Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Commercial and Employee Requirements
If you are not French and planning to operate as a sole trader,
a partner of an SNC, a manager of an SNC, SARL or French
branch, subsidiary or liaison ofi ce, or the general manager
or chairman of the board of an SA, then you need either a
resident's card, an EU passport or a commercial licence.
If you are not holding an EU passport, your ability
to work in France is strictly controlled. If you are being
assigned by your company to work in France, or you
are coming to France to work for a French concern, you
must get a visa before you arrive from the nearest French
consulate or embassy.
For individuals seeking to live or work in France, it
is essential to get good legal advice before you arrive.
Everything you need to know about visas and other
requirements pre-arrival can be found at the French
Ministry of Foreign Affairs website (in English!). Just google
'France Visa'.
REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK
BACK AT THE HOME OFFICE
For similar reasons, your company will express little interest
in the 'expertise' you've gained in working at the French
branch. Normally, they will assume the French locals are
the experts. You were just a go-between. You're back; the
job's done. The next person assigned to Paris will have to
go through all the painful learning experiences you did.
Those bridges you painstakingly built between yourself and
the Paris staff will be meaningless to a boss who has never
needed them himself.
This opacity towards international business relations
is changing, in part thanks to the European Union.
Companies are starting to develop sensitivities to the
invisible aspects of international relations. They are
beginning to recognise that language skills are not enough.
The synergy of business relations requires deep inter-
cultural understanding. Increasingly, international staff, like
yourself, will be called to make the different applications
of company policy work abroad.
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