Moving to France with your family

Not success ful for us.  Too hard for me as the wife to get a job so after 2 years we returned home..

I moved here to be with my partner in November> I have found the following issues :
- Its really hard to get a social security number & card vital ( which is for your health care
- You need alot of paper work to do anything like open a bank ( the french love their paper work so bring as much as you can with you!)
- you have to pay for medication and any appointments ( doctors or hospitals ) up front and you will get re-inbursted when you have a social security number

Other than that brilliant> Really easy to find work and i dont speak French!

Good luck

Hello Victoria,
Nice to see your post! Even me I don't speak enough French but for me it's really hard to get a job. The main reason is I don't speak French really well. So can I get any idea from you? Thank you.

It depends where about in France your looking to move. I moved to a little village near Lille. Lille is a beautiful city I would recommend looking there. Everything is centeral, lots of public transport and very highly rated schools.

I originally worked for a language school teaching English to children however they were quite difficult with working hours & I now work in customer service for a company speaking English in a town called Tourcoing - I would also recommend looking here.

I did find it hard to find something but the job I am in now are looking for people, it's good pay and a good location.

Victoria

Be prepared for excessive bureaucracy and power plays by administrators. We have lived and worked in four other European countries as well as North America and Asia and never encountered the level of dogmaticism in government procedures and the unhelpful attitude of state employees as we have here. With time one learns how to work within the system. Basically, document everything, keep scrupulous records and be prepared for delays and research everything before presenting your issue to administrators, eg. Know you rights. We have called on the free legal support offered by the EUs service SOLVIT on two occasions to defend our rights as EU citizens, an invaluable service. After 10 years and despite enjoying the charms France offers, we have decided to leave.

May I ask if you are of working age as we have planned to move to Brittany now we are retired, I assume the same amount of what sounds like hassle would apply.  It is also quite a concern as to what will happen in the referendum and the effects on expats in France, risky time for anyone to move until you know the score...sorry you are leaving and encountered so many unhelpful people, one wonders why they have to be so dogmatic....Good Luck to you...

Hello Goat Lady, we are in our sixties and I work as a consultant. So, yes, as a retired couple your need to deal with bureaucracy will be much less. France has so much to offer that the hassle can be worth it -  hence our 10 years of time here. Brexit certainly does introduce a risk, but most sources suggest that it may take about 2 years for the existing provisions to be renegotiated if the UK exits. Moreover, reciprocity may be an objective for such negotiations considering the large numbers of French living in the UK. An option would be to rent a property for the first 6 or 12 months. This would allow you to "try on" a neighborhood or region before committing and time to keep an eye on negotiations in the event of an exit.

An important consideration if you do move to France, is health care - the French system is excellent. The current economic situation is and will force some changes, but doctors still make house calls, surgery if needed is scheduled rapidly, hospitals are well-staffed, facilities and equipment are good quality and the approach to care is more holistic than I have experienced elsewhere. To give you an idea of costs, we pay about 100 Euros per month for a private insurance plan to complement the national health plan.

I hope this information is useful to you. All best wishes

Dear JDlt, just wanted to say thank you for your reply and the information most kind of you.  May I just ask does the health insurance cover you both or is that 100 euros each...I thought it most reasonable whichever. 

Very best wishes to you.

100 Euros each and this covers all services and medications (dental and eyecare are only partially covered)

Again it is most kind of you to reply...

Very best wishes...

With pleasure

My husband and I are considering retiring in France. We spent 4 years in norther Italy (Alto Adige) and loved it. We joined the National Health Care system and jumped through all the government hoops - which like France can be quite intimidating - to open a bank account and do all the things for our Italian PDS - permission to stay. My question is can one get adequate health care without the added private insurance?
We are looking to settle in or around Annecy.