Advice on moving to France please.....???

Question

I'm looking for web sites / books etc which can inspire and aid my move from France to Scotland.

Anyone with first hand experience - please share your stories...

Handy tips...what to avoid, what to look out for, pitfalls, legal loopholes

Thanks....

Answer 1

get the train not the boat its quicker

Answer 2

Perhaps try to make some contacts in the area you are planning to move to.  Less scary if you have someone nearby you can ask for help or advice.

Pretty costly place to live : Health insurance, taxes, day to day living....

Think about it seriously if you don't have a regular income or decent job lined up.

Answer 3

I'm finding myself in the same boat, except I'm moving from Canada to France.

Do you speak French? If you dont, you should at least take a basic course, just so you dont feel overwhelmed when you get there.

In terms of the pitfalls, from a question I posted, it seems that France does have a high un-employment rate, but I dont want to discourage you, as I dont want anyone to discourage me.

I think your best option is to visit the webpage of the France Consulate in your country, and find out what kind of Visa you might need.

In terms of living there, I can only imagine that it's an adventure on it's own!

Best of Luck and maybe when we both figure out how to go about moving over there we should get together and share our migration story.

Cheers

Answer 4

I've included links of a few sites below. The first is TripAdvisor's France forum, the Paris forum is especially active. It's geared towards tourism, but there are alot of people who live in France who respond to questions. Some of the posters occasionally get together, too, so it's a way to meet people as well. Craigslist Paris has classifieds on just about everything. FUSAC is an English language classifieds. French About.com is for learning French, but there are some interesting articles about the country, its history, society, etc.

I have the book "Living and Working in France 2005" by David Hampshire. It gives a decent overview on many topics, but I doubt it (or any book) will answer every question.

As to tips... um if you added some detail about your situation, like where in France you're moving to, whether you'll be working, it would be easier to give you some! In any case, good luck!

Answer 5

through experience, check out purchaseinfrance.com

They are an english company set up in France and they help you find the house of yoru dreams, help with paper work and lawyers etc and also after you find your hosue and move in offer you a years help line for free so they will help out with telephone intenret problems, or help with gett you french lessons etc. its a great aid for most people down here. also there are websites like americansintoulouse.com, and anglolife which give you details and information on whats going on in yoru region!

Best of luck with the move, and enjoy the new life!

Answer 6

Hi,

I'm originally from the UK but have been living in France now for 10 years. Your move will depend very much on your circumstances.

1) Can you speak passable French?

It will be near impossible to live in France without speaking French, and extremely frustrating if you attempt to.

2) Do you have a job to come to?

If no... Are you willing to work as a cleaner or waitress in a restaurant?

3) Are you settling in a city or in rural France? Will you be by yourself?

France is a big country and has a lot of places that are pretty isolated. Finding friends, contacts and in some cases a local store can involve a lot of km's travel.

4) Are you moving as a family?

Generally children pick up the language fairly quickly, however, you will need to be prepared for the fact that schools will not make any special arrangements for the fact your kids cannot speak French.

Sorry to pour cold water on your plans. France does have a big unemployment problem and realistically, if you cannot speak French you will find the going very hard.

Bureaucracy can be a big problem too.

To live in France you will need to provide evidence you can support yourself and have somewhere to live.

That said. There are plenty of groups on the net that can provide you with good advice and friendship if you make the move and arrive here.

I'll list some of them below.

Good luck with your project and hope it works out for you!

Answer 7

There s loads of paperwork. If you can get your head around that,thats the main thing!Apply for a carte vitale asap.Its for free health care or reduced. It will take ages to come and loads of papers to fill in. But its worth it.Good luck with everything!.

Answer 8

In your question you say you are moving TO France.  In your explanation you say you are moving away from France TO Scotland.  

Perhaps the first thing is to decide where you want to end up!  :-D

Answer 9

Hang on, are you going to France or away from it??