Gigi

Arnold, thanks very much for your excellent information.  It's obvious you've been through this once or twice! You wrote: However, under European law, they also can't refuse you cover. Forget about those "international" health care plans as they will cost you an absolute fortune; just sign up for the CPAM service in France which, as an Irish citizen, both your husband and all his dependents (ie you plus children under 21 plus, potentially, your parents) are entitled to do. The cost for our entire family is under $500 so it would be less than that for the two of you (I don't think that there's an age weighting); this covers 70% of the cost of out-patient care (you can pay into a "mutuelle" to cover the other 30% if you wish) and, usually, all/most (at least 70%) of hospital cover. What is CPAM service?  This is the first time I've heard of it.  What do the letters stand for?  How can I learn more about it? Thank you again, Gigi  

Thanks for finding that.  It's just the way I thought it was.  I think Ireland is uniquely generous with its citizenship offer, because of its history, but even that may change one day. Gigi

Will, I communicated with Peter Owen several years ago about this.  He is the source of much of my information.  It is he who told me my husband's "pre-existing conditions" cannot be insured.  That is one reason we pursued Irish citizenship for my husband, thinking that might be a way around the health care requirement.  It seems that EU citizenship allows one to live in another EU country, but does not provide all the benefits of life there.  As an American, I'm tempted to think of it as being like moving from one U.S. state to another, but I've been reminded it really still is moving from one country to another. Incidentally, yesterday I went to the website of the UK embassy in the U.S. to try to learn whether having a UK-born grandparent makes one eligble for UK citizenship.  Not only is the information not on their website, but they use an "out-sourced" agency to answer all questions from the public -- at the rate of $2.10 (about one pound fifty) per minute!  They've obviously aclimated well to life in America! Gigi

Thanks, Lori.  It's relevant for me, if not for my husband.  Do you buy a special Worldwide health insurance policy, or simply rely on an American policy, such as one from Blue Cross?  Also, where are you living in France?  Do you know of any person whose profession is smoothing the way through the bureaucracy for Americans? Thank you again, Gigi  

Actually, my husband might be able to claim British citizenship (we haven't looked into that) but we know for a fact that he can obtain Irish citizenship because we're in the process of doing that.  Because the Republic considers the northern counties to be part of Ireland they extend Irish citizenship to children and grandchildren of emigrants born in the North.  Originally we thought about living in Ireland, but because it's such a small country the level of health care available there isn't up to my husband's potential needs.  For that reason, and because we love France, we are now looking into moving to France -- which has the best health care system in the world. Perhaps I should reiterate, what I am really hoping to find is the name of a business or consultant who knows how to wade through the bureaucracy and can give us information we can really trust enough to make plans around.  I appreciate everyone's help, but we need help to learn the facts. Thanks again, Gigi    

Adding to my own questions, I found this: "Si vous êtes de nationalité étrangère, vous devez en outre être en situation régulière en matière de séjour des étrangers en France" at this website: http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F1072.xhtml A computer translation tells me it means: "If you are foreign nationality, you have in addition to be in uniform position regarding stay of the foreigners in France."  What exactly does "being in a uniform position regarding stay of the foreigners in France" mean?  Sounds like Catch 22! Gigi    

I hope someone with experience similar to ours can point us in the right direction.  We are Americans and my husband is obtaining Irish citizenship because his grandmother was born in Northern Ireland.  My husband is 68, retired and the state of his health is such that pre-existing conditions make him uninsurable. We believe that he would not be allowed to emigrate to France as an American because of diabetes and other illnesses, but we also believe that as a citizen of Ireland (E.U.) he can legally live in France.  Question #1: is that correct? Question #2 is about his access to health care in France.  I read the FACs above about health care for British citizens and learned that having paid into the British system is required for the to obtain full care in France.  But we will not have paid into the Irish system.  Does anyone know what is involved when an Irish citizen moves to France?  Question #3: can anyone refer me to an individual or business that can give me trustworthy, reliable information regarding this matter? Thank you -- merci! Gigi