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Living in France

Living in France - The Essential First Steps

These notes cover how a UK citizen coming to live, or already resident in France can obtain the following;
1. The Residence Permit for retired persons [Carte de Sejour] for EU Citizens
2. Work Permit for EU citizens
3. Medical insurance [The French Health system for Expatriates]
4. French Health and Social Security
5. Vehicle Registration and Driving Licences
6. The French Banking System
7. Conclusion

1. Residents Permit for Retired Persons,
(carte de séjour) for EU citizens.

Strictly speaking, any non French National intending to reside in France, must, no later than three months after they arrive in France, obtain a residence permit known as the carte de séjour. This card is available from your local Préfecture [County Hall] in the main town of the département in which you live. For instance, in département 24 [Dordogne] the main town is Perigueux.

As a citizen of the EU, you are entitled to live and work in France provided you meet certain minimum requirements, which ensure you can support yourself financially and have adequate medical cover, at least equal to all other French citizens. In effect, by coming to live in France you will not be a burden on the state.

The first carte de séjour you receive will take the form of a temporary card called a recipisse. The card itself will be delivered in due course. It may be valid for an initial period of one or five years. It is renewable for a ten-year period and thereafter may be granted for life.

WARNING… There is a clear corollary between your application for a residents permit and the subsequent need to make a declaration for French Tax. Since 1998, at each renewal you will be required to produce copies of your FRENCH Income tax return. No Tax return, no card renewal!

To obtain the carte de sejour for EU nationals, there are two possible routes or options open to you;

1. Your local Mairie [Town Hall] could do the application for you, although not all offer this service.
2. Most likely you will need to visit the Bureau des Etrangers in the Préfecture of the main town of your département.

The form needed is provided at the time of application. If you do not have all the documents needed you have to start with a fresh application.

Warning…

Each Prefecture can and does have its own rules for applications. The list of documents required varies from place to place. First of all you must have obtained, or already be in possession of an acceptable form of medical insurance. In France that can now only take two forms:
1. Either an E106 or E121 issued by the DSS Overseas Branch in the UK.
2. Or the Carte Vitale which represents the French State health care known as CMU

The following list represents a fair cross sample but may not apply to your region. The moral here is check first and avoid delay and frustration!

- Proof of adequate medical cover. DSS medical visas E106 or E121 are acceptable, as are certificates from private international providers such as Bupa International, PPP International or other healthcare insurers. [Note: The E111 is not acceptable as it is for tourists]

- If you have no entitlement to the UK DSS medical visas, you must first, before applying for the residents permit, purchase medical cover from the French state scheme, known as the Caisse Primaire Assurance Maladie [CPAM]. You can also purchase a private French Health Insurance policy from any French Insurance company, but we recommend the CPAM as it has universal acceptance throughout France without quibble.

- With the introduction of CMU the cost of medical cover is set at 8% of your declared income. See our notes later in this report.

- The original of your current Passport, and a photocopy of the back 2 pages.

- Your original Birth Certificate and a photocopy.

- Where appropriate your marriage certificate, and a photocopy.

- Where appropriate your certificate or decree of divorce, and a photocopy.
-
- If you are living together, but not married, you need to obtain a certificate du concubine from your local Mairie before applying for the carte de sejour.

- 3 passport style photographs in either colour or black & white.

- Proof of regular income. Current minimum income per couple varies hugely from area to area, but an annual income equal to about FRS 80,000 [say  £12,200] is generally the norm. This can take the form of your pension statement, P60 or evidence of other financial resources, such as proof of investment income from a EU Life policy or a Unit trust designated as an UCITS. [The proof should be written in French].

- Proof that you own your own home in France. An original, with a photocopy of a recent utility bill, not more than 3 months old, such as a bill from EDF or France Telecom.
One last point: Before you go to the Bureau des Etrangers in your local préfecture, phone first to check the opening times of the office. They often do not keep normal office hours and it can be infuriating to travel for hours only to find that they have just shut for the day.

NOTE; as already stated, the documents demanded can vary from département to département. This list is not necessarily exhaustive and is subject to change. There are 95 départements in France, and thus 95 chances for it being different. Some départements may insist on an official translation of documents like birth certificates.

2. Work Permit for EU Citizens

You need all of the above documents listed in the previous sections, except the pension documents and health insurance, which will be provided by your employer. Clear written indication, in French, of the activity you intend to follow, (wage earners; employers declaration; craft; commercial lease; directors of companies; articles of association; minutes of the decision of the board).

Because of the principle of free circulation of employment in the European Union, any domestic limitations on the rights of individuals to enter and to work in France do not apply to nationals of other European Union member countries. Consequently, European Union Citizens only have to present their employment contract in addition to other documents mentioned below to obtain a work permit.

European Union Citizens do not have to present a business permit (carte de commerçant) to practice commercial, industrial and craft activities. Nevertheless, they can be required to present special documents such as titles of trade and original proof of examinations passed to practice regulated activities (eg Financial Services, Accountants and Estate Agents).

Professional people such as Doctors, Dentists etc may have to exhibit proof of a working knowledge of the French language and may also require special permits and may be required to pass additional examinations, but such posts are generally open to European Union Citizens with appropriate qualifications.

Finally, applicants may be required to attend state run courses [Stages] to prove their competence in either the language or certain popular disciplines such as Plumbing, Electricity or Building trades, where standards between countries differ.

3. Medical Insurance
[The French Health System for Expatriates]

On 1st January 2000, the French government introduced changes to its healthcare system.

The main aspects of the changes can be summarised as follows:

” All residents of France, except those residing in France for less than three months at any one time, are entitled, upon application, to benefit from the new French healthcare system, known as the Couverture Maladie Universelle (CMU). This will reimburse up to 100% of costs incurred in respect of medical treatment for certain sections of the populace.

” As an expatriate, you will be deemed to be legally resident in France and therefore required to contribute to the system if you occupy a property and are resident for an uninterrupted period of more than three months, or less if you are gainfully employed in France

” You will be required to pay an 8% contribution of your net annual income, over a threshold figure of 42,000FF if you are a single person, or 63,000FF if a married couple. Your payment is made quarterly in arrears. If your income level is below these threshold figures, you will still benefit from the CMU but are not required to pay a contribution.

” Should you be in receipt of the UK state retirement pension (an occupational pension in itself does not qualify as you may be in receipt of this in advance of the UK state retirement age) you will be exempt from contribution whatever your level of income. You will need to submit form E121 to your local office of the Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM) to claim exemption. This form is available from the DSS Overseas Branch, at Longbenton , Newcastle upon Tyne.

” If moving to France before reaching the UK state retirement age, you may be entitled to a period of ‘free’ cover from the CMU. If you have made National Insurance contributions in the recent past then you may have a portable entitlement. To claim the entitlement you must submit form E106 to the local CPAM for registration. The maximum period for cover under this arrangement is two years.

” In cases where your income is in excess of the double allowance of Ffrs 63,000, the CMU will only reimburse a designated proportion of the medical costs and therefore it is prudent to make arrangements to cover the balance of charges through a top-up (or supplementary cover known in France as sante’ complimentaire )

” You should purchase the top-up cover from a French mutuelle as the cost will reflect the uncovered portion of the CMU, and not be based upon paying for the whole cost, such as the case would be if you purchased a stand alone product such as BUPA or PPP.

Reimbursement of medical costs for claimants without a top-up policy vary according to the type of treatment being received. You will receive an up to date list with your social security medical card [Carte Vitale] but as a rough guide the following costs are reimbursable:

In patient hospital care where the treatment is in excess of 31 days 100%
In patient hospital care where the treatment is less than 31 days 80%

Consultations and out patient treatment 70%
Other medical care, such as paramedical, dental, vaccinations
radiology, analysis. 50%

Prescription [Pharmacie] charges

Medicines prescribed by a GP on the “white form” [vignette blanche]
plus all other medicines and pharmaceutical aids. 50%

Treatment of illnesses and infections of long duration [+31days]

Includes hospitalisation, continuing consultation and out patient
treatment, care at home or in the surgery of your GP. 100%

Maternity

Many of our retired expatriate clients will be further assured
to learn that without exception maternity treatment is paid in full, 100%

All other matters

In every case not mentioned above the reimbursable sum will
not be less than one half of the total cost. 50%

The basic CMU and the optional “top-up” have been introduced to give health cover to the poorest levels of society, who previously had to rely on charitable institutions (eg Croix Rouge, Medecins sans Frontier). It is not a new system into which all residents of France now fall; if you had health cover before 1st January 2000 from one of the caisses, you still have health cover with that caisse.

The minimum income levels or nil rate band before CMU is payable are:

Number of persons in the household Maximum level of monthly income [Ffrs] Maximum level of annual income [Ffrs]
One person 3,500 42,000
Two persons 5,250 63,000
Three persons 6,300 75,600
Four persons 7,350 88,200
More than 5 persons, supplement per person 1,400 16,800 per person

A family member is anyone claimed by the tax payer as being dependent, such as spouses, partners, children under 18 or in full time education, elderly relatives etc. A fully descriptive leaflet is available from your local office of CPAM, MSA or any office of the French Securité Sociale entitled “La couverture maladie universelle”.

4. French Health and Social Security

The big difference between the British and French systems is that autonomous bodies called ‘caisses’, each of which handles a different aspect of social security, such as pensions, health insurance and family allowances, carry out the administration of social security in France. To complicate matters, there are also different caisses for different classes of occupation.

If you are working in France, as an employee or self-employed, you must register with the social security organisations which cover your particular occupation and pay contributions called ‘cotisations’.
If you are employed it is your employer’s responsibility to register you with the various caisses. As in the UK, your employer pays his contributions and yours direct to the caisses and deducts your contribution from your salary. How much you pay depends on what you earn but, as a guideline, the basic cotisation for 2000 is just over 24% of gross salary.

If you have dependant children at school or in further education, you may be entitled to a Family Allowance. Health insurance is provided through the Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie. See section 3.
If you are self-employed, the basic procedure is the same but it is down to you to get yourself into the system. To add to the challenge, not only is there a different set of caisses for the self-employed but different caisses for different professional and occupational groups. It is your responsibility to register with the appropriate organisations. When you register as a self-employed person with your Chambre de Commerce or trade organisation (which you will have to do to get a carte de séjour), they will tell you which bodies to contact.

Cotisations are based on your previous year’s income. If you are starting a business in France, you may be able to get a reduction on some of them for the first year; you should negotiate with the relevant caisses.
When you plan your budget, remember that most of the cotisation demands come in November and August. They usually have to be paid almost immediately [say 15 days] and there are fines [majorations] for late payment.

Using the health service

Unlike the UK, you do not register with a particular doctor but can use anyone who suits you. Before making an appointment with a doctor or a dentist or going into hospital, check that they are conventionné. That means that their charges are within the limits set by the health service. If you use a non-conventionné doctor or hospital, you will have to pay an extra over the health service limits.

Briefly, this is how the system works. Visits to doctors, medical or dental treatment or prescriptions (ordonnances) bought from a chemist are recorded on an orange and white form called a feuille de soins.

You pay the doctor or the chemist direct, and then send off the feuille de soins to the address on your medical registration card. You will get a refund of the cost, depending on the treatment, but the maximum refund is steadily being reduced, making a top-up policy or complementary insurance, increasingly important.
The cost of the top-up will vary according to age, occupation, area and family numbers. However, it has to be said that the scheme is not cheap.

Living in France-The essential first steps

For UK nationals as citizens of the EU, retiring to France means you bring with you all the accrued benefits you were entitled to in the UK. The DSS have a comprehensive range of excellent leaflets, books etc, which spell out the rights of the individual moving to another EU country to live and retire.
” NI38 Social Security Abroad
” NI196 Social Security Benefit rates
” SA29 Your Social Security Insurance Benefits (Pensions) and Healthcare in the EU
” UBL22 Unemployment benefit in the EU
” FB6 Retiring
Contact address: DSS (Overseas Branch)
Longbenton
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE98 1YX

Put simply, by coming to live in France you will retain your pension, health care rights and a number of other benefits, but the general rule is that you get at least the equal rights of the country in which you reside. This can mean in some cases superior cover, and in others inferior cover.

If you are both under the normal UK retirement age (60 female, 65 male) then initially an E106 is needed which affords up to 18 months free UK cover. After that period, and until the 60/65 retirement age, you would have to buy cover in France as mentioned above.

When either spouse, who has a full entitlement to the UK State pension, reaches retirement age, the UK form E121 can be applied from the DSS in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (address as above). This form applies to all retired UK citizens who have paid into the UK National Insurance scheme during their working lives, and allows medical treatment up to the level of the French system.

Full details of French Social Security can be obtained from: Les Renseignments sur la Securitie Social at 69bis, rue de Dunkerque, 75453 Paris. Cedex 09. Tel [00.33].01.42.80.63.67

Once you are living in France you will find a number of ways to make economies. The way you live, the food you buy, the wine you drink. The one area you must never make economies in is health care. As you get older and live in a society that has little by way of “care in the community” for the French system is heavily biased towards the family unit, you need complete cover against all forms of illness. In the UK we are used to accepting that the welfare state will look after us come what may. This is not the case in France where you have no accrued rights to welfare or social security.

5. Vehicle Registration And Driving Licenses

This process is a minefield of bureaucracy and delay. Patience is a virtue when trying to re-register a foreign vehicle such a RHD (Right Hand Drive) car, even if it was originally made in France. If you can avoid bringing your UK registered car with you to France, do so. After all, once registered in France its resale value will be greatly reduced, and you will always be at a disadvantage by driving on the “kerb-side” of the road.

Any EU national intending to stay in France for more than three months does not have to pay any customs duty or TVA (VAT) for a foreign registered car they wish to import for their own use in France. Within a year of your arrival in France, you must re-register the car. This process is known as immatriculation. The registration document [log book] is called a carte grise. The process of immatriculation is complicated and can be expensive.

Procedures vary slightly in different areas but normally the first step is to contact the Direction Régionale de I’Industrie et de la Recherche (DRIRE) of your département. The DRIRE will give you a long list of documents. You need the cars original purchase invoice to show that you have paid VAT. If you bought your car privately, you may need to persuade the French authorities that the price on receipt includes a VAT element. Take the receipt to your local tax office, the Recette des Impôts, who will issue a Certificat de Douanes 846.

The next document is the Attestation de Conformité, which states that the car has been constructed to EU regulations. If the car is a French make and reasonably new, there should be no problem about this. When you take the car for the obligatory testing at the Centre de Côntrole des Véhicules, [it is the equivalent of a MOT] they can look up all the details.

If your car is not a French make, you should write to the head office in France of the particular manufacturer or importer to get a letter, in French, confirming that your model has been approved for France. Manufacturers have been known to charge large fees for this service. If your car is very old, there may be extra requirements, which the DRIRE will tell you about.

You then fill in a Demande de Certificat d’Immatriculation plus a form called Appendix 10 which the DRIRE will give you and get a Timbre Fiscale which you can buy from any tabac.

Once you have collected all these documents, send them with your British registration document and MOT certificate, (if applicable] plus photocopies of all the documents above to the DRIRE. There is also a charge payable by French cheque (made out to ‘Régie Recette DRIRE’). The charge is varied in line with inflation every year. If the car is more than 5 years old, you may be asked for a Certificate de Controle Technique [CTT] the MOT equivalent.

You will then be given an appointment to take your car to the Centre de Côntrole des Véhicules, where they will check the brakes, lights, chassis number and so on.

When all the paperwork is finalised, take it to the préfecture who will issue the logbook or carte grise [it is a grey card!]. The new registration number will be shown on the logbook. You will be asked to produce your carte de séjour and Certificat de Domicile as proof of identity and address. After ensuring that you have valid motor insurance all that you need to do is buy your new plates.

Question: Why do most Frenchmen carry small handbags around with them?

Answer: By law, you must carry the carte grise, all your insurance documents, your permis de conduire (driving licence) and your carte de séjour plus any work permit with you, in the car, or about your person at all times. The French police [les flic] can and do stop you at any time and demand to see them. You can be fined on the spot for every missing item.

Exchange Of A Current EU Driving Licence

Any driver intending to reside in France in excess of a three-month period will have to exchange his domestic driving licence for a French driving licence. Although an EU directive was passed in July 1997 allowing the retention of a domestic driving licence, this only applies to persons who are temporarily resident in France. If your sole place of residence is France you must change your driving licence.

This exchange must be done before the end of the first year of residence following the granting of the Carte de Sejour. Failure to do so could result in the person having to sit a French driving test, something to be avoided at all costs, as it involves an oral, written and a practical test at substantial cost. One major benefit of changing your UK driving licence is that a French driving licence is for life. It is not renewable. Your UK licence is renewable at age 70, and only re-issued if you are medically proven able to drive.

The documents needed to replace the licence again may vary from place to place, but generally speaking the Préfecture [Bureau des Mines] wants:

- a copy of your residence permit,
- your valid domestic (e.g. UK) driving licence.
- proof of residence, (e.g. a recent utility bill)
- a fee of currently 350 FF
- Two passport size photographs in colour or black and white.

6. The French Banking System

French banking has a completely different culture from UK high street banks and operates to strict rules. For instance, writing a cheque on an overdrawn account (a ‘chèque en bois’) is officially illegal. So is post-dating a cheque. Worse, if a cheque bounces because you were out of the country and the funds you sent over have not arrived, you will be immediately blacklisted by the Bank of France. If the situation is not sorted out within a month or the cheque bounces a second time, you can be fined and banned from owning a chequebook for 10 years.

The basic criteria for choosing a bank are the same whichever country you are in. These include ease of access, the charges and the bank’s willingness to supply any loans or mortgages you may need.
For the expatriate, there are more specific criteria. First is the ease and cost of international transfers. To avoid delays and extra charges, your French bank should always be a ‘correspondent’ of your UK bank. Some British banks now operate special agreements for cheaper, swifter transfers to specific French banks. Some French banks have specialist departments for expatriates.

The Compte Courant is a normal cheque account in sole or joint names, on which you can also have a Carte Bleue debit card. To open the account, you need proof of your address, like an electricity bill and a ‘pièce d’identité’ such as a ‘carte de séjour’ or a passport. By signing the application form, you are, in effect, confirming that you understand French banking law.

The biggest source of misunderstanding is the bank value dating system, which means that the balance they give you on any one day is rarely the ‘real’ balance used to calculate overdraft interest.
Unless you understand how value dating works, you could end up paying unnecessary interest. Say you are transferring money from the UK to pay your builder. You phone your bank, who confirm that the transfer has arrived. So you give a cheque to your builder who takes it straight to his bank in the same town. Your bank will receive this cheque the next day for payment.

However, your bank will consider that they received the transfer one day later (Jour + 1) and that the cheque was received for payment 2 days before (Jour - 2). In ‘value dating’ terms, you may have been overdrawn for 2 days and may be charged interest at the end of the month. What makes it more confusing is that your bank statement will not show you as overdrawn.

The Carte Bleue is a debit card system like Switch but you use a P.I.N. (Personal Identity Number) rather than a signature for all transactions. With your Carte Bleue, you can withdraw money from any bank’s cash machine anywhere in France and, with most cards, throughout the world. You can pay most supermarket, restaurant or other bills with your card.

When you use your card, your bank account is automatically debited. Cash withdrawals on your card are always debited immediately. With other transactions, you have a choice between ‘débit immediat’ and ‘débit différé. Débit immediat is self-explanatory. With débit differé, the month’s transactions are debited as a lump sum at the end of the month.

All banks have an instant access compte sur livret, which pays taxable interest. There are also several types of tax-free accounts, but there is a limit to how much money you can save in them. These are the Livret A, available only from the Caisse d’Epargne or the Post Office and the Codevi, available from all banks.

7. Conclusion

We have outlined the major areas you need to consider when you are either Living in France or just planning your new life for your retirement years. Of necessity we cannot envisage every individual circumstance.

Bonne courage et Bonne chance pour l’avenir !