When to make the move

We already have our home in France and have been visiting 3/4 months a year.
We are making the full time move next year and had planned on June - partly because that’s a year after we decided to move ft and partly because our second grandchild is due in February.
Now I’m not sure June is ideal as it’s been suggested that we’d be better off over there before 29th March.
We are flexible with our dates, but is it actually advisable to be there before end of March and if yes, how much before will we need to be there?

We do have utility bills etc we’ve been paying for 2/3 years, but we only finalised in June 2017, we have had a taxe fonciéres bill and haven’t had a taxe d’habitation yet - presumably because we aren’t there full time.

What will we need to have in place to start the process of being allowed to live in France?

Can anyone help me with a step by step list of what we need to do and when for the move?

Many thanks,
Karen

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There is no definitive answer to your question, the rules have not yet been set in stone. My advice would be come earlier than later even if that means moving over in January then returning to the U.K. in February on holiday. There is no way of registering when you arrive but to reinforce your chosen date it might be worth saying hello at your local mairie and pointing out that you are now resident.

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Before 29th March there is no process for being allowed to live in France as you are European - you just do it. After that who knows… there is supposed to be the extra 15 months transition period, but if all the negotiations fall apart maybe this will too.

Personally I’d have thought it fine to “move” sometime in March, just in case and you can always go back to the UK for a holiday. What might become important is to have evidence that you were resident before B-date.

There is a difference in taxe d’hab between principal residences and second homes. So as well as popping your Marie I would also pop into your local tax office before 29th March to talk to them about changing the taxe d’hab from that date. And that would also record the date for you.

You could also make sure you start process for joining health service, and registering for tax. Amd inform HMRC that you’ve left…

Edit…actually Dominic makes sense, coming early enough to give you the 3 months stable residence before 29th March required for access to the health service may be worthwhile.

The tax year here is from January to December, not April to March. The return for the year before has to be in by May. Not sure if that is significant for you.

My tax d’habitation did not differ when my holiday home became my permanent home, perhaps different communes approach it differently. My house insurance did change however.

for better or worse?

Worse.

We are looking at exactly the same issue - and we are also now considering specific dates, so you are not alone.

I will be very interested to see how this thread develops.

Maybe it was taxe fonc that went down then as we got the abattement for principal residence…I know one of them went down.

The other thing I recall is that when we first went to CPAM to sign on after having been here 3 months we were merely asked to do an attestation sur l’honneur to state the date we became resident.

I’d appreciate it if you let me know if you find out more.
We need to do this right, but worry that things have already gone past the point of being simple.
We need access to the health system as our daughter has disabilities, including epilepsy. Can you apply for carte vitale as soon as you move?

You can apply for a CV after three months of stable residence. The big difference between now and the end of the transition period is although in the past it was simply a case of turning up and deciding to be resident it may well now be worthwhile having a bit more concrete proof. Hopefully France will adopt a system similar to that suggested by the UK where all UK immigrants with more than five years residency in France will be given residency status and those with less than five years will be allowed to complete that period of time. Anybody who has visited their holiday home regularly over the years might need to prove that that pattern has changed; telling the mairie that you’ve become resident, registering your car, registering with CPAM, completing a tax return etc will all help to confirm your residency status. As has been pointed out before there are many U.K. holiday home owners who spend far more than 183 days per year, every year, in a France who have avoided drawing attention to their position, if they now want to be recognised as being resident they will need to take the first physical steps as soon as possible.

Hi all this is my first post . We are in the process of buying our property in vaussais and are moving in Feb next year . We have had to bring our dream move forward because of brexit . We will do what it takes to be resident in France and I know it will be a mine field but any advice would be gratefully accepted. There must be plenty of people doing the same as us looking at how many properties are selling on leggett and rightmove that I’ve seen .
Be great to hear from people who are taking the plunge and just going for it as we are

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We are in the same position as you!
We’re not retirees so I think that makes it even more complex for us?

@Karen_Stanning. As long as you have the required income threshold for “inactifs”, or are working, then shouldn’t be any issue for you. It is actually quite straightforward, but in a French way. So be prepared for far more bits of paper than you could imagine necessary, amd for things not to happen instantaneously.

Thanks Jane.
We are working and I’ll probab be a micro entrepreneur and hubby will be paid a wage from uk company but will be declared urssf (?) with hmrc.
However our daughter, who will be 17, will be in need of support as she has severe disabilities. We will hopefully get some help to fill in the reams of paperwork needed for her once we get there.
I have checked and it seems her UK disability benefits aren’t transportable!

Some of the benefits are transportable, particularly if OH continue to work for UK firm and pay NI. Do triple check. …

And things can take a long while to sort out here. Presumably if this has been your holiday home and you know the area you’ve worked out what is available for your daughter locally so try to get things moving well before you arrive.

I would second what Jane has said about getting on with paperwork as soon as possible for your daughter. If you are going to need to make applications to your local Maison départementale des personnes handicapées (MDPH)
you need to know that they take at least 6 months to respond.

You need to be prepared for everything to take twice or three times longer than you would think.

Here’s some links that gives more information about the MDPH.


http://www.mdph.fr/

Hi Karen…

Forgive me if I’m repeating myself (I’m sure we’ve discussed your daughter’s situation before somwhere on this forum)…

IMO, I suggest you be very wary about cutting all ties with UK… until you have everything set for your daughter’s medical needs etc here in France…

It would be ghastly to find yourselves here, with no financial aid/support for her…

I thought the same thing Stella. I think it was under a post about buying/renting a house with a sitting tenant but I may be completly wrong as it was a long while ago …

Hi Karen,

Lots of good advice above, so I’ll just add the following that hasn’t been mentioned:;tthese are thing s that can take time, but most can be initiated before you leave the UK

i) Get certified copies (apostilles) of important documents such as birth and /or marriage certificates ASAP, Lots of websites say these need to be less than three months old, but at least within our experience, this seems not to have been. the case (even though, I’m adopted, my wife was born in South Africa without UK ancestry and we were married in Jo’burg). These documents will be necessary for many official procedures.

ii) If you’re already, or about to be in receipt of a UK State Pension, let hem know when you move to France so that hey can issue an S! document, which will almost immediately transfer you into the French Health system and enable them to issue the all-important Carte Vitale.

iii) Check when your UK driving licence is due to expire, as the current French application for un pernmit de conduire apparently now has a nine month turn-around, I applied online in January and am still waiting for an acknowledgement that my application has been received.

iv) Set up a French bank account before you move - it seems much easier to do this from the UK. Even if the nearest branch is not very local, once you’ve got a French account, you can more easily switch to a bank that more closely matches your needs.