Thinking of moving abroad?
Thousands of people move to France and Spain every year, but do they do their homework first? A new guide to relocating abroad, available free with the latest update to Oxford Language Dictionaries Online, makes researching the practicalities of such a move much easier - from renting or buying property, to opening a bank account, paying utility bills, and more. The following extract gives a taste...
Living and working in France
Citizens of European Union Countries
Citizens of EU countries can now live and work freely in France. You don't need a visa, but a valid passport or identity card must be shown in order to enter the country. EU citizens no longer need to apply for a residence permit (carte de séjour) nor for a work permit. You have exactly the same rights to work as a French person, though some jobs having fonctionnaire (civil servant) status can only be held by French nationals. The state competitive examinations, the CAPES and the agrégation, which give access to tenured posts in the state education system, are also only open to holders of French nationality.
Students are also free to live in France, as are retired people drawing a pension from another EU country such as Britain or Ireland, as long as you hold a valid EU passport.
American Citizens
American visitors arriving in France will be given a visitor's visa for a period of ninety days, as long as you hold a valid US passport. If you want to stay longer than this, you have to apply for a visa before leaving the US. This is done through the French Consulate for your area of the US (you can find the list of these on www.consulfrance-washington.org). The procedure is fairly complicated and takes at least two months, and there are several types of visa depending on your circumstances. Once you have entered France with your visa, you must apply for a carte de séjour (residence permit) at the Préfecture for the département you will be living in. If you plan to retire to France, you will need to produce documentary evidence to show that that you have the means to support yourself, that you have somewhere to live, and that you have medical insurance. You'll find the full details on French Consulate websites.
If you're planning to study in France for less than ninety days, you have to apply for a short-term Schengen visa. For a stay between ninety days and six months, you have to apply for a temporary long-stay visa, and for a stay of more than six months, for a long-stay visa - all at least two months before leaving the US. If you have a long-term visa, you have to apply for a residence permit (carte de séjour) as soon as you arrive in France.
Read more about living in France...
Buying property in Spain
If you're buying property in Spain, your lawyer will need to verify from the property register whether the vendor is the owner, whether there is a mortgage owing on the property (in Spain mortgages can be sold with properties), whether the property is free of any other encumbrances, and so on. Next, a private contract will be drawn up which will contain all the details of the sale. If you are not yet ready to pay the full price, you will sign an option to buy, which will record all the terms of the transaction.
The contract will stipulate the deposit (normally 5% to 15% of the purchase price) and the date of completion of the sale. It will be signed before a notary public. A public deed of conveyance will be obtained and signed before a notary public who will send it to the local tax office for payment of tax. It will then be sent to the property register (catastro) for registration. The deposit is not refundable if the buyer does not complete the purchase. You'll also have to pay notary's fees. On disposal you may be liable to pay capital gains tax (plusvalía), even if the property is your only residence.
To read more about moving to Spanish-speaking countries, including Mexico and Argentina, click here.
Free to explore...
Whether you're seriously thinking of moving, or just want to travel to a different country or explore a new language, there's a lot to discover on Oxford Language Dictionaries Online - from lists of useful words and phrases, to calendars of festivals and holidays, and games and quizzes to test your word power.
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Malie Lalor
19/02/09
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