Moving to France (from UK)

General Discussion
1

Hi Everyone

Firstly thank you for letting me join.

We are in the very early idea stage of thinking about moving to France.

How easy is it now that we have left Europe to move over, buy a property and set up a business??

Many thanks

Louise

2

Hi Louise and welcome to Survive France!

You’ve asked some fairly broad questions there to which probably the best answer is to say “browse the forum” and you’ll find a lot of relevant and useful information here!

Moving to France is obviously not as simple as it was pre-Brexit, but it’s still definitely doable!

Shortest of short answers:

If you are not an EU citizen you will have to either have sufficient private income (such as a pension) or provide a business plan that will generate the equivalent of French minimum wage (the SMIC), plus additional amounts if you are bringing other family members.

There are “entrepreneur” visas designed for people setting up or transferring small businesses; be aware though that some professions are restricted and require French qualifications.

Initially you will need private health insurance until you have your visa and are established in France and can join the French healthcare system.

Buying a property is the easy part - just hand over the money! :smiley: There are no restrictions on foreigners owning property in France.

Best of luck!

1 Like
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Many thanks for taking the time to respond.

I’ll keep browsing the forum and googling.

I’m a self employed carer here in the uk so was hoping I could do the same in France.
Unfortunately not in any position to retire early (I’m 46)

My other idea was to set up a doggy day care centre so will look into that too

4

A useful category

I would hasten to add that although Brexit changed things for UK applicants for French residency, it is still easier than that for Antipodeans amongst others. I even know a Russian national that managed.

Bon courage!

5

You need to look into the qualifications needed here as UK ones no longer recognised. There is a great demand for carers and aide soignants so doable but it will take some admin to achieve .

Same with anything to do with animals - lots of red tape - but doable.

The big issue is that you can’t do things the English way. Or you can but generally ends up with a problem. So need to research a lot.

Do you speak French?