HAVING been in France for over a year, and spoken to and interviewed many people, what are the best tips for a painless move?
Of course the first thing you should do is read thisfrenchlife and sign-up to my newsletter – but I would say that…
So with the blatant plug out of the way, here goes:
Location
Think hard and long on where you are going to buy and how easy it is to get to.
If your property is only served by one airline to one airport, what happens if the company goes bust and the next airport is four hours away?
If you are looking to let your place for holidays try and find somewhere that is easily reached by at least road and plane, if not boat and train as well.
Paperwork
Photocopy everything that looks official, bears a stamp or has even passed through the hands of a civil servant.
Keeping a record of documents is important, and never give up the original.
Do so only on pain of death, ask them to photocopy it and use that instead.
Language
You will enjoy and draw more out of your time in France if you can at least speak the language, however basic.
Although I know some people who can’t speak a word of French they are missing out on so much. If you can’t afford lessons, either ask a friend for advice or just listen to the news on the TV and radio.
A handy tip is to watch the French quiz shows, as you will learn how to compose questions.
Culture
Look to get involved in something within the local village. If you play a musical instrument or can sing or act then track down a group and volunteer your time.
It will be returned ten-fold.
Join a yoga class or art class, anything to immerse you into the French culture. Often these are more social and you can be a group’s international representative.
Holiday homes
If you have never run a gite or holiday home be prepared for a lot of work. As customers get more demanding, the first step of marketing your place will prove challenging enough.
But this coupled with changeovers in the height of summer, struggling to get plumbers to fix leaks and countless other problems can take the shine off your plans.
Working
If you are heading to France to set-up a business and are not ready to retire just yet, do you know exactly what you intend to do?
If you have some cash behind you that will take some of the stress off. But if you are starting up look to have at least enough money to last 18 months without earning anything.
And if you are struggling to register your business use the advice of an accountant.
Before buying
The most important tip before buying is to try and spend some time in the area you are interested in before taking the plunge.
Only out of season, when it is grey and wet will you get a real idea of what a place is like.
And it will ensure your dream doesn’t quickly turn into a nightmare.
Comments
26 responses to “Tips on moving to France”
Does anyone know why car insurance seems so expensive in France. (Volvo v70 on france plates etc €1100 per year and full no claims from UK)
Does seem a bit steep, but then again I am comparing it to the old Renault I had.
This site might help you:
http://www.assurland.com/
Ridiculous price.
I also have a V70 (3yo) and my renewal last month was 489€.
They must have ignored your NCB. Either that, or you didn’t shop around very well.
Hi
My family are planning to move to France in two years time. Two years because we are aiming to learn french and have a broad outlook of what we are doing before we make the final move. My son will be 11 yrs old when we move and I would really value some idea’s / comments on how to research our move and what to expect.
The area we are looking to move to is Normandy, because my husband will still have to travel to the UK for work until he retires.
Hope that someone can give us their experiences and idea’s/contacts for further info.
regards
Sam
Hi Sam
Many thanks for your message, there is plenty to explore on the site – if you’ve not make sure you subscribe to the newsletter to get your weekly update.
You might want to explore the many other sites and forums out on the internet, some of which I’ve listed here:
http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/2007/09/browsing-forums.html
All the best
Craig
My daughter and I are moving to France later this year and I am marrying a french citizen. Can anyone give any advice on helping my teenage daughter to adjust to living in France?
Thank you
Hi Elizabeth
I am sure most people would say it isn’t easy for teenage children to start afresh in France.
The language is one of the biggest hurdles so if your daughter is able to speak French already then that will be a great start.
This article about the experiences of a teenager moving to France may help:
http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/2007/08/a-helping-hand-.html
All the best
Craig
Hi, I was reading that someone is moving to France with there young daughter. Well we moved to France a year and a half ago and I have a 10 year old and a 7 year old.
At first they were scared as they had to go to a French school and did not know any of the French but the teachers are so kind and patient with them they are learning very well.
And you don’t have the stress of having to worry that your children are going to get picked on as they do not have the named clothes like in England, it’s lovely and my children would not go back to England now.
I asked them and they say no they love it here. I am trying to find friends that live in France but are English, as I cannot get the language very good.
Hi Dawn
Many thanks for taking the time to offer your advice on ensuring children settle into France, I’m sure other readers of the site will appreciate it.
All the best, Craig
Can anybody please tell me if I need a visa if I have a Hungarian passport? I have emailed the embassy but get no reply.
I would be grateful for some insight into this. I plan to live in France for a year.
Hi Teresa, I would suggest you telephone the Hungarian Embassy in France directly, their website can be found at:
http://www.mfa.gov.hu/kulkepviselet/FR/fr/
All the best, Craig
Hi Just found your web site and I am very impressed but also relieved that there are so many people offering advice.
I have a small family 2 girls 6yrs and 3yrs we are planning to move to France within the next 3 years would that be a good time for the girls to attend schools? While we will be able to survive for a year or so I would like to start a small outside catering business specific for fairs and markets. Is there a need to get a licence and how?And is there a national organisation specifically for market traders? any help much appriciated.
This is a reply to people concerned about moving to France with children. We moved to France almost five years ago with six children between the ages of 17 & 8 years.
Our children have adjusted amazingly well, are completely bi-lingual. Being in the SW France where the second language is Spanish they are also fairly strong in Spanish too. My advice for people moving with children is, help them to share your vision in the lead up to the move.
School hours are long but most areas benefit from at least a half day off each Wednesday and for the younger ones it is often the whole Wednesday.
School meals are amazing, one very sceptical relative was quizzing our youngest about 6 months after we arrived, she found it difficult to believe that all the children were happy with the move, she demanded to know what was the worst thing about school and was fairly speechless when Claire replied,’I don’t quite like foie gras for starters and school dinners!’Which brings me on to the amazing four course meals – amazing!
It is important that you too submerge yourself in the culture, the children need to be able to talk to their peers as soon as possible about shared experiences, if they come home to watch English t.v. this will seriously hold back their progress.
Think about taking holidays in France and just spend a lot of time at the nearest pool, children will soon start communicating with each other.Most schools do their utmost to accommodate children who do not speak French but you can help a great deal.
One of the programmes that we found helpful was SKOLDO, in fact when we arrived I gave the children one of these workbooks each so that when they couldn’t follow or participate they had something to do, their teachers were delighted as they found this helpful themselves.
You will undoubtedly face challenges in moving but do remember that you would do, even if you didn’t move, that’s just life.
Our older children have had the opportunity to study Latin and Greek, one daughter was fourteen when she arrived,she had never had the opportunity to study Latin at her local comprehensive, here she discovered after a couple of years that she had a real flare for the subject, next year she will be going to University to study Latin!
Focus on all the benefits, the experiences that you are providing for your family, the challenges look on as learning experiences and have a fabulous future!
I am happy to answer any concerns about moving out here, I know it can be a concern,particularly when moving with youngsters, but you do not need to worry, worry will simply marr what is otherwise an amazing experience.
Hi
I am looking into moving my family to france in the next 3 years. We have 2 girls aged 6 and 9 and i would appreciate any information that would help me find out information on the local schools. We Already have a house in france located near villereal, toutres area in south france. I have so far been unable to find out any information about any local schools.
Thanks
Emma
Hi Emma, the first place you should try is your local Mairie.
All the best
Craig
Hi there,
Me and my boyfriend are looking to move to France in 2010, he is a web designer and i have experience in customer service, pharmacy and restaurants.
We dont really know where to start, we both have full UK passports, and i have been to
France only a few times.
We both speak a little french (from school GCSE) and we aren’t worried about learning the language.
How do we decide the best place for us? and where do we start?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks guys, Tash
Bonjour,
I am a French lawyer based in the UK and I am dealing with such matters on a daily basis.
Just a small piece of advice that can go a long way: It is important to organise your financial and legal situation BEFORE moving to France as becoming a French resident will alter significantly the way you will deal with your assets/income.
Best Wishes,
Guillaume
Hi Natasha, in the early days I’d definitely work on your French, read up as much as you can and save up some cash as a fall-back.
If you are not sure on an area I’d rent for a few months at first, this will let you explore a region.
One problem area is finding work as it is far from easy and even if you start your own business you are likely to require the fall-back money.
Ultimately though if you’ve done the research you’ll have that knowledge to call upon.
All the best, Craig
Myself and my 11 year old daughter are moving to france next june. Any advise how some online french classes before we go
Hi Pauline, there is a section on the site that offers a number of online French language websites and resources, please see:
http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/learn_french/index.html
Hope this helps,
Craig
Hello,
I hope you can help clarify our situation. We bought a house in France in April 08 and spent 4 months living in it. This year (09) we will have spent 8 months here and it is our permenant residence. This year we also set up a cycling holiday business as we have 3 gites we rent out.Some clients paid with Sterling to a UK account and our French/Euro customers paid in Euro which we have paid into our French account. We have not yet registered as French Residents or filled out a tax return yet (We are still registered with UK address and UK Tax Office). We really need to register as French residents/tax payers but want to know 1. what date we need to say we are residents from. 2. If we say we were residents from march 09 will there be any repercussions? 3. What are the implications with the French Tax Office and what dates do the French Tax work to? Apologies for all the questions but I’m not sure where to start and don’t want to encounter any uneccessary red tape.
Many thanks
Teresa
Hello,
Have moved to Paris, France because of work. I came across the situation when the agency are not willing to rent the apartment which exceeds the 30% of the month wage. Therefore I am stuck in the situation when I can have a very limited choice of the small studios in the suburbs of the city.
I have some savings and the apartment back home that I am going to rent out eventually (still have some of the things left in it).
Could you please tell me what can be the way to increase the line of 700 euro apart from asking the boss for immediate raise?
I am really desparate for some assistance
Kind regards,
Marianna
Hi,
Im moving to Nice in April and need to know what to do when I get there i terms of Medical etc. I have an EHIC card but do I need anything else? Also, do I need to register for anything like tax and things when I get there? Any help on ANYTHING would be much appreciated.
Michael
hello we are relocating to france with 3 small children and could do with lots of advice please! we are aiming for the languedoc-roussillon region, we are only starting to learn french now, my kids are 2-4yrs old and have no french, i hope they can start a pre school in sep?
we will rent for the first year, im looking at the village of montreal if anyone knows it plz? also we need to be close to an airport as my husband will travel to ireland for work. thanks tashbel@gmail.com
This is for those wishing to take children aged 11+ to France. If your children are very academic then i would say go for it, they will learn french quickly and they will be fine…But for those that arent extreamly academic i sujest you dont do it. I was 12 and my brother 1 when we first moved to france, both did well at school in england but were werent extreamly academic. When we moved to france it took us a good year to genrally convosate with people and as a consequence we were behind on all of our subjects by a year…we just couldnt catch up. For that first year we gave our parents hell for “dragging” us to France. We didnt have many friends, and at first all the children [excluding a few] were horrid. They picked on us for beingenglish! Eventually we did make friends and things were easier but schooling wise we were so far behind it was unreal. To this day i resent my parents for taking us there at such an age and for my lack of qualifications [i failed all my exams]eventually my parents moved us all back because it was ripping the family appart. Non the less, my partner and i visited where i used to live a few months back, and we loved it…and are considering moving there..the irony! My advice to you all is just think about what your kids are going to go through. The prospects for them learning another language are great…but at what cost?
I am English and my partner is from Barcelona, we plan to France next May or even before. We have a 7 year old daughter and a 19 month old baby. My partner speaks good french but i have only just started learning. Our daughter speaks Catalan, Spanish and English.
we would be grateful for as much info as possible as we hear alot of good comments and also negative about moving to France. We plan to move to the Sologne which we visited in oct and we have found the places that we like, Lamotte, Chaumont sur Tharonne etc.
I have read about if you dont speak the language it can be a big problem, so now im starting to panic!
My partner is also a Homeopath and we know that he cant practice without being a doctor. We need to know so much and would be so thankful for any big advice, also on paying taxes, finding work, renting and most important will the children adapt.
Thank you!