Category: Expat Life

When we started planning our move to France, we knew we wanted more than just a short visit. We weren’t relocating for work or study, and we didn’t fit into the traditional visa categories that often dominate the conversation. As a vocational athlete and with neither of us formally employed, we needed a visa that would give us the flexibility to live in France without the constraints of work sponsorship or academic enrolment.

Enter the VLS-TS, or Visa de Long Séjour valant Titre de Séjour. This long-stay visa allows you to live in France as a tourist for up to a year. It was the perfect fit. It gives people moving to France from abroad the ability to stay for more than 90 days without having to apply for a separate residency card after arrival. It’s not a work visa, but it offers the chance to experience life in France in a slower, more meaningful way.

For us, the VLS-TS offered the freedom to live intentionally, train with focus, and immerse ourselves in French culture, rather than just passing through. Here’s everything we learned about applying for the visa, what we wish we had known earlier, and how you can hopefully avoid the same pitfalls.

Important Note
Everything shared in this post is based on our personal experience with the VLS-TS application process. I am not a lawyer or immigration expert, and visa rules can change frequently. Please always double-check requirements with your local French consulate or official resources like france-visas.gouv.fr to ensure you have the most up-to-date information.

What is the VLS-TS?

The VLS-TS is France’s long-stay visa that also functions as a temporary residence permit. It allows you to stay in France for more than 90 days, up to a maximum of 12 months, without needing to apply for a separate titre de séjour once you’re in the country.

Unlike a standard tourist visa, which limits you to 90 days in the Schengen Zone within any 180-day period, the VLS-TS allows you to live in France for an extended period. However, it does not allow you to work or run a business in France. It is ideal for people who can support themselves financially and want to stay in France for training, travel, sabbatical, or lifestyle reasons.

There are a few categories of the VLS-TS, including those for students, researchers, and professionals. We applied under the visitor category, which is designed for people who are not planning to work or study formally but want to live in France on a long-term basis.

Who is this visa for?

To be eligible for the VLS-TS as a visitor, you must:

Be applying from outside the EU or EEA
Plan to stay in France for more than 90 days
Be able to support yourself financially without working
Have proof of accommodation for the entire duration of your stay
Have health insurance that covers your full time in France
Intend to live in France without engaging in professional work or formal studies

This visa worked perfectly for us. As a vocational athlete and a partner who was not employed, we could focus on our lifestyle and goals while being legally present in France. It’s a great option for international applicants who want to experience daily life in France without enrolling in a school or securing a job.

Our Journey

What documents did we need to show?

Here’s what we gathered for our application:

Valid passport
It needed to be valid for at least six months beyond the end of our planned stay in France.
Completed online application
We filled this out on the France-Visas website and printed both the application and the personalised document checklist.
Passport-sized photos
These had to match French specifications exactly, so we made sure to use a proper photo service rather than DIY-ing it.
Proof of accommodation
This one was wild — we had to show that we’d secured a place to live for the entire year before we even had permission to be in France.
What we did: We used Airbnb. A lot of listings offer flexible cancellation, and that saved us when our first application was rejected. We were able to cancel and get our money back. Honestly, we recommend this route to anyone applying.
Proof of financial means
We submitted bank statements to show we could support ourselves financially without working.
Health insurance
This is where it all fell apart the first time. I accidentally submitted a one-month travel insurance policy, thinking that would be fine — and unbelievably, our lawyers didn’t catch the error.
For how much we paid, we expected every detail to be checked. But no one flagged it. The visa was rejected with no explanation, and only in hindsight did we realise what had gone wrong.
For our second application, we used Regency Healthcare for Expats, which met all the French requirements. It was expensive, but it worked.
Signed letter of intent
We wrote a simple letter explaining why we wanted to live in France for a year, what we planned to do, and confirming we wouldn’t be working.

Step-by-Step Application Process

Pre application

We used Lexidy France to help with our application process, but in hindsight, I wouldn’t recommend it.

At the time, we were stressed, overwhelmed, and unable to get an appointment at our local TLScontact center in London, which handles applications for the French consulate. Lexidy offered to take over the process completely, and in the moment, we handed it over.

The cost? £4,000 for all three of us.

Now that we understand the process, I can say with confidence that you don’t need to spend that much. To help you avoid making the same mistake, here’s the step-by-step guide we wish we had.

Victoria’s top tips

If you’re struggling to get an appointment, check out TLScontact’s Apply Anywhere service. They regularly offer pop-up locations in London and other cities, and they actually review your documents in advance, which is a game changer.

Honestly, if we had used this service, we’re pretty sure they would have flagged our incorrect travel insurance — which our expensive legal team missed.
It costs £250 per person, and in our case, it probably would have done the job better than the £4,000 we spent.

Step 1: Create an account on France-Visas

We went to france-visas.gouv.fr, created an account, filled in our details, and downloaded the form and checklist.

Step 2: Complete your application

We took our time entering everything correctly and printed both the application and the generated checklist.

Step 3: Book your appointment with TLScontact

Appointments in London filled up fast. There are entire Facebook groups dedicated to securing a slot, and honestly, I’m still not sure how people manage without the Apply Anywhere service or giving themselves weekly RSI from refreshing the booking page.

Step 4: Attend your appointment and submit your documents

We brought everything in duplicate: our printed forms, photos, proof of funds, accommodation, insurance, and the letter of intent. TLS also took our fingerprints and biometric photo.

Victoria’s Top tip

Children aren’t just not required — they’re not allowed in the building. If you show up with your child, someone will need to wait outside with them. Yes, even in the rain.
This is the time to dial a grandparent or hire a babysitter.

Step 5: Our first application — rejected

We applied in November. A few weeks later, our passports came back with no visa and no explanation. We now believe it was because of the incorrect insurance. With travel plans to Australia for December, we had to wait to reapply.

Step 6: Second application — success

We got a new TLS appointment for 6 January, corrected the insurance, got a babysitter, resubmitted everything, and were finally approved on 21 January. Our move was set for 28 February, perfectly aligned with Margot’s nursery starting on 5 March.

Validating Your Visa in France

Once you arrive in France, you have three months to validate your visa. This step is critical — without it, your visa is not officially active.

We went to administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr, filled in our visa numbers, date of entry, address in France, and paid the fee (around €200–€250 per person) with a credit card.

A confirmation email was sent right after, along with a downloadable attestation de validation. We needed this document for housing, setting up bank accounts, and proving legal residency.

It was fast and easy to do online. After all the stress of applying, this part felt like a win.

Rooted in Bristol, Replanted in Chamonix

By Victoria

On April 2, 2025

In Expat Life, Moving Abroad, Van Life

If you’d told me a few years ago I’d be raising my daughter in the French Alps, I’d have laughed (politely), finished my coffee in Bristol, and changed the subject.

I was a homebody through and through. Rooted, routine driven, and deeply content in my comfort zone. Apart from two months living in Bath (which, let’s be honest, barely counts), I’d never lived anywhere else. Bristol was home. Full stop.

And then life, as it does, started rewriting the script.

The Sliding Door Moment That Started It All

In 2019, I met Sion. I’d warned him a relationship between Bristol and London was a bit complicated. But he said yes to the date anyway. He was healing from a bike crash at the time, so maybe he was slightly concussed, or maybe it was fate. Either way, that “yes” was one of those small sliding door moments that changed everything.

Sion had lived a very different life to mine, his twenties were spent chasing snow seasons, ski lifts, and long days in the mountains. I was living my best Bristol life: trail runs on the Downs, coffee with friends, weekends that felt like home. But somehow, we met in the middle and we built something beautiful.

When Everything Changed

In 2021, I lost my dad. My anchor. My source of wisdom, love, and quiet encouragement.

Grief doesn’t just break your heart. It shifts your entire world. It stripped everything back to the bones and forced me to really look at what mattered.

In 2022, Sion and I got married.
In 2023, we welcomed our daughter Margot, our greatest adventure yet.

For both of us, becoming parents was a dream come true. While many people see having a child as the end of freedom, we saw it as the beginning of something deeper. She didn’t limit us, she expanded us. And we knew we wanted her to grow up with space, with mountains, with curiosity stitched into the everyday.

Van Life, Big Climbs, and One Very Pink Panther

In 2024, with Margot (and our cockapoo, Thatcher) in tow, we packed up our van; The Pink Panther and set off for a European summer.

We weren’t wandering aimlessly. We had a plan.

We chased iconic climbs for Sion to cycle, and I laced up for some of Europe’s most iconic ultra races. From the Dolomites to the Pyrenees, every stop added fuel to something we hadn’t quite said out loud yet:
What if we didn’t go back?

We weren’t running away from anything. We had a life in Bristol that we loved. But we were running toward something too: more movement, more nature, more room to grow as a family.

Finding Chamonix (And Something We Didn’t Know We Needed)

We planned a week there in August. Just a taste.

But that taste? It lingered.

There was something about Chamonix that felt alive, a town built around movement, resilience, and a shared love of the outdoors.

For Sion, it was heaven. Towering climbs, snowy summits, people who chat gear ratios over croissants. For me, it was magnetic. The energy of the trails, the thrum of race season, the kind of terrain that makes you feel small and strong at the same time.

But it wasn’t just about sport. There was something deeper. The rhythm of the town felt simple but expansive, where toddlers could grow up bilingual, barefoot in the garden, surrounded by nature and people who live outside.

It didn’t feel like a place we were visiting.
It felt like a place we could belong.

Visa Rejection & One Very Small Flat in Bristol

We returned to the UK, high on mountains and possibility, and made the bold move to let out our family home, assuming we’d be cheering in the New Year under alpine skies.

But reality had other plans. Our first visa application was rejected.

What followed was a blur of paperwork, panicked logistics, and life in a tiny one-room studio flat in Bristol, Margot in a travel cot beside the bed, Thatcher underfoot, and most of our life packed into storage.

It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t easy. And honestly, we were exhausted.

But we tried again, this time with more paperwork, more patience, and a little apartment lined up in Chamonix to prove we were serious.

And finally… we were in!!

Life Now: Mountains, Mealtimes & Messy Magic

We live in a small chalet at the foot of the mountains. Margot goes to a French nursery and waves “bonjour” to strangers on the street. I run the trails I once only saw on race maps. Sion cycles the same climbs he once watched on TV.

We make dinner (double, always! Vegetarian for him, meat for me), we play cards after bedtime, and we walk everywhere. Our life is still full of nappies and logistics and training blocks, but the pace feels different. Lighter. More intentional.

It’s not perfect, but it’s exactly where we’re meant to be.

And This Is What You’ll Find Here

This blog is for anyone who’s ever stood on the edge of change and wondered, Could we actually do it?

Here, you’ll find:

The real story of moving to France post-Brexit
What it’s like to raise a family in the Alps
The beauty and brutality of training for ultras with a toddler
The honest truth about expat life, French culture, therapy abroad, and why trail snacks are basically a love language

Whether you’re dreaming of moving abroad, figuring out how to chase your goals alongside raising a family, or just here for the stories.. I’m so glad you’ve found this space.

Come with me.

Your guide to life in the mountains—trail running, adventure, and expat living in Chamonix. From visa tips to epic trails and hidden alpine gems, make the Alps.