Moving to fRance for three years - things to consider?

Riablo

Not sure if this is the right board as less of a holiday, more of a three year secondment to France.

My partner has been offered a three year secondment to Paris. His company look after him pretty well in that they will sort out his tax liability (which should only be France anyway), keep his pension going etc.

I will be giving up my job in the UK (hopefully staying on as a consultant but otherwise giving it up) and moving to France with my boyfirend. I will be unemployed initially, but hopefully find work eventually. It will most likley be significantly lower paid than my current role, but unfortunately as I am a solicitor I can not practice in France so I will need to do something unrelated.

I'm now thinking about the practicalities of moving out there (before committing myself!). Whilst the contract is for 3 years I may well only be out there for 2 as my partner will euro commute for around six months at the start and possibly at the end of his contract. I want to try to have as little upheaval as possible.

I have lots of questions so apologies for the long post in advance! Also if there is anything that people think I have missed please let me know!

Residence / domicile:
I am assuming that we will still be classed as having UK residence and domicile, except for income tax purposes?

From a practical point of view, when I was at university I kept all of my bank accounts, phone, credit cards etc registered to my home address as I knew I wasn't going to be away long. Is there anything wrong in telling my banks etc that I am living c/o my dad's address (preferably keep them registred at home, but can't really if tenants intercepting post). I really don't want routine post finding me out in France as it will be a hassle getting it all directed back to the UK when we leave. Also concerned that phone contract, credit cards etc may be cancelled if I state a French address.

House:
Our house will be rented out in the UK. My dad will oversee tenants and I'm assuming that any income can be set off against the mortgage although we will have to file tax returns?

Our mortgage is currently variable rate which is great for now and we were possibly planning to move depending what happens to interest rates. Aside from my employment position, I'm assuming it will be difficult for us to get a mortgage as we will effectively be looking for a buy to let mortgage and have very little equity in the house, or alternatively if they will see this as the temporary situation it is? Not sure if a French address also makes it difficult.

Bank accounts etc:
I would like to keep all of my UK bank accounts, with online banking I don't think this should be a problem, but not sure if the banks will see it that way. Are they likely to be put off by a French address?

Car insurance:
I am taking my UK car over to France. I was going to keep it registered to my home address as that is still my 'home' although we will be away for 3 years, but not sure if I will need to transfer it to a French address and whether the car will have to be officially exported?

What is my liability for car tax if the car is being driven outside of the UK?

Will I need French insurance rather than UK insurance? Will the car need to be registered in France for that?

Will the car still need MOTing in the UK?

Money Saving in France:
Anyone know of a French equivalent to MSE as I think I will be lost without it!

I'm sure loads more questions will come to mind, but at least that's a few off my chest!

Thanks for any response and if anyone has nbeen in this position I would love to hear more as I'm completely clueless!

quickpost

Riablo wrote: »

I will be unemployed initially, but hopefully find work eventually. Bank accounts etc: I would like to keep all of my UK bank accounts, ................. Car insurance: I am taking my UK car over to France. I was going to keep it registered to my home address as that is still my 'home' although we will be away for 3 years, but not sure if I will need to transfer it to a French address and whether the car will have to be officially exported? What is my liability for car tax if the car is being driven outside of the UK? Will I need French insurance rather than UK insurance? Will the car need to be registered in France for that? Will the car still need MOTing in the UK?

Few things (I lived in France in the early 90s)

Speak French, and speak it fluently.

Unemployment is high in France at the moment, and not speaking the language won't help the situation.

There is no difficulty getting a french bank account when you are in employment, Getting employment without have a French bank account is difficult unless you get paid cash in hand. Its a fairly simple process with the same requirements as the UK (Passport, utility bill, wage slip etc)

Cars :-

Basically you cannot move to France for 3 years and just keep the car UK registered, after 12 months its seen as being permanent export.

Even taking it out for more than 3 months could cause problems with insurance and breakdown cover (you problably won't have ANY breakdown cover. IIRC insurance will drop to 3rd party if it is MOT'ed and taxed.

Not having it taxed or MOT'ed while abroad will invalidate any UK insurance.

Second hand French cars are expensive, and insurance will be expensive as you don't know the cheap companies. See point 1) Speak French, and speak it fluently.

Having a car in Paris is a TOTAL waste of time unless you have parking. Even then driving in Paris, unless in an old land rover, is pointless.

see www*totalfrance*com/france/fiches.php?fiche_id=47

exchange the * with dots

PS

Its an amazing country, just avoid the "ex-pats". See point 1.

Alias_Omega

Dont worry,

Weve moved to Cyprus for 3 years.

At least you can drive back to the uk when you want, were stuck on an island.

You will enjoy it

Alias

mikey72

It's either you or me then.
I've found the french a very pleasant nation, chatty, in broken french and english, helpful, but as with anywhere more abrupt in the capital than the country.


For the car, just nip home to mot and tax it, and drive it on third party when you're over there.

Mr_Lahey

mikey72 wrote: »

It's either you or me then.
I've found the french a very pleasant nation, chatty, in broken french and english, helpful, but as with anywhere more abrupt in the capital than the country.


For the car, just nip home to mot and tax it, and drive it on third party when you're over there.

You must have been to a different France to me.

mikey72

After the pernod, brandy, lager, and wine, different to most peoples normally.

But I could still happily move there tomorrow.

Bananabelly

With regards to the banks, I have had HSBC send me statements to 3 different countries - it is no problem at all (just give them a bit of time to make the change).
In terms of domicile - the main reason to think about that is for income tax purposes isn't it? That depends on lots of things, like where you are earning the majority of your money, how long you have been in one country, etc. I would imagine (but don't know) that there are agreements (as many countries around the world have this, eg UK and Australia) or some EU legislation about getting credit for tax paid in other EU countries so it won't actually matter very much. You can still vote from overseas, the same as you would if you were on holidays and there was an election....can't think of another reason? Hopefully someone else can be a bit clearer about the tax situation.

I wouldn't bother with the car, like others have said. Way too much hassle unless you have a rare one, and even then probably better left in the UK. Besides, have you seen how they park in Paris? You definitely want comprehensive insurance.

Riablo

Thanks for the replies.

The fluent French is a bit of an issue. I have very basic rusty GCSE French, ok with reading gnerally but speaking and listening more of a problem. We are going to have language courses before we go and whilst we are there....people keep telling me that it will be easier to pick it up whilst I'm over there, but I'm not so sure! We are working on the basis that I will probably be unemployed for 6 - 12 months, hopefully my French will be good enough by then for me to find something.

We are actually going to be living about 20km outside of Paris in one of the outlying towns or villages so I defeinitely wantt o take my car, also have a caravan so car will be needed to tow. I love my car dearly and don't wantt o drive it anyway near the centre!! Depending how I get on with right hand drive over there I may buy something in France eventually, but it took me ages to find a suitable car in England and with the language issue I don't fancy haggling in France! (We normally buy privately rather than garage sales).

I must admit the people we know in Paris seem very nice and I've not had a problem when I've been out there but it's going to be a different ball game living there.

Glad to hear the bank shouldn't be a problem.

Still very nervous about the whole thing...lots to think about!!

spiro

I remember a friend saying that you cant keep a foriegn registered car in France for more than 6(?) months before you have to re-register it to get French plates. Not sure if that is still true.

quickpost

spiro wrote: »

I remember a friend saying that you cant keep a foriegn registered car in France for more than 6(?) months before you have to re-register it to get French plates. Not sure if that is still true.

Its not the car, its the person. That prevents driving the car back to Dover for the day to reset the 6 month period. If you live in France for more than 6 months a year your car must be French registered.

I beleive that the rules that allowed access to the french health care system changed recently as well.

knightstyle

Ok so you will be in France for 2 to 3 years. First make sure the employer covers all the family health insurance. If you are under pension age there is no need to pay your UK pension contributions whilst you are away, the new rules mean you will be paying for nothing. If you have a house in the UK, keep it, don't sell it. The car will have to be registered in France, for this you will need a certificate of conformity from the manufacturer, some are easier to obtain than others, then change the headlights etc. with fees expect to pay around £250 for all this and then you will have o change it back to UK. Why not sell it and buy in France? The caravan will also cause problems, there are separate checks for the chassis and body, all the electrics will need changing and probably the gas as well, there are lots of threads on this on the expat. forums.
We have lived in rural France for 15 years and never had problems with French people, always try to start the conversation in French, say how much you appreciate the French way of life and all will be fine. Take a Sky box with you and get a satellite dish set up to receive the freesat channels without a subscription, French TV is dire!
Open a Nationwide flex account before you go and take all your documents, birth, marriage certs. with several copies.
PM me if you like for more. Enjoy your stay.