Hi Brandon, I believe you would need to apply for a French residence permit (titre de séjour) as well since you are not an EU citizen. The appropriate residency permit, in that case, would be the "visitor" one. I would advise reaching out to the French consulate in Geneva to get more details. Also, if you know where exactly you will be based in France, you can try getting in touch with the relevant town hall (mairie).

Hi, 

As a non European you will need a "Visa Visiteur" for France and this you can request at the French Consulate in Geneva (by parc de Bastions). The whole process was super easy and they are very nice. You have to renew the visa every year. It give you access to live in France as long as you have your job in Geneva. Feel free to contact me if you would like more info. I did this last year and have helped other colleagues to do the same. 

Thanks for this post and useful replies above, I am going to work with UN shortly  and planning to live in france too, the prices in geneva is high.

check with your HR - they should be able to process a permis de sejour for you in France on the basis of your contract - similar to how they process the CdL.

As far as I know, HR in the UN has the obligation to ensure you have a Carte de Legitimation so you can live in Switzerland where you are based due to your work. Should you choose to live in France, it is up to you and you are on your own. I was given this answer when I arrived, and I have confirmed it is true. 

Thank you Xaviero, yes this is true in my case as well. 

Thank you Xaviero, this is very helpful. I just so happened to email the French consulate in Geneva this same question and they said the same. It does seem much easier process than I expected. Thanks for confirming this. 

Thank you, Mohamed, I had reached out to them simultaneously and they suggested the same to me. Thank you for confirming!

Thank you Brandon for this post, this is just exactly my case as well.

Lately I was told that a swiss address is necessary because sometimes you need it to receive some bills from bank and other facilities. Is this true? For people who wants to live in france while working in Geneva, is a swiss address necessary?

I will appreciate any replies to additional question.

And again thank you Brandon for this post which helped me a lot.

Hi Ayman, 

Since moving to France a year ago I have not found a single provider in Switzerland who has not been able to change my address to France: bank, credit card, doctors, even Coop and Migros cards, etc etc. If I ever need an address in Geneva I know I can have mail sent to a friend's home, but so far it has not been necessary. Hope this helps. 

Thank you so much xaviero, this is really helpful. People like you make this world better !

Ayman,

The address in Geneva is only necessary if you have a residence permit in Geneva (C or B permit), as your permit depends on you being a resident in Geneva and not France.  A lot of people unfortunately do this, live in France keep their flat in Geneva and have it sub leased so they can keep an address and not lose their residence permit.  A carte de légitimation does not have the same requiements as permanent residence permits here in Geneva.

Kind regards,

Mary

Mary,

I don't know what to say to express my gratitude to you for this useful answer, for someone who is about to start a new life in Geneva, the accommodation forms the biggest challenge, so MANY MANY thanks to you !!!

I will get a carte de légitimation too so France will be my first choice！

Hope this post will help others who have the same case.

With my best wishes,

Dequn

Hi Xaviero,

Just saw your post on glocals regarding CDL and living in France. I am currently staying in Geneva, but thinking of moving to Ferney Voltaire. Could you guide me as to what was required of you when you applied for the visa visiteur? How long did the whole process take?

Many thanks,

Sandra

Hello Brandon, what was the cost of this visa?

Hey Adriana, 

I hop ethe info I sent was useful. The cost for 1 year visitor visa in France was around 100 Eur from what I remember. 

The page about Costs here is down... but all the info is there: 

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F16162

Good luck

Hi everyone, to confirm an answer to this question, the following visa site from the French authorities is very helpful and is the process I followed. So far it has worked out: https://geneve.consulfrance.org/Demander-un-visa-pour-la-France-en-Suisse-613

One thing to note, if you are coming to work on a CDL and will also have a family member (e.g.,  a partner) come as a dependant and receive support for obtaining a CDL also from your agency, I learned in my case the CDL my partner will receive is only a residence permit and not a work permit. If you live in Switerzalnd, this is no problem as your partner can exchange the CDL for a work permit in Switzerland. However, if you live in France, this exchange is not possible. I am still trying to figure out now how to support my partner to get a work permit but this is an important consideration to add for anyone wanting to live in France.

Hey Brandon, 

Yes, indeed. Thanks for adding that point which should be something to consider for those coming wiith spouses. To complement, two things to note: 

- If your partner has EU nationality, an dprovided they speak French so they can get hired in the private sector in Geneva, they can get their own work permit for CH. That said, if your partner is European, you can also obtain a 5-year permit to live in France as the spouse of a EU citizen, so the "visitor visa" mentioned above does not apply to you. 

- If your partner is extra-european (non EU national) and they do not speak French, the likelyhood of finding a job in CH is very slim.  Depending on their skills, they may end up applying to positions or consultancy opportunities with the UN, in which case they will receive their own CDL. So in this case, you are probably still better off living in France. 

Hope this helps.

Hi!

Hello Xaviero & Others,

My case is bit different.  Am Indian passport holder amd live in Saint Julien en Genevois (France) neighbouring Geneva.  I work for an IT organization based in France; employed in France.  Have to pay taxes, social security as per French system.  I have EU Blue card which is my resident permit as well.

I will be joining a UN agency in Geneva in January 2022 and will get a CDL.  We plan to continue living in France (Saint Julien en Genevois).

Am I required to notify the French authotities abiut the job change?  Is yes, any inputs on the process?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Brandon!

I am curious to know how things went. It would be great if you could share the process :) 

Thanks so much!

Hey Xaviero. I am Pankhury living in Ferney with a job with UN in Geneva. I wanted to check with you regarding french visitor visa. I need to apply for one since im living in ferney but My organisation hadnt informed me that I need a diff visa for living in ferney. My rent contract in ferney is of last year (June 2023) as I have been living in ferney since june 2023 and until now I had not applied for a french visitor visa. I am now applying for it and its asking for rent agrement as a proof of acocmodaition. do you think I can attach the rent agreement with a date of June 2023??? because i have lived in ferney for way too long now without a french visitor visa :/ ... Basically i lived here illegally without a visa. Please suggest hat should I do. I shall be grateful.