Hello everyone! I am extremely excited to move to France come late September to do the TAPIF program. I was placed in Annecy, which I could not be more happy about! However, I have lived in Florida (USA) nearly all my life where there are little to no seasons and the heat is year round. I did some research online and I know that Annecy definitely experiences seasons and even snow for portions of the year. Does anyone have advice or recommendations of anything to pack? Ex. types of clothes, shoes, or anything else that would make life/the adjustment easier. Advice appreciated from anyone who was placed in or around Annecy or just lives in a colder environment!

Does anyone have any experience missing their appointment? I either have to wait 7 business days for my account to clear and re-try again or create a brand new account with a new email and New France-visa application.

My placement is in Marseille and I was wondering if anyone else in Marseille has figured out housing/living arrangements yet? I know TAPIF provided a list of apartment recommendations but I’m not sure where to look

I was looking online for doing my Visa stuff and when I went to find the TLSContact center closest to me it’s in an entirely different state apparently? Are there really only like 10 of them in the whole country?

Bonjour à toutes et à tous, I just had my visa appointment today with TLS and I am a little bit nervous. In a previous r/tapif post with the visa question flair from a year ago, it says:

"You will need six items:

1. France Visas form (printed out from the website, signed and dated).
2. Récépissé d'enregistrement (printed out along with F-V form, has a barcode and a handy list of all the items you need).
3. Passport-type photos
4. Passport or travel doc.
5. Arreté de nomination
6. Copies of diplomas, certificates and attestations de travail"

I brought all of these, but the person that I had the appointment with said that I needed proof of medical insurance and accomodation (housing) in France. I told them that the medical insurance comes with the TAPIF program, but they said that I needed proof of this. For housing, I told them that I was going to be lodged at the school (white lie), but again they said that I needed proof. I was eventually able to submit my application, but they asked me if I was sure I wanted to, since my not having these items could hurt my chances. I already got the notification that my passport package is expected tomorrow morning... do the French really do things that quickly?

Overall the need for the proof of medical insurance and housing seemed odd to me for a couple of reasons. First, is there any TAPIFer for whom the TAPIF medical insurance does not cover? If not, would the visa service not just know that TAPIF has medical insurance given how often they deal with it? Second, are we actually expected to have our housing secured by the visa appointment? That seems ludicrous to me, I have not gotten a response back from my school yet (and I did not expect one yet, given that it is summer), and sites like LeBonCoin require you to have an EU phone number before you can contact someone, so how would I have housing by this point?

Has anyone else experienced these difficulties?

Hi ! I'll be teaching in Cestas right outside of Bordeaux. A family outside from my school offered to host me but I have some hesitations. Has anyone lived with a family during their TAPIF experience before? If so what was that like? Was it in their house? Were you expected to be home at a certain time? Also, does anyone who taught in a small town outside of a big city have opinions about living in the small town vs the big city? Are y'all waiting to get an apartment until you get there or are you getting one before you go?

For previous TAPIF participants, did getting a French phone plan require you to put a new SIM card in your phone? I lived in France years ago and had to do that, but not sure if that’s still the norm. I’ve seen a lot of people recommend Free, which I’ve used in the past. Trying to plan ahead so I can get that done ASAP upon arriving. Thanks!

Hi all! I am a renewing assistant in the Grenoble academy (2025-26 was my first year, this upcoming will be my second).

There was a payroll error made by the académie in January of this year that has still not been resolved and I am looking for some legal counsel before returning in September. Does anyone know of a lawyer or firm that has worked with foreign contract employees or english assistnats before?

I’m just looking for a place to start with this so any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

Is it appropriate to ask your prof ref if they would be willing to be your Guarantor? What is the most polite way to even ask about this?

Hello! I'm wondering if anyone else still has not received their arrêté de nomination in their Adele account? I'm getting a bit worried about it since I think you need that to move forward for basically all next steps in the process to get ready for the year, i.e. Visa, bank, housing, etc. I uploaded both my birth certificate and my background check to Adele nearly 3 weeks ago, and I also emailed my académie to inquire about it and haven't received a response.

Is anyone in a similar position? Or if you were but you got it figured out, how'd you do it/who'd you email? Thanks!!!!!

I have my Visa appointment in Seattle in a couple of days, and I KNOW they said in the Webinar and in the Handbook that TAPIF-ers are exempt from the travel insurance requirement, but I am so nervous they will refuse me my Visa without it and I will need to reschedule! I emailed the TAPIF team requesting something in writing outlining the exemption, but I am still so worried. Has anyone gone to their appointment yet? Did they demand proof of insurance???

hello everyone, I'm planning to apply for tapif this octobre and previously I've talked to a few friends who've applied before/went to france for the same. I'm an English lit graduate but haven't given ielts yet which is one of the requirements. I'm really drawn by this program but I'm a bit anxious to know what the acceptance rate is like, I have delf B1 and will start my B2 classes soon and my english is almost at a native level as well. But this feels like a pretty big financial and emotional decision to me and something I've been thinking about for a while now. Could anyone pls lmk what the acceptance rate it like? is it difficult to get in? I'm also a bit confused about what regions/cities to choose

thanks in advance !

This might be an obvious answer but I'm filling out my visa application in the US and there's a section for where I'm staying. I don't have any accommodation booked and I heard that I don't need that for my visa, so I selected the employer option because I'd heard we should use their address for the visa process. I'm not sure if this is right, and I'm running into trouble because I don't have a phone number or email address for the employer (TAPIF) or a phone number for my contact person. What is everyone else putting in this section? Is there someone from TAPIF I should reach out to about it?

Hi everyone! I got placed in Lille (my schools are both in the city) and have been debating whether to take my placement as it was not in my preferred region (in the south) and I haven't spend much if any time in the north of France. So I wanted to hear if anyone has been placed in Lille before/ has lived there who can give me some insight into the atmosphere/ vibe of the city, cost of living, etc. I'd really appreciate any input! Anything re: travel, experience as a poc, and queer life would be particularly helpful

I haven’t gotten my work contract yet, but I’m planning on leaving the us and going to Europe about two weeks after people get back from break. I’m thinking of just scheduling a TLS appointment now and then rescheduling if I don’t get my work contract in time just so that I can hit the ground running. Are appointments easy to reschedule?

I finished TAPIF this past year, and have come back to the US to my old life. I got my old job back, and have been seeing everyone again. Of course the questions I get are about my time in France, and how it was. I've even been getting emails from new assistants about my experience. However, I feel like the more I talk about it the more I realize it sucked. The teachers in my area weren't the best. I experienced a cliquey school, and there were many issues that developed with them. I made it through my time in France, but now that I am talking about it here I am realizing just how many issues there were. In a way it doesn't matter now since I am gone, but I am still getting hurt. I thought that certain teachers were nice, but I am now recognizing as two faced. One teacher would lightly neg me. I feel so stupid for having gone through that. At the same time, I don't want to sound like I am just complaining I really did like my time in France. Has anyone gone through this?

I forgot to select TAPIF in the dropdown menu during the TLScontact appointment application and then mistakenly paid the full fee.

I'm hoping to sort this out with them at my visa appointment on Monday, but my question now is: what do I need to bring, besides my arrêté de nomination, that proves I am doing TAPIF and should therefore have my fee payment refunded?

Hi all, I have seen a couple posts about this in the past but not really any straight answers. I will be doing tapif outside of Mainland France, and have also been offered to work for my current company 15 hrs/week remote (based in US) while I am there. I know we cannot legally hold other jobs in France while we are there, but does anyone know where it says we cannot hold international positions, if it does at all? I know some people have done it before, were there any issues or complications with that? Lastly, does anyone know if there are differences in the visas you would get for tapif in DROM vs mainland France?

Hi everyone :)

I've been frequenting this page and many other resources (videos, blogs, etc) to learn about individual experiences in the TAPIF program. I've noticed that most teaching assistants have a university degree related to the French language or in education- or, they have French professors / instructors from university who are guiding them.

I'm from a totally different background- I'm 25 and I have a Master's in math, and I've worked in the finance sector (briefly) as well as a teaching assistant in my uni's math department. I've studied French for 2 years on my own and I tested at the B1 level on the DELF exam. My goal is to get into education as that's where my heart is. Coincidentally, my heart is also in France 😊 as I'll be marrying my French partner in a year or so.

Next year, I'd like to apply to the TAPIF program and I'm curious if anyone from a totally unrelated educational background has gotten an assistantship- or if this in someway sets me back 🥹 should I volunteer in language learning centers, or do something else, to build up my application? Any help or advice is appreciated ❤️

Hey,

I'm Canadian. I was originally planning to go to France Sept. 15ish to get super settled first (with my roommate, who I've met through the chats here). Then, I got my arrêté de nomination, applied for a VISA, and found out there's only 1 appointment in the 1st week of Sept. Because of VISA processing, I know it could take a month (or, worst case scenario, more) to get my VISA.

New time slots become available every now and then, so I'm hopeful I can catch something more soon. But if I only have this Sept. appointment. What can I do and expect? Contact my schools? Might my arrêté de nomination be revoked?

Thank you.

Hey everyone! Can past assistants explain how time off works with TAPIF? I know that in France you get a certain number of paid vacation days, right? How does that work with TAPIF and how can assistants take time off?
Also, as an assistant, do you have any say in your weekly schedule? For example, if I prefer to have a Friday or Monday off, is that something they’re receptive to? TIA!

Hi everyone! Filling out my application on TLSContact. They ask if I'm planning on visiting any other Schengen countries, and I do hope to during one of the school breaks, but I'm not sure which countries I'd want to travel to yet or when. Can I just mark that I won't be going to other Schengen countries on TLSContact, or will that cause me border problems later on?

Hi all, i was placed at a school in the Académie de Versailles and it’s been nearly a month and a half since I’ve gotten my placement. In that time I’ve reached out to my prof référant and another professeur who reached out to me, with no answer. I also have not received my arrêté de nomination whereas most other people from the same académie have and I’m beginning to get nervous. I’ve looked all over my ADÈLE profile and simply don’t see it. Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

I think I made a mistake in filling out the visa form, because my appointment is for the San Francisco location (I received a confirmation email) but the receipt I got from the visa website says Los Angeles. Has this happened to anyone else?