We have applied for our Carte Vitale and they have come back for more information.
Just to clarify - we are here on UK Passports as we were born there but lived most of our lives in Australia (we have never worked or have any financial ties to the UK). We are not working in France. We moved here in March 2016. We are early retirees (in actives).
Most of the additional info required is self explanatory (or we have already given it to them).
It asks for a P60/45 - assuming this is only for UK residents and does not apply to us??
Annual Tax Summary - we sent our French one with our initial application for YE December 2016. It is asking for 2015/16 and 2016/17. Our 2015 one would be our Australian one. I am concerned they will base our contribution for the Carte Vitale on our tax return which would be based on amounts while we were working. Can anyone advise on this. Should I tell them we were not living in France then? Will they use this in their calcs or will they just ignore it?
Bank statements for all accounts French and Foreign. This is fine as we lodge our interest earned on our French tax return. I am concerned however that any payments that are not taxable in France will be noted and they will tax us on them. I am owed money from my old employer in Australia that I have paid tax on many years ago. Earned on paper but still being paid out. Would I just advise them of this?
As Stella says, you can discuss it with your CPAM office.
But basically if you want your application to be considered you don’t really have much choice other than to provide the information they require, or the equivalent - presumably Australia has the equivalent to a P60/45 (not sure what this is - is it what your employer gives you when you leave?). If you’ve already sent it, double check that what you sent is exactly what they asked for, and if it is - send it again! Who knows why they want all these things, perhaps they paper the walls with them, but it’s generally best to humour them.
Under the current system, healthcare contributions are based on your income during the same calendar year, so contributions for healthcare during 2017 would be based on income between 1.1.17 and 31.12.17, contributions for healthcare during 2018 will be based on income between 1.1.18 and 31.12.18, etc. This is how the system works, so I don’t see why it would be different in your case.
CPAM /URSSAF aren’t interested in income tax. It’s not their job, it’s the fisc’s job and as far as I’m aware CPAM/URSSAF don’t share info with the fisc, although the fisc do share information with them. You’ll only confuse CPAM if you start trying to talk to them about income tax, they won’t have a clue what you’re telling them or why.
Have to say I’m struggling a little with the Carte Vitale…I moved here in June 2016…(pre-retraitee/inactif) With very little French and only a whole load of optimism openness and determination… I single handedly and face to face managed to import my uk car to Brittany…get my controle technique and carte grise and switch to a French insurer (yay…! Go me…!)…Registered with all utilities which was slightly hair raising as SAUR visited and threatened to cut my water off when I had only been here two days…Next off was the carte Vitale and I have visited my local CPAM three times…provided what I thought was everything under the sun plus the kitchen sink…the lady told me it could take up to 6 months which wasn’t a worry as I can’t even remember the last time I visited a doctor in uk and very unlikely to visit one here either…Then July 2017 I received the letter asking for more info including an S1 which I know I’m not entitled to as I’m early 50s…In the meantime I visited the tax department declared myself tax resident and got my numero fiscale…sorted out and paid on time my taxe d’habitation and taxe fonciere despite bill going to my mother’s house in uk…I have to admit when I got the letter in July 2017 asking for more info my heart sank and I kind of gave up the will to live at that point and focused instead on summertime and the much anticipated visits from my son my daughter and my partner in uk…Maybe now I have a numero fiscale I’ll be better placed to visit CPAM again…I dunno…I spent my last 2 years in the U.K. sofa surfing between my mom’s and my daughter’s whilst waiting for the sale of a commercial property to go through…it’s the one outstanding thing on my list of things to do and feels like a lot of jumping through hoops for something I’m unlikely to make much use of…I’ll maybe wait until the weather is a bit better and visit my local CPAM again…but it is frustrating…not that everyone I’ve met face to face isn’t lovely and helpful just the “disconnect” is frustrating…
Since you started your journey the system has changed, and now there is PUMA. So in theory it should all be simpler (!).
This is the current form to sign up to the health service - as you can see it’s pretty straightforward now.
Perhaps you should take that with you to CPAM and ask them what of that list they haven’t got? Presumably you did a tax return last year for the June - December 2016 period so can provide evidence of sufficient funds? What I don’t know is whether the fact that you have been without any health cover for 18 months will be an issue. Others might know this.
On another forum there was a poster who had been here for a while but had never bothered about healthcare, and in December he automatically received a bill for healthcare during 2016 based on his tax return. I think he ended up paying, since the only way to contest it would have been to prove private health insurance or an S1, neither of which he had. So if in future you’re going to have to pay regardless, makes sense to make sure you get what you’re paying for!
Thankyou for the pdf Jane…the form does look slightly different from memory…the lady at CPAM printed one off for me as I don’t have a printer…I also had to fill out a supplementary questionnaire (?) She has copies of my passport, driving licence, Birth Certificate, EH1C card, 4 months French bank statements, (I circled every incoming and she noted what each was for) everything from the lawyer who completed my house purchase, EDF contract, SAUR contract) 3 months Orange landline and internet…(I mistakenly and with hindsight rather naively thought that my weekly trips to the supermarket detailed on my bank statements would have proved my stable and regular residence…lol) I didn’t at the time have anything for my taxe fonciere or taxe d’habitation…
Yes I completed a tax return for the 6 months from June 2016 to Dec 2016…so have that now too (zero to pay)
Hi Stella our local one is only open on certain days and it appears they have sent the paperwork to the bigger one an hour away. The bigger one has sent it to Nimes which is nowhere near us. Thought it would be easier to learn from other people’s experiences. Our phone connection is rubbish here and the call costs are high. Will see how we go.
One more question please. L’Assurance Maladie have also sent a “Questionnaire 'Recherche de Droits” Ressortissants Europeens Inactifs" form for completion. One for each of us. At the end of the form it has a field where you note your amount from Foreign Resources. As our income is joint (interest from joint accounts) - do we put the full amount on each form? Do we put half on one form and half on the other? Do I just put a note that it is the total for both of us? Any help appreciated.
Do try…you never know when you might need the health services here and in general it is good. In the meantime ask around to work out who’s reckoned to be the best GP in your patch as once you are in the system you need to declare a médecin traitant or you pay extra. I would also invest in a basic scanner/printer. France thrives on paperwork and CPAM in particular do tend to lose things…
Sorry to hear about MIL. We did similar as although we’ve had a home in France for 20 years or so, we stayed in UK to look after our respective parents until about 4/5 years ago. And my partner then moved over formally first while I stayed until my mother died. It’s hard going, and lots of travelling gets tiring too…‘courage’ as they say here.
Oh dear… it was a few years ago… but I accompanied some Brits to our local CPAM… and the lady there said that they liked to become involved as they kept copies of the documents they sent onwards…
Seems this was because they had experience of the next Office losing documents or denying they were ever sent by the ordinary folk. “We send them through our system…so they have no excuse…” It’s probably not like that now, with the influx of work, few can take on extra tasks.
I was given a form to register with a GP and had started making tentative enquiries…our commune is around 1700 people and we are in a tiny hamlet on the outskirts…The GP had just left and the mayor is still trying to attract a new one…I’ve just recently been sent yet another pre filled form and my best translation was
that they were asking for my social security number which I could find on m(not yet acquired) Carte Vitale…best I could answer was that it was “en cours”…
My path to Brittany has felt like it was guided by a Guardian Angel and if I were to hazard a guess that Angel is my late father…and as difficult as leaving my adult kids and my grandkids inevitably was…I Am here with my own Mom’s blessing…I can totally empathise…My partener of 20 years (not the father of my 3 kids) loves it here as much as me (and our two Border Collies) and we have never previous to this been apart…I can foresee a time though when I might have to return to the U.K. temporarily to take care of my own Mom…the moment she (or more likely my daughter as my Mom is not one for giving up and giving in) says she needs help then I’ll be on the next channel crossing…x
It’s probably not like that now, with the influx of work, few can take on extra tasks.