My procedures

View our tips and advice to better understand your rights and procedures when living abroad.

Moving abroad

You can receive your pension abroad. If you wish to be an expatriate pensioner and you choose to move abroad, it is essential to provide your new address and any change of bank details. 

You may collect your pension from your French bank account or request a transfer directly to your bank account abroad. Check with your bank for related bank charges.

Change my contact details

Your change of address and bank details must be reported by post to your regional fund. You must provide them with your new address, your surname, first name and social security number and attach the necessary supporting documents.

Proof of life

If you receive a French pension (personal or survivor’s) while living abroad, you be issued a certificate of life each year. This will enable you to provide proof of life to your regional fund and thus avoid any suspension of your pension payments. About the certificate of life. 

Did you know?

If you receive the solidarity allowance for the elderly (ASPA - Allocation de Solidarité aux Personnes Agées) or the Supplementary Disability Allowance (ASI - Allocation Supplémentaire d’Invalidité), these benefits are subject to the condition of being resident in France. You must report your departure abroad to your regional fund because these benefits will no longer be paid to you if you go abroad. Upon your return, you will be able to submit a new application. Learn more about ASPA and ASI.

My retirement abroad in pictures

 

 

Entitlement to health insurance (Assurance Maladie)

Conditions

Are you receiving a pension from a French scheme and living abroad? To apply for healthcare coverage by your country of residence, you must:

  • be in receipt of a pension under the general scheme;  
  • live long-term in a country within the European Union or in a country that has signed an agreement containing provisions on healthcare entitlement* with France.

Procedures

If you live in a foreign country that has signed an agreement with France, you can request a certificate of entitlement to healthcare. You can send it:

  • either to the social security body in your country of residence. Once this certificate has been validated, you will be able to have your healthcare costs reimbursed through the scheme in your country of residence. It will be sent directly from the foreign social security organisation to us;
  • or by completing the assessment questionnaire for healthcare entitlement. You can send it back online via the "Submit my form" service available in your personal area. You can also send it by post to the following address: L’Assurance retraite – Service « droit aux soins de santé » – 15 avenue Louis Jouhanneau – 37078 TOURS CEDEX 2 – France.

After assessment of your request, if you are entitled to healthcare coverage, we will send you a certificate of entitlement to healthcare by post. It must be submitted as quickly as possible to the social security body responsible for healthcare in your place of residence abroad.

To find out about your entitlement to healthcare in the event of residency abroad, visit the Assurance Maladie website or the website of the Centre des liaisons européennes et internationales de sécurité sociale.

If you do not send this certificate to the social security body responsible for healthcare in your country of residence, your healthcare will not be covered.

Did you know?

If healthcare is provided in France during a temporary stay, your healthcare expenses may, under certain conditions, be covered. To see the rules applied, visit the Cleiss website. You can also consult the registration service of the “Centre national des retraités de France à l’étranger” (Cnarefe) of the French Healthcare Fund (Assurance Maladie).

* List of States that have signed a social security agreement containing provisions on entitlement to healthcare with France: Algeria, Andorra, Former Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia), Morocco, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Tunisia, Turkey. 

Declaring my income

In France

If you declare your income in France, your taxable amount for the Social Security pension will be sent directly to the tax authorities. With deduction at source, you pay your income tax directly on the amount you receive as a pension.

For more information, see the “Pension & Income Tax Return” page.

Abroad

If you are domiciled outside France for tax purposes, your pension will not be subject to the general social contribution (CSG -contribution sociale généralisée), the social debt repayment contribution (CRDS - contribution pour le remboursement de la dette sociale) or the solidarity contribution for independent living (Casa - contribution de solidarité pour l’autonomie).

However, a health insurance (Assurance maladie) contribution may be deducted from your pension paid abroad.

As part of international coordination, the health insurance contribution is deducted if:

  • you are covered by a compulsory French health insurance scheme;
  • or if you are a foreign national and have at least 15 years of retirement pension in France.

The deduction rate for the health insurance premium is 3.20%.

 

For more information, see our pages “Proof of life”; “Declaring my income”.