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LIVING IN FRANCE

Online admin hacks, phones, and food: essential articles for life in France

This week's must-reads from The Local feature dealing with 21st-century admin, financial help to renovate and improve your French property, and important food-related investigations

Published: 19 November 2023 09:10 CET
Online admin hacks, phones, and food: essential articles for life in France
You'll probably need to update your mobile phone contract once you move to France. (Photo by Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP)

Administration processes in France are rapidly moving online, especially those that concern immigration. For many people this is a welcome development but problems can arise if the system fails or for people not comfortable with using online platforms – immigration lawyer Paul Nicolaÿ explains your rights and recourse.

What to do in case of problems with France’s online immigration services

Stuck in a loop on a French administrative website that won’t let you submit your request? This simple hack might help.

Why 99 is the magic number for French admin sites

If you are planning to spend extended time in France, you will likely want to set up a French mobile phone (cell phone) contract. Having a French phone number can be crucial when organising apartment visits, signing up for certain subscriptions, and setting up utilities bills in your French home. Here’s how to go about getting one…

EXPLAINED: How to get a mobile phone contract in France

The French government has announced changes to the grants that help households with the cost of property renovations which make them more energy efficient, such as replacing the boiler, adding insulation or installing new windows.

MaPrimeRenov: How France’s property renovation grants will change in 2024

Now for the important stuff… After The Local’s readers solved the problem of where to go for a decent curry in France, we set you another impossible food mission – tell us where to go for authentic guacamole, well-spiced tacos or burritos with black beans… Well, we bow before your expert knowledge…

Readers recommend: The best Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in France

We conclude this week with an in-depth examination of another vitally important aspect of life in France. Pâtisserie is so important in France that the average French household spends €350 a year on pastries, while the highly-respected pâtissiers have their own patron saint.

5 things to know about French pâtisserie

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LIVING IN FRANCE

How to prove to French authorities that you are alive

If you live in France you'll be used to official requests for all sorts of documents, but one that may come as a surprise is being asked to prove that you're still alive. Here's how to do that.

Published: 19 September 2024 15:57 CEST
How to prove to French authorities that you are alive

Official processes in France usually involve collecting together a big dossier of documents, and requests for certain type of certificate are common (the one for ‘a birth certificate issued within the last three months’ regularly baffles foreigners).

A request that is less common – but still vital – is the request for a Certificat de Vie – a certificate of life, which is basically a piece of paper asserting that you remain within the mortal realm.

Here’s how to get it and why you might need one.

Who needs it?

You only need to provide this certificate if it is requested from you.

The people most likely to get a request for a Certificat de Vie are pensioners. Pensioner providers regularly ask for proof that you are still alive, and if you don’t provide it it’s highly likely that they will stop paying out your pension.

The people most commonly asked to provide this are people living in a different country to the one paying out the pension (so for example people who have worked in France but then moved to another country, or pensioners who have moved to France) but they are fairly widespread for all types of pension.

The other people most likely to ask for it is the benefits office, especially if you are receiving a French Assurance invalidité (disability benefit) or Allocation de solidarité (top-up benefits) – as with pensions, failing to send the certificate can result in your payments being stopped.

Some people may instead be asked for an Attestation sur l’honneur de non-décès (sworn declaration of non-death). This is simpler to provide because it’s not a specific form it’s just something that you write out in formal French declaring that you remain alive, and then sign and date.

You can find templates for creating an attestation in the correct format and legal French here.

How to get it

There are two ways to obtain the Certificat de Vie – in person or online.

If you live in France, you go along in person to your local mairie and ask them to complete the form for you – it’s form Cerfa n° 11753*02, but the mairie staff will know that. Be sure to take with you official ID (ie passport or French ID card), and depending on your circumstances mairie staff may ask for extra paperwork such as proof of address.

Once you have the form, you can send it to whoever has requested it, either by registered mail or a scanned copy uploaded to an online portal.

You can find a sample copy here to show you what the form looks like.

If you live outside France, you can request the certificate at the French consulate, while some police stations will also provide it (depending on the country).

But for those living outside France there is also an online option, which now includes the option to verify your continuing life via your biometric details, meaning that you don’t even need to leave the house.

This would be useful to people who have worked in France for part of their career, meaning they get a partial French pension, but have then either returned to their home country or moved to another country.

In order to use this, you need to download the app ‘Mon Certificat de Vie’ – find full instructions on using it here.

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