Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

LIVING IN FRANCE

Utility bills, ‘sexy’ myths and French seasons: 6 essential articles for life in France

What to look for in your next electricity bill, the truth about the ‘sexy' French, renting out your holiday home and Constitutional change - everything you need to know about life in France is in our round-up of must-reads in The Local

Published: 5 February 2023 08:48 CET
Utility bills, ‘sexy’ myths and French seasons: 6 essential articles for life in France
Electricity bills are set to rise from this month (Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP)

Last year saw a price freeze on energy bills in France that protected consumers from spiralling gas and electricity charges seen in other European countries.

This ended on December 31st and instead a price cap has been imposed, that allows bills to rise. The first price rise – on gas bills – came into effect from January 1st, and from February 1st electricity bills can also rise. Here’s what it all means for your monthly bills.

EXPLAINED: How your French electricity bill will change in February

One of the most enduring stereotypes about the French is that they are impossibly romantic, utterly charming, dangerously seductive and just downright sexy.

We know this label can’t possibly apply to an entire nation – but where does the image come from? And how do the French themselves feel about it? We asked the experts. 

Where does the ‘romantic, sexy French’ stereotype come from?

Many people dream of moving to France. It is a country steeped in culture and beautiful natural landscapes. It also has a remarkable work-life balance and social safety net.

If you are one of those who are thinking – or even just daydreaming – about moving to France, it can be hard to know where to start in your preparations. Here’s our checklist for the essential things to do before the move.

Checklist: 10 things to do before moving to France

Once you’re here, you’ll soon discover that France is like nowhere else on Earth. Some countries have just four seasons, but those lucky enough to live in France have a dizzying array of different ‘seasons’ defined by food, drink, dress and festivals. Here is our guide to the real seasons of France.

Oysters to firemen’s balls and la rentrée: The 25 seasons of the French year

Renting out your holiday home – either on a long-term or a short-term basis – is perfectly legal in France. But if you’ve bought a second home hoping that, as well as a pleasant bolthole, it will also generate some rental income, there are some things you need to know. Well, it’s complicated…

Five things to know about renting out your French property

As France moves closer to inscribing the right to abortion in its constitution, we explain how it’s possible for a country to change its fundamental document. It clearly is, as France has had more than a dozen of them in its time.

Can France’s Constitution be changed?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

What’s the deal with passport stamping in France?

There are clear guidelines in place about who should have their passport stamped when they enter or leave France - but the letter of the law doesn't always seem to be applied on the ground. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 17 May 2024 14:24 CEST
What's the deal with passport stamping in France?

When you pass through a French border control post, officers will check your passport and – in some cases – stamp the date of your entry or exit of the country onto one of the blank pages in the booklet.

Although the system should be clear and simple, it becomes complicated when conflicting information is given on the ground.

Here’s what the rules say, and whether it’s really a problem if your passport is incorrectly stamped.

Who should be stamped?

The purpose of the date stamps for entry and exit is to calculate how long you have been in France, and therefore whether you have overstayed your allowed time – whether that is the time allowed by a short-stay Schengen visa or the visa-free 90-day allowance that certain non-EU nationals benefit from. 

Those people who are exempt from 90-day restrictions should therefore not have their passports stamped.

EU passport – people who have an EU passport should not have it stamped, because they have the right to unlimited stays due to EU freedom of movement.

Dual nationals – people who have passports of both EU and non-EU countries should not be stamped when they are travelling on their EU passport. However, because the passports of dual nationals are not ‘linked’, those travelling on their non-EU passports will be stamped, unless they have other proof of residency.

READ ALSO What are the rules for dual-nationals travelling in France?

French residents – the passports of non-EU citizens who have a residency permit in France (carte de séjour) should not be stamped, because they have the right to stay in France for as long as their permit is valid.

Visa holders – people who have a long-stay visa or a short-stay visitor visa should not be stamped, because they have the right to stay in France for as long as their visa is valid. 

Tourists/visitors – people making short visits to France who do not have a visa should be stamped, with the stamps keeping track of their 90-day allowance. Visitors from nationalities who do not benefit from the 90-day rule (eg Indians) are also stamped.

Travel practicalities

When crossing a French border, you should present your passport along with other documents – visa or carte de séjour – if relevant. Don’t wait for border guards to ask whether you are a resident.

It should be noted that the carte de séjour is not a travel document and cannot be used to cross borders, not even internal Schengen zone borders. The only valid travel documents for entering France are a passport or national ID card. Any other forms of ID – driving licence, residency card etc – cannot be used for travel purposes.

Border problems

While the rules on stamping are simple in theory, many readers of The Local have reported having their passports incorrectly stamped at the border, and this seems to be a particular problem for non-EU nationals who are resident in France.

Travellers are also often given incorrect information by border guards – for example being told that only holders of the post-Brexit Article 50 TUE carte de séjour are exempt from stamping, that all non-EU nationals must have their passports stamped or that only being married to a French national exempts you from stamping.

None of these are correct.

It’s also sometimes the case that people whose passports should be stamped – tourists, visitors and second-home owners who don’t have a visa – do not receive the stamp. For frequent visitors this can be a problem because it looks as though they have had a long stay in France, due to their exit not being recorded.

The system of stamping itself is also a bit haphazard with stamps scattered throughout the passport book in random order, so border guards sometimes make mistakes and miss an entry or exit stamp and therefore think that people have overstayed when they haven’t.

So how much of a problem actually is it if your passport is wrongly stamped?

It’s one thing to know the rules yourself, it’s quite another to have an argument with a border guard, in French, when a long queue is building behind you. Numerous Local readers have reported feeling that they had no choice but to accept a stamp when an implacable guard insisted upon it.

But is this really a problem?

One thing is clear – if you are a resident of France then you have the right to re-enter, and your proof of residency (visa or carte de séjour) takes precedence over any passport stamps. So it’s not a question of being barred from the country – it can, however, be inconvenient as it might lead to delays at the border while your passport record is queried.

Meanwhile people who did not receive correct exit stamps can be incorrectly told that they have over-stayed and even be liable for a fine. 

Will the new EES passport control system improve this?

Theoretically, the EU’s new Entry & Exit System – which does away with the manual stamping of passports – should get rid of these problems.

However, as we have seen, theory and what actually happens on the ground are two different things.

The EES system, due to come into effect later this year, brings in two main changes – it makes passport checks more secure by adding diometric data such as fingerprints and facial scans and it does away with manual stamping of passports and replaces it with scans which automatically calculate how long people have been in France.

You can read full details of how it works HERE. 

So that should eliminate the problems of unclear stamps, stamps being read wrongly or passports not getting the stamps they need.

Residents in France – carte de séjour and visa holders – are not required to complete EES checks and should have a separate system at ports, airports and railway terminals.

However, at present it’s pretty common for border guards to give incorrect information to non-EU residents who are resident in the EU – let’s hope that they are properly briefed before EES is deployed.

Have you had problems with passports being incorrectly stamped? Please share your experiences in the comments section below

SHOW COMMENTS