Job Discussion Forums

[Xie Lin]

[spiral78]

[santi84]

[corniche]

For France:
A North American can apply for a 1 year long carte de s�jour temporaire mention visiteur (1 year temporary visitor card), by showing sufficient money, proof of housing for the year, proof of medical insurance for the year, and a signed statement of not seeking work for that time period. This is applied for in North America and is granted if you meet all the requirements, such as your passport being valid for another 15 months.

There is also the carte de s�jour temporaire mention vie priv�e et familiale, which refers to family ties, which are specifically being the spouse, child or parent of a French resident (maybe citizen). In that case, you can get working papers and health insurance. There is also an exceptional case for other family members.

Additionally, there is a professional visa, where you can write up a plan for a business that would benefit the R�publique and would employ French citizens. Some might say an ESL enterprise might apply for this category, but I would think you would need capital, French fluency, extensive experience. I don't know how practical this visa is, and it seems to be limited to a specific time period, and probably doesn't include health insurance, since you would be above the legal limit for free access with the resources you would need to show for the business.

There are also humanitarian visas for victims of trafficking, refugees, and also for minor children. These would give you work and health rights.

For Qu�bec:
The visa scheme for all of Canada is closed until 2013; previously you would calculate your points online, which you would earn through language fluency, years of education, type of profession, years in profession. I think the new age range is going to be 18-35. If you obtain this visa, you will have full work rights almost immediately and provincial health insurance after 3 months (immediately in Manitoba). New Brunswick also has French communities and education, and I think there are French language schools in most other provinces as well for your children.

I wrote this rapidly and don't have time to check it all, so please excuse any errors or imprecisions. I may revise it later.

[ShereKhan]