Visa strategy

lechienbohème
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My current plan to move to France is to be on a student visa for two years, the first to spend on intensive French and the second for photography school, after which I would apply for a visa profession libérale to become a working resident.  However, there is a new passport talent pathway announced this year for non EU physicians who pass the French exam in one’s specialty.  I am a double boarded surgeon and had planned to leave medicine, but I have learned that obtaining a French medical license in my specialty is straightforward, just not easy, and the process would take 2-3 years.  I would have to take their exam in French, then if score highly enough, I would be eligible to complete 2 years of adaptation working in a hospital as a sort of junior attending, then receive a license if that goes well.  The visa talent is apparently automatic if you pass the exam and grants a renewable 4 year stay. I am wondering how to frame the visa process in order to stay in France to include this second possibility.

The medical license process requires taking an exam in my specialty, in French, so I would study their protocols while I am learning French. The exam is given once a year, and I would sit for it in October 2026 after about 15 months of study.  I think I can justify a language learning visa for 1.25-1.5 years, but while I am waiting for the test results, which takes months, could I also justify being in photography school on a student visa ? If I don’t pass the exam, I would then have a way to earn a livelihood as a photographer until I take the exam the following year.  I am unsure of how to approach the visa request with these two endeavors.  If I don’t enroll in photography school, how else would I stay in France to until the exam results, and if I do not make the cut the first time, how to continue there ?  There are several advantages to staying in France for a future in medicine there since I can join their surgical society in my specialty, network, take surgical courses and go to French and European conferences. 

I would not mind just staying there and studying French as I would love to achieve C2, and I could find a course for professional medical French to include, but this could potentially put me at two years on a student visa for language acquisition.  That seems longer than normal for language acquisition, and I am unsure of how the French Consulate would view a two pronged approach, meaning pursuing a medical license while also pursuing photography as a hobby or potential profession.

Going back and forth from US to France would be challenging, and I would like to avoid this by finding a legitimate reason to stay in France that leads to becoming a tax paying resident.

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