This excerpt attacks flag 2.
If you’re reading this and this applies to you…
Boy, you really shot yourself in the foot big time with this one, didn’t you?
Before you continue reading, understand that the odds of you getting back into a favorable position with the DDTE isn’t impossible, but you are going to pay a very high price for your mistake.
All advice contained in this excerpt, and on c14ism.com, have been provided by actual accounts by many expats, and you can freely copy/paste/modified at your convenience to help you in your employment efforts.
If your work visa expired, then before you go to the DDTE to renew it, the situation is still salvagable, but you’re walking on thin ice. Go directly to the DDTE asap to apply in-person for a renewal, and keep in mind the following things:
- You are not required to have paid your taxes to renew your work papers, so don’t let that be a reason why you were late in renewing.
- You are required to present your last 3 bulletin de salaires. DO NOT include any bulletin de salaire that could lead the DDTE official to the conclusion that you have been working illegally. For example, if your titre de séjour expired on November 19, then present the August, September, October bulletin de salaires.
- The minimum monthly salary for a foreigner to obtain/renew a work permit is about 1300.00€. If your bulletin de salaires do not reflect that, then you will be asked why, and an incorrect response without adequate proof, such as checks from home to make up the difference, could result in a rejection.
- France has a limitation on the number of jobs a person can have and the number of hours an hourly employee can work. If you have more than one job, be sure you do not violate those rules, or you may be rejected.
If your work visa has been rejected, then you’ve no time to lose. You’ve screwed with the wrong people, because even if you can somehow convince the DDTE to let you attempt to become legal again, it is going to cost you, so get ready to fork over a lot of time and money, and get ready for many sleepless nights. Refer to the Legal issues encountered during foreign employment section of the c14ism manual for more information on determining if it’s worth the sacrifice to stay and fight or return home.
At the bottom of the rejection letter is written:
“En conséquence, il est interdit à (insert your name) d’exercer une activité salariée en France.
Cette décision peux faire l’objet d’un recours hiérarchique auprès du ministére de l’immigration, de l’intégration, de l’identité natinoale et du developpement solidaire dans un délai de deux mois.”
Losely translated, this means that from the time that you receive this letter, you are no longer authorized to work in France, and you can challenge the original rejection decision within two months.
Before you decide to stay and fight, free legal counsel information is available to you at avocatgratuit.net or conseil-juridique-gratuit.info/ to name a few, however French immigration laws are very vague and not clearly codified, lawyers are specialized thus 90% are unfamiliar with the foreign immigration to offer relevant advice, and the remaining 10% who can help you won’t be cheap and will be very busy. It is possible to fix this situation without hiring a lawyer, however including an official letter from a lawyer along with your renewal application would definitely carry more weight and may hurry the process. Two notable lawyers are Laure Navarro and Haywood Martin Wise.
Before you decide to stay and fight, you must figure out who you should tell about your dilemma, and how:
- Your bank.
- You may not necessarily be under obligation to tell your bank, however many banks offer a ‘couvert’ of up to -800.00€ with an interest rate slightly more acceptable than a credit card. That can come in handy in the short-term, but be sure not to dip too far into the negative only to realize you cannot stay.
- If you do tell your bank and your bank is able to close your account, then you’ve basically just bought your plane ticket home, so check the provisions of your contract beforehand if you decide tell your bank.
- Your landlord.
- You are required to give a one month notice for furnished apartments, and 3 months notice for non-furnished apartments.
- Telling your landlord that you are now illegal and won’t be receiving any more paychecks for a while will logically result in losing your apartment. If your landlord is particularly cruel, s/he may call the government and report you as illegal.
- Not telling your landlord and then running out of finances will put you in hot water with your landlord, who could press charges.
- Legally a landlord cannot evict you from your apartment during the winter seasion, even if you don’t pay the rent, but that is not a situation you want to put yourself in.
- Your boss.
- This one is the most crucial.
-
- The DDTE, if they accept your reapplication, will most likely require your boss to buy your work visa again.
- If you tell your boss immediately, and if s/he doesn’t like you, then you’ve just given him/her the perfect way to fire you with absolutely no threat of litigation on your part.
- If you don’t tell your boss, s/he could be fined +10,000€ and even imprisioned. If you tell your boss and s/he doesn’t want to deal with you, then s/he has a free pass to fire you. If your boss agrees to support you, s/he may take advantage of you by forcing you to resign a new contract and renegotiate a new one with much less favorable terms.
- If your boss is willing to help you reapply for your titre de séjour, s/he may ‘reset your contract’ by having you sign a letter of quitting due to your visa problem, and then re-sign a brand new contract with you. If you do this, then basically you’ve lost all seniority and perks that come with being a long term employee - promotions, raises, retirement and vacation packages, etc.
When dealing with a large administrative body that acts as a public interface, such as the DDTE or the Préfecture de Police, you generally take a numbered ticket, present your documents to the appropriate employee, and then leave. That said, how can you prove you actually came if someone were to accuse you that you didn’t, if your documents were lost or misplaced, or that the employee has actually processed your documents? With the fate of you staying in France dependent upon strangers you’ll never meet, you cannot take that chance. Therefore always apply this important rule:
Always come with a paper, and always leave with a paper.
Be it a business card with the person’s handwritten contact information on it, a signed paper, etc., this acts as proof if ever you are challenged.
If you’ve been rejected, your work permit rejection (see photo #1) will come in the form of an offical letter sent to you Lettre Recommandée avec avis de réception. React immediately by going to the DDTE with:
- the rejection letter from the DDTE (photo #1)
- a letter requesting un récours hierarchique(photo #2)
- all other original papers (plus photocopies) needed to renew titre (photo #3)
Get name of the person handling your account and all person’s involved with your rejection (their names will be on rejection letter) and after you’ve submitted your application, follow it up immediately with an email restating what was said in your récours hierarchique (photo #2). This will likely do nothing, but it will be proof on your part that you actively sought to fix your mistake. The email sequence for the DDTE is as follows: first name.last name @ travail.gouv.fr.
rejection letter > récours hierarchique > conditional acceptance > application
Here are sample sentences you might use in writing your récours hierarchique:
“Je fais suite à votre courrier du XX Janvier 20XX concernant la décision prise pour le renouvellement de mon autorisation de travail.”
En France depuis 20XX, mes autorisations de travail on toujours été renouvelés depuis cette date et liées au reouvellement de demande de carte de séjour.
Sachez donc qu’il n’étais nullement volontaire de ma part de pouruivre mon activité salariale sans autorisation.
Cela est dû à une mauvaise compréhension de ma part sur la procédure à suivre.
je tiens à vous garantire qu’à l’avenir le nécessaire sera fait et que je me ferai assister pour l’être sur que cela ne se reproduise plus.
Après le temps passé à exercer mon activité professionnelle en France, il me serait vraiment difficile et dommageable de l’interrompre du jour au lendemain.
Voilà pourquoi je vous sollicite aujourd’hui, en vous assurant de toute ma bonne foi, pour revenir sur ce refus et ainsi me permettre de renouveller mon autorisation de travail.
Comptant vivement sur votre compréhension, je reste dans l’attente d’une réponse de votre part qui j’espère sera favorable.
Veuillez agréer, Monsieur/Madame, l’expression de mes sentiments le plus sincères.”
Now you wait. The DDTE has up to 3 months to review and either accept or deny your request. They may choose to take the entire three months to make their decision. From the time that you receive the rejection letter, your right to work in France is rejected, and you are considered illegal, so continuing to work puts both you and your employer at risk. You are now living on your savings.
If accepted, the DDTE will most likely require you recomplete the original application process.
Immediately obtain and go directly to the DDTE with:
From your employer:
- 4 copies of your working contract.
- 2 copies of an ‘Engagement de Versement’ written by your boss.
- 4 copies of the CERFA applications (see key documents below for links).
From you:
- A copy of every correspondence with the DDTE from your request to renewal up to this point.
- Your most recent titre de séjour (back and front).
- Copy of your passport.
- Your last 3 bulletins de salaires (refer to the above tips on how to renew, or you will be rejected)
- 4 copies of the CERFA applications
- A self-addressed stamped envelope (may not be used, but it is requested and you don’t want to be caught without it in case they ask.)
- 4 identity photos
You must remember that the DDTE, which handles your work visa, is a separate animal from the Préfecture de Police, which handles your titre de séjour, and that during your battle with the DDTE, you are still responsible to keep yourself legal with the Préfecture de Police, and while you negotiate with the DDTE, the préfecture will be a little more lenient with you, provided you provide them with proof that you are in limbo with the DDTE, and will grant you a temporary 3 month carte de séjour while you await the DDTE’s response. However if after 2 meetings you still haven’t fixed your work visa, then the Préfecture will be obliged to reject your carte de séjour, and you’ve now been downgraded to a tourist status. Refer to theEntering a foreign country and The visa status question sections of the c14ism manual for more about the status.
Once your both your visa and work permit are up to date and you are legal again, refer toHow to navigate the French immigration process for your next step.
It is possible to postpone your fateful second meeting with the préfecture by obtaining a convocation and then, a week or so before your rendez-vous, call to reschedule your meeting due to ‘uncontrollable circumstances.’ This will buy you at least another three weeks - but that is it.
After you’ve resubmitted all of the above papers, Now you wait for the DDTE’s decision. At this point, if all of your papers are in order, you are pretty much guaranteed an acceptance, and must now wait for the paperwork to be processed.
Lesson to learn from this process?
Stay on top of your visa and work permit renewals and don’t screw with the government!
Share your advice | c14ism.com | Facebook (share) | Twitter (share)
——-
KEY ORGANIZATIONS:
- DDTE - Direction Départemente du travail, de l’emploi et de la formation professionnelle. They oversee all foreign work permits.
- OFII - Office Française de l’imigration et de l’intégration. They oversee the entire immigration process.
- Prefecture de Police - Where to go to obtain/renew carte/titre de séjour. They oversee all foreign visas.
- TNS Sofres - a researchering company that may contact you to ask you questions concerning your immigration process.
KEY DOCUMENTS:
- Lettre Recommandée avec avis de réception - official letter sent from sender (expéditeur) to receiver (destinataire) which includes recept of sending and receiving. All important correspondence must be sent this way.
- Facture EDF - The French equivalent of a utilities bill.
- Demande d’autorisation de travail pour un salarié étranger (CERFA N°13653*02) - Application that must be filled out and submitted to DDTE to work permit. 4 applications must be filled out by hand.
- Contrat de travail pour travailler étranger (CERFA N°96-61-02) - Application that must be filled out and submitted to the DDTE to obtain work permit. 4 applications must be filled out by hand.
- Contrat de travail - Your working contract with your employer. CDI, CDD, etc.
- Bulletin de Paye/Salaire - Your paycheck.
- Convocation - lettre from the Pref de Police that offically requests/reserves your interview. Must be presented at day/time of interview.
- Certification de Controle Medical - Letter given to you from the medical center assuring you’ve met the health requirements to obtain your titre de séjour.
The remainder of this excerpt, along with +500 pages of other research to psychologically attack HR and the Foreign Bureau of Immigration can be accessed by purchasing our manual.
Share your advice | c14ism.com | Facebook (share) | Twitter (share)
