It's quite common for people to buy a property in France as a second home, and then decide to move there full time. But it's important to make sure that your property designation is up to date.
Sometimes it's a well thought-out plan - for example people who use their French property as a holiday home and then, once they retire, move there full time.
In other cases people just love their French property so much that the decide to up sticks and move to France full time.
But however it happens, there is some important admin once your French second-home turns into a main residence.
READ ALSO: Is your French property a main residence or a second home (and why it matters)?
Visas
Citizens of an EU country can skip this bit, but non-EU citizens will need a visa that allows them to live in France.
Those who have previously relied on the 90-day rule should note that visa applications must be made from your home country (with the exception of people married to a French or EU national), and you must then enter France with the correct visa.
There is nothing to stop you visiting your French property while your visa is being processed, but you will need to exit France and re-enter with the long-stay visa.
If you already have a visa you need to ensure that it allows for a long stay in France and, if you intend to work, that the visa type allows you to work in France.
Property tax designation
As a property owner in France, you will already be familiar with property taxes and the one-off property tax declaration (déclaration des biens immobiliers, sometimes also known as the déclaration d'occupation).
When you did this online declaration, you will have ticked your home as a 'résidence sécondaire', which now needs changing to a résidence principale.
Fortunately this is straightforward to do - login to your account at impots.gouv.fr and find the declaration in the 'mes documents' section. You can alter the designation and update the form online.
Property taxes
In good news, changing your home's status from second home to main residence will result in a hefty saving in your tax bill - all property owners in France pay the tax foncière, but only second home owners pay taxe d'habitation.
However, property tax bills (which arrive in the autumn) are based on the status on January 1st of the tax year, so you will likely only notice the drop the following year.
Insurance
There are some other organisations who you will have to tell about the change in status - your home insurance company for example, and if you have a car insured to that address you will also have to update those details.
Utility company accounts may also need to be updated if you have been using another address as the billing address.
Other French admin
But it's not just about the property, it's also about you and your change from a visitor to a resident.
French residency brings with it some rights (to register in the French healthcare system, for example) but, of course, with rights come responsibilities.
Chief among these is completing the annual French income tax declaration - this is compulsory for all residents of France, even if they have no French income (for example, retirees living on a pension from another country).
READ ALSO: What are your responsibilities as a resident of France?
