Services
- Utilities
- Moving home
- Internet
- Tradesmen
- House checks
- Vehicle registration
- Driving licence
- Insurance
- Carte Vitale
- Health system
- Doctors’ appointments
- Disabled badges
- Insurance
- Dealing with tax offices
- Bank accounts
- RSA & CAF
- Setting up as micro-entreprise
- Employment
- Pay roll
- Residency requirements
- Titre/Carte de séjour
- Applying for French nationality
here to help
Even if you enjoy dealing with paperwork and official admin in your own language, it can be difficult to tackle it in a language that you don’t speak. French bureaucracy is notoriously complicated, making it all the more difficult to get to grips with.
If you actively hate paperwork, and/or your French isn’t up to coping with French officials, this business exists to help you navigate your way through the quagmire of French bureaucracy without becoming bogged down.
I will help out with carte de séjour files, carte vitale applications, re-registering cars, ringing the CAF (housing benefit) and RSA (income support), accompanying people to banking, legal, Pole Emploi and doctors’ appointments, in fact anything that you come up against during your life in France, leaving you more time to enjoy life.
I look forward to hearing from you if you need some help.
Everyday Life
Your Home
I can help organise setting up or switching electricity, gas, phone/broadband services and house insurance.
If you are intending to have work done, I can interpret for you with local tradesmen and help you apply for any grants that might be applicable.
I can also help with any other day to day problems, issues or questions that may crop up. If I don’t know something, I will find out and point you in the right direction.
Your Car
Whether you want to register a French-bought car for a carte grise, or are bringing one in from the UK, I can fill in the forms and guide you through the process. Likewise if you have to change your driving licence to a French one, or sort out car insurance.
House Checks
If your house is going to be empty for any period of time, I am happy to perform a house checking service and go in to make sure that all is okay.
Health
Getting into the Health System
A carte vitale is the key to receiving treatment in the French health system. Getting hold of one is fairly straight-forward if you are an EU citizen and in receipt of an S1 form. It becomes more complicated if you are not. I will help guide you through the requirements, fill in the forms and jump through the hoops.
I can also help with sorting out top up or other health insurance. And can accompany you to doctor’s appointments to interpret, if your doctor doesn’t speak English.
If you are disabled and need a badge I can also guide you through the process and help you fill in the forms.
Money
Communicating with the Bank Manager
Registering with the Tax Man
If you are living in France full time then you need to register for tax with your local tax offices and are expected to produce a yearly tax return. While I am not a financial expert, I can help you understand and complete the forms and accompany you to appointments at the tax office, where they will answer any questions that you may have, and check that you have filled the form in correctly.
Financial Aid
If you are officially resident in France and on a low income, you may be eligible for financial aid, such as housing benefit (CAF) or income support (RSA). I can help you apply for these, and phone the helplines for you if needed.
Self-Employment
French business structures are complicated and can be costly. The simplest and cheapest way to set up and run a business is to become a micro-entreprise (what used to be called an auto-entrepreneur). I can help you fill in the forms, and seek help from the appropriate organisation (Chambres de Métiers/Chambres de Commerce), if necessary.
Employment
Work
Self-Employment
French business structures are complicated and can be costly. I can advise on the best way for those who were running their own business abroad to organise their work in France, whether that is as a sole trader, a sub-contractor or an employee of either an umbrella organisation or a foreign employer.
The simplest and cheapest way to set up and run a business is to become a micro-entreprise (what used to be called an auto-entrepreneur). I can register your business, and seek help from the appropriate organisation (Chambres de Métiers/Chambres de Commerce), if necessary.
Employment
Payroll Management
French payroll management is complicated and costly if you make a mistake. I have completed a government recognised training course and can run your payroll in France, or ensure that you are doing things correctly via the TFE.
Residency
Getting a Titre de Séjour
If you are an EU citizen, you have no need to do anything to be allowed to live in France, although you should keep a record of the day, and way that you arrived, as you may need to prove it for other purposes.
However non-EU citizens who are here on a long term basis need a residency permit. This now includes UK citizens.
Talk to me about the requirements and help in preparing and presenting your “dossier”.
Get in Touch
Where I am based
I live and work in the picturesque village of Palalda in the Vallespir. I’m happy to help anyone with face to face services across the Pyrenees-Orientales, and beyond that with virtual services.
Get in touch
- 06 01 77 60 83
- madeleine@frenchpaperwork.fr
- 2 bis rue de la Tour, 66110 Amélie Les Bains Palalda
French Paperwork etc
Madeleine McMullin trading as French Paperwork etc
SIREN : 798575593
Below you will find the CSS for disabling animations on tablet/mobile, enable animation delay on desktop, IE fixes
Who I am
My name is Madeleine and I run French Paperwork etc. I will explain what you need to do, help fill in forms, make phone calls, accompany you to appointments to interpret where necessary, and generally help sort out anything to do with living in France – from setting up home and registering yourself officially in France, buying and registering a car, getting a bank account, to accessing and using the health system.
Many of my friends have asked me to help them tackle their paperwork over the years, probably because of my organised nature, ability to speak French, and my experience of living and working in France.
After more than a decade of helping out with carte de séjour files, carte vitale applications, re-registering cars, ringing the CAF (housing benefit) and RSA (income support), accompanying people to banking, legal, Pole Emploi and doctors’ appointments, I thought that maybe I should put this experience to good use and start a business doing it. The result is French Paperwork etc.
I look forward to hearing from you if you need some help.
Useful Information
Check out Lorraine Turnbull’s book “How to Live the Good Life in France” for a practical guide on moving to rural France. (Declaration of interest – my business is featured in the appendix).