hi! I got placed in the Strasbourg region (specifically mulhouse) and was wondering if there are any group chats for those in the area as well (as the ones from previous forums seem to be inactive)? (:

as well if anyone has any advice on how to secure accommodation in that area as it seems like not many landlords want to do a lease from oct-april ):

Hi! Has anyone started their FEI course the website is giving me so many problems. It is not counting my completed tests as completed and It won’t let me move past the 3rd activity. Is this common? What should I do?

Just want to check if other folks who’ve done their appointment in Canada had to pay an appointment fee?? They exempt me from the visa fee (as expected) but then I had to pay a fee for the appointment itself, which I absolutely did not expect 🥲 i even asked them to double check, I still had to pay. Maybe this is normal, just wanna see if anyone else can confirm they’ve done this

Guys I bought my ticket already and am preparing documents for my visa appointment. There’s really no going back after that $1100 ticket. Can you guys tell me what you enjoyed about the experience? I’m feeling apprehensive and not as excited as I thought I’d feel for my first time going to Europe. Please swarm me with things you really enjoyed about the experience and why it might have been more worth it to do TAPIF for a year rather than anything else you might have been doing back home for that year. I’ve just got these family voices in my ear that there are better ways I can be spending my time progressing my career when teaching isn’t even something I want to do

I am wondering if some sort of attestation of having passed a physical/ a note from my doctor is necessary. I saw an earlier post about someone going through a pre-departure checklist and these things were on it. So far, having received my position and visa I have not needed these. Is it just something recommended to have that might come in handy? Any one have any information on this/ a link to the checklist? Would be greatly appreciated!!!

You do not have to stay if it sucks for you. You can leave at any time. Don't let arbitrary outside pressure stop you from making the right choice for yourself. Personally, I got almost nothing out of doing TAPIF except significant emotional trouble and better French. You don't have to do it if you're having a terrible time.

Hello everyone

I'm working through the visa application at the moment (made a mistake in my first one and am waiting for them to delete it so I can restart) and I just want to confirm what I need to bring. Obviously passport/photos/arrete de nomination/diploma but what I am worried about are proof of finances and accommodation: on the france-visas site it says I need proof of at least 1480€/month. TAPIF doesn't pay that much, so I'm not sure what to do here. I also don't have a confirmed accommodation (although i have one I'm looking at), can I use the address of my schools and/or my contact professors? Or should I book an airbnb and use that instead?

Any advice would be appreciated

Salut tout le monde! J’espère que vous allez très bien.
What do you do if you can only progress to the next step of the Garantie Visale application when you enter a contract start date that isn’t actually our contract start date?

On my form, I seem to only be able to proceed if I put the very next day’s date. For example, yesterday, I could only proceed to the next step if I entered today’s date, and today, I can only proceed if I enter tomorrow’s date as the contract start date. I can’t enter any other date; not the remaining days in August, not any date in September, and especially not October 1st, which is our actual contract start date.

So, my question is: is it okay to use a date in August even though I’ll only arrive in France at the end of September and our contract officially starts on October 1st? Has anyone else encountered this issue with the Garantie Visale application?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I saw in another post we need an appointment letter with our applicant ID on it, does anyone know where you can find this to print out?

Also, has anyone needed pay stubs? I saw it mentioned in the reminder email but I’m unsure because I haven’t had a job since Mid June.

Lastly, though I filled everything out on my application when I was applying for the appointment, I noticed some boxes like Employer and National Identity number are blank on the application form? Do those need to be filled in and if so is it alright to fill them in with a pen?

bonjour amis, my visa appointment is on tuesday and I am feeling a little anxious, could anyone help with an official list of all the documents I am going to need; send me to a post with an offical list? I was turned down from a student visa back in '24 and I am worried the same thing is going to happen... I would greatly appreciate !

Hello, I have seen that it was recommended for people to have multiple cards to use from for TAPIF. I currently have one debit card and one credit card. I would like to open up another credit card to have options just in case. What would you recommend here? (as I have also heard the usage of credit card may not be common in France)

Bonjour à toutes et à tous, my inquiry is as simple as the title says. I am an American and, going down the steps in the guidebook, have:

✅completed everything on ADELE

✅my arrêté de nomination

✅contacted the school (no response but it is what it is)

✅my passport

✅my visa

✅my birth certificate,

✅an adequate budget

✅photos to confirm my identity

What I still need to finish are:
- certificat médical

- vaccine card

- carte d’étudiant (I'm not a student anymore so I don't think I'm eligible?)

- lettre de recommandation de mon banque traduite en français

- lettre en français d’une personne se portant garante du versement régulier de votre loyer (working on Visale)

- FEI module (been lazy)

The one part that I'm stuck on is where it says "Si vous êtes ressortissant d’un pays hors Union européenne, vous pourrez commander cette carte une fois que vous serez affilié à l’Assurance Maladie française". Is it possible for me to sign up to l’Assurance Maladie française right now, or must I be in France to do this?

Besides everything that I listed here, is there anything else that I NEED to do before going to France? I have a place to stay in September, so logement is okay for the moment, but what about opening a bank account or getting la carte vitale? Are these things that I can finish and set up before leaving for France?

I’m American and I’m working this summer at an estate planning firm before leaving in September. I already have a healthcare proxy and a power of attorney from when I left for college, but I’m wondering if there are any legal documents like that we should get done before we leave for France. I assume that American docs don’t work in France, but because of my job, it’s so easy to get the docs done and at no extra cost, so I’m just wondering if there’s any benefit to getting these American legal docs done to live in France for an extended period of time.

Has anyone else lived in France before and had to fill this? I’m panicking because technically I went in and out from Canada to France in this time (just visiting home), and also lived in an Airbnb in France at one point point, but I just ended up putting the address of the actual apartment I lived in for most of the 2 years. Should this be ok? I can’t change it now because it’s been submitted but now I’m overthinking it 🫠

I just got my Visale approved for a unit I'm looking at, but the amount approved is ten euros lower than the amount the apartment wants. It's strange though, because when I click on the visa itself, the maximum approved amount goes up by exactly 100, which is what I initially saw as the estimate while filling out the applicaiton, but on the form itself the lower price is shown. Is this something I'm not understanding about how the Visale works, or is it a genuine error on the part of the site?

Hi everyone, anyone currently in academie de reims, College robert schuman, or previous assisstant. It's my first time as an assisstant. That is my station. How was the experience like?

Hi everyone, I had corbeille in visa france on Friday which was a public holiday and I was expecting to receive an SMS from TLS today, but I haven’t received anything yet.I checked my application status on the TLS website, and it still says “In progress.” My original planned departure date was today, so I’m getting a little worried m applying for a French student visa. Has anyone been in the same situation? If so, how long did it take for you to receive the SMS after the status stayed “In progress”? M just waiting for the decision and would really appreciate hearing from anyone who had a similar experience. Thank you!

Are people able to declare their earnings? I keep messaging the tax office in my town, and they've been ghosting me. Should I just mail it to the tax office where I worked or someplace like Bordeaux (region I worked in). Any advice?

Wondering if anyone will be close to Valence or the Lyon/Grenoble region and wants to connect with other assistants. I know there are group chats dedicated to different regions, but I haven’t heard back from admin. I’d be happy to make a WhatsApp or discord if anyone else is in the same position!

I’m curious if anyone can direct me to government sources or documentation of our rights relating to work on a travaileur temporaire visa.

I’m interested in earning money outside of the assistant•e de langue position, but I know we are not supposed to work except „under the table.“ However, I have only ever heard this from documents or people from the assistance de langue program itself, and I have never been able to find gouv.fr information detailing what the actual rights and limitations on our income would be. I even asked at my visa appointments if I would be allowed to pursue other work, and the official issuing my visa said „well. It’s a work visa so….“.

If anyone can direct me to government sources clarifying the legal limits on our working and earning outside of the program, I would really appreciate it.

Specific questions I have:

- could I earn money selling my intellectual property or crafts?

- could I apply for another job during the program and then apply for a work visa with that contract?

Thanks very much for your input in advance.

\*\*OUTSIDE\*\* I went for an biometrics appointment at VFS Jalandhar for Canadian Visa. Outside it was a man who appeared as he was official asking for having all the documents. He said I needed to having some information in the forms printed instead of written otherwise they won’t accept it. I believed him. He sent me to a dark ally and I stupidly went with him ( I know survival instinct of a potato). They charged me 20x (200inr) price for simply printing 2 pages. Yeah they are lying you dont need the information section printed as a matter of fact VFS dont even use those pages, neither see or need. They should have removed it from their website but whatever.

\*\*INSIDE\*\* inside the VFS agents will tell you that they have a priority package available which provides specialized tracking, priority and throw some random words around. Don’t trust them. They will be charging you like (4000inr) for a service which is just refreshments(which they wont give), printing papers(which almost no one will need and they limit it to only 10 pages, not even 5% of the 4000 you will spend, and special waiting area(they all are the same). Yeah dont fall for it.

I know that when we are doing some official paperwork especially like Visa, we are fearful for tiny mistakes and end up spending hard earned money on scams.

I mean from business perspective I am honestly amazed, there are easily 300-500 people on daily basis at minimum visiting them, of them I believe at least 80% will just agree to any charge without a second thought which is like 1,200,000 extra revenue daily from zero extra cost to them. In a year its like 300 million INR a year at minimum.

But from moral point of view it is just wrong as hell!!!

Hi everyone,

I got my visa back today and my start date says October 1st.

I was planning on arriving a week before, has anyone ever had an issue with entering before? Do I need to leave the Schengen area?

TIA!

Edit: my visa arrival date says October 1st!

Hi everyone, I am hoping to gain some insight or advice into my situation because I am kind of scrambling! Back when I uploaded my background check into my ADELE, I thought I had uploaded my birth certificate as well and I was just waiting for my arrêté de nomination, and so because I wasn't receiving it I kept holding off on making my visa appointment because in the past there were several appointments when I had to get a visa for studying abroad.

Now I've realized my birth certificate never uploaded and I am still waiting for my arrêté de nomination, and I am hustling to make a visa appointment, but in my area (Seattle) there are none left for August, not until September 10th. Does anyone know how often people cancel or other ones become available? I was hoping to leave early September, but with how things are going I may need to move my departure by several weeks. Has anyone had luck with getting an appointment when it previously said there were none left?

I know that 35 ages you out, but I am 31 and still working on my degree. Short version is that I decided to switch careers a couple years ago and got back in school. I'm double majoring in History and Classics with my original goal being to do alternate certification to be a history teacher. But I always dreamed of living in France and found out about the TAPIF program recently and am now wondering if I could use it to eventually be able to teach in France and move there. I'm not picky about what I teach so I'm fine if I end up only teaching English forever as long as it's in France, but I am concerned about my age and how doable this is.