Hi everyone. Both Henry and I really appreciate all the comments and advice given. Thank you all. Our French neighbours are coming in for “aperos” at 6 pm and I think may be able to help too! Good way to test one’s French (fairly basic). I have my U1 form (statement of social insurance contributions paid back in Ireland) but still awaiting Henry’s. He was registered as an artist with the Irish Revenue (so was tax exempt in Ireland) but that obviously doesn’t apply here in France. I will visit the Mairie tomorrow and see what help I can get. The lady there was helpful when I was re-registering the car. She assembled all the paperwork and even wrote out the cheque for me! However, she does tend to shout at me, which as we all know, does NOT help one’s comprehension. I have found the address in Carcassonne for CPAM so hopefully our neighbour might make the phone call and get an appointment for me. I am on permanent meds (high blood pressure) so would really like to get the Carte Vitale organised. Keep the comments and advice coming in. At least two new SFN members have been asking me questions, so you are helping them as well. Thanks again everyone!
I agree with Claire, but remember to declare your overseas bank accounts to the tax man if you’re still here & assessable next year to avoid fines. Many don’t bother but if you want to be all above board then include them on your return.
Hi Sheila
My hubby registered as Auto-Entrepreneur online which was really easy (we followed Valerie’s assistance from Start Business in France), myself & the nippers have been added as Ayant Droits (beneficiary) on his Security No. The attestation de Sante (right to healthcare certificate) came through really quickly but we’re still waiting for our Carte Vitales from RSI Paris (Regime des Independents) - now been almost 2 years! It’s not too much of a problem though as we have the attestations from RSI & from our insurance so we only pay for our Medecin & claim it back. All Pharmacy & Lab work is automatically dealt with so no hassle there though I’d rather they did send us the CV’s soon as I’m fed up of phoning/writing about them.
We didn’t bother with the E106 or CPAM as my hubby joined AutoEntrepreneur as soon as we moved here permanently. This year we did our first tax return but as we had things to claim back against our tax we decided to use an accountant - Sarah Vedrenne (mentioned below) from advicefrance was very reasonable price wise & gave us a good service, so we’ll be using her again in the future as it made life so much simpler & saved us lots of time hunting out information about what we could/couldn’t calculate.
If you decide to register AE yourself then make sure you go to the legitimate website as others have been inadvertantly caught paying for services they don’t want via intermediary sites with very similar names to the official site.
Enjoy l’Aude! Whereabouts are you? We looked around Caunes Minervois when we were looking back in 2005
Suz
Hi, we moved over for initially a six month trial period in March and for our Carte Vitales we contacted HMRC National Insurance contributions office and requested an E106 statement each which is proof of your NI contributions in the UK. Take these forms to your local CPAM office along with copies of all ID and the process will start there - takes about 2 months or so. The E106 forms will cover you for standard healthcare for a set period of time dependant on the level of your UK NI contributions. Hopefully you will start working and contributing into the French system before the cover expires.
Good Luck.
Couldn’t agree more, I simply wouldn’t go self-employed under the old system. the AE status is the answer for a lot of people and seems to be for TEFL and paintings too!
Got off that one then 
after all when in Rome… or France 
but if you play the system like the majority of public and private figures… omerta!
a week for a carte vitale - you were lucky Robin. I was working here and it took a couple of months. then i went freelance and that took over a year to change from the regime général to the RSI and even longer to get my kids on it!
6 years here + Uni + taught for a year. 5 years with a frenchwoman and our kids born here… Mary’s quite right !
Totally agree - it’s not just the RSI (although from experience they are pretty bad), the MSA, CIPAV, CPAM and the rest are all out for they’re pound of flesh… but having chosen to live her it’s swings and roundabouts - I’ve never had such huge tax rebates in the UK, child care is pretty much paid for…what goes round comes round!
As for the TEFL - I’m a qualified languages teacher PGCE and have a Maîtrise : français langue étrangère. It took me a while to break into the market and it all depends where you live - in some areas there’s absolutely no call, in others you can earn a descent living but watch out for the private tuition trap - very little money and long hours
Bonne chance !
We did exactly the same as Alastair Stephen in Nov 2010. But as this is France it is useful to take ID and if you can a recent bill as proof of address [EDF seems to be the ‘standard’]
Thanks Catharine - exactement!
Eerm - Robin was not advising any such thing! He was merely stating that it happens - which it does.
I’d like to add to this:
If you decide to teach English as self-employed than it is better to ask for an “auto-entrepreneur” status which will then put you in a category for social security cover: RSI, CIPAV.
If you intend to be employed, then you will be in the main stream CPAM system.
Idem for your husband. This is the big headache.
Although I’m French, I didn’t have a carte vitale or even a social security number when I came back to France and I was treated like a nobody. My British husband had to request the card, then I could be affiliated to him (as an “ayant-droit”). What a macho country!! And it took us nearly a year to get all the papers!
This was 8 years ago so I hope it has improved.
So do things in order, first decide what is your professional status. Personaly, I pay into both systems as I’m sometimes employed by a company and at other time I use my “auto-entrepreneur” status. I’ve actually got a phone appointment with social security tomorrow about all this, so I’ll post new info if I get some answers!
I agree, RSI is very expensive when you set up a company (SARL) : stay away from this!
Look at the official auto-entrepreneur site or get this guide :
http://www.federation-auto-entrepreneur.fr/international/translatio…
Learn French and arm yourself with patience!
You are of course right. But for 8 years I have been paying URSSAF, RSI, CIPAV and I expect for M Chirac’s little lunches too. I reckon the income tax is good but paid 40%+ to the alphabet soups!
I have now formed WoW (www.heraultwhatson.info) into a 1901 association - I don’t profit and I don’t have to pay all the charges. BLISS.
However we both know at the “modest” end as in the UK people pay in Meat or Wine etc - seems to work well
Lots of good advice!
In fact we found the Carte Vitale one of the easiest things we got - took about a week.
Only thing is - they do love paper - so always take birth certs, wedding certs, a utility bill and anything official. Lovely people in Beziers made copies and did not charge. And you now need a colour photo on your carte vitale.
Hi and welcome Sheila,
We moved to France three years + 3 days ago. I finally received my Carte Vital last week, just in time for the anniversary. Being self employed in the UK and then here, confused the French no end!
I am shocked to see you being advised to work illigally. We have set up three small businesses using the Auto Entrepreneurs system which makes the self employed legal, decent and honest. I strongly suggest you do the same and that will kick in things like the social security and who knows, maybe even the Carte Vital.
The pace of life and the bureauocracy does have to be experienced to be believed, but so does the quality of life and that’s why most of us moved here. Chat up the mayor as an early priority: just ring and ask for a meeting.
Engage with the locals, learn the language and become part of the country you have come to live in; ignore those who want to be a foreigner here all their lives, if you want to be truly happy in your new home.
Best of luck,
Colin
Hi Ian… the only page which translates into english on the service-public website is the “page d"acceuil” !!! It bleats on about how competent the site is!!! Not a lot of use for all the important info on the others! Very unhelpful for those who unlike me are unable to speak/ read/write french !
Yup - can’t beat Sarah - she is terrific!
Hi Sheila!
Chances are your “TEFL” qualification will mean very little here and Henry’s hopes of selling his paintings overwhelmed by the need to pay more in charges than you actually make!! Don’t mean to be cynical but 7 years here and 5 living with a frenchman have shown me not to be too optimistic about ANYTHING! The stories about the french system and it’s bureaucracy are all TRUE!
AND… You will NEVER get the same response to a question from two different people in the same department/office! They make it up as they go along!!!
Good luck all the same!
Cheers!
Mary
Hi Sheila,
Peter Hornby’s Languedoc Page is a very comprehensive resource and includes a list of expatriate help groups on which my group La Vie en France features as a general France-wide group. We gossip a lot - France can be lonely sometimes - but most people have been through the trauma of fighting French bureaucracy and have experienced advice to give when asked.
regards,
Ian