Moving to France and Living in Paris

Everything You Need To Know to Settle In

By Phyllis Cohen

A passageway to an apartment in Paris.

Here are the ground rules for moving to France: The French allow you to stay in France on a tourist visa for three months with little bother. If you wish to remain as a tourist longer, you will have to get a one-year permit and renew it each year until you are allowed to stay indefinitely. This can take from three to 10 years. After a year, you will be obliged to start paying French taxes on worldwide income, obtain a French driving license, etc.

The Long-Term Visa

Assuming you are not a student and have not found a large corporation to fund your move and support your legal procedures in France, you will need to do the following (the latest details in the long process of visa applications in France can be found by contacting the French Embassy and Consulate).

Fill out an application form for a long-term tourist visa before arriving in France. Applications are available from the French embassy or consulates, but you should first consult all forms of visa requirements online. Call the embassy for the consulate in your area. You’ll need several copies of the application forms in French. No photocopies. You must explain how you will support yourself in France. Include as much information as possible about your financial status. The major purpose of the lengthy visa process is to make sure you will not be a burden to the state.

Once you submit your visa application to the nearest French consulate, you must sit and wait. The approval procedure can take from two to six months. Once approved, you will have three months to enter France.

Upon arrival in France, you have eight days to visit the appropriate préfecture’s office. Go to the central Préfecture of Police at 1 rue de Lutèce, just as you get out of the Cité metro stop. Bring your passport and you will be given a “rendez-vous” or an appointment back at La Cité several weeks later.

The prefecture will also give you a list of required documents to bring, including identity photos, financial statements demonstrating your ability to sustain yourself with independent income, proof of insurance (in French, of course), and a copy of your marriage license if you are a married woman. My husband and I have been married for 28 years but not bringing my marriage certificate threw a monkey wrench in the works!

Other necessary steps include a physical examination at the French Office for Immigration and Integration. The exam assures the French government that you are not a tuberculosis carrier, a drug user, etc. When everything is finally approved, you receive your Long-stay visa (stay of more than 3 months to 1 year), which is valid for a year and renewable yearly.

In other words, it isn’t quick and it isn’t cheap, but it is manageable. Follow the above directions carefully.

Living Arrangements in Paris

You will, of course, need somewhere to hang your beret once you arrive. A popular choice is to rent a furnished apartment. Several companies now let you browse through available apartments online (see below). A furnished apartment saves you the hassle of organizing utilities and telephones. Many short-term rental agencies will insist on payment in advance in cash or traveler’s checks. Credit cards may not be accepted.

Be aware if you decide to rent an unfurnished apartment that it is just that, unfurnished: no cabinets, no sinks, no appliances, no light bulbs, no nothing. We rented an apartment with nothing except the kitchen appliances. On the one hand, it was a true-life experience of setting up life in France as the French do it; on the other hand, furnishing the apartment took three months of our time.

We were also faced with the need for a “guarantee” on the rent. Most foreigners who rent apartments in Paris have an employer to guarantee that the rent will be paid. As we had no employer, we had to pay the full year’s rent in advance.

You can arrange for a short-term rental while you hunt around Paris for the ideal place. There are no multiple listings in France. Each rental agency carries its own list of apartments for rent, usually listed in the window. Therefore, you will need to decide which arrondisement, or area of town, you want and then walk from immobilier to immobilier to see what is available.

Here are some rental agencies that provide short-term furnished apartments in Paris:

• Paris Rental
• France Appartments
• See our section on Home Rentals in France for more information.

Money Matters in France

For a long stay a checking account is indispensable. One of the vagaries of living in France is that you cannot get a checking account without an apartment or permanent address. Naturally, you cannot get an apartment without a checking account.

Fortunately, exceptions are made as long as the banker is comfortable with you. To that end, bring documentation and money. Be prepared to set up an account with several thousand dollars, if possible, and bring along a letter from your banker at home. Any papers you can bring (stock broker reports, tax returns, etc.) can be photocopied and put into your dossier. If you make things easier for your banker, he or she will make it easier for you.

If you think a checking account is not critical, think again. You cannot get a telephone line from France Telecom without a checking account; they debit the amount directly from your account. You cannot get electricity without an account. And so on. As an extension of this, don’t ever let your account become overdrawn. Bad things happen if you do.

Once you’re established in France, one of the easiest ways of transferring funds from the States is your ATM card. The exchange rates are generally the best you will find; there is no delay while international checks clear, and the commission charge is often less than other methods.

For More Information in English in Paris

There are a variety of excellent sources for information on life in Paris for expats. Obviously, the COVID pandemic has made moving to France extremely complicated, but many aspects of life have returned to the pre-pandemic ever-changing French "norms."

The U.S. Embassy in Paris publishes has much information for those currently living in France.

FUSAC has an online presence with ads for housing, jobs, and services required by most expatriates.

Check out our selection of expatriate websites in France, each of which offer unique forums and many other forms of information to help you move to and live in France.

PHYLIS COHEN and her husband Bob took a year off from their software company, packed their bags, and moved to Paris.