Moving to France

[Tonythepilot]

We’re moving to France permanently to hopefully have a more fulfilling life and hopefully make a success of it. The move will happen in two years and in between time we’ll make use of this transition period to gen up on the language, move locations, house hunt and look at the various business opportunities. We’ve done the due dil, looked at all the checks and balances compared to the Uk and are happy with the decision as are the kids who are ready to do one! The question I have for those who have done it is this, how did you find the transition and general integration into a foreign country and was there any point were you nearly didn’t make it and how did you eventually overcome this. Thanks a million.

I’ve moved around a fair bit internationally (and lived in Paris and near Nice, though years ago now), so, bluntly, I’m good at taking up a new challenge, language, culture, climate, job, social norms. I’m extremely good at languages, which is probably the single thing that has allowed me to integrate comparatively easily.

What struck me in your post is the idea that you’re moving for a ‘more fulfilling life’ — what is it that you think will be different in France? What is the ‘due diligence’ you’ve done? How much time have you spent in France? It’s a huge, strongly regional, very varied country. How good is your French now, and your children’s French? Are they school age? Assuming you’re British, post-Brexit what is the visa situation?

There is a Living overseas-board that is pretty active.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/living_overseas

Make sure you get good tax advice! We’ve just paid a French tax specialist to help us with this. We are just about to move, been house hunting for two years. It’s taken a while but we wanted to make sure it was the right location.

Also start learning French

Where in France are you planning to move to? Moving to Nice isn't the same as moving to Nantes, which isn't the same as moving to Chamonix... The experience you have will very largely depend on where you choose to live.

Do you speak French well? There will be a lot of admin, which will all have to be completed in French. If you don't speak fluent French, I think there are people you can hire to help you through the move process - which will be more complex post-Brexit. (I assume you've looked at visa requirements and are sure that you'll meet them.)

How well you integrate depends on many things, but language is a pretty fundamental one. You can't integrate if you can't speak to people. Will your children be going into French schools? Have you looked at what the impact of the transition to a completely different education system will be, if so?

If you're moving to Paris, to work in an international company in English, and your children will go to an international school, you'll integrate into that community pretty easily. You will possibly find it harder if you don't speak French, are moving to a small village in Provence and your children will go to the local secondary school. If you can give us more detail about your plans, we can probably give you more helpful advice!

What are the legal requirements for moving to France from UK these days? I know it isn't like the prebrexit days when it was easy.