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LIVING IN FRANCE

Tax, private pools and TV shows: 6 essential articles for life in France

Tax residency, private swimming pools and movie titles, via a quick look at the cultural significance of la rentrée - here are six articles to help you navigate life in France.

Published: 28 August 2022 09:04 CEST
Tax, private pools and TV shows: 6 essential articles for life in France
Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP

Let’s start with an important list in time for la rentrée. Fuel prices, back-to-school bonus, heritage days and of course the return to school and work – here’s what is happening in France in September this year.

What changes in France in September 2022

In fact, speaking of la rentrée – we explain here why it’s so much more than just the ‘back to school’ that it’s often translated as.

In France, it has a cultural significance that goes much deeper.

Why ‘la rentrée’ means so much more in France than a new school year

Whether it’s a pension paid by a home country or rental income and earnings in more than one country, it’s common for people to have assets in both France and their original country.

But what can be less simple is working our your ‘tax residency’ – here’s what the rules say.

EXPLAINED: The rules on tax residency in France

MP Julien Bayou of France’s green party Europe Écologie Les Verts (EELV) raised a few eyebrows when he apparently suggested that France should ban swimming pools in private homes.

This got twisted into reporting that it was about to happen. So we took a closer look.

No, France isn’t about to ban private pools because of drought

The international image of French culture tends to veer towards the highbrow.

But there’s more to it than that, and watching some TV here – despite its poor reputation – is a good way to get some insight into a country’s culture, as well as improving your language skills and giving you something to chat to neighbours and colleagues about.

7 TV shows that will help you understand France

Sticking with the – high and, occasionally, lowbrow – cultural theme, if you’ve ever browsed French cinema listings or Netflix, you will instantly notice that the titles of English-language movies often have quite unexpected translations. Like these…

Puns, sex and urban legends: How English movie titles are translated into French

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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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