manue1970

Hello,

My husband Croatian (English nationality) and I (French) want to go back to France (Le Mans)
We have been in manchester since 1993, my husband has never lived in France but speak a little french. and we have a 8 year Old son + 1 girl who is 5.

Our quality of life is not bad, but I'm going to be made redundant in February 2015 and we are selling our house in August 2014 and I think this is a good time start a new life near my family in France.

We have a few projects to start a new life in France, but we are still at the stage of reflection, to weigh the pros and cons (which gives me a massive headache) ...
We have nine months to organize everything, find work, etc., and my parents are also on hand to help us a little at the beginning (I hope so)), so we do not launch ourselves like that, but at the moment there is nothing on the job side. Finding work for both of us or at least for one of us being the main condition to move.

I was a teenager when I left France so I really do not know how it works to find a home, buy a house ect ... and my parents who are retired do not give me too much advice

And my biggest concern is my children and school. Will they be accepted. My boy speaks good French, Croatian and English, but his level of French writing and reading is not that good. My daughter understands everything I say in French but unfortunately she does not speak it well: (

I was wondering if there are people in a similar situation, or having already did that ...
I hope to have some testimonials with advice

Many Thanks

Emmanuelle

dmu

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!
Your children won't have any problems integrating in a French Primaire. Next year your daughter will enter CP and learn to read and write. Your son wouldn't have any problem catching up with the French Grammar and general culture that all French kids learn in Primaire. You enrol them at the Mairie and I imagine Le Mans has several Primaires, so it will allocate you to the one nearest your future domicile. You can't do this until you have a justificatif de domicile (rental contract, utility bill, possibly an affidavit from your parents if you'll be living with them at the beginning....)
I think your greatest problem will be finding work. The economic situation in France has changed since you left, and for the worst.
What are your respective lines of work?
Another problem would be healthcare coverage if you don't find employment.
Others in or near Le Mans will come along to give "local" advice.
Meanwhile, bon courage and bonne chance!

manue1970

Many Thanks for your message...I am quiet positive in finding a Job because I have already contacted few companies in Paris and they were very interested by what I am doing (data analyst)...The only worry is that they would have something for me now and not next year so let's hope that it will still be the case when my I finish my current role in February 2015...I just hope that I am not too positive
Thanks again
xx
Emmanuelle

dmu

Life will be stressful if you work in Paris and live in Le Mans, esp. on days when the SNCF/Métro are on strike! Your OH and parents would have to cope with the different Primary school hours which are now in force, you wouldn't see much of your children except at weekends....
Sorry to be pessimistic on this front, but it's an important factor.

EuroTrash

I don't think your kids will have any problem at all, and provided you get your employment sorted out I can't see what you have to worry about. The problems that catch most Brits out when they move to France are: the language - which you don't have to worry about; the difficulty of finding work - which you are aware of and dealing with; and sometimes, the fact that they have no solid reason for moving beyond a hazy vision of themselves living an unrealistically perfect French dream - and you do have good reasons for moving.
Bon courage, and enjoy your new life.

Chti Anglais

Apart from complimentaire to buy, your health care (carte vitale) should be covered from the UK for the first 18 months/2years, you need to prepare the way by contacting the right UK government department, a few months before you go, to have the necessary bits for your CPAM visit. I think it's probably Newcastle you need to speak to. You need to inform these people that you are leaving the country anyway for tax purposes etc.
I'm sure other forum members will know the correct contacts for these things, I can't be sure myself as I still receive advice notes, forms and statements from Newcastle, Cardiff, Manchester and somewhere in Scotland, and I've been in France for four years.

Good luck

EuroTrash

No - I think you're talking about the residuary S1. This was stopped as from 1 July 2014, they are no longer being issued.
Workers S1s are still being issued, S1s are still being issued to retirees and any S1s already in force will run until their expiry date. But people below retirement age can no longer apply.

Chti Anglais

Good point, well spotted then.

Does this mean anyone going abroad to live, even if still in the EU, needs to have private health insurance until they have a carte vitale (or equivalent outside France)?
Unless they claim they are on holiday and use their EHIC (Ex E111) card.

EuroTrash

This only affects inactifs, and there are still exceptions, eg I think for people on certain disability benefits.
I don't know about other EU states but in France, inactifs can apply to join CMU after they've been here for 3 months. There is no guarantee they will be accepted but if they are, they get their carte vitale and pay contributions based on income. If they're turned down, they need private insurance.

Relying on the EHIC is dodgy in any case, you can't be sure of getting away with it and you won't find out until push comes to shove, but IMHO it is especially unwise for people of a certain age because you wouldn't be offered any preventative checkups in France, such as smear tests and breast scans for women, don't know what if anything is routinely offered to men. Which can save lives.

MillieF

How exciting! Le Mans is a lovely city. I lived not too far away, in La Fleche, until two years ago. It isn't practical to live in Le Mans and commute to Paris, it's expensive and a long journey. There are quite a lot of large international companies with offices in Le Mans, look up the Chamber of Commerce in Le Mans and there is a list of them on-line.

Your kids will have no difficultly as they are a good age to move. There are some super schools around the Le Mans area and quite a little international community. There is an bi-lingual kids club in Le Mans, called Jack and Jill, that meets twice a month, it's generally one parent English and the other parent French, and a few mixes in between. The kids are all ages, and it's a great place to meet other parents, and I certainly found it great when my son was small as we were able to discuss potential language problems with people who had had the same experiences. If you look on Pays Des La Loire on Anglo Info, there is usually info about their meetings.

Very best of luck with all your plans.