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I would like to thank everyone here for your very thorough answers. They were very useful and helped me better understand what/how to submit for permanent CDS in my case - I will apply for CDS and will tell you about my experience! Take care!

Thank you very much for your answers! Yes, I do have French tax returns for the past 5 years (where I declare my all my UK earnings and taxes as a cross-border worker to avoid double taxation). However, if I understand correctly, having a French job is the requirement to get a carte de sejour here (which is not my case)? If yes, maybe I can apply as a family member or something like that? Thanks again!

Hello, I am a British citizen with a French wife and 2 small kids (French citizenship). I've moved to France in 2010, had a permanent job until 2014, was unemployed for 1 year, and now a cross-border worker (commuting to London from Paris). It seems that I need to obtain carte de sejour to avoid possible issues with Brexit, but I am completely lost in different types of cards. Can someone suggest if I can apply for a permanent (10 year) carte de sejour while I didn't have any carte de sejour before? Also, can it be a problem if I live in France with my french family but work in the UK? Maybe I should apply for a "Famille d'un européen - Séjour permanent"? I will appreciate any suggestions! Thank you very much in advance,Greg

Thanks a lot for the links! This is exactly what I was looking for! Yeap, it's true that this startup does not know yet about all the social charges in France, so I am slowly preparing them :( ... However, even if they agree, I just hope it will not be too complex to set this up (particularly knowing French bureaucracy) ... Anyways, thanks again - I will be studying all the links now ... Gregory  

Hello! After working in Paris for 5 years (I am the British citizen), I decided to change my job and got an offer from a startup based in London. They are fine if I work remotely under CDD (and occasionally come to London), but they have no idea what to do with my social security payments and tax in France. I looked at the forum and found a few related messages 3 years ago, but do not know if things changed since then. Therefore, I will be very grateful if someone can provide links to the related French/UK laws, i.e. if this startup has to pay my social contributions (health insurance, pension, unemployment insurance) directly to France (and how to set it up), or I have to pay it somehow myself? At the moment, I am a bit lost ... Thanks a lot!!! Gregory

Ok, I see ... It looks like it's better to wait a bit. I want to make an on-line consultancy company and it includes 2 steps: designing the website and, naturally, getting some customers. I also want to show the concept to one big company and would like to show it already as a working company even if I don't have real customers yet - the idea is that maybe this big company will buy my company ... I know that the chances are tiny but still want to try one day ;) ... Thanks again for your answers!!!

Actually, one more question: is it generally possible to register a company with an intention to operate in the future and then keep it inactive for a year or two?.. The reason is to show an intention and be ready if one day it's needed... Thanks!

Thanks "cooperlola" and "Albert the InfoGipsy" for a very quick reply. So, it's now clear where to set up business and pay tax, but I will still need to read more about this autoentrepreneur status - I heard about it from my friend a year ago, but he told me that you can be autoentrepreneur only for 2 years and then either close business if it's not going well or move to another status. If this is correct, it's not good for me, because I would like to do consultancy from time to time maybe for 5 years and I do not expect it to be very profitable - if I can make additional 10.000-15.000euros per year, I will be more than happy... Thanks again!

Dear all, Recently, I changed my job in France and somehow have a bit of spare time so I am thinking to do some part-time IT consulting for individuals and small companies. I am a British citizen and a permanent resident in France with a full-time job since 2008 (also in the process of buying a flat here) but most of my potential customers are outside France (USA/UK/Spain). Considering, that I do not speak good French yet and that French laws to create companies/business seem to be very complex, I am thinking if it is possible to register such a consultancy company in the UK while working from France? Does it make sense?.. Also, what will happen with my tax in this case? Also, since naturally this business may not work well, is it possible not to pay any tax if I do not have customers while keeping company alive for a few years?.. I heard that if I register any company in France, most of the time, after a few years I will have to start paying various taxes even if I do not have customers, etc?..                                         Finally, if I have some earnings, can I simply declare them in my individual tax form just as additional earnings or should it be something else?.. I am a newbie in all that so I will appreciate any suggestions! Thanks a lot!!!

Thanks a lot for all your replies! If HSBC doesn't charge for using card in the USA, it can be a good option if they exchange rate is good too, but from what I heard they have a very high annual fee for most of the accounts (which drives me mad because I had HSBC account while staying in Edinburgh many years ago, it was totally free and they continuously upgraded my Visa to golden and then platinum for free while I have been just working at the University so didn't have lots of money ;) ) I will try to check it out ... I will also check Caxton fx pre-paid currency card. As for getting a company card - they are thinking about introducing it in the future but for now we have to pay ourselves and of course the company will not cover non-job related spendings (outside working hours or weekends). Also my relatives moved to the USA so I plan to visit the USA more often now ... Thanks!!!

Do you mean to open a bank account in the French branch of the Bank of America or while in the USA (in the last case I guess I will not be able to do it since I am not a US resident?). If in France, will this account be in $?.. But do they have a good rate to convert from $ to euro?.. Thanks!

Thanks guys for all your answers - I haven't been put off by the funny answers but actually quite liked that ;) ... I have to agree that after having a few tan sessions, my tan looks a bit artificial (what a surprise) but I believe it's still better than having a look as if I just climbed out of the tomb (that's what my colleagues have been telling me ;) ). But I will stop the tan sessions for now particularly since it looks like the spring is finally coming and will wait for the next holiday to go to some nice and sunny place ;) !..

Hello, I have maybe a bit unusual question: for my new job I need to meet many new customers and I am very pale at the moment so I am thinking to start going to a tan centre but I am concerned that it may not be very healthy. I heard that there is something called "douche autobronzante" which is kind of a shower with a tan cream that works for 1 week. However, since it's chemical, I am curious if it is also very unhealthy or it's fine?.. What is generally better: tan lamp or shower?.. Also, the problem is that there are not so many places with such a shower around Paris - I found one (if someone is interested or need it, I found one in the centre of Paris, I think it's called Carre Soleil and it's on the street rue Taitbout, I don't remember exactly the house number, I think it's between 40 and 50 - the staff was nice and helpful) but it's very far from me - I live and work just outside Paris not far from Porte d'Orleans so will be very happy if someone can suggest tan centres with "douche autobronzante" between Cite University and Antony?.. Thanks a lot in advance!!!

Bonjour everyone, A few months ago I moved to a new job in France and have to go to the USA and Canada quite frequently. So far I have been using La Poste Visa in France (not Premier account) but after checking my bill after recent trip to the USA found out that their exchange rate is ridiculous and they charge you for any transaction a minimum fee of 2$. I got used to use Visa all the time in France and did the same in the USA but lost lots of money on that. So, I would like to ask if someone can suggest another French bank or solution to have a better exchange rate and maybe no transaction fees in the USA?.. Actually, I just had the same problem with money transfers to and from the USA using La Poste recently. They claim that they have a very low fee for transfers but they really get lots of money on a very bad exchange rate. For example, my colleagues sent me 2000$ and payed just 25$ for that, but I got only 1300 euro instead of 1450 euro (official exchange rate). I will be very grateful for suggestions to minimize my losses during money transfers between US and France?.. Thanks a lot in advance !!!

Yes, that's a good point! Thanks again for your suggestion!