How to Retire in France on a Visitor Visa

The visitor visa for retirees

France has no specific "retirement visa". Retirees who want to live in France without working generally use the long-stay visitor route, which allows you to stay in France for more than three months without working [Service-public].

The three practical conditions are sufficient resources, health insurance covering your stay and suitable housing, together with a formal commitment not to engage in any professional activity in France [Service-public][France-Visas]. The "visitor" residence card is valid for one year and is renewable each year [Service-public]. It does not lead to a multi-year card on the same grounds [Service-public].

This guide focuses on the questions specific to retirees. For the full requirements, the process step by step, and what EU Unlockr does, see our page on the France long-stay visitor visa.

Two points matter more for retirees than for anyone else:

• The work ban is complete. It covers salaried work, self-employment, trade, crafts and liberal professions [Service-public]. If you plan to keep consulting or freelancing for clients from France, this route does not fit, and you should look at other routes.
• The card is renewed every year. Your resources, health insurance and housing must therefore remain in place for as long as you live in France on this card.

Taxes on foreign pensions

Moving to France on a visitor card is an immigration decision. Your tax position is a separate question, governed by French tax rules and by the tax treaty between France and the country that pays your pension.

When you become a French tax resident

According to the French tax administration, your tax domicile is in France if any one of these criteria applies [impots.gouv.fr]:

• your household ("foyer") is in France or, failing that, your main place of stay is in France;
• you carry out your main professional activity in France;
• the centre of your economic interests is in France.

The tax administration specifies that your household is in France if you live there habitually and permanently, with your spouse or alone [impots.gouv.fr]. A retiree who settles in France for the long term should therefore expect this question to arise from the first year, and check it with a tax adviser.

Declaring foreign pensions

Foreign pensions are declared on the French income tax return [impots.gouv.fr]. Whether, and where, a given pension is taxed depends on the international tax treaty between France and the paying country. The French tax administration publishes the list of these treaties [impots.gouv.fr].

We do not state treaty outcomes here: they vary by country and by type of pension, such as public-sector pensions, social security pensions or private retirement accounts. Check the treaty that applies to your situation with a qualified tax adviser before you move, not after your first French tax return.

Practical points to prepare

• Keep the annual statements of each pension and retirement account you hold.
• List the countries that pay you an income, and the treaty between France and each of them.
• Ask a tax adviser how your home country treats your departure, since that side is outside French rules.

Buying a home is not a right to live in France

Many retirees start by buying a house in France. Owning property in France does not by itself give you the right to live in France. As a non-EU national, you still need a long-stay visa and then a residence card, with the same conditions on resources, health insurance and the commitment not to work.

Owning your home can help in one respect: housing conditions are assessed for the visitor card [Service-public], and a home you own is a clear answer to that question. But it does not replace the other conditions, and it does not allow you to stay longer than your visa or card allows.

France also has no "golden visa" for property buyers. The investor route, Talent Investor, concerns investment in a real economic activity, not the purchase of a home.

Frequently asked questions