Sounds like a fabulous trip!

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Frabound, it may sound fabulous but it is not legally possible for the OP to do it.

The Schengen 90 in 180 rule makes it impossible to do as stated.

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Hi there - well that sounds like a very exciting project! How lucky you are to have what's needed (language skills, time and money) in order to make it happen. :-) It's also a great idea to try a few places out, as residents instead of tourists, before settling on your forever home. Or, you might even decide to do a follow-the-sun retirement where you never stay more than 3-4 months in one area. I believe it's possible if you get a one-year visa in the country where you'll be the longest.

We have several clients who do what we call a 'Regional Reconnaissance mission' in the Languedoc area - less costly than Provence but just as nice! ;-) They either rent in one place for the full duration and do short, exploratory trips further out, or they rent for shorter periods in several locations. If you want to really try out living in a village, you'll obviously get more info if you are staying there rather than visiting for the day.

Best of luck in your project. Feel free to ask your questions here on the forum or even message me directly.
Kind regards,
Dennelle
www.renestance.com

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RubyTooz, this is the second post in which you refer to a 'one year visa'.

A visa simply allows you to arrive in a country, nothing else.

If someone like the OP applies for a Type D Schengen visa on the basis of wanting to retire in France, they have to state that it is their intention to stay in France permanently. This is the usual retiree route.

After arrival, they must then apply for a Residence Permit. That is what allows you to stay in a country, not the visa. It is also what would allow someone to then travel within the Schengen countries without being subject to the 90 in 180 rule.

So yes, if they get the visa and get the Residence Permit, they could then spend the year visiting their 4 countries. However, to maintain the Residence Permit beyond that first year, you must spend a minimum of 183 days in the country for which you have the Residence Permit. So you can't spend 9 months in other countries during that first year and still be able to renew the Residence Permit for the next year.

In other words, you actually have to lie about your intentions. If someone does that and then having decided they want to try living in a country, they would have to start over with a new visa application back in their home country again. Then get a Residence Permit again.

If they happened to have decided they wanted to stay in the country they got the first visa for, the chances are very high that their application would be refused when the Consular Officer saw they had already had a visa, got residency and then did not maintain that residency.

So to my mind, any suggestion to the OP that they can do what they want by getting a Type D visa; then establishing residency in a country and then using that residency to circumvent the Schengen 90 in 180 rule is bad advice.

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Yes, OldPro, I call it the one-year visitor visa because: 1) it's officially called a 'visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour' in the first year. It's not a separate 'carte de séjour' until after it's been renewed. 2) most people asking the question are not immigration lawyers, so there's no point in differentiating between the entry visa and the residence permit, which results from formalities done upon arrival in France and in any case will have the same end date as the entry visa.
Furthermore, OldPro, this is the second time that you've referred to an obligation to stay in the country at least 183 days in order to renew one's one year 'carte de séjour.' May I ask where you source this information? I have never heard nor read of this nor seen it in practice by any préfecture. Are you perhaps confusing with the 183 days within the calendar year to be considered a fiscal resident?

Thanks,
Dennelle
www.renestance.com

P.S. (apologies to readers of both posts, but I will have to repeat this information on the parallel post)

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RubyTooz, I posted a long response here yesterday and it has not appeared. I've noticed recently that some posts just don't seem to be going through. It gets very frustrating when you compose a detailed response and then it never shows up!

No time to try again right now.

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Old Pro and Ruby Tooz: "Comment ce va"? I'm still confused regarding the "Carte de Sejour Temporaire", the "Carte de Sejour Mention Visiteur" and the Schengen Type "D" visas. If my wife and I must commit to one particular country for extended stay, it would be France. Comments "s'il vous plait"?!

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Old Pro and Ruby Tooz: "Comment ce va"? I'm still confused regarding the "Carte de Sejour Temporaire", the "Carte de Sejour Mention Visiteur" and the Schengen Type "D" visas. If my wife and I must commit to one particular country for extended stay, it would be France. Comments "s'il vous plait"?!

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Hi DONSCHALL1,

why don't you contact a specialist company that deals in that? We are such a company but I am sure that are lots of others that could help.

Its far too easy to get confused, the VISA should depend on your needs not the other way around...
Kind regards,

John Dislins
pleasehelp.fr

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