France Expat Assistance - Relocation Consultancy

05/05/2024

Following my post about the ANEF site, here is an article which discusses this problem.

Cyberattacks of "unprecedented intensity" have targeted several French government institutions just months before the Paris Olympics but have been contained, the prime minister's office said Monday.

05/05/2024

One of the sites that I often work on is the ANEF site. This is the site for administrative procedures for foreigners living in France. Any non-French readers reading this living in France are most likely to have something to do with this site when (i) the validate their visa, (ii) they renew their residency or (ii) they are the TCN (third country national) spouse of an EU national. The site also provides other services which, for the purposes of this post are probably not relevant.
This site is not easy to use in the first place during normal functioning, however it has been “playing up” badly since the beginning of the year. So if you are trying to use this site and things are not working out very well, don’t blame yourself. Although it can be challenging at the best of time, it’s probably not your fault if things are not working out. France’s government websites have been undergoing a greatly increased rate of cyber attacks since the beginning of the year. So, the usual level of service has gone from “challenging for the end user” to, in many cases, “paralysed for the end user”.
Observed problems have been :
- Difficulties up-loading documents, even when the documents are within permitted size/volume limits.
- Emails requesting further information not being sent/received, then the arrival of a reminder with a short turnaround time.
- Difficulties logging on (appearance of a grey mosaic screen) despite numerous attempts using the correct procedure.
- Being “down for maintenance”.
- Extended periods for processing dossiers (this is particularly true for people looking to obtain a Carte de Séjour as the spouse of an EU passport holder)
- Inability to apply for a Carte de Séjour as the spouse of an EU passport holder due to the selection array on the site being deactivated leaving a greyed out screen that doesn’t work.
This has left many people in an uncomfortable situation, mainly due to the fact that their residency is not renewed in time if they came here on a visa or that they can’t get a residency document at all as the spouse of an EU passport holder.
So, what can you do?
Firstly, go into your account and take a screen shot of where you are at showing the date and time in the bottom right corner of the screen.
If you are already embarked on a procedure and you are more than three months in, if this is causing you problems, such as you can’t get on the health care system, send this screen shot, along with the “attestation de dépôt” you received when you sent the dossier off, to your local prefecture with an explanation of the problem and why it is urgent.
Also, at the same time, send the same message to ANEF using the “Contactez-nous/Contact us” link at the bottom of the page.
It is important to keep a log of your difficulties. You are unlikely to get an apology from the French government if you find yourself in difficulties regarding this situation but if you have proof that you tried to fulfil your obligations for the procedure you are involved in it is unlikely that you will be penalised by the government. Some procedures if filed late may lead to a fine, which you can contest if you have some dated proof.
As a general rule you may get a better result from the site using the French version.
Improvement was promised for the beginning of April but things do not seem to have improved much.

Javascript est désactivé dans votre navigateur. Vous ne pourrez pas avoir accès aux services dédiés aux étrangers en France.

06/10/2023

This is a scam. The tax office has your bank details if you declare on-line and will carry out any reimbursement due without intervention from you.

15/06/2023

Residency Renewals : The majority of people who come to France on a visa seem to come in the summer months. So this is period when the majority of renewals occur. I am now seeing the following problem frequently occurring. A visa renewal is made, within the time frame laid down on the ANEF website. But by the expiry date of the visa, no card has been issued.
When you make a visa renewal, you are issued with two attestations. One which says "you have filed your renewal request". And hopefully a bit later, another which says "your renewal request has been approved, but we haven't got your card yet, so here's some paperwork to say your are not in breach of immigration law". The first piece of paper does not allow you to go in and out of the country. The second one does. A lot of people seem to have only received the first attestation by the time their visa expires.
Consequently, many people believe that they are in breach of the immigration laws if they only have the first document on the date their visa expires. If you have filed your request for renewal within the appropriate time frame and replied to any further request for information, it is highly unlikely you will be deported or fined.
The prefectures of France are short staffed and overloaded (90K + refugees arrived in France from the Ukraine in 2022 because of the war).

03/04/2023

REMINDER : This is something I posted in February. As the tax declaration season approaches, you might need to think about this!

I have been informed from a reliable source that tax office email adresses are going to be phased out this year and that it will be necessary to use your on-line messaging service in your espace particulier and/or your espace professionnelle to communicate with the tax office in a written form.

The month of June was mentioned as the month when the emails will be shut down.

So if you haven't set up your espace particulier, it's time to start thinking about it.

Also, bear in mind if you call upon a third party to manage your tax affairs and you are paying them by the hour, it's a lot cheaper and faster to use you on-line account than to get them to phone the tax office. Phone calls do not leave a written trace. Nor do conversations over the counter in the tax office. And the written form leaves a trace of everything.

15/09/2022

It is probable that there will be no taxe d'habitation for most people in 2023. If you have your taxe d'habitation on a monthly payment, may be you should think about stopping it for 2023?

15/09/2022

https://www.gouvernement.fr/actualite/fin-de-rideau-pour-la-redevance-audiovisuelle?fbclid=IwAR2QwLxsk4pqIJTN8XnOH4XRax37VrOoAP4tA4rMbUBPf8wzB45s8k_tzBc
Looks like 2022 is the last year for paying the tv licence (redevance audiovisuelle) in France.

Apparue en 1933, la redevance audiovisuelle tire sa révérence fin 2022.

05/09/2022

It's looking like things are improving with the driving license exchange situation. Turnaround time looking like 2 and a half to 3 months for a UK license to French license.

25/02/2022

24/12/2021

Going off the air, so to speak, for a few days. If anybody has received one of those puzzling messages from the URSSAF in French, know that they are giving 100 euros to people for some kind of Xmas payment. So if you can't get hold of me to find out what's going on, check your bank account. You never know, it might be GOOD news from the URSSAF (A Christmas miracle!)

I wish you all a Happy Christmas. And for those who are separated from their families at this time, a reunion with your loved ones in the close future.

16/10/2021

If you are late, for some reason, in applying for a WARP card and you still want one,, you should read this.

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A13618?xtor=EPR-100&lang=en&fbclid=IwAR1nBwPIK-XrNlI_tFaF8ExnOy8tQ8fbOREgk8DBVPTH_B-XCexVnMTnVdk

Britanniques en France : ce qu'il faut faire pour rester en France

06/10/2021

Looking for health care for your visa application ?
https://www.facebook.com/101104478210973/posts/328426415478777/

10,000+ expats used our service

26/09/2021

Very bad wording on the part of Connexion. It is in fact the deadline for making the application (30th september) that they are talking about, not for holding the card (31th December).

18/08/2021

Are you living in the Pays de Loire and have unpaid social charge declarations due to Covid?

Find out how to pay this money to the URSSAF using the attached flier. It will explain how to make the payment and attribute the money to the corrrect period.

I have just spoken to the URSSAF and asked them two questions :

Can this method be used to settle unpaid URSSAF bills for 2019? They said yes.

Can a large payment due for a single period be made using this method in more than one go? They said yes.

This is the way to settle the outstanding URSSAF bills when the on-line portal doesn't accept payment any more. Also, you can control your cash flow better if you have a large outstanding bill that needs to be paid.

Can't work out how to attach this to my page but you can ask for a copy by email or messenger.

31/07/2021

For those of your who make their social charge declarations monthly, know that the portal on www.autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr will not be opening until the 4th August. So if you can't make your declaration, don't worry you are not doing anything wrong!

Coronavirus : Déclaration de chiffre d’affaires du mois de février 2021

28/06/2021

It seems that the post on the Cotes d'Armor site announcing an extension of the deadine for making the request has disappeared.

24/06/2021

Apparently I am not the only one being cautious ....

24/06/2021

https://www.cotes-darmor.gouv.fr/Actualites/Information-Droit-au-sejour-des-ressortissants-britanniques

Portail de l’État en Côtes d'Armor

15/06/2021

Still seems to be a lot of people who have not yet applied. Possibility of an extension of the application period, as well?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/15/british-nationals-in-france-face-losing-rights-if-they-miss-residency-deadline-brexit?fbclid=IwAR0SgM_--p4H40xQ_Y9FxqhbbxidT9Op8hiyxgfPqEQC4LA8xLAUyKMkty8

Call to extend 30 June deadline over fears Britons will lose access to healthcare and pensions

02/06/2021

The next deadline for the tax declarations is 8th June for départements 56 to 97.

You may get a message from the tax office saying that you have not put in your declaration but that there is still time to do so. If you HAVE put in your declaration or you have been told that it has been done, do not worry. This is probably just a reminder. It says on the message (in very small writing) that if you have already put in your declaration then to disregard the message.

Enjoy the sunshine and keep well!

01/06/2021

Info about hot topics

Hi everyone

We had a lengthy discussion with the Ambassador & UK Embassy team yesterday and thought it would be helpful to share the latest updates on the hot topics at the moment:

1) DRIVING LICENCES - the French administration are not yet treating this with the priority we feel it deserves. This appears to be for a variety of reasons including that licence expiry is a new phenomenon in France (the FR licence was valid for life until recently). We have recommended that the issue is escalated. The new rules will, however, need to go before the Conseil d'Etat which is itself a long process before ANTS can update their procedures and start exchanging again. We continue to underline the gravity for those that now have expired or soon-to-expire licences. The Ambassador committed to raising again at his regular meeting with Sandrine Gaudin, Secrétaire General et conseiller Europe du Premier Ministre, and considering other routes to escalate the issue.

2) ATTESTATION D'ACCUEIL- the Embassy continue to be cautious as the position is not clear and they are, sensibly and like us, waiting for the position to be confirmed in writing by the French ministry. We are all hopeful this can be avoided in the long term but it remains a moot point for now (although this has been overtaken by the new rules on travel from UK to FR which is now essential reasons only).
See latest Embassy post here: https://www.facebook.com/ukinfrance/posts/4509871292374174

3) WA RESIDENCY PERMITS - for those people who have been waiting for a long time, there may be an IT reason for this. The IT system can only show the NEWEST x thousand applications. If you applied at the beginning of the deluge then it could be that the prefecture has to deal with all the newer applications before yours is visible on their screen. This could easily be the case in departments with large populations of UK nationals.
If you've been in the system for months without any update then it is now reasonable (and recommended) to contact your prefecture if you can to check progress, just in case you need to make a new application before the end of June.
136,000 applications have been made but we don't know how many still need to be made (as the total population of Brits in France is unknown) and we don't know how many cards have been issued. As you know, the deadline for issuing your card is 1 October 2021 - until then, you do not need to show one.
Although representations are still being made, it is unlikely that the application deadline will be extended so if you or your friends/relatives/neighbours have not applied, you need to do so NOW. We do not yet know what grounds will be considered acceptable for late applications so don't risk losing your rights of residence here in France.

Please do share this post - it would be good to get the info here out to as many people as we can. Thanks!