Do you need a visa?
No. An EU citizen (or a citizen of the EEA or Switzerland) can live and work in France without a visa, a work permit or a residence permit (Your Europe). France has no compulsory address registration at the town hall.
Documents and where to get them
In your country, before you leave
- ID card or passport, valid for the whole move.
- European Health Insurance Card, from your national health insurance: it covers necessary care in the first weeks, until you are insured in the new country.
- Birth certificate (and marriage certificate, if married). Between EU countries, many certificates need no apostille and can come with a multilingual form that avoids translation (Regulation (EU) 2016/1191).
- Criminal record certificate from your country of nationality and, if different, from where you lived recently: some employers ask for it. Request it close to the date it will be used.
- Degree, transcript and references from previous jobs, digitally.
In France
- Social security number and carte Vitale: the employer declares your hiring and the health insurance fund (CPAM) assigns the number; you can sign the contract before you have it. ameli.fr.
- Proof of address (justificatif de domicile): lease or electricity bill; banks and almost everything ask for it.
- RIB (bank details): the employer needs it to pay your salary.
- impots.gouv.fr account: tax is withheld monthly and the first return is filed in the spring of the following year.
Step by step
Before you leave
- Sign the contract and confirm in writing the gross annual salary, the start date and the relocation support.
- Gather the documents above. Renting usually requires a file (contract, payslips, guarantee); the free public guarantee Visale can replace a guarantor.
- In your country, tell the authorities you are moving: update your registered address and your tax residence. In the year you leave, tax may be due for the part of the year you were still resident.
First week
- Open a French bank account and give the RIB to your employer.
- Check that the employer has declared you; the CPAM sends your social security number.
First month
- Choose a GP (médecin traitant) and declare them to the CPAM, for full reimbursement.
- Join the employer's complementary health insurance (mutuelle); employers must offer it.
- Create your impots.gouv.fr account and check your withholding rate.