According to a friend of mine, the French Competence and Talent visa is not gratuit anymore. It will cost you 7,000 php to apply for one. I have searched for this information online, but I cannot find anything on this topic yet. The professional immigration section in the French Embassy in Manila site is down.
I will have to gather more info on this.
Maybe the first 100 of last year was a trial thing and since it was a success (I guess most of the applicants who got approved were successful on finding something here in France) – then they are charging each applicant now. After all, it was only in the Philippines before that the competence and talent visa was free.
This can be really painful on one’s budget. The carte de sejour is not free either. I had to pay mine 300 euros – but the good thing is that it is good for 3 years and if I renew it, it will only cost me 70 euros. But that’s still one time big time.
May bayad na pala. Madali kaya makakuha ng work sa Paris (for example sa IT)? Yung rent sa bahay, mga magkano kaya ang budget (para magkaroon lang ng idea)? Sa sobrang mahal sa Paris baka yung sweldo eh kasya lang sa mga bills. May mga friends kasi ako na interesado, baka pwede ka makapag-share ng ilang info about expenses at kung anu-ano pa. Salamat.
Hi Brando – it’s hard to get an apartment in Paris. Please see my post of last year. As for the budget, I think one week of groceries will cost you 60-100 euros per week (it really depends). For example, 5 pieces of pork chops – it’s like 5-6 euros. Oh and by the way – your net salary should be 3x more than your rent. Usually, if u get a 30 – 36 square meter apartment – it’s like 800-900 euros. Depende rin kasi sa area eh. You can live in the suburbs (depends which suburbs again) and u can get something for 600 euros 30-36 sq. meters. Grabe no, for that price – you can have something really good in Makati.
As for work, it really depends on the field – and for IT, I guess it’s OK. Experience matters also. And you should speak French (or have a basic knowledge), like me – for example – I have to document stuff in English but I still need to speak French para maintindihan ko kung ano nangyayari sa meetings. It’s hard in the beginning, but now – it’s OK. And yeah mahal nga sa Paris, pero if you know how to budget wisely – sobrang madali lang. Kung may work ka lalo – ang daling bumili ng stuff – shopping, travel, gimmicks – but kailangan magsave siempre so everything should be in moderation. Gets?
Maraming salamat Timi.
Hi Timi,
I emailed the french embassy in the Philippines and they did confirm that you need to pay 99 euros for the French Competence and Talent visa.
300euros for your 3years carte de sejour??????!!!thats 20K php!!!!
and oi, di ka na ba sumisilip sa blog ko?
Me fs pa ako, hihi
Hi Timi:
I came across your post and was interested about your experience applying for the work permit. Would you mind giving me more details on what you wrote in your cover letter? I am Filipino/American dual citizen (naturalized in US and living here) trying to move to Paris. I wonder if I would qualify under the French push to recruit more pinoys. It seems difficult for American citizens over here, so I was hoping to maybe try to go through back home instead.
I do have a Masters degree in international relations/economics but don’t see what project I could suggest to France. My work experience has primarily been economic research–I don’t see how that would really benefit the French economy, to be honest. Not much in terms of hard skills I can provide. I was hoping you could share some of your experience with me. Would you mind emailing me? I’d love to get in contact with you. Thanks!
hello…yeah 300 euros na po for the first carte de sejour..kahit na for 1 year lang 0_o…time your lucky for having the 3 years visa
hi timi,
thank you for the info. i’d like to apply for this visa too, i am in the field of Information technology with 4+ experience. what do you think are my chances of getting approved if i don’t know anyone from france (i’ve been to spain&france only for vacation) and i can’t speak french – although i am planning to study here(basic), and continue my study when i get there.
For more info on this visa, please go to this post.
Hi Ben,
The cover letter should state your career plans in France. If you have a master’s degree in International Relations/Economics and you work on this field as well, then it’s better to stay in this field when you make it to France, don’t you think? Why do you think it wouldn’t benefit France? The world is experiencing economic crisis – time to bring in your economic research skills on how you can improve the situation of the world.
Hi Timi,
Thanks for your response. I guess my question was whether in your cover letter you just mentioned your skills and hope to find a job in France related to those skills.. or whether you said specifically “this is what I’m going to do and I already have a job waiting for me”?
The former because I didn’t have a job waiting for me in France when I came here. All I can advise you with the cover letter is that you should write it sincerely. At least that’s my style – I mentioned why I like France and why it’s so interesting for me to work and live here as well. And why I thought that I can benefit to France’s economy.
i and my GF plan to apply for the same visa for paris. now the problem is she is philipino and i am a indian citizen. we would like to know how can we procced in this now. is that possible for me to come to phillipines and apply for a visa from phillipines as a indian citizen or this is not possible in our case ? shall i have to apply from india only and if so how can i take my GF with me ..please suggest me here so we could plan ahead..
i think you should be residents of the country in where you will apply. if she’s an indian resident, then she can apply in india. if not, then in the philippines. better contact the embassy about this because i do not know the answer to this one. my friend, though, went home to the philippines first – she was living in dubai – and applied for the visa. but to be sure, contact the embassy in your country and ask.