Lots of General questions regarding living in France

[Andy and Lucy]

The time has come now when we are definately able to move to France, but the realisation of what is involved and what we need to do/find out is dawning ! I'm be really very grateful for information you can provide on any of the following subjects :

1) Living in France - do we need to register somehow to become citizens? If so, where and how and what to we need ?

2) Health Care / Social Security - I will be self-employed working from home with our current business and my partner will be working in the UK. Will we be covered by the French healthcare system.

3) Doctors - Is it just a case of registering at your local surgery - will we need documentation of proof of residency.

3) Taxes

4) Driving - anything we need to change or register to - are the british driving licenses ok.

5) Bank Accounts - What documentation is needed to open a french bank account.

Anything other important stuff that we need to know that I haven't thought of yet also much appreciated.

Many many thanks

Lucy

[dougondemand]

Originally Posted by Andy and Lucy

The time has come now when we are definately able to move to France, but the realisation of what is involved and what we need to do/find out is dawning ! I'm be really very grateful for information you can provide on any of the following subjects :

1) Living in France - do we need to register somehow to become citizens? If so, where and how and what to we need ?

2) Health Care / Social Security - I will be self-employed working from home with our current business and my partner will be working in the UK. Will we be covered by the French healthcare system.

3) Doctors - Is it just a case of registering at your local surgery - will we need documentation of proof of residency.

3) Taxes

4) Driving - anything we need to change or register to - are the british driving licenses ok.

5) Bank Accounts - What documentation is needed to open a french bank account.

Anything other important stuff that we need to know that I haven't thought of yet also much appreciated.

Many many thanks

Lucy

Hello!

OK I'll try to answer as much as I can. I'm assuming you're UK citizens.

1) You don't need to become French citizens to live here (you can after several years here, but I'm pretty sure you'd lose your UK citizenship). As EU citizens you can come and go as you please. If you're going to be here for a long period of time I do suggest you pop by the local prefecture and see if you can get a carte de séjour-it's widely accepted as an ID and will come in useful as you plan on staying in France for a long period of time.

2)Healthcare depends on your status in France, your status in the UK, etc. Contact the Department of Work and Pensions and ask about which E-form you need. You then take this to the Assurance Maladie once you're in France and you'll be entitled to French healthcare.

In France you're responsible for paying (in most cases) 1/3 of the cost of treatment, so you'll want to get top-up insurance (mutuelle).

3) In France you will eventually have to sign up with a GP. I'm not sure what documents are required for this.

4) British driving licences are accepted in France. You should be able to change this into a French driving licence if you want.

5) Bank accounts - you'll need your passport and proof of address. Most banks require that you make an appointment to open an account, and they'll tell you if you need any other documents.

[Bevdeforges]

Let me add my particular spin on these questions, as my experience seems to differ just a bit from what Doug has told you. (These things vary by departement, so it's entirely possible that we're both right!)

Originally Posted by Andy and Lucy

1) Living in France - do we need to register somehow to become citizens? If so, where and how and what to we need ?

If you really want to become French nationals, you first have to live in France for something like 5 years. But as an EU national, there isn't really any overwhelming reason to take French nationality unless you really fancy voting in French elections. (You can still vote in the European elections.)

2) Health Care / Social Security - I will be self-employed working from home with our current business and my partner will be working in the UK. Will we be covered by the French healthcare system.

To be covered by the French system, you need to set up your business under one of the French statutes. (It can be either a French business or a "surcussale" - not sure at all of the spelling - a branch of the UK business.) Depending on your type of business and your current and expected turnover, there are a number of statues you may want to look at: EURL, auto-entrepreneur, and a couple others. Search online if your French is up to it, otherwise you may want to consult with an expert comptable (i.e. accountant) who speaks English. Your partner will need to file the proper forms to be covered by the French system while paying into (or so I assume) the British system.

3) Doctors - Is it just a case of registering at your local surgery - will we need documentation of proof of residency.

Actually, you don't even need to do that. Once you have your carte vitale (a green social security card with a chip), you can go to just about any doctor you like. To receive the "full" reimbursement from the sécu, however, you need to declare a "medecin traitaint" (basically a primary doctor). Forms for doing so are available online or usually from the doctors. If you don't declare a primary doctor, your sécu reimboursements are a bit lower, especially if you go to see a specialist without having a referral.

One thing to note on doctors (it seems to take many people by surprise) - France has a reimbursement system. You pay the doctor or lab (by cheque or cash - a few labs now take credit cards, but few doctors do) and then you are reimbursed by a combination of the sécu and your mutuelle (a private top-up insurance that is optional).

3) Taxes

Ah, the "fun" stuff. Normally, if you're resident in France, you pay taxes in France. But your partner should check with the employer in the UK. That situation can get tricky.

4) Driving - anything we need to change or register to - are the british driving licenses ok.

British licenses should be ok, but can be easily exchanged for French ones at the local préfecture. Are you planning on bringing your UK car (i.e. RHD or LHD)? That registration will probably need to be changed over, though I'm not sure the regulations on that.

5) Bank Accounts - What documentation is needed to open a french bank account.

Normally, standard i.d., proof of residence and three months' worth of pay slips or other proof of resources. The other tricky thing is that you usually need to make an appointment to open a bank account - generally they'll make an appointment fairly soon - same day or next day - but you can't just waltz in and open an account on the spot.

Anything other important stuff that we need to know that I haven't thought of yet also much appreciated.

Re what Doug said about the carte de séjour. In our préfecture at least, they will NOT issue a carte de séjour to EU nationals, who don't need one. Your mileage may vary, but don't be surprised if they refuse to issue you one. You do need some sort of i.d. card, and failing that, get used to carrying your passport. Driving licenses aren't considered proper i.d. Though, should you be stopped and asked for i.d., you have 24 or 48 hours to return to the authority (usually the police) with your i.d. document. Bit of a pain if you're away from home, but normally not too difficult to manage. Other than for writing cheques (which I don't do very often) I have had no reason to show i.d. in the 15 or so years I've been living here.
Cheers,
Bev

As usual in France, I've had slightly different experiences, too !

A few notes :

* You can vote in EU elections and local elections as EU citizens.
* The "representative office" of a UK business has some incentives. Read up the general rules here : Accueil - APCE, agence pour la cration d'entreprises, cration d'entreprise, crer sa socit, reprendre une entreprise, aides la cration dentreprise, ppinire d'entreprise
* Tax is normally paid in the country of residence. Residence is normally over 183 days in any one tax year. The assumed rules for UK residence are currently under review by the UK tax people.
* For most taxes, there is double taxation relief. This means that you do not pay tax twice on the same income, but you may have to pay at the higher rate (If UK tax on assessable income is lower than the equivalent French tax, the French tax office can, but normally don't, assess you for the difference if you are resident in France. Obviously, there is no relief on taxes that only exist in one of the countries e.g. wealth tax.
* The question of having a primary residence (so exempt from CGT) in two countries at the same time is interesting. My notaire said "I don"t know and I don't want to know !"
* Best to get a French license. It does not expire at age 70. Check carefully that small lorry or large mc groups are transferred over, if that is important.
* Cars - unless you are close to the channel ports, it is best to sell RHD in UK and buy LHD here or in a cheaper EU country. Unless you are 100% legal in either UK or France, there are risks. There are a lot of UK registered cars around with no tax disk. The problem is validity of insurance on UK cars with no MOT, and the likelihood of being stopped at the channel ports if you are driving a UK reg car with no tax & MOT. Some take French insurance with a French CT on a UK plated RHD vehicle, this has the same problems.
* Proof of residence - a recent utility invoice is the most valuable document.
* UK passports don't have addresses. So, they prove nationality but not residence. Awkward French authorities can refuse to accept them as id.
* This was a few years ago, but I had to get a CdS to start a business in France.
* If you get stopped for an offence by gendarmes, a French registered car, with id confirming the driving license and registration docs earns you a pre printed form to pay your fine from the comfort of your own home (and tabac). Absence of documents means immobilising the car until you can pay cash. This will happen in the rain - I promise !


Ask 100 people their experiences, and you will have 100 different replies. The good news is that once everything is in place ( around 3 months) you will rarely use any of your new official documents.

This one took 8 months to get, and has never been used or seen by anyone but me. In fact, very few Brits know what it is. It doesn't pay to argue with officialdom, and I was dealing with the only official who insisted on this :

It was supposedly needed to get the CdS, but the CdS was issued without it when someone cleared their desk for the Xmas holidays !

Peter