Emmigrating to Paris
Discussion
My wife has been offered a promotion at work whereby we would be uprooted from Newcastle and move to Paris. We have been progressing our French and are becoming more comfortable with the language. Her company would pay the rent in a flat for 1 year but we would be planning on staying for at least a few years.
We have both been on holiday to Paris several times but what is it like to live there? Obviously the cost of living will be more than we are used to, but if she is earning a good wage and we do not have any children then it seems a good idea.
I work as a programmer but have a background in both software and hardware so worst case I could get a job as basic IT support or go back to consultancy, either way I have found jobs when I have needed them so I don't think this will be an issue.
I have been reading more and more about the French economy as well as crime etc,etc. Is it a good time to move there? Or would it be better moving on a temporary basis. I.E. 12-16 months?
So do any pher's live in or around Paris (Northern) or have any advice?
We are both in our mid 20's and are quite keen on the move. Thanks for your help in advance.
PS I would like to live a dream of buying several old french Renaults\ Citroens!
We have both been on holiday to Paris several times but what is it like to live there? Obviously the cost of living will be more than we are used to, but if she is earning a good wage and we do not have any children then it seems a good idea.
I work as a programmer but have a background in both software and hardware so worst case I could get a job as basic IT support or go back to consultancy, either way I have found jobs when I have needed them so I don't think this will be an issue.
I have been reading more and more about the French economy as well as crime etc,etc. Is it a good time to move there? Or would it be better moving on a temporary basis. I.E. 12-16 months?
So do any pher's live in or around Paris (Northern) or have any advice?
We are both in our mid 20's and are quite keen on the move. Thanks for your help in advance.
PS I would like to live a dream of buying several old french Renaults\ Citroens!
The bottom line with Paris is that it is very expensive. Everything from shopping to a haircut will cost you over the odds.
With regards to finding an appartment, if you are looking anyway near the centre, you will need to be very pro-active if you are to get the place you want.
Many viewings are done in groups, and if you want to take on a property, you will need to have all the necessary paperwork ready for inspection on the spot (wage slips, proof of income, etc).
Agencies are generally very unhelpful with foreigners just arriving in the country: they want to see French rental history.
The easiest method is to look on sites like PAP and leboncoin for private announcements (keep an eye open for scams!)
All the above of course is irrelevant if the company does it all for you.
As for working in France, it's very easy to register as self-employed online. www.lautoentrepreneur.fr
Hopefully this gives you a little bit of a start. Please feel free to send me an e-mail if you want to chat about anything.
With regards to finding an appartment, if you are looking anyway near the centre, you will need to be very pro-active if you are to get the place you want.
Many viewings are done in groups, and if you want to take on a property, you will need to have all the necessary paperwork ready for inspection on the spot (wage slips, proof of income, etc).
Agencies are generally very unhelpful with foreigners just arriving in the country: they want to see French rental history.
The easiest method is to look on sites like PAP and leboncoin for private announcements (keep an eye open for scams!)
All the above of course is irrelevant if the company does it all for you.
As for working in France, it's very easy to register as self-employed online. www.lautoentrepreneur.fr
Hopefully this gives you a little bit of a start. Please feel free to send me an e-mail if you want to chat about anything.
mikey77 said:
I read yesterday that the French government has announced (unpopular) plans to limit the amount of income an auto-entrepreneur can earn to 19k euros before becoming liable to income tax, social contributions, etc.
A situation worth watching, I think.
This has been placed on hold indefinitely, as of a couple of weeks ago.A situation worth watching, I think.
I live in a suburb to the West of Paris and work in La Defense (Paris equivalent of Canary Wharf). Far better than working in London and probably cheaper as well if you avoid the obvious tourist traps. Been here since 2008. Paris is a smaller place than London and I'd prefer it to London. The public transport is certainly a lot cheaper than London though.
The website www.frenchentree.com/ is a good starting point to research a move. Stephen Clarke's "Talk to the Snail" has more than a grain of truth in it.
Paris tends to be pretty safe (pickpocketing of tourists excepted), for the most part the problem areas are in the suburbs where they have "dumped" a largely poor immigrant population and the rioting and car burning that crops up in the news from time to time is almost always confined to these. Therefore, just take time to research where you want to live and the transport connections.
If your Mrs can, then get French holiday terms, as all in (including the 1 1/2 days a month I get for working more than the 35 hour week) I get 40 days off (plus bank holidays). Oh and French bureaucracy is a nightmare for the French as well, they don't discriminate against Brits.
The website www.frenchentree.com/ is a good starting point to research a move. Stephen Clarke's "Talk to the Snail" has more than a grain of truth in it.
Paris tends to be pretty safe (pickpocketing of tourists excepted), for the most part the problem areas are in the suburbs where they have "dumped" a largely poor immigrant population and the rioting and car burning that crops up in the news from time to time is almost always confined to these. Therefore, just take time to research where you want to live and the transport connections.
If your Mrs can, then get French holiday terms, as all in (including the 1 1/2 days a month I get for working more than the 35 hour week) I get 40 days off (plus bank holidays). Oh and French bureaucracy is a nightmare for the French as well, they don't discriminate against Brits.
I'd agree with everything written, we've been here nearly 2.5yrs and we love living in the suburbs to the west of Paris - Le Vesinet. I work in Rueil Malmaison.
Paris can be very expensive, like London, but it can also be as reasonable when you get to know it a little. We also prefer it to London. Not just for meals out, food, haircuts all sorts as mentioned are more expensive here.
Gare du Nord is a good example of somewhere I use reasonably frequently that is not a pleasant place to be in Paris, but Gare de l'Ouest is even worse, you can watch the pick pockets like big cats picking out prey . . . Nasty.
We got car jacked in the 3rd month we were here entering one of Paris nicer suburbs, essentially rear window put in to snatch my wifes handbag on the rear seat, not a pleasant experience at all. However, the French Police were there in 8-10 mins, were properly pissed it'd happened on their watch. Took great care of my wife, took me back to the scene to help try and find the perpetrators and were very pleasant throughout. This varies somewhat to my experience of a burglary in London when it was all you could do to get them to even come out to you and weren't exactly charming either.
We're on the move again before the year end and are very sad to be leaving Paris/France behind
Paris can be very expensive, like London, but it can also be as reasonable when you get to know it a little. We also prefer it to London. Not just for meals out, food, haircuts all sorts as mentioned are more expensive here.
Gare du Nord is a good example of somewhere I use reasonably frequently that is not a pleasant place to be in Paris, but Gare de l'Ouest is even worse, you can watch the pick pockets like big cats picking out prey . . . Nasty.
We got car jacked in the 3rd month we were here entering one of Paris nicer suburbs, essentially rear window put in to snatch my wifes handbag on the rear seat, not a pleasant experience at all. However, the French Police were there in 8-10 mins, were properly pissed it'd happened on their watch. Took great care of my wife, took me back to the scene to help try and find the perpetrators and were very pleasant throughout. This varies somewhat to my experience of a burglary in London when it was all you could do to get them to even come out to you and weren't exactly charming either.
We're on the move again before the year end and are very sad to be leaving Paris/France behind
PottyMouth said:
mikey77 said:
I read yesterday that the French government has announced (unpopular) plans to limit the amount of income an auto-entrepreneur can earn to 19k euros before becoming liable to income tax, social contributions, etc.
A situation worth watching, I think.
This has been placed on hold indefinitely, as of a couple of weeks ago.A situation worth watching, I think.
mikey77 said:
I read yesterday that the French government has announced (unpopular) plans to limit the amount of income an auto-entrepreneur can earn to 19k euros before becoming liable to income tax, social contributions, etc.
A situation worth watching, I think.
Erm, I'm an autoentrepreneur and I still have to pay tax, it's just that it is a fixed percentage of turnover below 19k (or whatever amount the government decides)....A situation worth watching, I think.
Tax is tiny percentage, 2% if I am right. It's the cotesations (NI contributions if you like) that they get you with. I pay between 14$ for sale of goods and 24.6% for services. They can be split so if I sell a product and charge labour for fitting it I will pay a combination of 14% and 24.6%
I pay these percentages of money I have turned over at the end of each quarter, I could pay each month if I really fancied doing paperwork every month.
The limits are different for services and sale of goods, I can't remember the amounts but the limit for sale of goods is much higher than that for services.
If you go over the limits you get booted off the AE system and have to start on another regime like BIC Micro Enterprise or Mini Réal (my spelling is bad, my French is even worse so they could easily be spelt completely differently).
However it's spelt (not sure if spelt is spelt right
) once off the AE system you are into a whole new league of 'social charging'. Typically you will be paying 48% cotisasions and 2% tax. Best bit and usually the bit that catches people out is as far as I can make out your payments are not based on your earnings for that period, they are what the state seems to think you should be.
Damned crafty these French, you can't complain about taxes if they're not called taxes
I pay these percentages of money I have turned over at the end of each quarter, I could pay each month if I really fancied doing paperwork every month.
The limits are different for services and sale of goods, I can't remember the amounts but the limit for sale of goods is much higher than that for services.
If you go over the limits you get booted off the AE system and have to start on another regime like BIC Micro Enterprise or Mini Réal (my spelling is bad, my French is even worse so they could easily be spelt completely differently).
However it's spelt (not sure if spelt is spelt right
) once off the AE system you are into a whole new league of 'social charging'. Typically you will be paying 48% cotisasions and 2% tax. Best bit and usually the bit that catches people out is as far as I can make out your payments are not based on your earnings for that period, they are what the state seems to think you should be. Damned crafty these French, you can't complain about taxes if they're not called taxes
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