-time business or be a retiree.
(Thanks Brexit!)
There’s also the question of losing your entitlement to have your post-retirement healthcare (mostly) covered under a UK-issued S1 form; if you have worked in France even for a short while then I think France becomes your “competent state” - @JaneJones will correct me if I’m wrong on this!
You could continue a UK business and only work outside France? Declaring of course in France. I think that would be legal. And after 5 years bring the business into France as you will be allowed to work.
So maybe what you’re suggesting about the business outside France works for us …. We have an entertainment booking company already running for many years and making enough money , we want to keep working part time and wind it down as we hit retirement. So we’re not actually setting up a French business. I know that if we live in France we must pay French tax on income outside the EU but thought just having the business and drawing down income from it would prevent us applying for a standard carte de sejour …… thanks for all the very useful replies so far !
Good to know - thank you. Not sure I want to carry on working much longer though. 
Right now I am still tied to living in the UK as I look after my mother who will be 99 in August!
If your backsides are sat on a chair in France when doing this booking then you are working in France, so need a visa that allows work. Your only option would be to have a manger doing the work in the UK.
For chris I was suggesting that he could only take jobs that are outside France.
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Thanks so much Jane , sounds like that’s our way forward - keep the current manager who’s been doing it this year and enjoy France ! X
If you’re interested, if you do (some) work in the UK on some sort of commuting basis you will be a cross border worker and can apply for a S1.
I think it has to be a regular pattern, not just popping over every now and then.