Working in New York as a French citizen: visas, salaries and the job market

◆Why New York pulls you in (and what gets said less)

New York is a magnet, and I won't pretend otherwise. Finance, tech, media, consulting and luxury concentrate a density of opportunity you rarely find elsewhere, and the city's professional energy is genuinely its own thing: you move fast, you meet people fast, you change roles fast. If your field touches any of these worlds, the New York market can accelerate a career far earlier than you'd expect in Paris.

Where I want to be honest with you is about what we idealize a little too quickly: accessibility. The job market is open, companies are hiring, listings are plentiful. But for a French person, the real difficulty is almost never the job itself. It's the right to work there. Until that question is settled, the rest stays theoretical, and that's precisely where many projects stall.

◆The visa, the real first step

In the United States, you can't simply "apply and move". You need a status that authorizes you to work, and that's the real obstacle, especially when you're starting out. I'd rather tell you how things actually stand today than keep you in the belief that anything is possible: some doors are in practice almost closed, others stay open if you know where to look.

• H-1B: the "classic" skilled-worker visa is now very hard to get. The annual quota is saturated and allocation happens through a lottery where the odds are low. In practice, few young people obtain it — don't build your plan on it.
• E-2 (treaty visa): thanks to the France–US commerce treaty, French citizens are eligible. It lets you work for a French company established in the United States (as an "essential" or specialized employee of the same nationality), or start or invest in a business. Along with the J-1, it's one of the few doors genuinely open to a young person, because it bypasses the H-1B lottery. The downside: it's tied to the treaty company and doesn't directly open permanent residence.
• J-1: the exchange or internship. It's a common entry route to get a first foot on the ground, often converted into something else afterward.
• L-1 and O-1: worth knowing, but more situational. The L-1 assumes you already work for a group present in the US that transfers you internally; the O-1 targets "extraordinary" profiles and stays rare early in a career.

◆The salary that impresses, the cost that surprises

New York salaries are among the highest in the world, and that's no legend: in finance or tech, the headline figures genuinely impress. But a gross number tells you nothing until you subtract the rest, and the rest, here, weighs heavily.

First, tax, which stacks across three layers: federal, New York State, and New York City on top. Your effective rate climbs fast. Then rent, among the most expensive anywhere: in Manhattan or sought-after Brooklyn neighborhoods, it can swallow a huge share of your net pay. Finally healthcare, largely private and often tied to your employer, with out-of-pocket costs that can surprise you. My advice fits in one sentence: always reason in net pay after tax and rent, not the headline salary. Cost-of-living indices (Numbeo, Mercer) regularly place New York among the most expensive cities in the world.

◆How French people actually get there

Very rarely through an online application sent from France, and that's worth knowing. The French people who succeed in settling almost always go through a path where the status is settled alongside the role, or even before it. Here are the routes I see working for a young profile.

• Through the E-2 visa: joining a French company established in the United States. It's often the most realistic route when you're starting out, because it avoids the lottery.
• Through the J-1 or OPT: an exchange, an internship, or a post-graduation work period for those who studied on site.
• Through the V.I.E.: a frequent springboard, which then leads to a local hire in many cases.
• Through your network, decisive once you're on the ground: French Tech NYC, alumni networks, French-American circles. Many roles are only won at this level.

◆The codes of American hiring

Copying your French CV works against you. The American "resume" ideally fits on one page, with no photo and no date of birth, and it's centered on quantified results rather than a list of duties. It's a shift in logic: people want to know what you produced, not just what you were responsible for.

Networking, then, isn't optional: reaching out, getting coffees, following up, all of it is expected and even valued. Finally, prepare for interviews that are often "behavioral", where you'll be asked to recount specific situations ("tell me about a time when…"). Prepare your stories in advance, with concrete examples; improvising on this ground shows immediately.

◆Settling in: the details that snag

This is often where the fatigue hits, on things you hadn't anticipated. Without a Social Security Number (SSN) and without a credit history, opening an account, renting a place or even getting a simple phone plan becomes laborious in the first weeks. Security deposits are high, proof-of-income requirements are demanding, and everything asks you to prove a stability you haven't yet had time to build on site. Plan for this start-up phase, keep a financial cushion, and don't be surprised that the first steps take longer than expected. As with visas, documents and thresholds evolve: confirm with official sources before committing.