• Your last three French payslips
or certified accounts
• A copy of your Carte Vitale
showing your social security
number
If you are retired then you may be
asked for proof of funds showing
that you will not be a burden on the
state.
Armed with these documents
will give you a good grounding but
be prepared for queues, frustrating
conversations and requests for further,
random, documentation.
EU citizens who have been in France
for more than five years are entitled
to apply for a Carte de Séjour UE -
Séjour Permanent. We know that
different Préfectures have different
rules and policies so you should
check with your local officials. As a
guideline though, they will usually
ask you for the following:
• A copy of your passport + three
passport photos
• A copy of your birth certificate
• A current utility bill showing
address
• Further utility bills for every 6
months of the last 5 years
Your first port of call should be your
Mairie. However, in some cases, they
may point you towards the Préfecture.
Ask for the Direction Régionale de l'Environnement, de
l'Aménagement et duLogement
(DREAL) office.
Formal authorisation is usually required
for all newbuilds and works to
existing buildings where the works either increases
the external surface area,
or creates new floors. As a general rule
any extension over 20m2 needs planning permission.
Planning permission can also be
required for house alterations and/or
change of use. If you are within 500m
of a listed building it is essential that
you check local rules and regulations
with your Mairie.
A planning application is called a
Demande de Permis de Construire while
application for building works is called
a Demande de Déclaration Préalable.
Please note that whilst it is the
mayor who signs the document giving
approval/refusal it isn't always him/her
that makes the final decision - this is a
question that you should ask from the
outset so that you know who to lobby!
The planning
permission process
You are entitled to put your child
into the French education system,
which has a generally excellent reputation.
Your first stop should be to
your local Mairie who will introduce
you to the school/college/lycée. If
your child is in maternelle/primaire
then language should not be an issue,
but if he/she is older then you
will have to discuss this with the
head teacher. The extra support that
your child receives will vary from
school to school and region to region.
School insurance is compulsory
and called Attestation d'Assurance
Scolaire. This is inexpensive and
How do I put my kids in French school?
easy to obtain - it shows that your
child is covered should he/she
cause damage to school property or
another pupil. You will need separate
Assurance Scolaire if you want
your child to be insured for loss or
damage to your child's belongings
and/or personal injury to themselves.
You should also check your own
Responsabilité Civile Propriétaire
which is your own third party liability insurance
and often included in
your home policy. Once you know
what this covers then you can decide how
much to include on your
child's policy.
How do I get a Carte de Séjour?
LEGGETT IMMOBILIER - LOCAL KNOWLEDGE YOU CAN TRUST 53