kazz4662

Good evening France we’ve been trying for over a year to get to live in France! Ours has been for sale inUK for same time what with Brexit and Brexit again then Xmas and now Covid 19 am wondering if we’ll ever get there? We’ve been lucky to have managed a few visits and are looking at Normandy way .so I’m warning You now I’ll have heaps of questions!!

EuroTrash

cyrian

Hi Kazz
Probably your first questions should be about healthcare cover.
You stated elsewhere that you both had pre-existing health conditions and that you were pre-retirees.
You will face the unknown post-Brexit situation and have to apply for a residence permit after 2020.
You will need to prove that you will not be a burden on the French State.
Do you speak French?
Have you considered renting somewhere initially and get to know if an area suits you before you burn your bridges in the UK?
Ask your questions.

kazz4662

Hello thanks for the message I have been doing some home work looking into what we need to do to begin the process. We’ve started on the bank account and looking into the health process guess it’s harder as been waiting on our house sale before coming or possibly mortgages and start a holiday home way ? Lots of questions which will work best ? Yes ideally get there all before Brexit takes hold and we’ve limited French language but again studying but I’ve a shocking memory . I’m semi retired hubby still working where to begin !!

Tweedpipe

Where to begin? Well firstly, have you read through most of the France FAQ's to be found HERE?
Some of the topics like schooling etc obviously won't apply, but those you should really become au fait with are Healthcare, 'Growing Old in France', 'Inheritance Laws', and perhaps the one that many don't like even to think about, 'Death in France'. The latter becomes particularly important for those planning retirement and who have sold up in UK. A few of us here have been through some of those related traumatic experiences, and have provided feed-back to inform and help minimize some of the bureaucratic headaches that can be encountered. To re-quote one of our favourite, loyal members, "forewarned is forearmed".
If addititional info is required on any topic not adressed in the link above, just ask away. Of course there are some post Brexit issues that are still of concern, and to be adressed over the coming months. Interesting times, especially politically - having just watched the local election results!

@ET. I must admit I'd never heard of Gerald Blanchard, but I can see from the song title why you are especially attracted to it at the moment.
Actually as soon as you wrote, "Do you know this song", in keeping with the OP's and your location of choice, I expected to see a clip of Stone & Charden singing Made in Normandie. A huge, catchy hit which all the 'swingers' here danced to in the 70's. Brings back some great memories! .
Another huge chart hit of theirs was L'avventura, which to a lot of us could conjure up the experiences, wonderful or otherwise of moving to France.......

EuroTrash

I would say that if you're planning to move under freedom of movement as early retirees, the planning stage at this point should focus on (a) learning French, (b) planning your finances* mid and long term, to ensure you will consistently meet the income requirement for five years and be bombproof against fluctuations in the exchange rate, U-turns by HMG, etc, and (c) finding out your options for healthcare for the first 3 months until you can apply to join PUMA.

When that part of the plan is in place, then it's time to find somewhere to live, open a bank account and start balls rolling (and keep learning French).

*Are you both planning on stopping work completely when you move? Transferring your work can be a tad complicated and it's important to find out the rules and make sure get all the correct registrations and affiliations in place. That should definitely be part of your priority planning, to make sure it's feasible. And it'll mean you can disregard (c) above because if you're working in France, you'll be paying social security contributions and your healthcare will be sorted.

kazz4662

Good morning all
Am noting what is becoming a helpful list thank you all . There is also I’m told many insurance types ? When to register car/ bike in France if staying and costs for these
Ontopof all other costs . Not being retired yet causes a few more issues, the tax issues, Do we apply straight away to stay ? So many questions you can see why people don’t become permanent it’s it always straight forward and you have to grit your teeth and remember your in France it’s different!!

dmu

Hi, as said, where to begin?
Would your OH be continuing to work if you moved, say, in a few months' time? He would retain his employment status either as a posted worker (see #20 in the Read Me: Moving to France FAQs above for employers' obligations) or self-employed (with a French business structure). He would then have healthcare insurance either via the UK NH or the French S.S. System. If neither of you will be working (I may be wrong, but I don't think the status of "semi-retired" exists in France), you'd have to take out private healthcare insurance from Day 1 until you apply to get into the French System and for Residency, after 3 months. Another requirement for residency is proof of minimum REGULAR income, not just a healthy bank balance... At the present time, the minimum resources are 847,17 € for a couple, as per this official link:
https://www.service-public.fr/partic...osdroits/F2651
but this applies to EU citizens, and the conditions may change after Brexit is settled.....
Why not buy a holiday home now and move over permanently when your OH receives his UK State Pension?
Being able to communicate is important, especially if you'll be consulting Doctors regularly and you should both persevere with your studies. How would either of you cope language-wise if one of you had to be hospitalized?
As I'm wont to say, fore-warned is fore-armed!
@ET, sorry, I don't know Gérard Blanchard either, but TP's link brought a blast from the past!

P.S. Post crossed with ET's and your posts!

dmu

Don't know whether this will work, but here's my contribution to the Normandie répertoire, which OH and his brother used to sing...

Lesmullons

There is some excellent advice given here by members and it can sometimes seem daunting when you get in to the detail of tax, health, residency etc particularly in the current transition period but don't let it put you off your dream! We moved to France in 2016 as early retirees having done a lot of research beforehand and with the benefit of a reasonable level of french (if a bit rusty) from a degree passed many years before. My wife was less fluent but still able to communicate with friends and in shops etc. We decided to rent for a year and were very pleased that we did because it gave us a chance to really get to know the chosen area and "learn the ropes". My advice would be really understand the tax system in France and if you are planning retirement take the impacts of this in to account in advance. We were early retirees with private pensions and investments to support us as with the ever changing qualifying age for UK state pensions there was going to be 10 years plus before they kicked in. The tax treatment of investment and pension income in France is very different and even sums which are treated as tax free in UK (ISA income, pension lump sums etc) are taxed quite severely in France so it was imporant to plan these carefully. Also the addition of cotisations and tax foncere etc meant in the end that we were paying more in taxes in France than in UK and overall found that the cost of living was more expensive. This was not a big issue but we do know a number of people who got caught out and found themselves with significant tax bills. Also I echo the advice about language. even with a good level of French I found the speed and regionality of language in South West France tricky at times and my wife in particular missed everyday "chat" because outside of more controlled and planned conversations she found it hard to keep up and this can be a bit isolating. Do persevere as the benefits can be great if you really throw yourself in to French life!

EuroTrash

OK - I think that before you can even really start planning, you need to decide what you're planning for. Are you aiming to move before the end of transition, or after? Because depending on the answer to that, your approach will be completely different.

Either way, registering cars and bikes doesn't need to be part of your priority planning IMHO. You can sort that out later. It's simply a matter of following the rules. If the cost really is important, there are websites where you can put in the details and it will tell you what the cost will be. If you have a Hummer or something that's going to be expensive/complicated/impossible to register in France, you may have to be prepared to part with it. Likewise insurance, there are options, it's just a case of spending a bit of time finding the best option for you but you don't need to do that right now. But to be frank, if the cost of registering a car or taking out insurance is going to be a deal-breaker, I think it would be wise to put your plans on hold for now. There's always going to be unexpected expenses. Property taxes for instance can increase hundreds of euros from one year to the next, if the commune's budget requires it. Of course you need to have a rough idea but you can't budget to the nearest euro or even the nearest hundred euros, you need to leave yourselves a good safety cushion.

What I would say is that if you aim to move during transition, you really don't have a lot of time to get all your ducks in a row and you need to focus on what's most important. If you're going to move after transition then you have all the time in the world, no pressure. If I was an early retiree I don't think I'd be rushing to meet a deadline because where's the fun in that..

EuroTrash

We need to be careful with this. Maybe the Read me should be amended because Brits can't take advantage of this any more.
"Posted worker" is an EU scheme and the UK won't be able to participate after the end of transition.
But the most significant factor is that by definition, posted workers do not accrue residence rights in the state where they're working. By definition they're resident in the country where their employer is based and where they normally work, and they're posted abroad on a temporary assignment (up to 2 years). A posted worker who is part way through a posting at the end of transition will be allowed to stay until the posting ends, but the time he's been in the host country does not count as a period of exercising freedom of movement,

I'm lovin' all the Normandy songs, thanks! keep 'em coming!

Listen Very Carefully

To get the best responses from people on here all of whom have a wealth of knowledge you need to specific with your questions However IMHO you should prioritise with
1 How are we going to pay our daily expenses when we move here ie job rental income from UK etc and you will need to show an income
2 Healthcare How does it work how do we join and do we need to pay for it and if so how much? and will I need private insurance
3 Finance, tax ,banking etc and the Anglo French tax agreement
But the most important thing of all is LEARN FRENCH to the best of your ability in a structured planned way The days of shouting loudly and slowly in English at French people have long gone with Brexit

Do not underestimate the cost of daily living in France but the flip side is a great life style

EuroTrash

Great post. Good advice.
Are you in the Midi, with the lovely singing accent and flattened vowels?

cyrian

Hi Kazz
Don't pressure yourself to try and buy a home in France by the end of this year.
The housing market is very different from the UK.
Homes (apart from a few hotspots like Paris etc) tend not to sell quickly.
It can take several years to sell some properties.
You also need to understand the French housing market before jumping in.
I totally agree with lesmullions about renting first and getting to know your chosen location.
Property doesn't appreciate in France like in the UK - do not consider a property as an investment - it isn't.
You could even consider just renting. This is quite normal in France.
HTH