Salut a tous! My name is Debbie and I’m a Brit who has lived in LA the last 35 years.
My American kids are living in Dusseldorf and The Hague and don’t intend to come back to the US so I am planning on moving to France later this year. I’m focusing on Nice/Antibes or maybe Aix en Provence but Nice seems to check many of the boxes for someone who is considering retirement soon. I have scheduled an exploratory trip in early May to explore both cities.
Question - I’m a UK and US citizen but recently acquired Irish citizenship so I can live/work permanently in the EU. Is there anyone here who is in France on an Irish passport and are there any limitations on residency required by France?
Welcome to SF Debbie. There would appear to be several people with Irish passports on SF as judged by the number of carte de séjour (residence permit) queries received from non EU citizen spouses married to Irish passport holders!
In practice there are no limitations on French residence if you are an EU citizen. In theory you could apply for a carte de séjour as an EU citizen, (for stays longer than 3 months) but I strongly suspect very few do so. My wife, an EU citizen, hasn’t bothered to date, without any great consequences…
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Morning Debbie
My husband and I both have British and Irish passports. We currently hold special residence permits because of my job but I’m retiring soon so we’ll be handing those back. We will then be relying on our Irish passports and we’re not planning to apply for residence permits (unless I get really, really bored). I have various retired colleagues here on Irish passports and so far none of them has felt the need to get a residence permit.
To be honest, you’ll probably find you have paperwork aplenty when you move to France without creating more for yourself.
If you find somewhere nice in Nice, shout and I might come and join you. It’s bloody freezing in Alsace this winter.
Welcome Debbie…as above, you don’t need to create anymore red tape if you have Irish citizenship…I have both UK and NL passports the UK one sits in a draw gathering dust.
The only thing perhaps to sort out is your driving licence and if you have one from Ireland, so much the better.
Pretty much the same as anyone else, you need private health insurance until you’re in the system. As an EU passport holder, you can apply to join after 3 months of residence, unless you have employment of some sort when you can apply immediately. I don’t recall if an S1 lets you apply immediately but I’m sure someone will pop up with the answer.
January and February are pretty chilly even in the South. Not to the same level as you are used to I’m sure.
A pal of mine who has a place in Nice old town has an Ami. No licence required. His is a special edition, like the one below, the usual ones do have doors
Even if you don’t plan to drive straightaway, it would be worth finding out now whether you’ll be able to swap your licence for a French one. If it’s a US licence, I believe whether or not you can swap it for a French one depends on which state issued it.
On an Irish passport and have recently moved to Beaumont La Ronce, a bit north of your plans. I agree, there are some differences in what you may have been used to but the journey is well worth the time spent finding out. This library is pretty useful and I visit often. I do have a UK drivers licence and I will have to change it as it expires in the UK later this year. I have an S1 and got it before I left the UK. The rest is part of the adventure, and the reason I came to France. By the way, I love French roads, no potholes and far fewer ‘White van men’.
Thanks Jake - yes adventure is all part of the journey and I’m coming with zero expectations as it’s been a very long time since I visited Provence/Cote d’Azur!
