Dantes

Hi guys,

My girlfriend and I (both in our late 20's) are moving to France in June and I'm really looking for any advice you good people can offer.

I'm currently living in Canada and have been for almost 2 years but we have decided that we'd love to move to France and will be doing so in about 2 and a half months. My gf is Canadian and went to French immersion school and has also spoken French quite regularly since leaving so she is pretty much fluent in the language. I didn't like it too much at school but I've been obsessed with it for the last year and half and have reached a decent conversational level but I'm far from perfect. I go to a class twice a week and I read french and listen to french podcasts almost every day.

I'm well aware of 'le chômage' at the moment in France and obviously my absolute main priority is finding a job and it's something that I've been worrying about a lot recently. I have a degree in history but I've been doing pretty unskilled jobs (office, photocopy centre) since I left university so I don't really have a 'trade', so to speak. What would be the best route to take from here? I'd like to teach English at some point but since I have never taught I doubt I could just walk into a job doing that.

Of course any advice on 'must do' things (not touristy!) when first arriving in France would be much appreciated as well

Thanks, James

EuroTrash

One 'must do' thing, if you haven't done it already, is to figure out how you're going to arrange health insurance for yourselves until you find work, at which point you will start paying cotisations and get accepted into the French social security system. Are you both Canadian? If so I'm not sure what the rules are, but certainly France doesn't permit emigrants from other EC countries to just turn up and start living here without health insurance in place and/or a steady and sufficient source of income (you have to be able to prove you're not in danger of becoming a burden on the State, should you for example require medical care).

Not meaning to sound negative but forewarned is forearmed, you have a couple of months to sort it if necessary (hopefully you've done your homework and it is already sorted).

Garonne

I would advise you to not even contemplate it without having work secured in advance. I could be wrong but any non EU members can't move to France to work without visas. The moderator Bev on expatforum.com will reply immediately to your post so I suggest you post this on the France forum there. You will be given correct, prompt response to what your legal requirements are to move to France.

Dantes

Thanks for the responses, sorry I should have clarified, I am British and my gf is Canadian but she just received her one year work permit from the French consulate.

From what I have read and researched, being an EU citizen I only need my passport to be able to work in France. Surely there must be some other documents that it is necessary to obtain once I arrive in France? Maybe this isn't the case but I'm definitely going to go to the local 'préfecture' to check anyway.

As for health insurance, is it standard practice to sign up with the CMU scheme if you are an EU member coming to live in France?

Thanks.

Garonne

If you are here temporarily your EHIC card will suffice. I'm not sure how long that covers you for, sorry. If you are moving here permanently as previously stated you'll need an S1 to enter the French health system. If you're not entitled to one you can be 'attached' to your parents until you are 25 as I've previously stated, but without an S1 when that runs out you'll need full private health cover unless you've found work and paid French contributions.

As an EU citizen, yes, all you need is your passport.

graham.miln

Dantes, as a British passport holder you should not need any further paperwork. Your non-EU member nation partner may require a visa.

Before moving, consider setting up a French bank account. Having a cheque book and carte bleu (CB) card in hand will be helpful when you arrive.

How long are you planning to stay? What do you plan to do for accommodation?

If you are staying a year or less, look for holiday accommodation or subletting through local adverts. In our experience, Lyon's estate agents rarely deal with rentals less than one year.

A little aside about Lyon's préfecture may be helpful.

Lyon's préfecture is not a welcoming sort of place. Those seeking anything related to a titre de séjour must queue ready for when the office opens.

Lyon's préfecture opens at 8:30, numbered tickets are issued immediately at 8:30. No further tickets are issued for that day.

Arrive at 8:30 and expect 100+ people to be queued ahead of you. The queue starts forming early every day. :-)

Moving to Lyon will be an exciting challenge. Good luck!

Dantes

Thanks Graham!

Is it possible to set up a bank account before moving to France? I always assumed that would be one of the things that I'd be doing in the first couple of days we arrive.

We want to stay for a year (maybe longer but we're not looking that far ahead, depends on how we like it). As for accommodation we're happy to share an apartment with random people to begin with. We're already signed up to a couple of shared housing websites based in Lyon and have had some initial talks with people who have rooms starting in June (we arrive June 1st).

Info about the préfecture duly noted. How did find Lyon when you first arrived? I know there will be some bumps along the way but I have experience with that when I moved to Canada by myself. Were the people there welcoming?

Garonne

I'm sorry I muddled your post up with another one and thought I'd edited this post but it seems the 'edit' didn't save. The other poster has moved to France from UK and is under 25!

So for you to get health cover you will probably not be covered by a UK S1 as you haven't lived in the UK for two years. This means until you find work you will be obliged to take out full private health cover which is expensive.

graham.miln

Dantes, it is possible to set up a bank account before moving. We opened an HSBC France account from abroad. This gave us a cheque book and local bank card. Check with your local banks to see if they have agreements with banks in France.

Make sure you have healthcare covered. You should make sure you are covered while you sort out the paperwork locally. We used a "gateway" policy with a private health insurance company for this.

As an EU citizen who is "economically active" you can register for a social security number. This then leads to state healthcare cover. The process can take many months.

I have no experience with the CMU. Hopefully others will be better able to advise about this.

Lyon has been good for us. The city is big enough to have all the facilities we need. The train links are good. The airport has a growing number of destinations serviced by low cost airlines. The weather has been reasonable and brighter than I expected.

People are generally welcoming and friendly. Lyon is not a large tourist centre and so the residents do not suffer tourist fatigue.

Garonne

The OP won't be able to enter the CPAM or get CMU unless they have an S1 or are paying French cotisations

Dantes

Thanks for the info on HSBC France. That could be really useful.

One other thing I was wondering was how do French phone contracts work? I guess they're like any other western country that have 2 year contracts as the average. I may only be in France for a year so I might have to work out a pay as you go deal.

If anyone else has any more Lyon-specific info that I won't find in a guide book I'd be very grateful

Merci!

graham.miln

Dantes, French mobile phone numbers are typically pay-as-you-go, contract based, or tied into a residential service such as cable.

Thanks to recent competition from mobile.free.fr, there are now a range of low cost monthly mobile contracts available e.g. 2 euros for 2 hours a month + unlimited text messages.

When we arrived, we bought a pay-as-you-go SIM from Virgin Mobile and topped it up as needed. Once we had accommodation, we switched away to a contract. You will need your passport and proof of a French address when buying your SIM.

With regard to Lyon generally, near Part Dieu is a large supermarket, Carrefour, and commercial shopping centre; Part Dieu is Lyon's main train station. There are hypermarkets located around Lyon which are reachable by public transport. The city also has numerous fresh food markets.