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How non-EU citizens can move to France (and stay here)

From visas to residency cards, taxes to health insurance - here's what you need to know about moving to France, and ensuring that you can stay here.

Published: 16 August 2022 16:19 CEST

How non-EU citizens can move to France (and stay here)

The first step is getting a visa. Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP

Moving to France is undeniably easier if you are covered by EU freedom of movement, for non-EU citizens it’s still very possible, but requires more paperwork.

First things first, unless you are fortunate enough to have dual nationality with an EU country (eg Ireland) you will need a visa in order to come and live in France.

It’s important to note that your visa has to be sorted before you leave your home country. Depending on your nationality you may be able to travel to France visa-free for up to 90 days at a time, but you cannot ‘convert’ your status from tourist to resident while you are in France.

Almost all visas charge processing fees and you need to be prepared to create a big bundle of supporting documents, but the first thing to do is work out the type of visa that you need.

Here’s an overview of the most common types:

Spouse Visa

Contrary to popular belief, being married to a French person doesn’t exempt you from the visa process, but does make things a little easier if you decide to go for a spouse visa – you’ll be able to get a 12-month visa and you’ll have to register at the Immigration Office (OFFI) within three months of arrival. This will count as your residence card (more info on how to get residency later).

The good news is that the application is free but you’ll need a heap of documents including application forms, proof of marriage, proof of your spouse’s nationality, and a residence form. More info here.

Work Visa

If you intend to work in France then you have two options; get a work visa as a salaried employee or get an entrepreneur visa if you intend to set up your own business or work self-employed as a freelancer or contractor.

Employee visa – The toughest part of the employee visa is that you need to find a job first, rather than coming to France and then job-hunting.

Once you find a job, you then need to have your work contract approved by the authorities at the French Labour Ministry (then again at the OFFI offices) and depending on the sector you work in your employer may have to apply for a work permit and justify why they’re hiring you and not a European.

If you’re bringing family on this visa, get the employer to start a file for them at the same time. You’ll need to fill in application forms, residence forms, and you’ll need to pay a processing fee.

Entrepreneur – this applies for people who want to set up their own business (eg run a gîte or B&B) or work in an self-employed capacity including as a freelancer or contractor.

The entrepreneur visa has different requirements, including a detailed business plan and proof of financial means – essentially you need to be able to demonstrate that you can support yourself even if your business idea or freelance career never takes off.

Here 2021 arrival Joseph Keen takes us through the entrepreneur visa: ‘Not too complicated but quite expensive’ – what it’s like getting a French work visa

Visitor Visa

This is for those who want to live in France but don’t have a job, a French spouse, or plans to study – it’s most commonly used by retired people and it brings with it the requirement to have a certain level of assets.

You’ll need: filled-in questionnaires and application forms, an undertaking not to work in France (not even working remotely for an employer back in your home country or setting up a gîte or B&B business in France), proof that you can support yourself in France, proof of financial means, proof of medical insurance, proof of accommodation in France, among other things. More info here.

Student visa

The good news is that the fee is around half that of the other long stay visas, at €50, and is usually shorter to process, but the bad news is that it’s no walk in the park.

You’ll need a series of documents from Campus France, financial guarantees and proof of enrolment at a French establishment of higher education. More info here.

Au Pair visa

If you’re between the ages of 17 and 30, don’t mind a few household chores and quite like children, then this year-long visa could be right up your alley.

You’ll need all the usual forms, but also an “au pair contract” approved by the French ministry of labour, an invitation from your host family, and you’ll have to sign up to language courses for while you’re here. Read more about becoming an au pair here, and find out more on the visa info here.

Talent Passport

If you qualify for it, there’s also the ‘talent passport’ which is really the best type of visa because it lasts for four years before you need to renew and you can bring family members on it.

It offers a four-year work visa to people who can demonstrate certain business, creative or academic skills, or who have a provable reputation in their field – for example, scientific, literary, artistic, intellectual, educational, or sporting. The categories were recently expanded and cover quite a wide variety of fields. More info here.

Besides these options, there is always a scientist visa, an internship visa, and a diplomatic visa.

Next steps

Once you have decided which visa you need, you apply online, submitting all the required documents and a fee (usually around €80-€100). You will then need to make an in-person visit to the French consulate in your home country – which will often mean travelling quite some distance from your home to the nearest consulate.

EXPLAINED: How to get a French visa

Processing times for visas vary, but you should allow at least six weeks.

What else?

Once you have secured your visa you’re more or less ready to travel, but there are some other things to check.

Health insurance – some visa types, especially those for people who will not be working, require proof of health insurance. If this is the case you will need to buy a private health insurance (not travel insurance) policy that covers the entire duration of your visa. Depending on your age and state of health these policies can be expensive, so you should factor this in to your financial calculations.

Once you have been living in France for three months, you’re entitled to register in the public health system and get a carte vitale, but the process of getting the card can be quite lengthy, so it’s a good idea to have health cover for these early months even if it’s not a requirement of your visa.

Driving licence – licences issued by most countries can be used in France for an initial period, but you will need to exchange this for a French licence, usually within one year of arrival.

Whether this is a simple swap for a French licence or involves taking a French driving test depends on whether the country that issued your licence has a reciprocal agreement in place with France.

By country: How hard is it to swap your driving licence for a French one?

Bank account – for everyday life in France you will likely need a French bank account, but many French banks require proof of an address, while landlords often won’t rent to you without a French bank account, creating something of a Catch 22.

Taxes – this is something that often catches people out – if you live in France you need to file an annual tax declaration, even if you have no income in France (eg you are living on a pension from your home country). More details here.

If you still have financial activity in your home country – such as a property rental – you will usually also need to file a tax return there, but while you have all the fun of doing two tax declarations every year, most countries have dual-taxation agreements with France, which means you won’t have to pay tax twice on the same income.

And how to stay in France

But once you’re in France, you might want to stay here. Think that getting your visa represents the end of your French paperwork? Dream on!

Depending on the type of visa you have you may be required to visit OFII (Office Français de l’Immigration et Intégration) on arrival to register and you may be required to undergo a medical examination or to take French classes if your language skills are a little basic.

Other types of visa require you to validate them at your local préfecture within a certain time period.

These ‘in country’ steps are important, so in between popping Champagne when your visa arrives, take the time to read carefully the accompanying documents and note down when you need to take the next steps.

Your visa will also need renewing, most initial visas last for one year, but there are exceptions.

The exact steps vary depending on your visa type, but the most common route is to apply for a residency permit (carte de séjour) so that you can stay longer than just 12 months – you usually apply for this two months before your visa runs out.

We look in more detail at the next steps HERE.

French administration is in the process of moving its immigration system online, but we’re now at the halfway stage where you can apply for some types of cartes de séjour online, but others require a visit to your local préfecture.

Once you’ve been here for five (continuous) years, you’re eligible for long-term residency, which does away with the annual paperwork.

And if you have been here for five continuous years (or three years if you completed higher education in France) and speak good French, then you can apply for French citizenship – if you’re game for a whole lot more paperwork.

You can find more details in our Moving to France section.

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6 pension questions British people should ask before retiring to France

Retiring to France is a dream for many, but before turning that dream into reality there are some serious financial questions that you need to ask yourself to ensure that your retirement is a financially comfortable one.

For most retirees, their main or only income will be a UK pension, so it’s important that you understand how your pension will work once you make the move.

There are some specific rules and restrictions on taking pensions out of the UK, while there is also the question of how UK pensions interact with the French tax system.

Financial adviser, Maeve Hoffman, from Spectrum IFA Group, emphasised that people should not take these decisions lightly, telling The Local: “Figuring out what to do with your pension should be part of your wider financial plans for your life.

“This may be your most important asset, besides your home, and the best answer for what to do with your pension is highly individual. There are no sweeping generalisations when it comes to advice on private pensions. Everyone’s situation is different,” she said.

This article is intended as an overview of how the system works for UK pensioners and is not intended as a substitute for individual financial advice. The article is aimed at people who have worked most or all of their career in the UK and then intend to retire in France – the situation is slightly different for people who work in France and then retire here.

You can find an overview on French tax rules for pensions HERE.

Long-term or short-term

The first thing you need to carefully consider is whether or not your move to France will be for the long-term or short-term.

When it comes to your UK pension, there are some options that may be advantageous for French residents looking to stay here permanently, but they could make your life very complicated if you end up returning to the UK in the future.

Do not be afraid to ask yourself the tough questions – is there any chance you will have grandchildren in the future that you will want to be geographically close to? Have you ever spent a significant time in France, aside from short holidays? Do you have roots in France, such as friends, family or a home? If your health deteriorates, will you want to be cared for in France or the UK?

If are unsure about the answers to these questions, then take some time to really think about them. There are alternatives to permanently moving to France if you are unsure – for example, you could spend a few months a year here on a short-term visitor’s visa.

Understanding the different tax rules

British retirees should be aware that the UK and France have very different tax systems.

Once you become a tax resident in France, you have to file a yearly declaration, including your global income. The country that gets to tax that income is determined based on the tax treaty between the UK and France, which seeks to eliminate double-taxation.

As for your UK-based pension, the treaty states that if you have a UK government or civil service pension (eg a state school teachers’ pension), then this will remain taxable only in the UK. Some old NHS pensions were considered ‘government pensions’, but modern ones might not be. You can check if your pension is classified as ‘government’ here.

You still have to declare this income to the French tax authorities, but you will not be subject to tax in France on it. That being said, it will count towards your total household income, and could end up pushing you into a higher tax bracket which is something you should carefully consider, particularly if you want to take a large sum at once.

The same is not true of private pensions: these are taxed in France, not the UK, as soon as you become a tax resident here. Confusingly, the UK state pension is also considered a private pension, even though it is paid by the government.

You can find a complete guide to how UK pensions are taxed in France HERE.

As a result, you will want to think about whether your previous plans for your private pension were only advantageous to you as a UK resident. Once you become a French tax resident, they could have unforeseen implications.

You can find more information about tax rates in our tax guide.

Get reliable, expert financial advice before doing anything

If you have decided you want to be in France permanently, then you will need some expert tax and pension advice – but you need to be careful who you take advice from, this is a highly specialist area and it’s unlikely that high street financial advisers will have the knowledge that you need.

Brexit has also made getting financial advice more complicated, with fewer experts available.

Maeve told us: “Because of Brexit, you cannot use a UK-based financial adviser anymore – you have to use an EU-registered one. This has made things more complicated. When picking an adviser, seek out someone who has expertise on the local taxation rules in France. They should also be regulated with the financial regulator where you live and where they work.”

It can be especially complicated to parse out who you can and cannot take advice from – for example, some UK-based advisers have continued to give advice to EU-based clients, even though this can be particularly risky if the investments they recommend do not follow EU regulations.

There are also expat-oriented financial advice services that are located outside of France, but seek to offer tax advice to people in France.

She added: “Be smart and sensible. If you choose an adviser in Dubai or Spain for example, you will now be adding another regulatory organisation into the mix, plus another language.

“There are free, government-based services in the UK that can help you understand your private pension – Pension Wise and Money Helper. Before doing anything, you should consult the free services. Any financial adviser worth their salt would recommend this too.

“These services have begun to have longer wait times, so be sure to book well in advance of when you plan to draw from your pension.”

Deciding whether to transfer your pension

Another question that is important for Brits to think about is whether or not to transfer their pension into either a UK-based SIPP for non-residents, or a QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes).

The SIPP will keep your pension in the UK, while the QROPS moves it out of the UK, to Malta specifically.

These options can be helpful for French residents, but you need to familiarise yourself with their benefits and drawbacks.

“The QROPS is not for someone who is unsure of their future in France, as if you return to the UK within five years of the pension transfer HMRC will seek their tax back as if it was a full encashment,” Maeve said.

In France, a QROPS is considered a trust, you may also have additional reporting requirements to fill out along with your annual declaration (more info here).

You should beware of scams on this subject, as the post-Brexit period saw many scammers seeking to persuade Brits that it was now mandatory to transfer their UK pension – always be wary of any cold-calling or unsolicited financial advice.

Determining how you will want to draw from your pension

The next question is how you want to receive your pension – either as regular income or as a lump sum. The option that you chose will have tax implications in France.

If you receive it as a regular income, when doing your yearly French tax declaration, you will add up your pension income for that year and you will be taxed at the normal marginal rates for income (the barème). These rates go up to 45 percent (for the highest earners only) plus social charges if they apply (more on this below).

Pension income can also benefit from a 10 percent tax deduction, as long as it does not exceed €4,123 or fall below €422 per household.

Lump-sums are more complicated. Technically, French tax authorities would allow a return of once off pension capital to be taxed at a flat rate of 7.5 percent.

But in reality, Hoffman explained that anyone seeking to do this would need the express, written confirmation from French tax authorities that this rate will be applied.

She also explained that the type of private pension matters when seeking to get the lump-sum flat rate.

“There are plenty of different types of private pensions in the UK, but the old ‘defined benefit schemes’ have been the gold-plated standard. These are the types of pensions that give you a portion of your salary for the rest of your life.

“In principle, you should be able to take out lump-sum of 25 percent of your ‘defined benefit scheme’ pension and be taxed at the 7.5 percent flat-rate. That being said, some people get refused, so you cannot make any assumptions and you need clarification from the French tax office.

“As for all of the other types of private pensions in the UK, like the money purchase or personal pension schemes, these are considered to be ‘funds’. If you want to benefit from the lump-sum then you would have to take out the entire pension. You would not be able to just take out 25 percent and get the lump-sum rate.

“For anyone considering taking their whole pension and seeking to use the 7.5 percent rate there are conditions to be met, so I advise people to write to their French tax office and explain their own situation in detail. Be sure to clarify the tax rate you are seeking to have applied and ask what documents they would need from your UK pension company to confirm that the contributions to this pension have been tax deductible.”

Healthcare and social charges

Deductions in France come in two types – impôts (income taxes) and prélèvements sociaux (social charges).

People who retire to France (and have never worked in France) and have already reached the state pension age can apply for the S1 – this means that the UK continues to pay for their healthcare costs and they would not be charged prélèvements sociaux. Non-working spouses of an S1 holder can also benefit from this.

People who take early retirement and make the move before they reach state pension age may have to pay social charges in addition to taxes until they reach the state pension age and can apply for their S1. However, there are several exemptions to social charges, so even if you expect a bill, you may not end up being charged. More information in our guide.

Social charges help pay for a lot of services from the French government, including access to healthcare. In France, you can access the state healthcare system (and get a carte vitale) after three months of residency.

READ MORE: Why you might get an unexpected French health bill

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