Saffy

    Thank you - it's amazing how just small suggestions or snippets of advice can make life a whole lot smoother running. It's much appreciated

 Hi, We are British citizens, moving to France from New Zealand. We are hoping to ship over a container of our belongings. To avoid paying taxes and duties of approx 30% of the value of the shipment, we are required to submit a Change of Residence Certificate to customs. We obtain this from the French Consulate over here. The consulate has told us they require proof of our new address in France, specifically a bill, rental contract or house purchase papers. We are taking a month to holiday and visit our families before arriving in France and other than Brittany being our destination - we have absolutely no idea of where or how (rent or buy) we will live. They were adamant that we have to have proof of address before they will process the certificate. Has anyone heard of this before? Our container is likely to arrive in France when we do. If we have to pay the taxes and duties - can we claim them back once a certificate has been issued or can our container be held in customs until we produce the necessary paperwork? Any idea how much this may cost? I can't believe every person who moves to France has already pre-purchased or organised a rental property - is there a way around this frustrating piece of paperwork?! Any help would be appreciated many thanks Saff

Hi, we are considering a move to France and had thought this should be 'relatively straight forward' as we are British. However we haven't lived in England for 51/2yrs - been out here in New Zealand where we also now have NZ citizenship (as well as our British citizenship). Now we don't know who we are!!!!! Does anyone know whether we are classed as EU or non-EU residents and how this is going to affect us? Your replies will be much appreciated Many Thanks

 Hi there Thanks for your feed-back We have had a wonderful time living in NZ but we seem to be the itchy feet type and ready for a move. We do wonder why we are moving when life is so good here but guess we just have those nomadic genes!. Yes wages are pretty poor here - particularly where we live in the Nelson region. Apparently we are paid in 'sunshine hours'! Fantastic for time on the beach but doesn't put much food on the table! The general cost of living we find quite expensive. However we do feel if we'd looked too closely at that side of things then we would never have moved here. We are so very glad we did. Our kids (now 10 and 9) have had the most awesome start to school life and and I've traded a career in nursing to one working with at-risk youth and adults in the outdoors - instructing in sea kayaking, hiking and rock climbing. All stuff i learnt here, having never done anything like that before. The pace of life is wonderful, and it seems like you can choose how you want to live. Lack of money does mean overseas travel is out of the question for many people though. Sounds like i'm on a sales pitch eh? NZ is a fabulous place full of interesting, quirky and fun people with very different outlooks on life. I can highly recommend living here. For us, nothing is for ever and we didn't come expecting to stay. It suits us to try out different places. Who knows - maybe France will be THE ONE!!!! Thanks again for all your comments - your responses have been very helpful Best Wishes Saff

Hi There We are from England but have been living in New Zealand for the last 5 1/2yrs. My husband is a time served Painter and Decorator with over 20yrs experience. We are looking at moving to Brittany. Can anyone advise us about registration and/or any exta work, exams etc he may have to do to tie his qualification in with what is accepatable in France and for him to be classified as a tradesman. Our French is very limited but we are studying hard! Many thanks for any replies Saff