Setting up a bank acct.

[yendis71]

Hi---My wife & I are currently doing the research on moving to France. A consideration (among many) is how to set up a bank acct. in France. Would appreciate any suggestions. We are U.S. citizens & have a retirement acct. with an investment company & a couple bank accts. Of course, we plan to keep the money there & transfer funds to a French bank acct.
Thanks----Sid

[Bevdeforges]

Hi Sid, and welcome to the forum.

It will probably be easiest if you delay setting up a French bank account until after your arrival. Once you have your carte de séjour, you can simply set up an appointment with your choice of local bank, supply them with all the documents they ask for (identity, source of funds, etc.) and away you go.

If you try to set up an account before you move over, you'll be limited to a "foreigner" account which makes matters a bit more complicated. (And besides, I think in many banks you wind up having to open a new account once you get your resident status and close out the old foreigner account.)

Banking in France is not as "easy" as in the US. You usually have to pay to have Internet access to your account - and chances are you can't make Internet transfers directly between your US accounts and your French account. But you can set up a standing order with your US banks to transfer money regularly to your French bank. (Just be careful about the fees involved - they add up quickly and make it worthwhile to transfer larger sums less frequently.)

Keep us posted how your plans are coming.
Cheers,
Bev

[giantpanda]

Hi!

Basically it should be no problem.

In practice, you will find that some banks are rather touchy as regards the documents you have to present, especially if you have no address in France.

The Crédit Agricole has a good English service, which would certainly operate for you, but you have to consider that there can be regional differences ( They are a national bank, but still are in practice a gathering of cooperatives banks, trying to unite ).

You have to get information on the best way of transferring money from the US, and the costs both sides of the Atlantic, which can be different from bank to bank.

Yours,

giantpanda

PS. Have you gone into the health question? Also have you contracted a French Consulate in US to clear the formalities you will find, before you can settel permanently in France.

[yendis71]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Hi Sid, and welcome to the forum.

It will probably be easiest if you delay setting up a French bank account until after your arrival. Once you have your carte de séjour, you can simply set up an appointment with your choice of local bank, supply them with all the documents they ask for (identity, source of funds, etc.) and away you go.

If you try to set up an account before you move over, you'll be limited to a "foreigner" account which makes matters a bit more complicated. (And besides, I think in many banks you wind up having to open a new account once you get your resident status and close out the old foreigner account.)

Banking in France is not as "easy" as in the US. You usually have to pay to have Internet access to your account - and chances are you can't make Internet transfers directly between your US accounts and your French account. But you can set up a standing order with your US banks to transfer money regularly to your French bank. (Just be careful about the fees involved - they add up quickly and make it worthwhile to transfer larger sums less frequently.)

Keep us posted how your plans are coming.
Cheers,
Bev

Thanks for your quick & informative response, Bev
Sid

[yendis71]

And thanks to you, too--giantpanda.
Sid

[yendis71]

,[/QUOTE]

giantpanda

PS. Have you gone into the health question? Also have you contracted a French Consulate in US to clear the formalities you will find, before you can settel permanently in France.[/QUOTE]

Hi, giantpanda--thanks for the PS comment. We live in Seattle & we have to go to the San Francisco consulate for an 'interview' (no consulate in Seattle).

My wife has found a few health insurance companies & I don't have that info w/ me right now. We are seniors w/ minor prior health conditions (I forgot the proper term for that); she found out that our annual health insurance cost (because of the prior health conditions) would be about $20,000 for the both of us. Any insurance recommendations would be appreciated.
Sid

[Bevdeforges]

You may want to look into an expat organization called AARO (AARO - Association of Americans Resident Overseas). It's located in Paris and they offer medical insurance to their members that should meet the French requirements. I used to be a member of the organization, but never got the insurance. From everything I heard, the coverage is about as reasonable as it gets.

It's worth a look-see at any rate.
Cheers,
Bev

[yendis71]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

You may want to look into an expat organization called AARO (AARO - Association of Americans Resident Overseas). It's located in Paris and they offer medical insurance to their members that should meet the French requirements. I used to be a member of the organization, but never got the insurance. From everything I heard, the coverage is about as reasonable as it gets.

It's worth a look-see at any rate.
Cheers,
Bev

Thanks, Bev------My wife did look into AARO, now that you mentioned it, & the info is in our 'Move to France' folder. It's good to know, however, that it's "about as reasonable as it gets".
Sid