thinking of moving to france with young family

[camerahappy]

Hi my name is Danny and im thinking of moving to france with my young family. I am a carpenter/ joiner but am skilled in most building trades.I am looking to buy a old house for renavation and get work in which ever area i settle.Can anyone recomend a good place to look for old houses.Does anybody know of any jobs in there area.Many thanks Dan

[giantpanda]

Originally Posted by camerahappy

Hi my name is Danny and im thinking of moving to france with my young family. I am a carpenter/ joiner but am skilled in most building trades.I am looking to buy a old house for renavation and get work in which ever area i settle.Can anyone recomend a good place to look for old houses.Does anybody know of any jobs in there area.Many thanks Dan

Hi!

Normally I would recommend not to come to France without a job - it is much harder than most people image, even if there is a need for carpenters - everywhere.

Of course if you work on you own house in the beginning that gives you a bit of lee-way.

Try to get employed work for a time - it will allow you to learn the particularities and some of the " red tape " without risking too much yourself;

But also the important question would be the health coverage.

If you have a E106, you will be covered a maximum of 2 years, and afterward, if you were to be without work, then you would require your own private health insurance which can cost something like Euro 3000 per person per year.

NB. Uf you are covered ( with the French State Health Insurance only ) then your wife and children would also be covered without extra charge.

Yours,

giantpanda

[Bevdeforges]

Hi Danny, and welcome to the forum here.

Depends a bit on where you are coming from. If you've got an EU nationality, you certainly can move to France and start job hunting. It can be very difficult, however, to find work unless you speak the local language reasonably well.

If you're coming from outside the EU, you have to go the visa route, and that's not easy, particularly if you need a visa that will allow you to work.
Cheers,
Bev

[camerahappy]

Hi
Thanks for your reply i am British can speak a little French.
Many thanks
Danny

[Rentals Pages]

Hi Danny

First let me say that unless you can speak French you won’t be able to get a job with a French Company. I presume you will want to come to a rural area as there are very few large properties to buy in the big cities. Therefore your perspective employers will be few. Most small French building companies cannot afford to employ staff because of the restrictive cotisation system of taxes. Larger building companies in the provinces are few.

That means that your only other option is to become self employed and start a micro enterprise, which is a small registered company (I’m assuming you want to be totally legal in France). So before you can start a micro enterprise, you will probably have to go on a stage, or course to learn the French tax and health regulations. This to my mind is a total waste of time because what happens is this: The course lasts for anything up to a week, so you take some one with you who can speak French. The instructors drone on (in French) about legal taxation and other technical matters that make even the native French people on the course drop off to sleep. Your friend then only translates half of the information. At least at the end of the stage you get a certificate, but if you make a mistake on your tax returns, there is no excuse.

There are thousands of Expats coming to France each year and the building trade seems to attract a lot of them, even if they’ve never worked in the industry in their lives. You are different as you have a trade and skill, but it still won’t be easy for you. Any savings you may have will soon be eaten up with the cost of living especially if you have children, so you will need quite a bit of money to live on before you can start earning anything. I’m not trying to put you off coming here. It is a wonderful country to live in and I for one wouldn’t live anywhere else, but you need to be aware of the realities.

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by Rentals Pages

Hi Danny

First let me say that unless you can speak French you won’t be able to get a job with a French Company. I presume you will want to come to a rural area as there are very few large properties to buy in the big cities. Therefore your perspective employers will be few. Most small French building companies cannot afford to employ staff because of the restrictive cotisation system of taxes. Larger building companies in the provinces are few.

That means that your only other option is to become self employed and start a micro enterprise, which is a small registered company (I’m assuming you want to be totally legal in France). So before you can start a micro enterprise, you will probably have to go on a stage, or course to learn the French tax and health regulations. This to my mind is a total waste of time because what happens is this: The course lasts for anything up to a week, so you take some one with you who can speak French. The instructors drone on (in French) about legal taxation and other technical matters that make even the native French people on the course drop off to sleep. Your friend then only translates half of the information. At least at the end of the stage you get a certificate, but if you make a mistake on your tax returns, there is no excuse.

There are thousands of Expats coming to France each year and the building trade seems to attract a lot of them, even if they’ve never worked in the industry in their lives. You are different as you have a trade and skill, but it still won’t be easy for you. Any savings you may have will soon be eaten up with the cost of living especially if you have children, so you will need quite a bit of money to live on before you can start earning anything. I’m not trying to put you off coming here. It is a wonderful country to live in and I for one wouldn’t live anywhere else, but you need to be aware of the realities.

I have sent you a pm, please reply urgently

[kiscat]

Don`t choose Montpellier - it`s a dump