Moving is never easy, whether you move across an ocean or across town. Here are some tips for making a change of address within French borders as painless as possible.

It can be just as much work to move around the corner as to move around the world. And whereas your company may have handled your initial move to France, you'll probably be on your own if you simply want to upgrade your apartment. Here are the basics for planning your move with a minimum of disruption to your life.

Moving companies

There's always the old-fashioned way, of course; packing your stuff yourself and renting a van to transport it. If you want to make it easier on yourself, you'll need to locate a moving company.

Start by collecting several quotes as prices can vary widely; companies will also offer several packages or formules that will each be priced differently.

The company will want to send a sales rep to look at your belongings, estimate their total volume in cubic metres, and explain the formules; these appointments should only take about 15 minutes, but you won't get a quote without one. Don't forget to review the insurance policy, for which you'll probably have to fill out a form estimating the value of your valuables.

The most common packages are:

- the do-it-yourself package where the company provides only the manpower to put the boxes and furniture in and out of the truck. The company should provide boxes and packing equipment.

- the breakables-only package, where you pack everything that doesn't break and the company packs everything that does, including lamps and pictures.

- the full-service package where all you do is show up. 

You'll be expected to unhook all your appliances yourself. (Don't forget to defrost your refrigerator the night before and empty the reservoir in your washing machine; the movers will be grumpy if they are confronted with clean-up problems the day of the move.)  

The team will include two or three movers; if you're moving in or out of a big city apartment building, remember that any extras will cost extra e.g. equipment to move furniture through windows, extra personnel to move furniture in buildings without elevators, parking problems, etcetera. Also keep in mind that moving on a Saturday will cost 15 to 25 percent extra and may not even be possible; many moving companies, especially in the provinces, work only Monday to Friday.

If you're moving a long distance, the moving company will probably propose an overnight transport; enquire where the truck will be parked overnight and whether or not your belongings are insured against theft (this occurs but rarely, but extra insurance buys peace of mind).

Change of address

You're well-advised to individually contact most-have services (your bank, your mortgage company, your employer, etcetera). But La Poste will forward all your mail for you, for a fee.

Mail forwarding, réexpédition définitive de La Poste, will cost you a fee for six months; it can be extended for another six months for free.

You can get the form in person at your local post office or find out more from the postal service website; make sure to submit the form at least five days before your move date. (This website also has a lot of other helpful moving tips, in French.)

If you benefit from any French social services or if you pay French income taxes, a new, free government service also makes it easier to change your address with several government offices at one time (Assurance maladie, Allocations familiales, Assurance chômage, Assurance vieillesse, Service des impôts, Service national).

Leaving your apartment

If you're a renter, you must give a three-month notice, in writing, to your landlord.

After you move out, you must schedule an appointment with your previous landlord to turn over keys and do an inspection of your apartment, état des lieux, before you can get any of your deposit back. Other than cleaning up, make sure to leave all electrical fixtures as they were when you moved in; normal wear-and-tear is not supposed to come out of your deposit, although what constitutes normal wear-and-tear is sometimes the subject of debate.

At any rate, your landlord is not obligated to refund anything immediately and may indeed take up to two months after your departure to send the check.

The easiest way to set up utility services at your new address is to transfer your existing service contracts, faire basculer or le basculement; this speeds things up and saves on the fee for establishment of service. Presuming you and not your landlord paid these bills, you still must contact utility providers i.e. EDF/GDF, telephone, water, after you leave so they can calculate how much you owed up through your move date; this is called le relevé.

You'll probably be able to transfer your home insurance policy, assurance habitation, as well, although it can be tricky to get the timing right so that you're insured through your last date at your old address and immediately on arriving at your new.

With France Telecom, depending on how far you're moving, it may be possible, for a fee, to retain your phone number; if not, then they will provide a free service to notify callers of your new phone number for six months.

Watch out if you're trying to establish DSL service at a new address; it will take at least 15 days to re-establish service at a new phone number, longer, maybe much longer, if you're moving to a zone non-dégroupée where the lines are still controlled entirely by France Telecom and which has not been optimised for the new telecom services.

Officialdom

If you have a carte de séjour, don't forget that you're supposed to register your new address with your new préfecture within eight days, although there is no penalty other than a potential raised eyebrow if you show up after that deadline. You may also want to contact your embassy or consulate to let them know where you are. (Although you may not too!)

If you own a car, you must update your car registration, carte grise, at your new préfecture within 30 days; if you're changing département, you will also be expected to change your license plate to match the number to your new département. (There is some discussion of eliminating this requirement for the licence plates but, for the time being, it stands.)

Your driving licence need not be updated.

Updated May 2008

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