Sprogster

I believe you are thinking of the reciprocal working holiday visa arrangement between Australia and the UK, for British and Australian citizens under the age of thirty. I am not aware that an equivalent arrangement exists between France and Australia, but I would check with the French Embassy. Otherwise, unless you or your husband are entitled to an EU passport through parentage, you will only be allowed into France for up to six months as a visitor and will be prohibited from any employment. There is a possibility that this period may be reduced to three months per visit, under new EU immigration rules under consideration. If you apply for a working visa, you will need a job offer and your prospective French employer will need to demonstrate that they have tried to recruit a EU citizen for the post, but were unable to find anyone suitable qualified and experienced. Both you and your husband would almost certainly have to requalify in France to continue in your profession there and being fluent in French goes without question, as a French nurse or pharmacist I believe would have to do in Australia. Australia operate equivalent immigration restrictions on French citizens wanting to work in Australia, so the rules should not be surprising.

Your right Ian, there are successful millionaire French entrepeneurs, but they seem increasingly to move to other countries like Switzerland, or the UK to benefit from the non dom rules. Only recently, Alan Ducasse France's most famous celebrity chef, announced he was revoking his French nationality and moving to Monaco. One main reason being the infamous French wealth tax, where you are taxed on all your capital assets over a certain value, regardless of any income or gains. Apparently, President NS wants is commited to abolish it, especially after Spain abolished theirs, leaving France as the only European country with this regressive tax. However, this now looks unlikely in the current political and economic climate, although there are moves in French government to exempt your principle residence.  

As advised by previous posters, I would spend every holiday you have in France over the next two years experiencing all the seasons, as most places look very different in the dead of winter and many areas of France have colder winters than Cornwall. Also, most importantly take professional advice as to the economics of relocating your business to France at the earliest opportunity, as if the figures don't stack up then presumably your move is a non starter, if you cannot make an adequate living. You will find that most members on this site are retirees, or early retirees who have savings and pension income to support them, as France is not exactly the land of opportunity for young entrepeneurs!  I would take the time to compare with other countries like Canada, who are actively trying to attract more Brits at the moment.  

The property market is defnitely softening on the Cote D'Azur, with the exception of the top end of the market. However, it takes time for sellers to adjust to the new reality and reduce their asking prices accordingly. I would not be in any hurry, as prices are probably only at the beginning of a downward trend and therefore putting in an offer below the asking price would seem to be sensible in what is now a buyers market. That said Antibes is a very expensive area and bargains are hard to find at the best of times. 

One of the reasons maybe that there are more 'silly' posts at the moment, is that there has been a substantive decline in new posters moving to France and asking for associated advice, not on just this forum, but others such as TF. Not surprising really,with the credit cruch, strong euro and current depressed state of the UK housing market.

The problem at the moment is that there is a credit crunch and banks are reluctant to lend and if they do only at conservative margins to people with impecable credit history. Therefore, even if you find a buyer there is no guarantee that they will be able to raise sufficient mortgage finance and complete, as their bank valuation of your UK property could well be below the agreed sale price! This is becoming an increasing problem in itself. My advice is not to even consider a bridging loan in the current financial enviroment and in all probability it might well be that the French house you have set your heart on is still for sale, when you eventually do sell your UK house. I am in the Var at the moment and even on the Med in high season, the property market has gone very quiet, as the credit squeeze is not just a UK issue.

I don't want to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but unless either you or your wife are entitled to a passport from an EU member country, then you will not be able to live and work in France for a year. The maximum time you can spend as a Canadian citizen in France as a visitor is six months in a year and you are prohibted from employment. The exception being if you were sponsored by an employer, who could demonstrate you were a skilled worker for which there were no suitably qualified local candidates, which is unlikely for a restaurant worker. Likewise, Canada is comparatively restrictive on inward immigration and a French citizen would find it very difficult to move to Canada unless they were a skilled worker in a category for which there are accepted shortages. Even then the process can take a couple of years. I would speak to the French Embassy, as you may find your dream is a non starter due to visa difficulties.

Often overlooked, but family is a major factor, as if you are fortunate to have a close knit family being near to see your grandchildren grow up for at least pasrt of the year could be an important consideration

If you can afford to maintain two homes and spend the winters in the UK and summers in France, you probably have the best of both worlds. I suspect there are members of this forum who ideally would like to do just this, but the only way they can maintain a house in France is by selling their UK home and moving to France permanently. Not sure if the price comparison some posters have made asserting fuel prices are appreciably lower in France is still correct with the much weaker £ to euro rate.  

The winter dawn in southern France is later though, so its horses for courses if you are an early riser!

Cathy, the fact that where you are it does not get dark until 5.30 in winter is mainly down to the GMT-CET time difference, as total daylight hours are similar. If the UK adopted CET then it would be about the same, as you don't get that much difference being just a few hundred miles further south. In the Var, likewise it gets dark slightly later in the evening, but correspondingly dawn is later. As far as the weather is concerned, it all depends which area of France and the UK you are comparing, as you cannot generalise. There are many areas of central France that have much colder winters than the south and south west of England for example. 

Talking to our French neighbours, there seems to be many of the same concerns about hospital acquired infections in France, as in the UK. One particular French neighbour, had elective surgery at a hospital a four hour drive away, because the two nearer hospitals do not have a good local reputation apparently. I would have thought there are wide variations in standards from region to region in France as in the UK and therefore it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons. According, to several of members of my family who are doctors and surgeons, most of the hospital acquired infections originate from paients being treated in the A&E unit, as unlike patients being admitted for elective surgery you cannot pre-screen them for infections like MRSA and C.difficile. Therefore, if having elective surgery, having decided on a surgeon try and choose a hospital if you can without an A&E unit. 

Someone has put their rose tinted specs on this morning! You are right, visiting France is exciting. Very different situation for those who need to earn a living in France and like all love affairs the excitement does fade with familiarity, or irritation, like with the current blockading of some ports by the French fisherman!

If weather is an important factor, you might want to think again if France is the most suitable country for you. We bought on the Med coast in the Var and love it, but have been surprised how cold and long the winters are and for some reason the summers are getting wetter and windier. Last year in particular was very dissapointing and so far this year we have had no prolonged settled good weather.  Another factor to carefully consider if you are going to be reliant on a £ pension income, is an allowance for exchange rate flunctuations, if the £ resumes its depreciation against the euro. I read somewhere that last year average UK property prices were 20% higher than France. However, since then the £ has depreciated 20% against the Euro and average UK house prices were down 2% last month alone. Therefore, the perceived attraction of lower average property prices in France, as compared to the UK may no longer be true.

According to an immoblier I was talking to recently, a lot of French property owners are undecided vendors who put their property on sale at a higher than valuation price to test the market. If it does not sell they are not bothered as they are in no hurry to move, if at all. With the current softening in the property market it will take a while for vendors to adjust to the new reality and meanwhile prospective purchasers need to be careful not to overpay at what is at, or near to the top of the current property market cycle.

With the European football championships followed by the Olympics this summer, there is bound to be some impact on travel patterns. Also economists are predicting an appreciable reduction in holidaymakers who usually drive to their holiday destnation in Europe, because of escalating fuel prices and indeed shortages.   The other unknown factor is the weather, as if as some weather forecasters predict we are in for a wetter than usual summer, this will only further encourage the stay at home option.

Iceni, the problem of departure gates being too small is not limited to Rodez, as if you unfortunate enough to use gates 1-5 at Gatwick, you will have exactly the same experience. If you can only get half the passengers in the gate area before boarding commences, with the remainder waiting in line in the corridor, any sort of priority boarding system is inneffective. Also at Gatwick because Easyjet ground staff are so overstretched there is a tendency to not announce the departure gate until the last minute and start boarding almost straight away. Therefore, unless you are prepared to run to the gate to get their first, you will find that you have missed the priority boarding.

If you need to sell £ for euro, think about doing it sooner rather than later, as I fear we are in for another bout of £ depreciation against the euro. Germany has announced stronger than expected growth figures which together with rising oil prices has raised expectations that the ECB might now increase euro base rate to curb inflation, rather than reduce them as had been previously expected. This might also impact on your mortgage arrangements, if you are borrowing in euros. With the spectre of inflation raising its ugly head again it is important that one does not underestimate how much capital one needs to put aside to produce sufficient income to retire early. As a rule of thumb you should work on the basis that if you are living on a fixed investment income your spending power could halve every ten years.

Jet Blue, the most succesful low cost carrier in the USA allows you to choose a seat when booking at no extra cost. In the UK, Flybe also allow you to choose seating at the time of booking but you pay a supplement. I fly BA and Easyjet on a regular basis and from my experience where you have a full aircraft BA with its allocated seating is quicker, as it is less chaotic. Recently, I boarded a packed Easyjet flight at Gatwick and the problems they had trying to accomodate families with very young children to ensure that at least one parent sat next to their children caused a delay in the departure. The Easyjet priority boarding system called Speedy Boarding Plus is no such thing, as at the moment there is no limit on how many passengers on a particular flight can qualify for speeding boarding! On my most recent Easyjet flight I sat in the front row and it was clear from the passengers boarding after me at least half had purchased Easy boarding plus and were complaining to the flight attendant checking their boarding pass  it was a con!        

I wonder if we will look back at this time as the end of an era, in that for some years to come it is just not going to be affordable for most UK individuals to purchase a home abroad. The great facilitator over the last ten years has been escalating UK house prices which have allowed people to release equity to help fund second home purchases, or sell up altogether, move abroad and retire. However, with the depressed UK housing market, credit squeeze and weak £, the dream is becoming increasingly out of reach for most and if the financial analysts are to be believed things are going to get worse before it ges better and that could take many years.

I would imagine that worries about the economy has something to do with it, in that France is a lot less attainable for the time being and that plans to move are being put on hold until the UK housing market and the £ recovers.

The problem is I am not aware of any UK or international private medical insurance policies that cover long term mental health conditions, even if undiagnosed at the time the original policy is taken out. At best you would be covered for six months of treatment from intial diagnosis and after that it would be defined as a chronic condition and fall outside cover. It might be worth investigating what the situation would be if you appoint your mother as your legal guardian and you become her dependent. Notwithstanding, I would be tempted just to go for it as you don't have anything to lose, as it is not if you are risking anything in making the move, such as giving up secure employment. However, if you are undergoing ongoing psychiatric treatment I would investigate what care is available to you in France and if any language barrier would be problematic to ongoing succesful therapy. 

Domicile is a different kettle of fish, as it is extremely difficult for an individual with a UK domicile of origin to shed it and acquire a foreign domicile of choice. For example, you can live abroad for years but if you maintain links with the UK, such as family, business or investment interests, club memberships and regular visits, then it is likely that HMRC will take the view that you are still UK domiciled, notwithstanding they accept you are non resident. Why this is all relevant is that liability to UK IHT is based on domicile and not residence.

The best advice I can give at the moment if you are looking for mortgage finance, is wait for six months if you can, as now is not exactly thes best time with the principal French banks such as Societe Generale and Credit Agricole in the merde from the sub prime crisis. Whereas six months ago banks were falling over themselves to lend money, at the moment the main challenge is to find a bank that is willing to lend at all, especially where second homes are concerned. At the end of the day getting the most competitive interest rate will depend very much on your credit profile and do keep an eye on for the escalating bank arrangement fees which have ballooned in recent months.

Under the new rules that came into affect on the 6th April, 2008, you are ordinarily resident in the UK for tax purposes if you are present in the UK at midnight for ninety days or more.