Charl1e

Morning,
My partner and I (unmarried) are hoping to move to France. I have sold my property in the UK, and this would fund the purchase. My partner intends to keep his property in the UK, and use the rental to help with living costs in France, and for proof of some of the income required for his visa application.
We have found a house and business that we would like to buy. I think the only visa I can apply for is the entrepreneur visa ( please correct me if there is an alternative).
Can my partner be associated to my application for proof of income if we are running the business together ? Would he need the entrepreneur visa also ?
I'm really asking if there is anyone who has been in this situation, and whether it is possible.

Listen Very Carefully

Firstly welcome Secondly I think that you are applying for the right visa.
You do not say what type of business you are buying but given that you say you are buying a house and business is it gites and/or B&B.The reason I ask is that since Brexit many professional qualifications gained in the Uk are not recognised and you would need a competent level of French. Have you researched French company structures and the anount of deductions the French state take off you?
If it is gites etc normally they are run in the name of one person otherwise you would need to set up a company with the two of you as directors but this may not be a good solution.You would also need to show that you will be able to achieve an income equal to the French minimum wage (SMIC) which is about €20,147 before deductions.
You may find something like this helpful
https://www.startbusinessinfrance.com/
or this
www.cci.fr
Another "problem" is that you are not married This means that you are treated as seperate individuals in French law.It can also cause problems with inheritance and inheritance tax so you would need to take advice from a notaire.Your partner will probably need to apply for a VLS visa and rely on the rental income to meet the SMIC but remember that exchange rate fluctuations can blow a hole in Sterling based income.
Since Brexit what was quite a simple operation has now become difficult for UK passport holders,so many would be expats have researched their family tree to see if there is an EU connection so that they can get a passport from an EU country eg Ireland etc.If one of you can get an EU passport this would make life simpler-as would getting married but that of course is personal choice Best of luck and I am sure there will be further questions

Charl1e

Thank you very much for this information. We are hoping to re-open a garden nursery, which was previously very popular, but is currently closed. We would also be running a gite on site. Neither have been open for some time, so previous books/figures are not available and I am trying to compile a business plan from scratch. I believe there are different social charges for nursery businesses as they come under agriculture and need to be registered as such. Please correct anything I say ! I think the only way we could get the figures to add up, might be if my partner registers the gite business and adds on his uk rental income, and I register the nursery as my income. Would this work do you think? The issue with him having a VLS is that he wouldn't be able to work on the nursery. That may well suit him ( hence no wedding bells ) ! Joking apart, we looked at PACS but seems we have to be resident in France, so seems chicken and egg. A bit like buying a business with no visa.

Listen Very Carefully

Yes I think having the two businesses registered separately is a good idea and as you say the cotisations are different and it means that both of you can get in (hopefully) on separate entrepreneur visas but I would certainly think seriously about the inheritance issue It is non blood inheritors that get hit by a 60% IHT in France so discuss ways round it with the notaire that will be handling the sale as well as having declarations that you want any inheritance to follow english law and to nominate your partner as beneficiary

EuroTrash

I am not sure about this.
if your partner is applying for an entrepreneur visa he would have to show that it will be a viable business that provides a living wage. Say his business plan shows that it will take a couple of years to reach that level of turnover, then I imagine his rental income would be taken into account to tide him over. But if they get the impression from the business plan that it will never be any more than a little side hustle for pin money, he risks falling between two visas - not enough of a business for an entrepreneur visa, and not enough unearned income for an inactif visa.
I may be worrying about nothing here but do check it out.

EuroTrash

Another thought - when you are writing your business plans, you should bear in mind that each person can only carry out the activity that they are registered for. So for instance, if you set up the nursery business as a one-person structure, your partner cannot legally play an active role in it. And vice versa.
It seemed a good idea at first but if in fact the intention is for both of you to work in both businesses, I am wondering whether it might not be better to apply as joint gérants of the combined business, with separate visa applications obviously but applying with a shared business plan.
What do you think Listen Very Carefully ?

Listen Very Carefully

I think it is one of those things where the structure of the business is important .There are advantages and pitfalls to all the French business structures and yes if the applicants are going to be mixing and matching in the work then probably a joint business structure is going to be a better option but I do think that perhaps a bit of money spent on advice from a pro or the Chambre de Commerce in the area where they are going to settle will be worth it.As we know setting up the wrong structure can have unintended consequences.Plus if they do set up an overarching company it will allow them to employ people if the business really takes off.

EuroTrash

Indeed, and I think this could be a massive plus for the visa. France particularly welcomes businesses that will potentially provide future employment.

Charl1e

Thank you again for the information. I have been trawling through various sites for weeks now and thought I may have missed something. So try for two individual entrepreneur visas with duplicate/ mirrored business plan. Out of interest, I understand that being married is definitely advantageous for tax and inheritance reasons, but how would it alter the visa applications in our case ? Would it just make it more likely that a joint income/ business plan would be accepted ?
Thanks again

EuroTrash

The business plan should reflect the reality of what you intend to do. Will you both be involved in both sides of the business, running them jointly, or will you each strictly do your own thing, you won't help with the gites and he won't help with nursery?
Do you feel the business plan for the gîte side on its own would be robust enough to qualify for a visa? You were mentioning that your partner may have to top it up with his UK rental income which suggests it may not be.
As LVC says, it's important to choose the most appropriate business structure(s) that will let you run the businesses in the way you want to run them and give you scope to evolve, and getting professional advice at this stage could be very very helpful to you. Depending on the structure you choose, that will impact greatly on your business plan(s) and your projections, Your financial calculations will be very different if you choose to set up eg a SARL from if you choose to set up a couple of EIs. Obviously the stronger the business plan(s) the better the chance of being successful.

EuroTrash

A final thought on this, have you already looked at the forms you will submit to get your business project(s) approved? If not, this might help you decide the best way to approach the business setup.
https://administration-etrangers-en-.../#/information

Charl1e

We would both be involved in both sides of the business. I do need some professional advice. I don't know whether you can combine two businesses as one if they are both taxable at different rates. We are in France next week so will try and visit the Chamber of Commerce ( yes I know, in August ).