So far …… not such an easy task.

Or perhaps it’s just us.

Our goal is to spend twelve months in France ………… housesitting.

We are aware this may not actually eventuate for the full 365 days, but we are confident we can manage those ’empty’ periods – basically, we will travel and have ‘holidays’ during our non-housesitting times.

The only way to apply for a visa to stay in France for longer than three months is through an online process. There are notes on the website telling those with questions not to call / phone to ask questions about the process, instead use the Frequently Asked Questions section and re-read the instructions.

Both Mick and I tried to understand these instructions, however we are still not sure we are completely on the same wavelength.

There is a category for a long stay visa, of more than three months (maximum of twelve months), which is what we are hoping to achieve.

We have one major advantage to support our application. We have agreed to house sit in France at a home we’ve house sat at before, just out of Perpignan. This has given us an address in France we can use on our visa application, and our hostess has kindly agreed to help out where she can.

So, I’ve successfully filled out the online form, using our hostess’ address, and printed this off. We need to take this with us to our interview.

Yes……

an interview in Sydney.

As soon as I’d completed the form I went online again to book an interview. It is through this interview process that we submit all our paperwork, including the now-printed online form I’ve completed. We must bring all the paperwork with us to these interviews – and we have to have one each.

… €99 each.

The first date we could get was Friday 9th November, and we are departing from Brisbane for Amsterdam (more about that flight path in a future post) on Monday 10th December. I’m unsure we will even make the timeframes, but we will give it a go.

We have submitted our information for our police check and paid $98 each.

We had to list all the addresses we’d lived at for the last ten years. Having moved into our new address with our son and daughter-in-law only a few days ago we had to add it to our list as well.

Funnily enough, I received an email the next day after I completed the online form to say my police check was finished and in the mail.

Mick is still waiting to hear.