French stereotype #1: “French bureaucracy is too complicated”

Feb 8, 2019 | Invest in France

What comes up to your mind when you think about France? Pretty sure right now you are picturing a man in a stripy t-shirt with a beret, smoking a cigarette while holding a baguette and the newspaper under his arm. Though some of these stereotypes might be true, France is also charged with a few other stereotypes worth being tackled, particularly in the business world. This is what we propose to do in this series of articles. We are going to show you another image of France. So, to begin with, today’s stereotype is: French bureaucracy.

France bureaucratic?

France is an attractive destination for company founders, directors and employees. Indeed, France is the 6th largest economy in the world, one of the biggest European market thanks to its large population, skilled labour force can be found in a wide range of sector, etc. France is even catching up with Sweden; jumping up 5 places in a year, it is now ranked 11th in the world on the HSBC expat explorer survey 2018.

However, one of the most spread-out common belief is that settling in France is difficult because of a complicated bureaucratic system. Obviously, if this was the case, it could negatively impact your French experience. Luckily systems are in place to facilitate your expatriation. The online platform Welcome to France has been created on this sole purpose.

Welcome to France

Whether you are coming for a short term or a long term, alone or with your family, from an EU country or not, all the information are available on this platform. You can also have access to a tailored-made timeline, informing you of the different procedures and when they need to be executed. This means that you directly receive all the relevant information for your specific profile, without the need to make the research yourself.

The platform covers all the different aspects which are part of an expatriation. It deals with visa and residence permit, social protections, tax system etc. For example, France has signed agreements with over 128 countries to avoid double taxation. The platform can also help you with more day-to-day aspect of the expatriation such as housing or opening a bank account. Finally, extra support can also be found by contacting Business France through the plateform.

This platform is a great tool to help you settle in and feel like home in France. Welcome!