BlueWolf

Hi,
so we are a married couple both 58 currently living in Spain in Lliber, about 30 mins north of Benidorm. We have a dog friendly b&b.
We both miss greenery, good food,,, no judgments please we are both excited about food here, we miss seasons, so cool winters, warm summers- summers here are silly hot and lack of rain has been horrid. Forest fires getting ever closer are not helping.
I understand France is a big country so I was hoping to list a few things we need in order to choose an area to look at, if anyone could suggest areas it would help us out a lot!
We are currently to rural, we love privacy but need access to real life, music, concerts, theater, opera, cinema decent stores for food, vineyards etc,,
Less than an hour to a airport as my husband travels a lot for work.
Both love mountains and water-lakes.
We have rescue dogs so an area where we could purchase a house with some ground in case we add more dogs in the future!
My husband is fluent in French,, I am still at high school level but happy to go for it as I have with my Spanish- but I guess some expats would be great too.
I would appreciate any helpful comments and look forward to hearing for you!

BuckinghamshireBoy

Welcome to the forum.

With mountains, lakes, real life, easy access to an airport on your wish list, maybe have a look at Haute-Savoie (74), Savoie (73) and Ain (01) ?

The food's pretty good.

Best airport would be Geneva Cointrin, no worries accessing that due to Schengen.

BlueWolf

Thank you for taking the time to reply, much appreciated

cyrian

Hi
I assume that you both have visas for Spain.
You would have to apply for visas fot France and jump through the hoops of French bureaucracy.
I have 2 friends who have recently moved to France.
She is a EU citizen and he is fluent in French.
He is still waiting for his carte de sejour after being previously delayed waiting for his visa.
Working in France is not straight forward.
Depending on your husband's personal circumstances, he would have to check if he can work in France or if he needs to set up a company structure.
The weather you mention also exists in France where there have been heatwaves and fires and floods.
HTH

Listen Very Carefully

What nationalities are you? Check out the french visa requirements first especially the minimum income requirements.If your OH does any work in France even "remote" working they will need to set up a french business entity,and France does not have a "digital nomad" visa.If either of you have/can get an EU passport this will make it so much easier.

Helen1964

As an aside, I’d be interested to know what kind of carte de séjour your friend ultimately receives, Cyrian.
If he’s applying through the spouse of an EU national route he should be given a 5-year carte de séjour. But there has been a worrying number of cases recently where prefectures have been doing their own thing and issuing 1-year residence permits to people applying via this route.

cyrian

I will let you know if he tells me when it arrives.

dmu

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
As said above, check your Visa requirements before making a decision, esp. if your husband is working. Between professional travels, if he works at home via internet/telephone, the quaintly named "Law of the Bum" governs, i.e. where you're sat working, there you pay your dues. Unless he's salaried, he would have to set up a French business entity....
I can only add "NOT near a river", as far as location is concerned. There's been considerable flooding in recent years, and even the Nord - Pas de Calais is affected. I've just moved N.E. from the Languedoc, which suffers all the extremes (40°C these last two summers, drought, forest fires, flooding, Tramontane gales...). In fact you might consider the Grand Est (Alsace-Lorraine, Vosges).....
HTH

BlueWolf

Hi thank you for your reply, yes we have our Spanish residency cards, have been here for just short of 5 yrs now. My husband owns an organisation where he is able to work remotely as long as he has access to an airport. Where we are we havnt had any real rain [until today] since a year last easter. No grass,, little greenery. I understand France still has some warm weather depending on where you live, but it also seems as if you have seasons- man I miss autumn

BlueWolf

Hey thank you for your advice,, the river thing is very useful to know. law of the bum,, love it! His business is The World Food Travel Association so opening a French chapter would not be an issue, thats what he has done here in Spain.We have actually had some rain today- we were all so excited! Never thought a Welsh guy would be excited to see rain! We are Welsh American, thank you for the welcome! I appreciate that.

Listen Very Carefully

Having a residency card for one EU country does not permit you to move permanently to another EU country; it is the passport/nationality that counts so if you are not EU nationals then you will need a Visa to move to France and your husband would need a business visa-France does not do anything like the Spanish Digital Nomad.

Casa Santo Estevo

Agree with the posters above who say that Spanish visa will not be naturally converted into a French one. That was all lost after Brexit.
Still you can find what you want here in Northern Spain. Without the visa issues.

cyrian

"so opening a French chapter would not be an issue"
It might be.
I think that you should research opening and operating a business in France.
France has strict rules on operating a business.
You need to have the correct legal business entity for the type of business you have.
You will not get a visa on the assumption that you will create a business after you arrive.
France is not the same as Spain.

dmu

As every one is saying, it WOULD be an issue! He would have to set up a French business entity. Some one more in the know will give more details, but I believe he would have to submit an acceptable business plan in order to get a working Visa.
In view of this, Casa Santo Este's suggestion might be the solution...
P.S. Post crossed with Cyrian's....

BlueWolf

thank you Cyrian, we have just found a French immigration lawyer, I think that will be the best route to ensure correct and up to date info, I appreciate your direction