ID for French pension
Options
Newly_retired
Posts: 2,954 Forumite
I am hoping somebody in this board may have experience of this issue.
Thanks to working in France for a year many moons ago I get a tiny French pension each month.
Every year I have to return a form duly signed to prove that I still exist. Up till now this has been signed at the Register office without any charge or any difficulty or delay.
Now I have moved areas and the local RO will not do this.
I tried getting the form signed by the Vicar ( I know another churchgoer has done this for her German pension), but the French authorities will not accept this.
Their letter says ( no accents, sorry)
L'attestation d'existence que vous m'avez fait parvenir n'est pas valuable car ce document a ete etabli par une personne non habillee ( ! )
...... Vous trouverez ci-joint un nouveau justicatif a me retourner complete, date et legalise par l'autorite competente de votre pays de residence ( mairie....)
I do understand the French, so please don't translate it for me.
Any advice as to where I can go to get this done successfully, at minimal cost?
Thanks to working in France for a year many moons ago I get a tiny French pension each month.
Every year I have to return a form duly signed to prove that I still exist. Up till now this has been signed at the Register office without any charge or any difficulty or delay.
Now I have moved areas and the local RO will not do this.
I tried getting the form signed by the Vicar ( I know another churchgoer has done this for her German pension), but the French authorities will not accept this.
Their letter says ( no accents, sorry)
L'attestation d'existence que vous m'avez fait parvenir n'est pas valuable car ce document a ete etabli par une personne non habillee ( ! )
...... Vous trouverez ci-joint un nouveau justicatif a me retourner complete, date et legalise par l'autorite competente de votre pays de residence ( mairie....)
I do understand the French, so please don't translate it for me.
Any advice as to where I can go to get this done successfully, at minimal cost?
0
Comments
-
Newly_retired wrote: »I am hoping somebody in this board may have experience of this issue.
Thanks to working in France for a year many moons ago I get a tiny French pension each month.
Every year I have to return a form duly signed to prove that I still exist. Up till now this has been signed at the Register office without any charge or any difficulty or delay.
Now I have moved areas and the local RO will not do this.
I tried getting the form signed by the Vicar ( I know another churchgoer has done this for her German pension), but the French authorities will not accept this.
Their letter says ( no accents, sorry)
L'attestation d'existence que vous m'avez fait parvenir n'est pas valuable car ce document a ete etabli par une personne non habillee ( ! )
...... Vous trouverez ci-joint un nouveau justicatif a me retourner complete, date et legalise par l'autorite competente de votre pays de residence ( mairie....)
I do understand the French, so please don't translate it for me.
Any advice as to where I can go to get this done successfully, at minimal cost?
This article might help (covers French pensions further down)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/jessicainvestigates/10140391/How-can-I-claim-my-German-pension.html0 -
I've completed this type of form for a couple of my clients at the CAB, done them for 2/3years now, successfully, so you could try your local branch.0
-
I don't fully understand the French, but hey ho ...
Commissioner for Oaths?Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
Newly_retired wrote: ».........
I do understand the French, so please don't translate it for me.
Any advice as to where I can go to get this done successfully, at minimal cost?
some of us don't, so what does it say that's confusing you?The questions that get the best answers are the questions that give most detail....0 -
Sorry for confusion and thanks for the replies.
The form needs to be validated by the competent local authority. Mairie in France = local town hall, but every small town has one.
I tried asking at the help desk of our borough council and was told they could not do this and I would need a solicitor. Nor would the Registrar do it.
Further online enquiries showed a Notary public would be the person.
One wanted to charge £100 + VAT, another would do it for £50.
As the pension is only £300 pa before tax, ie about £22 pm, I was beginning to feel it wasn't worth it.
In theory any solicitor is a commissioner for oaths, and the cost of swearing an oath is £5. Have you ever known a solicitor do any thing for £5? And would their office stamp be accepted in France?
As I have failed once, I did not want to risk another attempt by using CAB, Chesky. I too am a volunteer, but nobody at my bureau had any confidence that it would work. I need the form signed and stamped in a way that the French authorities will recognize and accept. I hoped the vicar would be ok, as for a passport, mais non!
A further attempt at my local town council offices looks promising. The Town Clerk was on leave, but her PA said if I go back on Monday she is sure it can be done, for free.
So I will report back on Monday.0 -
How about your doctor? A chartered accountant? A teacher?0
-
On thAt basis that's why I opted for the vicar. He had an official church stamp, which a teacher wouldn't have. It's not the same as a passport.
I don't want to send it off on spec and be turned down again. I think the town clerk is my best bet.0 -
Yes, do let us know how you get on. We have English friends who live in France, and they say there is the French way of doing things, and the French way of doing things, ie nothing else is acceptable. Nothing else can be considered. Vraiment, you say that some other way exists? No, that cannot be possible. They (the French authority in question) have never heard of any other way of doing things, so it cannot exist.
I exaggerate slightly, of course, but one year this family were not going to be in the village on the date on which everyone goes to the Mairie to say they'd like their child to have a place in the local school, and gives the date of birth etc. So they went to ask about what to do. Nothing could be done. If they didn't register on that day, they probably wouldn't get a place. No, they couldn't complete the forms beforehand and ask a friend to give them in: they couldn't be given the forms to post, no, there was no other way than to turn up at the Mairie on that date ...
My friends swore that no school planning would be done until after that date, even if the Mairie knew, for example, that in the previous year the first year had been larger than usual, and was likely to be just as big in future years, they wouldn't plan for any more places than usual in the second year until after everyone had been to the Mairie. Even if they knew - by other means - that there were going to be physically more children than could be fitted into the school, nothing would be done until after Registration Day, at which point the school would go 'zut alors, what shall we do, all these little darlings from Year 1 are going into Year 2, and we can't fit them in, and we have just as many new little darlings arriving for Year 1 ....'Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
Exactly this.
It has to be right.0 -
So far, so good. The Town Clerk, back from leave, signed and stamped my form, so just need to post it off and hope it is acceptable in France.
Don't know why I didn't go there in the first place, but was told firmly at the reception desk at the borough council that they do not do this sort of thing.
Good job we have a local council, just like a Mairie, in fact.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.1K Life & Family
- 247.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards