New to this site, I am in the early stages off thinking of moving to France to live. Considering a place between Limoges and Bordeaux. Want to be just outside of one of the cities as I want to have a bit of land for my ducks.
Would love to meet and chat with anyone in this area to understand more about it as although I have traveled a lot for work and social I only know some part so of this region, my other choice would be from Montpelier to Nice along the South Coast but again slightly in land
I can do some French but I am still not much more than school lessons so I need to learn more but I am one of those people that learns better if I am in that country having to converse with locals. Hoping to secure a Remote job so I can make the move then learn French and look for a job in France
Not much difference between Dordogne/Charente and Provence then, are you sure you know what you want.
Knowing both areas I know which I prefer and that is the N. Dordogne where I live and, with much less extremes in terms of climate I would have thought best for ducks.
Plenty of room to spread out a bit too, so I wish you well in finding your spot.
Dordogne would be a good area yes. I love the South of France so think it might be a place to retire too but I also Love The Dordogne area hence why I have set my location as between Limoges and Bordeaux.
I was unsure of the weather as not been out in that area during the winter but Ducks are very hardy and enjoy snow and ice.
Would you recommend a place to start my search I did initially look near Pomerol but I dont know that place very well
Welcome, @RobertLT . Good luck with your search for property. I found it helpful to work on my French before the move, but having to engage with native speakers here certainly improves my fluency.
I don’t know how far your research re, eg, visas has gone, but France doesn’t recognise the idea of a digital nomad (apologies if I misunderstood what you mean by a remote job). To be here legally and to work, you will need a visa that allows that. Here’s a link you will find useful: https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en/web/france-visas/visa-wizard
Hi, As I said very early stages at present. I have spoken to a few experts and I may have to get a long stay Visa and purchase a property 1st then when I am in France apply for a residency Visa.
I did look at the working status and I need to be a resident of France to get a job or I need the company I work for to sponsor the work visa so I have registered with some site for this.
As for working Remote I have checked I can still live in France and work for a non French Company Remotely and once my french is better I may setup my own business (still researching this, but looks like a possibility at the start and is something I can do while waiting for my residency)
As I said still in the early stages but would appreciate any advice from those that have done this
Yes thats the goal I am looking to get to, once my french is good enough look for a job in France and start to contribute to the country I am going to make my home.
Should also mention I have a 6 year old son so will also need to consider schooling for him
Who have you checked with? There are hosts of pretty unreliable websites that say this is possible. But it is not. If you come over on standard long stay visa for visitors you have to sign a statement saying you will not work. Some try to interpret this as you cannot take a French job, but it actually means you cannot work when on French soil.
So at your own risk! Penalties for this include being kicked out of France and barred from future visas.
You also can’t apply for visas when in France (the clue is in the name - a visa is a permit to enter a country). So I think you are not understanding the process completely.
Thank you for that I was discussing this with Fab from Fabian Expat Services who also recommended this site. He seemed to say this was possible to do but I can query this again and get more clarity
Hi everyone, the French consulate is indeed okay (for now at least) for remote workers to work from France as long as they don’t work for a French company or for French clients (basically taking away jobs from French residents). There a “side issue” with social charges which is honestly a bit of hush hush in the industry as current rules date back to the 80’s but for now a remote worker in France with a “non working” visa (visitor) may have to pay something called the CSM tax. I’ve done quite a few articles on that and videos but to simplify this it’s a 6.5% tax on the household income made over 23k (as a single person) or 46k (as a couple). Hope that helps?
@fabien so the person with a “non-working” visa… can currently do remote work for UK (for example) … but that person would need to do a Declaration of Worldwide Income of “the family”… so that the French Tax folk can correctly charge the person the “CSM Tax”…
is this a short version of what you’ve said… ?
@fabien thank you for clarifying and that I did listen. I did miss the bit about CSM but thats something I wont mind putting up with so as to get over to France to live
The French consulate is ok with it so does that mean that URSSAF is also ok with it? What happens when the remote worker is sick or is fired and they have no right to sick pay or unemployment benefits in either country?
I am sorry but if they are getting French healthcare whilst making no puma contributions apart fro csm, that does not seem quite right somehow considering the amount that would be contributed by a person earning exactly the same amount doing the same work but for a French company contributing to the French economy. Or indeed a French person working remotely for a foreign company.
Its only the first year while on a long term visitors visa after that I would expect to contribute as after 9-12 months I would be eligible for French Health Care.
I know in the past when I have worked for a UK company but spent most of my time in another country after so long you are expected to pay tax in the country you spend the most time in and I think I also had to pay 8-9% UK tax so as still to benefit for UK NHS etc…
If I remember right I think it was up to 183 days working before you are considered a tax paying citizen
