In Anna’s words:

I learned that you can go to France on a student visa to a language school. And I did it with the intention to later change the visa to Passeport Talent.

I applied for Passeport Talent renommé national/international online in June 2023. My case had about 180 pages and included the maximum amount of information for the last 2 years as well as something for 2016-2017. I didn’t put any work contracts there as those are not very common in the music industry. Instead I included a lot of information about my past earnings from 2022. It worked.

A week later I was asked to clarify where I study. Then after 2-3 days they asked me to send the info about my attendance, grades from the French course and resend my financial documents. After 3 weeks my Passeport Talent for 4 years was approved.
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My documents:

1. Education documents:

• Translation of a degree from the Moscow Conservatory certified by a French notary
• Translation of my master's degree from Tel Aviv University
• Translation of two foreign internships

2. Information about awards:

8 translated award certificates

3. Publications in the media and concert posters:

Interviews in the magazine and articles in online media. There are a lot of publications about me, because I have an official album released on a German label which is sold in online stores and is on various streaming services.

4. Recommendations:

There are seven in total: two from French individuals and five from past and future employers from different countries. Some of the recommendations were simply my characteristics. And the other ones mentioned intentions about future projects and concerts. But without any specifying fees.

The biggest challenge in the paperwork was that musicians often do not have standard contracts. Therefore, in my case there was no evidence that I would have specific earnings in the next season. But it turned out that visa can be approved even without this information.

5. Financial documents:

• Israeli bank account statement (24,000 euros)
• French bank account statement (3,000 euros)
• Contracts and receipts for 2022, which indicated the exact amounts

6. Motivation letter:

One page of text in French. I wrote it myself and I think there are mistakes there, but I decided to leave everything as it is. To make it clear that the text is mine.

In the letter I stated:

• intention to obtain this visa
• a small paragraph about myself and my career
• explained my desire to learn French (an important step in integration in the country)
• praised French culture, history of the country and music industry
• indicated my political position

7. Description of the future project in France:

“I would like to become an individual entrepreneur and open a private teaching studio.”

8. I have also attached my CV in French
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My advices:

1. If you’re applying from France, translate and notarize all your documents there. For some translations simple free online PDF translators were enough.

2. Make sure your motivational letter is perfect - it’s the key.

3. Passeport Talent is a relatively new program and not everyone understands all of its nuances. So make sure whoever's assisting you, is well aware of all the requirements of all 11 categories of Passeport Talent.

4. You need to be prepared that when you relocate, everything takes longer than you expected: what you thought was going to take 6 months, will in fact take 2 years.

5. You can translate a lot of things using free online tools.