Reader TTS

Reader question: I own a small property in France and am no longer able to stay there more than three months at a time. I have heard there is an option for visas between three months and one

year – how do you get a year? Is the amount of time given just at random?

No, it is not just given at random, but will rather depend on your intentions as stated in your application for the visa.

Any visa issued for more three months is described as being for a ‘long stay’, however if it is clear that you do not intend to move to France and make the country your main home, and become

a French tax resident, then the visa issued to you will be a visa de long-séjour temporaire – a temporary long-stay visa.

These do not need to either be ‘validated’ in France or replaced by a residency card and they cannot be renewed.

Read more: Fight continues to ease visa process for long visits to France

While, technically, it is possible for a temporary visa to be issued for up to one year, this is rarely the case and they are usually issued for four to six months, depending on your needs.

As a general rule, if someone comes to France for more than six months in any given year, there is an assumption that they are ‘moving to France’ and they are also likely to become French

tax residents (exact rules on tax residency include several other tests, if this is in doubt). Where this is the intention, the person would be issued an ordinary long-stay visa instead.

One possible situation where a temporary visa may be issued for 12 months would be, for example, coming to France for work linked to an artistic profession, where the project is lasting no

more than 12 months.