One thing you learn very

One thing you learn very quickly when you move to France is that you don’t really have a choice about the order in which you do things. That’s because you often need to complete one step in order to move on to the next step. Planning to live and work in France? Janine Marsh, shares some top tips… Whether you decide to buy or to rent, it usually means you’ll need a French bank account. That means you need to have an address – it can get complicated if you’ve sold your property to move to France but don’t have a permanent address yet. In order to have a French resident’s address, you need a visa (unless you live in a country that’s a member of the European Union). The visa entitles you to live in France which in turn enables you to apply for medical care. You may want to work in France, and that means you need to register to pay tax and social contributions. And yes, at times it can all feel a bit overwhelming, time-consuming and occasionally frustrating – but nothing ventured, nothing gained as the saying goes. Of course, if you don’t fancy dealing with all the paperwork yourself to become French resident and all that goes with it, there are companies that will help you and take the pain away. I got help with my move because I was working such long hours, I didn’t have time to deal with paperwork, answering questions by phone (I had to be interviewed at one point by one of the government bodies), registering on multiple systems, setting up to pay tax etc. For me it was worth every penny to get help. 6 months from start to finish I had everything sorted including the Carte Vitale (access to the excellent health care service), being set up to work as a micro entrepreneur (freelance) and pay tax, plus sort out my Carte de Sejour, residency permit. Visas There are 17 different types of visas for France because one size does not fit all. Retirement visa, student visa, working visa etc. – there’s a different one to suit several situations, and there are strict criteria to suit the visa you 94 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 95