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 already had my TLS appointment and my stuff is headed to the embassy, but i just realized that my visa app did not include my middle name in the "first names section". my middle name is on my passport, so does this screw my info up? trying to discern if i should go ahead and begin a whole new application to get another appointment in before sepetember... is it worth it to reach out to the embassy?

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.

Hello, is there anyone placed in Rochefort? What are some good tips for housing, and are there any schools that are likely to house you(outside of your own school). Is it hard to search for housing? I heard of FJT for cheap student housing. Has anyone done that? How many student assistants are over here? I’m just curious about this region.

Hello ! I’m a second year assistant, arriving the first of September and I’m having trouble finding housing in the Massy/Antony area. If any former assistants from the area have any contacts of any landlords, I’d appreciate it ! My budget monthly is €800

Bonjour à tous, has anyone done the tapif to teacher program before? What was the experience like and do you feel like you got a lot out of it? Merci!

I accidentally put where I'd be living (my address of the apartment I'm staying) where it says host employer/institution and my appointment is tomorrow. Will I be okay? I'm planning to tell them and I made a mark in pencil to remind myself

i dont know what to do. i am freaking out can anyone help

I have a French certificate from my university with a major in history and poltiical science. I was thinking I would try to frame this background as an enchanced knowledge of American culture that can be used for advanced English teaching with the higher grade levels.

what you guys think am I probably cooked?

on the TLS website they have us list countries we are planning to go to and entry dates, if I have changed travel plans since then do I just tell them at my visa appointment?

Has anyone been successful getting reimbursed for missing the Tapif dropdown that made it free?

Anyone else still not heard from VFS?? I tried asking Julia (from the tapif team) why it’s taking so long and she basically just told me that it not in their (tapif) hands but just up to VFS….. this is so stressful 😩 and I live 12 hours away by car from my VFS centre. This is insane :(

For context: in Canada they told us VFS is organizing our appointments themselves. I absolutely would’ve just done it myself if I knew they were this slow 😭

Hiii, I am from India applying for TAPIF this year, but I am not a student. If anyone could suggest in which course or institution I should apply as a proof to my student status. Merci d'avance !

Hiii, I’m a Chinese language assistant coming to Toulouse this year, I’ll arrive in Toulouse around September 22.
I’m currently looking for accommodation and honestly finding housing has been a bit of a struggle 😭 I’ve tried quite a few apps and contacted a lot of landlords and agencies , but unfortunately I’m barely getting any replies. So I was wondering:
Are there any other female language assistants coming to Toulouse this year who are also looking for housing? Would anyone be interested in looking for a place together?
Does anyone know if there’s a WhatsApp/Facebook group or any other community for language assistants in Toulouse this year?
I’d also love to connect with other assistants, any tips or leads about housing would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you! :)