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Working legally in France


Euge
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Hi I’m trying to find out what I need to do to work legally in France. I’m currently in England and expect to be coming over soon. I have been told I will need to go on a 5 day course and as such have contacted the Chambre des Metiers. As helpful as they seem to be, they couldn’t speak English and my French doesn’t go to understanding everything they said, but I figured there is some waiting list. So I was wondering if someone who has been through the process could guide me here.

Thank you
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There may well be a waiting list as these stages de gestion only take place every few months depending on where your CdM is located. You should not expect anything to be in english at all, this is France after all and you will be dealing with many many people when you set up your business who only speak and write french so you need to get the language studied. You will have to speak in french during the stage especially at the beginning to talk about yourself etc and then make notes although it is mainly commonsense and if you have run a business before you know basically what its about, however don't forget things are done a lot more different here with more people after your hard earned cash for your social charges and you will be contacted automatically after you have completed your stage. Make sure you get a good accountant and the stage will cover that as there are specialist accountants who deal with the different trades in France (ours deals only with building artisans). You must complete the five days to gain an attestation that will result in a few weeks of your Siret and APE registration numbers being issued and if you start to trade you must mention that these are in the course of being issued. You should also be aware that once you have signed up and paid for your stage,you will start to infiltrate the health system and be covered by the CPAM for 50% of your costs but again,paperwork will need to be filled in and the Carte Vitale etc will take some time to arrive. You may also be asked to provide a Titre de Séjour or even a full Carte de Séjour although it is no longer obligatory but some officials still demand them to set up in business if you are not a french national. Hope this helps a bit.
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What you need to do in order to work legally depends entirely on what your job will be. What Val says is totally correct for tradesmen (plumbers, carpenters etc) - she should know. But different procedures apply for, say, shopkeepers, salespeople, farmers, gardeners, consultants, professions - etc etc. Look at http://www.apce.com and http://www.urssaf.fr. Both are mostly in French, but you should get some idea.
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If you first sign on as unemployed, you can't claim any 'social' but there are good advantages in terms of financial assistance for would-be entreprenures, legal, above board and freely offered.

I know this to be a fact before the knockers come poo-poo-ing and generally knocking... Its all made clear in the 5 day course...

Of course if you haven't done the course and you are a flatulant opinionated forum guru then your advice will be of a different nature...

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I would strongly recommend attempting the course in french if at all possible. It seems daunting at first if you are not too confident but my husband has just completed it - he had next to no french when we arrived early last year. It's not easy, but having learned a few key words before the course (stuff like 'turnover', 'profit', 'pension' etc) he was able to keep up and understand most things. The Chambre de Metiers staff were helpful but he was not treated any differently, no slowing down or attempts at english, and I'm sure he has benefitted from all the french. There are so many forms to fill in - admittedly an accountant can help here - but you need some french in order to receive all the telephone calls you get after the course, if only to filter out the genuine calls from the salespeople!

To give an idea of time, we went to the Chambre de Metiers last autumn and were offered a course place in December. My husband was unable to attend in December, postponed and rang again in March this year. He was then given a course in May. We are in department 46.

If you can, I would recommend waiting until you are over here and making an appointment to see someone at your local CDM - it's always easier in person. You will need to have some form of diploma/certificate stating your qualification in your trade from the UK, or wherever you trained. My husband didn't need to get this translated, for reference. This course is for artisans, ie those who work with their hands, eg carpenter, builder, jeweller... so check it is right for you.

Good luck,

Jane

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Timing is important... sign on unemployed...use the period before your course to research and 'discreatly' publicise your future business.

 The following information will be given to you during your stage.

For long term unemployed an exemption from social charges during your first year is possible.

Free finance from various sources is available for new entreprenures.

The key is to just sign on...! Its easy and can be done by internet.

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Euge,

Where are you based or going to be based in France. Peoples interpritation of the rights and wrongs can be distorted and it is important that you get things right from the onset.

I attended the mandatory business course at the end of June in Limoges and it was all in English. There were also people in attendance from Charente which as you will likely be aware is not part of Limousin but they were accepted on the course.

The complete course has been translated and adapted to suit people who as yet do not have a good enough command of the French Language. I know people who's French is of a good standard and they attended the course in Gueret and they were left asking themselves a lot of questions at the end of it.

I left my course with a clear understanding of what I needed to do and knew which fiscal and tax regimes I needed to adopt in order to start a joinery manufacturing business in the near future which will manufacture windows, flooring, kitchens, staircases, doors, worktops, skirtings and architraves as well as supplying top quality Eastern European Kiln dried oak machined properly to whatever dimensions the customer wishes.

The course also covered mandatory insurances needed to operate an enterprise in France.

Information on Grants, tax concessions and interest free loans to generate some working capitol to help you start your business were all forthcoming. It did not just tel you about these things it told you where and whom to apply to to get what you needed.

The same Scottish guy also does courses for the chambre de metiers in the dordogne. All in all the course from my point of view was top class.

You will obviously need to attend this course yourself but I can hopefully answer any questions you may have in the meantime. I have all the course notes which were professionally translated into English.

 

Goodluck

 

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  • 7 months later...

hi, wonder if you have any advice for me, please.

i want to set up a small business, coffee shop/gift shop. how do i go about enrolling in the course you did, is it the correct place to start?

any advice would be most welcome, thank-you

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Lhp - I know nothing about opening a shop but it might be worth going to your local Mairie first and asking what permis you need for the sort of shop you have in mind, also go to your local Chambre de Commerce and ask same question and whether you should register with them.

As others have advised, if you get the opportunity to do the business course (which is occasionally held in English in some departments) do it although it is run through the Chambre de Metiers. It covers business start ups and regimes, availability of grants, book keeping and TVA etc. All very useful in your situation.

We found the local CdC quite helpful three years ago when we set up our little entreprise but in those days there was not much written info available and we didn't do the course so were fumbling in the dark for the first few months! You could also look this site below which is in English.

Good luck, and let us know what information you get and how you get on, or write a blog!

http://www.apce.com/index.php?rubrique_id=300000112&type_page=IL&pays=1
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