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Working In France As A British Subject

Working In France As A British Subject

Old Apr 11th 2021, 11:48 am
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Default Working In France As A British Subject

Hi all

Been on in the past many years ago but have no idea what my login details are/were...


Long story short. Moved to Canada, then Australia, back to UK, and then back to Australia. And! now would like to move to France. I am a fairly accomplished joiner/woodworker and would like to try and get involved in the restoration of Notre Dame. For a joiner it is a one in a million opportunity, and at my age a fantasy end to a 45 year career... Have tried looking for work opportunities from Australia but have come up with nothing. Can anyone help me out there, point me in some possible directions maybe. My French is for the most part non-existent to minimal but not too bad at picking up languages, I picked up Australianese in less than a year!!

Thx In Advance
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Old Apr 11th 2021, 12:38 pm
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Default Re: Working In France As A British Subject

Wow, that would be the most fantastic project to be involved with!

Unfortunately, if you're not an EU citizen you don't have the automatic right to work in France. French and EU artisans must always be given preference over foreigners.
If an employer wishes to employ a foreigner, they need to obtain work authorisation, which involves jumping through various hoops to show that they've made efforts to recruit a French or EU candidate for that particular job role but haven't been able to find a suitable candidate. Basically the way the single market works is that all jobs in the EU should be filled from within the EU labour pool, and employers can only take on foreign workers when the local labour market doesn't have the right skills to meet their needs.
I have no idea how people get selected to work on projects like this but if you feel you have exceptional skills, I guess your first step would be to find out who's managing the project (shouldn't be too hard to find from google) and who is responsible for employing the artisans, and approach them to offer your services. I would suggest you put together a great portfolio to illustrate what you've achieved over your career to date, explain why you're interested in this project (do lots of research and make it clear that you know a lot about it and feel passionately about the whole thing), and try and make a case why you have something unique to offer. Not speaking French is going to be a handicap, but give it your best shot and see if you can wow them with your skills and enthusiasm.
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Old Apr 11th 2021, 6:04 pm
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Default Re: Working In France As A British Subject

Originally Posted by MatIsMyName
Hi all

Been on in the past many years ago but have no idea what my login details are/were...


Long story short. Moved to Canada, then Australia, back to UK, and then back to Australia. And! now would like to move to France. I am a fairly accomplished joiner/woodworker and would like to try and get involved in the restoration of Notre Dame. For a joiner it is a one in a million opportunity, and at my age a fantasy end to a 45 year career... Have tried looking for work opportunities from Australia but have come up with nothing. Can anyone help me out there, point me in some possible directions maybe. My French is for the most part non-existent to minimal but not too bad at picking up languages, I picked up Australianese in less than a year!!

Thx In Advance
Hi, this recent article
https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/notre...2421632_23.php
gives two names that you might contact:
Général Jean-Louis Georgelin, the overall Project Manager, and
Philippe Villeneuve, the Head Architect of Historic Monuments (ACMH). As architects for less grand projects have the job of employing artisans, I imagine it would be best to start with him. Try the Compagnie-ACMH site
https://www.compagnie-acmh.fr/
clicking on "contactez-nous" and selling yourself (in French), but be warned that, as said, not being an EU citizen would be the first hurdle, and lack of communication skills in French a close second.
Good luck with your dream!
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Old Jul 9th 2021, 8:35 am
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Default Re: Working In France As A British Subject

Hi MatIsMyName.

I think EuroTrash gave you a very good and pragmatic answer.

Should you want to know in more details the administrative steps to follow in-order-to realise your -fantastic- projet, you can visit the "working in France as a foreigenr" section on the official "servicepublic" website. This page is indeed translated in English. You can tick the relevant boxes and find the corresponding rules below them.

Thank you for wanting to help us rebuild our national treasure !

Hope this helps !
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Old Jul 9th 2021, 12:28 pm
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Default Re: Working In France As A British Subject

Hi Simon
Welcome to the forum.
The big problem for Brit expats moving to France is understanding that France has a different legal system and cultural norms.
In the UK, you can start a business and just notify HMRC (fisc) that you are operating a business.
This applies especially to online services.
Payment for services "cash-in-hand" is also common in the UK and is not as well policed as it is in France.
Conveying these differences to potential expats can be seen as negative but everyone has to comply with the rules of the country they move to.


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Old Jul 11th 2021, 9:19 am
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Default Re: Working In France As A British Subject

In France, there are different levels of companies with varying levels of bureaucracy but the simplest for the self-employed starting out is auto-entrepreneur. But as others have pointed out, you now need a visa that allows you to work in France.
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Old Jul 11th 2021, 9:42 am
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Default Re: Working In France As A British Subject

Yes micro entrepreneur is by far the simplest. But it does need to fit your business model. The reason it's simple is that it's a one size fits all solution and there is no flexibility. If your expenses and overheads are low in relation to turnover you'll be on a winner, if your overheads are average you will be financially no better off and no worse off on ME and you'll benefit from the simplicity, but if your overheads are higher than average, eg if you subcontract or if you have high operating costs, you will be financially disadvantaged on ME. With very high outgoings relative to turnover it would be theoretically possible to actually make a loss.
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Old Jul 11th 2021, 9:59 am
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Default Re: Working In France As A British Subject

The OP hasn't been on for 3 months.
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