Moving to France: Helpful Hints

Always full of helpful tips, anecdotes, facts, etc. Chez Loulou has embarked on a series of "Moving to France" tutorials. So far she has covered:

Part 1 - Why Do You Want to Live in France?
Part 2 - Finding Your French Consulate
Part 3 - Finding a Place to Live in France
Part 4 - The Carte de Séjour
Part 5 - Joining the French Health System

Today she is featuring: 10 Year Carte de Résident

A daunting subject, I know.

Translated from the www.service-public.fr website:
"A carte de résident bearing the words "résident de longue durée - CE" may be issued to any foreigner who has resided legally and continuously for at least 5 years in France.
This card is valid for 10 years.
The applicant must meet several conditions."

Sounds pretty straightforward, doesn't it?
I'm afraid it isn't. 

French bureaucracy never is.

The first problem: the laws keep changing.
The second problem: each préfecture/sous-préfecture is its own little fiefdom. So while some friends have applied for the card and unfortunately been denied for no legitimate reason, others just have merely asked and received, without any hassle.

Read the full explanation here: Moving to France Tutorial - Part Six

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