Moving to France became a plan in my life at the end of 2020, and I have been preparing myself for the big day since then. On September 2022, I arrived in Paris with my fiancé, and it has been a fantastic adventure so far. The city is marvelous and a dream come true for both of us.
However, the initial shock of living in France was not what we anticipated. Even though we prepared to move from America to France, there were many aspects of life here that my fiancé and I could not have predicted. For this reason, here is a list of 3 things I wish I knew (and that I think you certainly should know) before moving to France:
Bureaucracy:
Coined by the French Economist, Jean Claude Marie Vincent de Gournay, the word is a mash-up between bureau (“office”) + -cracy (“the rule of…”), meaning, in literal terms, “the rule of the office.”
Though the literal definition seems awkward at first glance, understanding the context behind this expression first coined and used in France is essential. What de Gournay was referring to is the obnoxiously large amount of paperwork necessary to do anything in France. A good example is the 4 to 5 documents I needed to sign to simply hire a Wi-Fi network.
Not only signing a bunch of documents is needed to get any service done in France, but it is also common to have to wait long periods for the paperwork to be processed. When in France, give enough time for your paperwork to be filled out and processed, as they cannot be relied on being resolved fast. Patience and planning are your biggest allies against the wall of French bureaucracy.
The Phone Number-Bank Account-Address Infinite Cycle:
Hear this out: In France, you cannot get an apartment without a bank account, but you cannot get a bank account without a phone number and proof of residence, and you also cannot get a phone number without a French bank account and proof of residency. In sum, no house = no phone and no bank account; no bank = no phone; no phone = no bank. This confusion took my fiancé and me a month and a half to solve, and it was stressful in every possible way.
Here is what I did to escape this situation:
1 – Get a pre-paid French number. In most phone carriers, you can activate your number once you have a French bank account (or any other European one with an IBAN or a RIB). The catch here is that pre-paid numbers are made for tourists, so no pre-requisite is necessary to acquire one.
2 – Once you get a pre-paid number, you should focus on finding an apartment. There are options for people to rent an apartment without a French bank account, and all you need to prove residence is your rental contract or any bill with your name on it.
3 – Once the pre-paid number and the apartment are secured, go to your bank of choice and request to open an account. Make sure you get out of the appointment with a RIB in your hands. This document is the key to unlocking the possibility of signing up for everything else you need, including an active phone number and Wi-Fi.
4 – After acquiring your RIB, return to your telecom service company and request the permanent phone plan instead of the pre-paid one. Now you can order your Wi-Fi, so I advise you to look after plan bundles as most telecom companies provide those.
Finding a place to rent:
There is nothing harder to do in France, especially in Paris, than to find a place to rent. It took me one month to find an apartment, already counting the ones my fiancé and I were applying for before moving to France. Renting a place in Paris is ✨frustratingly✨ hard.
In this situation, research is your best ally. You will need to find out about the areas of the city, the goals you want to achieve, and the budget you want to allocate for an apartment. If you are lucky enough, you will find a landlord on a Facebook group that will make it possible to negotiate without paying agency fees. ⚠️ HOWEVER, be warned that the amount of scams regarding property rentals on Facebook is huge, so I do not advise using this tool unless it is an emergency.
There are multiple websites where housing can be found, so make sure to apply on as many websites as possible.
The biggest issue lies in the guarantor: every single real estate agency or landlord will ask for your guarantor’s documentation (including but not limited to: the guarantor’s annual income, guarantor’s tax report, and so on…). As the requirements change depending on who you are negotiating with, be aware of what you can and cannot provide, and be ready to be ignored if you do not have a complete dossier of the asked documents. Start researching what types of documentation are often requested by agencies and landlords early on, and prepare yourself before arriving in France.
While these points do not cover everything I had to learn and adapt to after arriving in France, they are certainly some of the ones that made my move to Paris stressful.
Do you have more questions about moving to France and want to know more about what life in the City of Love is like? Do not hesitate to contact DreamanDo’s team of specialists, who will empower you to achieve your dreams to live la vie à la française.
Feel like reading some more about life in France? Stay tuned to DreamanDo’s blog as we will breakdown next some of the False Stereotypes about French People!
À bientôt!