I have a European passport and my husband has a British passport. We have sold our house in the UK and looking to build a house in France this year, but would like to know if we can apply for long term visas if we are staying in an Airbnb. Thanks
You donât need a visa. As a European you have free movement and your spouse can travel with you and apply for a carte de sĂ©jour within first three months here.
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But her husband will if staying more than the months or have I misunderstood the whole EU spouse thing?
I think you might have 
.
The official info here, and George1 did a very useful post on his experience I recall
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Probably confusing for a moment âvisaâ and âcarte de sejourâ, also on re-reading it, the question it seems to be more about whether one can arrive then âapply for a CdS.
Thank you for the information.
My question is really about whether we can stay in a Airbnb for the short term and use their address or do we need a long stay let to enable us to apply for residency?
Welcome Dawsons to SF.
Assuming your husband will be applying for the EU family members carte de sĂ©jour (rĂ©sidence permit - or CdS) it absolutely doesnât matter where, or in what youâre both living. You will have to get a statement/attestation from the Airbnb owner that you are living there, the longer your stay the better, from a simplicity point of view. That statement will need to be uploaded along with the other required documentation set out in the link that Jane helpfully attached above, when applying.
You donât say whether you are already in France or notâŠIf you are, apply asap for his CdS. He will be issued with a waiver (rĂ©cĂ©pissĂ©) confirming he has applied for the CdS which will explain legally why heâs still in France after the expiry of the 3 month visa free window that short term visitors from the UK to France enjoy.
If still in the UK, the pragmatic thing to do is to come to France under the same visa waiver for short term visits, and apply for his CdS as soon he gets to France. Itâs not entirely satisfactory but there doesnât seem to be a facility in the visa rules for people that will almost certainly qualify for a 5 year EU family CdS but who plan to stay longer than 3 months at the outset. Hence in practice I suspect most if not all in your situation simply apply for the EU CdS after arrival, having come in on the short term visitors waiver.
There are lots of experiences set out elsewhere in SF on the EU family members CdS but do ask if you have further questions. There has also been a recent thread about the value of the EU citizen themselves applying for a CdSâŠIâm personally not convinced of the value in so doing (we havenât in our case - my wife is from Luxembourg, and she has survived perfectly happily without applying for a CdS )but there are one or two who are considering applying.
Good luck!
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If you have purchased or in the process of purchasing the land on which to build your new house, I would have thought it put you both in a very strong position for paperwork to stay as residents. Maybe an idea to think about if not already started as you could use the address of the land as your principal address possibly.
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Hi George,
Thank you for all the information. We are currently in the UK, so the information youâve provided is really appreciated thank you 
I was wondering if we could do this, but I was wondering if the land would have an address. We only have a land address and not a habitable property address until the house is built
Thank you so much for the information.
Thank you Jane.
I would strongly recommend using the Airbnb address with the attestation if you are not living at the plot where you intend to build. The authorities will want to know in the CdS application that you have a) moved to France and b) are living at a particular place, and will expect either proof in the form of utilities bills, or Airbnb rental statements+ attestation.
Perfect thanks George.
If the criteria for âbeing legally in FRâ are still as broad as they were in the final weeks of the run-up to Brexit [01/01/2021] almost any address, confirmed by the owner/proprietor of that address, will do.
In the case of pre Brexit the permitted addresses extended to camper vans on a commercial site - and even an attestation that one was resident in a tent on a camp site!
The FR Interior Ministry really did bend over backâards to make establishing oneself in FR as easy as poss. Chapeau!
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Owning a plot of land in France - or even a whole house for that matter - is not a criterion when applying for a long-term visa.
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