The Call of the Wild is a short novel by Jack London which was published in 1903 and set in Canada’s Yukon territory.

I believe there may be many ways to understand this choice for my title, as it could apply figuratively to many situations both in the USA and in France, as well as elsewhere. Many generations have studied this book in secondary school around the world, as it was translated into numerous languages, including French.

Wild is often a synonym for scary, and right now there is a lot of scary news, plus some I suspect has been used to scare the public.

At the same time, I believe this short novel, about a dog surviving horrors and people getting killed to end up the winner at the end, is an allegory. In soapy Hollywood movies with an uplifting ending, the good character wins over the bad one. Buck does become the new leader of the pack. He is not going back to living with the humans. So this is a very different twist.

MEMORIES FROM A READER ABOUT THE BERLIN WALL
A reader recently sent me this message:
“Your story of the Iron Curtain brought back memories of a family vacation to Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. We drove throughout Europe. We drove across East Germany to Berlin and visited East Berlin. While there, we met a young man, an East German, who was desperate to escape East Germany but had no way of getting out. My soft-hearted mother (who made all the decisions in our family) decided we were going to get him out. At the appointed time on the day we were leaving Berlin, we met the young man and somehow got him into the trunk of the car, packed behind our luggage. While my memories have faded, the car was not searched when we left Berlin to drive across East Germany and back into West Germany – because seriously, who would search a car with an attractive, smooth-talking, middle-aged American woman behind the wheel, my father in the passenger seat, and two children under 10 sitting in the back seat. We were the picture of the innocent, possibly clueless, American tourist family. I have no idea what happened to the young man, but I hope he went on to lead a happy life of freedom in the west. We still marvel at my mother’s courage and humanity.”

I do not need to say anything more about this very moving account. There are situations that can be considered to have been transposed from ancient times, such as the one above and the one I mentioned about my family facing the Iron Curtain. They have been talked more and more often ever since the Eastern Bloc fell apart on 9 November 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many might not see the connection between this and the war in Ukraine. I believe there is a strong one.

THE FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 
French elections are in two rounds. This year the first voting in the presidential election will be on April 10th. During the campaign, 10 or more nationally recognized candidates will have airtime on national TV. Their campaign financing will be paid in part by the government in an attempt to give everybody a fair chance. The second round will be on April 24th. The result of the first round, which determines who will qualify for the second one, is still quite uncertain. French politics will be affected in different ways depending on whether President Macron ends up opposing a far-right candidate, a mainstream conservative or a leftist opponent. All the polls indicate he will win the second round against any of the potential opponents. If his challenger is a leftist, President Macron will appear quite conservative. On the other hand, if faced with a mainstream conservative, he will need to appear progressive in order to differentiate himself in the debates and campaign. Facing a far-right candidate, he will need to play the role of the savior of France against chaos and the unacceptable. Polls show that this positioning is increasingly less accepted as more and more people are critical of his overall policy as president.

SUSPENSION OF NEARLY ALL COVID REGULATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS
Improvement of the public health situation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, at least until recently, and a decrease in pressure on hospitals led the prime minister to announce on March 3rd that the vaccine pass requirement in most places would be suspended and the wearing of masks indoors would no longer be required, except in public transport and health establishments, as of March 14th. It must be noted that this comes at the time of having a presidential election. Bear in mind that this was just a suspension: depending on the election results and the evolution of the pandemic in April, restrictions could be partly or completely reinstated.

COMPARISON OF THE FRENCH AND AMERICAN SUPREME COURTS 
Last month the American media and, to a certain extent, foreign media covered hearings on the latest US Supreme Court nominee. Listening to large sections of them reminded me of my law school courses in constitutional and civil law, including the position and power of the US Supreme Court compared with the French equivalents. France has three courts corresponding to the US Supreme Court: the Cour de Cassation, Conseil d’État and Conseil Constitutionnel. The Cour de Cassation is the closest to its American counterpart, as it is the last level of jurisdiction and issues the definitive precedents that become the rule of the land. A tiny technical difference between it and the American court has a huge impact on their respective influence. The French court rules only on the legal issues and not on all the arguments, but it must rule on all appeals it receives. Therefore its authority is diluted by its huge number of decisions, which means the media rarely talks about its rulings. By contrast, the US Supreme Court has the right to choose which cases it will rule on and thus issues far fewer decisions. Therefore, almost all of them make headlines and are commented on in the media, sometimes for days. Even a decision to postpone review of an appeal may be widely commented on.

Similarly, although the judges sitting on the bench of both courts are appointed for life, the French media never mentions who are the latest members nominated, and hardly anybody in France knows their names, as there are over 200 judges divided into six chambers!

As for the other two, the Conseil d’État is the Supreme Court for matters involving the French government apparatus, as what we calldroit administratif has its own system of jurisdiction. The Conseil Constitutionnel stands alone and rules on disputes regarding interpretation of the French constitution.

“A SURVIVAL HOME IN PARIS” WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON
This feels like a tale even for me. It started in the spring of 2018, when the real estate agent who helped me find my current office approached me because the space next door to mine was for sale and he had just got the mandate. I did not see a need for it. I had moved into my office less than two years before. I did not know what I could do with it. At the same time, I remembered the office I had near the Place Saint-Georges for seven years, which had two large rooms. I rented out the front one and used the one with the veranda. Most of my tenants were start-up creators, consultants or other independents who needed such a place to make their professional transition. I always liked being able to offer a professional setting at an affordable price and thus help people launch their careers. In the autumn of 2018, recalling all this made me think again about the agent’s proposal, so I made an offer.

Not until April 2019 was an offer of mine finally accepted. I truly thought then that the sale would go through quickly. I mentioned this project in the May 2019 issue with great optimism.

What followed was two years of mostly silence, with sparks of false hope a couple of times when my notaire would schedule a signing date that later fell through. Then, out of the blue, just before Christmas the seller was ready and wanted to close right away. The idea that I had had in late 2018 was no longer viable, mainly because of the COVID pandemic. I took some quiet time to rethink the project, taking into consideration the major changes of the past few years. This investment had to be financially sustainable.

Now, thanks to my family members and Stephen Heiner, a client and a friend who helps Americans adapt to French life, I believe we can offer a good deal renting out this one-room studio of almost 329 square feet (30 square meters). My goal is to rent by the month for between one and six months. Clients sometimes ask to use my address, which they need to give to the consulate and later the prefecture while hopping from a weekly rental to the next before finding a more stable place and settling down with a longer-term lease. This truly unpleasant experience can be avoided now that I have an address in Paris where the person can go straight from the airport. The studio can serve as a place for someone who has either secured a long-stay visa or is submitting a request for one. It will be an interim place for such people to stay. It could also be for someone who is in France on a 90-day visa waiver to “test drive” whether living in France is for them. After 25 years of offering “A Survival Kit for Paris,” I will now also be able to propose “A Survival Home in Paris” for those who need it as an extension of my services.

For those who do not know, my office is located in the 11th arrondissement between Nation and Bastille. It is a real up-and-coming arrondissement, and the property is served by five metro and RER lines.

It will need some renovation before providing a comfortable and enjoyable stay. I will let my readers know when I start taking reservations.

FRENCH INCOME TAX: IT IS ALMOST TIME TO DECLARE!
On a more mundane topic, I would like to remind everybody that the paper version of the 2021 income declaration must be filed in France by midnight on May 19th, 2022. The declaration forms will be available at www.impots.gouv.fr on April 7th. That is also the day you can start filing your declaration on the same website. To do so, you need your tax ID number (numéro fiscal) and a password.

First-time income declarations to the French tax office should be prepared using the paper form, and the “first time” box on the CERFA #2042 form where it says Vous déposez une déclaration pour la première fois cochez” must be checked. It is possible to obtain the needed information from the tax office to declare for the first time electronically, but I tend to advise against this, because it is a lot easier to see and hence understand how the system works if the filer is looking at paper documents.

Note that if you file online, the deadline is later. The schedule depends on your postal code:

• départements 01 to 19 must file by midnight by May 24th.
• départements 20 to 49 by May 31st.
• départements 50 or higher by June 8th.

Reminder: if you are self-employed in France, the quarterly declarations sent to URSSAF do not constitute income tax declarations, which must be sent to the tax office. Many foreigners are under the impression that the quarterly declarations are their only fiscal obligation.

It can happen that there is no tax owed to France, either because it is foreign income not taxed in France or because the taxable income is too low. A problem may arise when the prefecture wants to see the income tax bill from the tax office, the avis d’imposition sur le revenu, as many immigration status ask for it. Unlike in the USA, it is a two-step process. The income declaration is filed and no payment is ever attached to it. Based on this declaration, the tax office issues this avis d’imposition sur le revenu, starting in August as the deadline to pay income tax in France is September 15th. This tax document is required by many organizations both in the public and the private sectors. For example, the CAF the family subsidy organization uses this document among others to decide if the person deserves aid and if so, how much.

A NEW WEBSITE FOR FRENCH BUSINESSES TO SIMPLIFY COMMUNICATION
I recently received this government communication, which I have translated. I can take no responsibility regarding its accuracy.

Simplification of professional procedures: opening of https://portailpro.gouv.fr

Hello,
To simplify the life of businesses, a new online service designed to facilitate your tax, social and customs procedures has just been opened for you: https://portailpro.gouv.fr

This website, designed in conjunction with a panel of companies to best meet your expectations, was developed by the fiscal administration, URSSAF and Customs (DGFiP, Douane et URSSAF).

https://portailpro.gouv.fr offers you the possibility of:

• benefitting from a unique and secure connection giving you access without re-authentication to urssaf.fr , impots.gouv.fr and douane.gouv.fr services and the first partner site net-entreprises.fr;
• having an overview of your tax, social security, and customs obligations and deadlines thanks to a unique and personalized dashboard;
• making your declarations and paying your taxes and contributions from a single site;
• simply and securely engaging in dialogue with the tax authorities, URSSAF and the customs authorities through an integrated messaging system.

Open to all professionals, without the restriction of size or status, portalpro.gouv.fr offers services more particularly adapted to self-employed employers, SMEs/VSEs and ETIs.

If you wish, you can connect now to https://portailpro.gouv.fr, to create an account and then consult your situation or perform your procedures.

Our portals urssaf.fr , impots.gouv.fr and douane.gouv.fr remain accessible and usable under the usual conditions.

We hope that this new portal will simplify the completion of your procedures with our services.
https://portailpro.gouv.fr

MY FEES WILL INCREASE ON SEPTEMBER 1st, 2022
I continue to slowly move toward working fewer hours in the hope of having a lifestyle more compatible with my age. As I have done in the past, I am once again scheduling an increase in my fees. I expect my assistant to continue to pick up more tasks linked to the URSSAF, CPAM and other public offices procedures. She already handles most dealings with the offices who register self-employed people. 
1st meeting/1st work: 350 euros for 2 hours 
Extra per hour: 150 euros 
Handling mail in my office: 50 euros per month 
Handling mail at my home: 60 euros per month 
Surcharge for out-of-office meetings: 80 euros, assuming less than 30 minutes’ transportation 
Surcharge for meetings and phone calls at the client’s request after 7PM weekdays, all weekend, on national French holidays and during vacations: 30%.

OFFICE CLOSED FOR SUMMER VACATION
The office will be closed for three weeks over the summer holidays, starting on Friday, July 8th, in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday, August 22nd. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. Of course, Sarah or I will honor prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

MY BUSINESS HAS A NEW FACEBOOK PAGE
Over the holidays, my assistant, Sarah, took an interesting initiative and created a new Facebook page. It is a good move for her since she and I both moderate it. She can show off her expertise and her ability to give good advice and clearly explain solutions. She does this in French, leaving the queries in English to me.

Since I am already active in a few Facebook groups and my website is my main showcase, I did not feel I needed such a page. On the other hand, it will no doubt benefit her. I do not have the time to monitor this forum and so far, it has been fairly quiet. Sarah is still figuring out how to handle this new task, being quite busy herself. I am sure it will be a great space for exchanges and hope it will pick up soon.

You are welcome to join:
https://www.facebook.com/rattachement

Best regards,

QUESTION

AS AN EU CITIZEN HOW LITTLE CAN I PAY MYSELF?

My husband is American and I am Belgian and American. We moved a while ago to France for personal reasons and we love it. Shortly after settling I registered with URSSAF and started billing a couple of clients in France while maintaining a lucrative consulting business in the USA. Everybody says I am not paying myself enough, as it must be way over minimum wage to stay in France. They told me that we could lose the right to live in France if I did not earn enough. As of now, I have invoiced from my French company 3,500€ for 2020 and 8,000€ for 2021. Hearing all this, my accountant told me to report for 2022 the amount of 22,500€ and use my American billing if needed to reach this amount. I believe that I could reach 13,800€ in sales this year with just my French clients. Right now I am invoicing all my American clients through my American sole proprietorship. He also advised that life would be easier if I stay under the 32,000€ TVA threshold for auto-entrepreneurs. This is what I have kept in mind with these contracts, so it seems like it would be important not to trigger TVA. Is this correct? Can I get a contract duration indeterminée and continue my auto-entrepreneur consulting practice?

QUESTION

THE CONSEQUENCES OF ENDING A PACS

I am an American with a legal stay in France and my relationship is going downhill. I need to know what my rights are. He has been supporting me fully and I am not financially stable enough to support myself, especially if I have only a month or two to get a plan together. We lived together, and have for seven years, but only his name is on the lease.

The title of this month’s column can be understood in many ways. As an expression, it has come to mean the end, after which people leave.

I admit that I like challenges. This one started when a reader commented in an email, “You don’t include the Band or Eric Clapton in your music choices!”

I am not a fan of The Band or Clapton, although I acknowledge that they are great artists. I consider The Band to have been very underrated, deserving of much wider fame. What I like so much about this comment is that Clapton admired The Band and it was an influence on his career, even though just looking at their respective fame, many would guess it was the other way around.

This short statement shows that my reader is a pretty savvy connoisseur of that era and musical style. I am also interested in them, as the titles of my column show. I am always curious and want to learn more about what was happening between 1965 and 1975 in England and the USA. Not long ago I watched several biographical films on musicians including Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Ian Anderson and I must add the Irishman Rory Gallagher, to mention some of the best known. They had a definitive impact on the international rock and roll scene in the 1970s. That is how I ended up choosing this title.

From Wikipedia:
“The Last Waltz was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as The Band’s ‘farewell concert appearance’, and the concert saw The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including their previous employers Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan as well as Paul Butterfield, Bobby Charles, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, and Neil Young. The musical director for the concert was The Band’s original record producer, John Simon.

“The event was filmed by director Martin Scorsese and made into a documentary of the same title, released in 1978. Jonathan Taplin, who was The Band’s tour manager from 1969 to 1972 and later produced Scorsese’s film Mean Streets, suggested that Scorsese would be the ideal director for the project and introduced Robbie Robertson and Scorsese. Taplin served as executive producer. The film features concert performances, intermittent song renditions shot on a studio soundstage, and interviews by Scorsese with members of The Band. A triple-LP soundtrack recording, produced by Simon and Rob Fraboni, was issued in 1978. The film was released on DVD in 2002, as was a four-CD box set of the concert and related studio recordings.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Waltz

It happens that I saw the movie when it was first in theaters in France, and took some high-school friends with me.

As an expression, “the last waltz” in English is similar in meaning to “le dernier tour de piste”, or last lap. It seems as though every day brings another piece of news that makes this feel like the end of an era. The USA as a nation, has already gone through similar crises, such as the Civil War, throughout its history. The recent news of the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg adds to the impression that the USA as a nation is closing a chapter of its life and is ready to open a new one. However, each side of the political spectrum seems to be looking at a very different chapter.

THE DUBLIN SYSTEM REGULATING ASYLUM PROCEDURE FOR REFUGEES
People living in France rarely know the Asylum procedures. This series of international instruments started with a logical approach to the refugee situation by stating that refugees seeking asylum should have their cases heard only in the country where they first entered the EU. The key assumption was that each country would be able to handle all such requests. People can fly into any EU country, but the reality is that people are coming by foot, by sea, by road, etc., and it is the countries on the EU’s outskirts that are most affected by waves of immigration, without any help from the other countries.

www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2020/09/16/sante-environnement-minorites-ursula-von-der-leyen-devoile-son-plan-de-bataille-pour-l-union-europeenne_6052412_3210.html

PACS IS STILL DIFFERENT FROM MARRIAGE
In everyday life, marriage and the pacte civil de solidarité (PACS) look alike, since both give many of the same rights. But there are several key differences. One concerns the procedure to obtain “private life” immigration status. Another issue involves estate planning, as the surviving partner in a PACS receives nothing unless there is a will making a specific bequest.

A situation that often arises concerns the dissolution of a PACS. This is another one of those differences since there is no divorce involved and therefore this must occur amicably. This court case is about the legal responsibilities of the partners, such as whether the financial burden of the relationship should be equally shared or not.

The PACS indeed regulates an official communal life which includes the obligation of taking care of each other in sickness and in health. The article linked below involves a court case in which both names were on the apartment lease but one partner paid the entire rent and other living expenses, and asked to be reimbursed for half when they split up. While one tenant can force another to pay half the rent, the French Supreme Court has consistently ruled that a PACS creates an official couple and therefore it is a communal living arrangement and not a roommate situation. The ruling mentioned in the article, issued on July 20th 2020, once again stuck to this principle: the partner who paid everything was denied the right to compensation from the other one. This said, marriage has the same rule!

www.lemonde.fr/argent/article/2020/09/19/quand-les-concubins-se-separent-qui-doit-quoi_6052824_1657007.html

DETAILING THE PROCEDURE TO OBTAIN THE EMPLOYEE IMMIGRATION STATUS
Since the creation of the passeport talent immigration status, which covers several types of employee, many think the old salarié status is obsolete and barely exists anymore. And yet the vast majority of jobs offered to foreigners do not fit passeport talent requirements.

There are two very different procedures to obtain salarié status, depending on whether the foreigner is already a legal resident of France or lives in another country.

1. The foreigner lives in France
The procedure starts with a scheduled meeting at the prefecture of the foreigner’s place of residence, at which a file is submitted. The vast majority of its contents come from the employer, but the employee is responsible for carrying out the procedure. The prefecture transfers the file to DIRECCTE, the division of the French administration dealing with employee status from many angles. Its main d’oeuvre étrangère (foreign labor) office is responsible for deciding whether to grant the right to work as an employee. Since it has a clear right to veto any request, it is critical to know how to block it. The legal timeframe for responding to a request is two months, but since there is no penalty if it takes longer, that is quite common.

If the decision is positive, a letter is sent to the employer, the employee and the prefecture, which carries out the last part of the procedure and produces the related carte de séjour.

2. The foreigner lives elsewhere
The employer starts the procedure by submitting the file to the local branch of DIRECCTE to have the labor contract approved and receive approval for the request. Again the two-month period applies, but with the same lack of consequences if it is exceeded. Then the file goes to the branch of the OFII (Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration) in the département where the employer is based, where according to the guidelines it is reviewed for about ten days; in my experience it takes two weeks, which is pretty much the same. After that, the file goes to the French consulate nearest to the foreigner’s place of residence. He/she is asked to submit a request for the visa to be issued. This kind of visa is called VLS-TS, which means it lasts for one year and the foreigner only goes to the prefecture a year or so later. Upon arriving in France, the foreigner must validate this visa with the OFII, in order to secure his/her immigration rights.

http://www.ofii.fr/recruter-un-travailleur-etranger

OFFICE CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS
The office will close for three weeks over the Christmas holidays, starting on Friday December 18th in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday January 4th. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. Of course, Sarah or I will honor prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

THE EVOLUTION OF COVID-19 IN FRANCE
As I was drafting this issue, the numbers of people infected with the coronavirus, testing positive, being sent to the emergency room, and dying, were all increasing sharply enough that people were talking about a second wave. At the very least, local authorities, mainly mayors, are issuing regulations to fight this trend. There is nothing too alarming, however. The statistics I was able to access as I wrote this issue were as follows: 78 deaths on September 23rd, 143 taken to the emergency room on Sept. 21st and 783 hospitalized as of Sept. 22nd.

For this month’s Q&A, I thought it would be interesting to answer two of the questions I received during the first lockdown in case even stricter regulations arise. I do not expect another complete lockdown to take place throughout the country, as many different parts of France are barely affected. It is mainly the large cities that have problems, so there could be temporary lockdowns in one or more cities.

Significant restrictions, announced by Olivier Véran, the French health minister, are currently in effect. Here is the list for Paris:

Private parties
10 people maximum This new restriction concerns parties, weddings, raffles, volunteer events, birthdays and communion events. Burials and funerals, on the other hand, are not included on this list.

Large gatherings, concerts
1,000 people maximum Unless there is an exemption, stadiums, performance halls, convention centers and the like cannot accommodate more than 1,000 participants at the same time (compared to 5,000 previously).

Party rooms and multipurpose rooms
Closed All party rooms and multipurpose rooms used for festive and community activities are closed.

Gatherings in public spaces
10 people maximum This restriction includes gatherings on beaches and in parks.

Working from home
Encouraged Without imposing restrictive rules, Véran called for teleworking to be used “as much as possible”.

Major events
Prohibited This measure applies to local festivals, student parties and other such events.

Bars
Early closure Bars and cafés must close by 10 p.m. (or even earlier in the event of a prefectural decision).

Restaurants
No new restrictions The previous rules remain in force: physical distancing is required, and customers moving around restaurant must wear masks.

Sports halls and gymnasiums
Closed Sports halls, fitness clubs and gymnasiums are closed until further notice.

Establishments open to the public that have no “strict sanitary protocol already in place”
No new restrictions The previous rules remain in force: physical distancing and mask wearing are compulsory.

Best regards,

QUESTION

TRAVELING BY CAR DURING LOCKDOWN

We are leaving next week for Normandy but we have not received our cartes de séjour yet. Our appointment with the prefecture on 10 March went well, but then everything closed down one week later.
We understand that our récépissé (which expires on 9 June) has been extended due to the pandemic.
We would like to know if there is something we need to do now, or if we continue to wait for the text message from the prefecture that our carte de séjour is ready for pickup? We heard about a form to complete for getting the card mailed to our house. Would that be an option for us? I looked at the site, but did not complete the form because I wanted your advice first.
We worry that we will get settled in Normandy and then receive the text message that our cards are ready and not be able to travel back easily to collect them.

QUESTION

RENEWING VISITEUR IMMIGRATION STATUS

We’re an American family in Paris – my wife and I and our two children –on a long-stay tourist visa. We received our visa last August, valid for a year. We went through the OFII procedure and plan to renew before expiration.
I’m sure there’s reason to believe that even under normal circumstances, nothing in France is “easy.” However, now the circumstances are even less normal than usual. Would it be possible to receive from you the list of documents and details of the current procedure? We’re in Paris and will be for the foreseeable future (obviously!!).

From Wikipedia:
The Gospel Train (Get on Board)” is a traditional African-American spiritual first published in 1872 as one of the songs of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. A standard gospel song, it is found in the hymnals of many Protestant denominations and has been recorded by numerous artists.

The original meaning of the word “gospel” is “good news.” The title may be deceiving, since this month once again I do not have much good news to offer. But I enjoyed drafting the section about the SNCF and the trains, and thought it would be nice to refer to it.

HAD TO BUY A NEW COMPUTER URGENTLY IN EARLY APRIL
In early April, my computer was stolen. This disorganized my work a lot more than I would have thought.

After trying for a week to use my son’s computer and my backup, I found that several programs were not compatible. After a week I gave up and bought a new one with a French keyboard, which I was not used to.

Now I am starting to catch up with the work that accumulated during the two weeks where I could not be efficient on the computer. I tried my best and prioritized as much as I could. If I missed anything, just send an email again and I will get to it.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

FRENCH INCOME TAX: TIME TO DECLARE IS NOW
Regarding the more mundane topic of income tax, I would like to remind everybody that the paper version of the 2017 income declaration must be filed in France by Wednesday, May 17th and the second partial income tax payment (deuxième tiers) is to be paid by May 15th (midnight, in both cases). The forms are already available at www.impots.gouv.fr. It is possible to file your declaration on this website, provided it is not your first time. To do so, you need your tax ID number and some access codes

• .Note that if you file online, the deadline is later. The schedule depends on your postal code:
• départements 01 to 19 must file by midnight on May 22nd
• départements 20 to 49 by May 29 th
• départements 50 or higher by June 5th

An important reminder: if you are a French fiscal resident (i.e. if you hold a carte de séjour or an immigration visa validated with an OFII stamp, and comply with the requirements), you must declare your worldwide income to the French authorities even if you have no income in France and do not have the right to work in France. There is no penalty for neglecting to file, but not meeting this obligation is illegal and can have consequences.

You are a French fiscal resident if you:

• 1. Staying in France for 183 days in a calendar year, whether you have legal immigration status or not.
• 2. Having immediate family members who reside in France (a spouse and/or children).
• 3. Having a French employer.
• 4. Running a French business, even something like tutoring schoolchildren in English.

Current government-sponsored advertising campaigns call the paper form a thing of the past and say filing on paper is obsolete. For now, declaring electronically gives you an extension of a few weeks.

RETENUE À LA SOURCE – INCOME TAX WITHHOLDING STARTS ON JANUARY 1st 2019
I first mentioned that this would happen in my July-August 2015 column. Now the tax office is communicating by email and letters in the mail informing everybody that this enormous reform to the taxation method is in place and people need to get ready for it.

France is one of the last Western countries where income tax is paid by the individual directly and not withheld by the employer. There are many cultural and historical reasons why the French people have been reluctant to change this set-up, but all of them combined are not enough to explain why it has not yet been done.

Under the new system, everybody, even the self-employed, will make monthly payments.

There is only one technical reason that withholding tax would be very difficult to set up. It is called the quotient familial. I believe France is the only country that taxes the family as a group rather than individuals. This means the amount of tax you owe changes if:

• – You get married,
• – You get divorced,
• – You have a child,
• – The child leaves the home,
• – A family member dies, and/or
• – A family member becomes disabled.

Such events occur frequently enough in the course of a lifetime that they could significantly change the amount withheld. A withholding system works best if there is just a small discrepancy at the end of the year. This is why the French system prefers to have taxes paid in three installments. The first two, in February and in May, are calculated on the amount owed the year before, and the last one on the amount of taxes owed for the year.

Neither employers nor employees are very happy with the coming reform. Employers do not want an extra task to complicate the French pay slip even more. Employees dislike the fact that employers will know much more about their private lives: Employees will have to tell employers right away if any of the above-mentioned changes takes place, and employers will have to inform the tax office to calculate the new amount owed. Given the level of distrust French employees have toward employers, this could create major difficulties.

For self-employed people, the tax office relies on the previous year’s income and the amount of taxes owed to determine how much money will be taken out monthly. The same reasons for a radical change in the amount of taxes owed also apply here. Presumably the person in this situation can tell the tax office directly to modify the calculation accordingly. Knowing how such withholding is done today – it is set in stone for the entire calendar year – I am really not sure this has been changed to accommodate the above situations.

PACS DISSOLUTION: THE LACK OF A COURT DECISION CAN COMPLICATE MATTERS
A faithful reader who is a marriage counselor has sent me a comment worth reflecting on.

“Thanks for your latest column which, as usual, is full of useful information and interesting reflections. On the subject of the PACS, it might be useful to point out that a PACS can be unilaterally abrogated at the request of one of the partners. This happened recently to one of the women in my support group. A few days later the man showed up at the couple’s flat late at night with the police and literally threw the woman out in the street with her belongings!”
My reaction: There must be a lot more to the story, given how primary domicile is protected in France. But this illustrates one of the downsides of the PACS. Since there is no judge or notaire involved in the dissolution, the partners are left to determine the split of assets and debts on their own, as well as finding a way to agree on practical matters so each partner can leave the relationship with what is theirs.

It is rarely the case that the agreement is amicable, given how often relationships end in acrimony. This is a good opportunity to remind you once again that a PACS can indeed be unilaterally abrogated, and the consequences can be terrible. In such cases, filing in court is often the best thing to do, particularly if one partner is being bullied as described above and may have trouble securing their rights.

AN AMERICAN GOT FINED LEAVING FRANCE FOR OVERSTAYING THE 90-DAY PERIOD
It is clear that the French police at airports are getting stricter about overstaying. I learned from one of my clients that an American citizen was fined about 100€ for overstaying the 90-day Schengen limit. As far as I know, this person has actually been living in France without any immigration status for a very long time and has regularly overstayed in the past, always by a few days or a few weeks.

Therefore, to me this is a signal that the French police are now looking at what is inside the passport and not just the first page. While other feedback I am getting indicates there are still many going through without any consequences, the trend is clear. There will come a day when overstaying will mean paying a fine.

FRANCE IS FACING MORE AND MORE STRIKES
At the time of writing, the national train company SNCF, university students and Air France are on strike. I do not intend to discuss or even review the new government policies against which people are striking.

Foreigners are generally amazed at how and why French people go on strike. In many countries, labor and management negotiate, with a deadline. If an agreement is not found by then, the confrontation leaves the negotiating table and goes into the streets, with demonstrations, picketing and so on. It becomes an arm-twisting match.

In France, on the other hand, strikes and street demonstrations occur before negotiations really start, since France has never had a culture that promotes negotiation and compromise as a way to obtain negotiated agreements. The public and private sectors both are then crippled, and for the same reason. It is almost as if each party is presenting its position as definitive, with no room for negotiation. Strikes then become a way to determine who wins. In the end, there is little negotiation. Either the unions are unable to mobilize enough people and there is a lack of popular support, so the reform goes into effect pretty much as is. Or the strike is strong, picking up momentum and public support, in which case the government is left with little option but damage control. The reform is stopped, and the status quo – which is not good most of the time – is maintained.

Given the nature and extent of President Macron’s reforms, it was clear that no matter how much of a wizard he is in public relation and negotiations, there would be strikes and strong opposition. Personally, I was surprised the strikes did not start much sooner, and they are a lot less severe than I expected. The credit goes to President Macron, who has done quite well so far.

Clearly the SNCF needs to be drastically reorganized, as the overall quality of service is poor, the trains are often not on time, the comfort in the trains (aside from the TGV) is not great, and the suburban trains and infrastructure are in bad shape; by the way the Parisian suburban train system has already started its makeover. There is a need to shift the focus away from the TGV so the rest of the system can deliver decent service.

There is fierce debate about the special status the SNCF employees have, especially the ones operating the trains. The cheminots – the name today refers by extension to all the people working at the SNCF – have an honored history:

From Wikipedia:
The Battle of the Rails (French: La Bataille du rail) is a 1946 war movie directed by René Clément which depicts the efforts by French railway workers to sabotage German troop transport trains.

During the war, members of the CGT union, many of them also members of the Communist party, launched their own battle against the Germans, making it more and more difficult for the Wehrmacht to move troops, artillery and other weapons. This, among many other things, had a measurable impact on the success of D-Day, for example. At the end of the war, the surviving leaders were decorated as exceptional warriors. It is interesting that even today this has an echo in the general population, much more than one would expect some 75 years later.

This overly emotional discussion of whether rail workers deserve their so-called perks distracts from a more interesting issue, which I believe should be the main one. Trains today are powered by electricity and there are railroad tracks everywhere in France. Is it time to favor rail over road, to fight global warming? It could be a good idea to promote and heavily invest in train transport both for shipping and travel as a way to fight fossil fuel usage. Then the government could emphasize the fact that the men and women of the SNCF take extra pride in the work they do for historical reasons. At first there should be no discussion about their contracts. Developing and improving the quality of the services the SNCF offer will reassure these workers about the future of their jobs. Then modifications in their status, perhaps offering less job security and discontinuing benefits inherited from the past, would not alarm them when there is a plan lasting a decade or more designed to make the SNCF become more competitive in transporting both goods and people.

For those who think this is pure utopia, check out how much the Paris metro is being renovated, as well as the Parisian suburban trains and infrastructure. There is a huge amount of work to be done before people see a measurable result. Just the number of stations fully closed for months for a complete makeover the last ten years, gives a pretty accurate indication of the work’s scope.

You may think I am comfortable and not affected by this, but I recently waited over an hour in the cold for a train at a station in Versailles. This is sometime inconvenient to me, as it is to so many others almost everyday.

Best regards,

QUESTION

NAME CHANGE AND THE FRENCH ADMINISTRATION

I am an American citizen born in Israel and I moved to France about two years ago. Due to my age and medical condition, I registered with my local CPAM. I have had problem after problem with them. Nothing was good enough for them to register me. Now that I have the temporary number that means I am covered, they have refused my birth certificate and the documents proving my name change. My first name, chosen by my parents, was that of my paternal grandfather. It was a quite an oddity (I was never called by it), and we moved to the USA when I was young, where everyone called me Billy. So I applied for an official name change, which was fine for many years. Much later in life, it became evident that it would be a good thing to change again. I then chose David.
The prefecture reluctantly accepted all the paperwork, officially translated, of all this and I now have my carte de séjour.
CPAM refuses the same documentation even though everything is explained and clearly spelled out. They now want an attestation de concordance. What is that? Am I being discriminated against? What can I do to be certain that this is truly the last document they need? Frankly, I do not trust them anymore. How can I report this anti-Semitic discrimination?

QUESTION

NATURALIZATION AND NON-COMPLIANCE WITH FRENCH INCOME TAX FOR STARTING A BUSINESS IN FRANCE?

I came to France as an American holding a long stay visa. After a few years I managed by myself to become self-employed and got the related carte de séjour and I was very proud of myself. This year I got the carte de résident, which lasts ten years. So I decided that I would ask for French nationality and went to see a lawyer, who told me that I did not qualify because I was cheating on my taxes. I left the firm outraged at such an unfair accusation.
Every year I fill out the form sent by RSI, and I pay on time all the tax bills I receive from URSSAF, RAM, and CIPAV. I have a perfect record for that. Once a year I send my #1040 to the IRS. The lawyer mentioned the French income tax I was not paying. What was he talking about? As you can see, I have always paid my taxes on time!

The link between this title and the various topics addressed in this issue is probably not obvious for many. I consider both the 1946 and 1981 film versions of The Postman Always Rings Twice to be absolute masterpieces. It is rare that I am this enthusiastic about a remake. Each in its own way, these movies portray the bleakness of the Great Depression, and tell the bitter-sweet story of a Greek immigrant who marries a younger woman, and is murdered by her and her lover.

The book The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1934 crime novel by James M. Cain. Fast-moving and only about 100 pages long, this novel mixes sexuality and violence. The action takes place in a desolate place in California.

The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1946 movie directed by Tay Garnett, featuring Lana Turner, John Garfield, and Cecil Kellaway.

The 1981 remake is the fourth movie version. It stars Jessica Lang and Jack Nicholson, and was directed by Bob Rafelson.

The parallel between poor Americans of those days and today is obvious. An immigrant is featured, one who has successfully integrated into American society and who then is murdered. Repetition is an important device within the plot, as the first attempted murder fails and the wife and lover have to go though the steps twice before succeeding in killing the husband.

Maybe it is just because I am a fan of Lana Turner, Jessica Lang and Jack Nicholson. The truth is that I find life tainted with violence, with confrontation; this is true in France as well as in the USA and other western countries. In recent weeks, people have been shot in both countries, reactions to these shootings have been passionate, and there have been demonstrations with marchers taking over the streets.

Closer to the topics I chose this month, there is also the idea that first impressions can be misleading. I believe that there is always a need to look twice at situations and sometimes more. Foreigners are often faced with painful and incomprehensible situations. I also want to take a closer look at these foreigners, whether refugees or not, who are gathering and sleeping in the streets of most European cities.

Nothing big in life can be done without passion. Passion can also blind people to catastrophic consequences.

WHAT DO REFUGEES LOOK LIKE?
The immediate, common sense response should be “How can this be even a question?” It happens that several discussions I have had recently made me reflect on the refugee topic and wrestle with this question. Behind it are two very poignant questions to me: “Who is a refugee?” and “How does one define refugee status?” The UN has issued a definition, and its High Commissioner for Refugees handles people who seek refuge, and it is very good that their guidelines are there to help countries pass legislation that translates them into their own domestic laws.

The reality is that most countries make welcoming refugees more difficult as the number of refugees trying to get in increases. So, whether this is the right decision or not for the country, refugee procedures let in the least number of people when the need is the greatest. On TV news shows, we see images of “hordes” of people. Because the media shows these images that are scary and unsettling, people have a negative idea of who refugees are. The main difference between what is happening in the USA and in Europe is that refugees come to Europe by their own means, landing on our shores. Given the geography, refugees entering the USA from Africa or Asia have gone through a very strict screening process and therefore are handpicked, unlike refugees entering Europe. The boat ride to reach Greece or Italy is about the same distance as that between Cuba and Florida. Many Cubans fled their country that way.

When militants or professionals work with refugees, they meet people, just people. Should a militant accept the narrow definition? Should a solution be found now that refugees are here sleeping on our sidewalks? Clearly the system of welcoming refugees is not working – handling their claims, offering the bare necessities of life. I am describing issues raised in France about immigration, refugees and so on. A new law has been proposed and is expected to be passed shortly and implemented right away. That being said, from what we know about it, it decreases the chances that any given refugee will obtain the legal status sought.

As far as I am concerned, a refugee looks like anyone else, like other people I help as either a professional or a volunteer. All the success stories I know regarding refugees have the same element: the refugee is helped individually and is taken care of. It is a person-to-person relationship.

There is another aspect of how this situation is being viewed and accepted (or not) in France and in the USA. Since the Civil War, the USA has not had battlefields on its soil or vast numbers of people fleeing war zones.

For France, on the other hand, with its thousands of years of history, 80 years or so feels like yesterday. In May and June 1940, about two million French people fled their homes as German troops swept through northern France. They became refugees in their own country. Most grabbed a few of the essentials of life, pushing a stroller or pulling a wagon with their bare hands. The same thing happened in most of Europe as the German troops advanced. This came just after half a million Spanish refugees arrived in France in 1939.

So, what do refugees look like? They look like any of us. They were my grandparents during the war, and my dad, who was quickly sent to a boarding school in the south of France. Like them, the refugees now congregating in France and elsewhere in Europe had jobs and families, and had to leave everything, sometimes in a matter of an hour or less.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exode_de_1940_en_France

THE PUMA BILLING SYSTEM IS STILL INSANE BUT THINGS MAY BE IMPROVING
For about six weeks, from mid-December to late January, many of us were helping people who received a bill from URSSAF for the premium to be paid for 2016 health coverage. This is so wrong on so many levels, I cannot go through all of them. (Last month I detailed why it was wrong for many people.)

The situation is far from fixed but we are getting a glimpse of good news. About three months after the appeal was sent, people are getting URSSAF’s answer. The letter states that the person does not owe the money and the related account has being closed. It also mentions that they should contact their local CPAM if they wish to be covered by PUMA.

It is way too early to claim victory, as many appeals have not been answered yet. Still, the initial answers are reassuring.

NEW PROCEDURE TO REGISTER A PACS
I was so focused on the changes in immigration procedures brought about by the legislation implemented on November 1st 2017 that I overlooked another change. This one comes from the same law that gave notaires the power to grant a divorce to a couple in the case of an uncontested split (requête conjointe).

A civil union (pacte civil de solidarité, or PACS) is no longer registered in court (tribunal d’instance) but instead at the family office of the local mairie.

Both changes stem from the same motivation: relieving pressure on the courts, which are overcrowded by procedures that are contentious by nature. But the two procedures are totally different. The very existence of a divorce procedure implies disagreement, though a couple may come up with a sound deal on issues that needed a resolution in order for a divorce to happen.

The nature of a PACS registration, on the other hand, is to make a couple official, with the associated rights and obligations.

PACS has always been an oddity according to French legal logic, but a fantastic solution to fix what used to be a painful situation, as it made it possible for same-sex couples to have a legal existence and rights. Today, over 80% of PACSed couples are heterosexual.

Originally, to keep the PACS registration from looking like a wedding, the choice was made to have it resemble the formation of a corporation, with the contract registered by the parties in court. Corporations have their by-laws registered in a business court, and a similar procedure was the best way officials could imagine to prevent the appearance of a PACS being a marriage.

The PACS was created on November 15th 1999. Some 18 years later, with same sex marriage have become a fact of life, there is no need to keep this procedure in court. The fact that PACS registrations and weddings both occur at city hall no longer bothers many people, if any.

I have been very critical of the divorce procedure being removed from the court system. The reason is that the foreigner, then the less informed spouse, can be taken advantage of much more easily this way than when the judge rules. I believe that today marriage and PACS are so close in so many ways that it makes sense for them to be handled by the same office. But they should still involve different procedures, to show that there is a difference in the nature of the union.

A wedding is performed by an authority, and a similar authority accepts its dissolution. A PACS is the acknowledgement of the existence of a couple, and the same couple can inform the authorities of its dissolution.

La loi de modernisation de la justice du XXIe siècle, publiée au Journal officiel du 19 novembre 2016 (Art. 48):
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/loi/2016/11/18/JUSX1515639L/jo

Best regards,

QUESTION

IS THE AUTO-ENTREPRENEUR STATUS COMPATIBLE WITH THE CARTE DE SEJOUR ETUDIANT

In your Q/A about student vs auto-entrepreneur I was surprised by your answer, because the two statuses are not mutually exclusive. You can be a student AND have the auto-entrepreneur status at the same time – all without changing your visa status (student or otherwise). I know people who have had the student visa and then have also signed up as an auto-entrepreneur. This has zero impact on the student visa. I was just at URSSAF last week when I asked about this specifically. I’m about to become a student again (on a visa vie privée) and I want to keep my auto-entrepreneur status. The URSSAF agent said I can have both statuses at the same time. I hope you can update your answer to include these details.

QUESTION

IS THE CARTE DE SEJOUR PASSEPORT TALENT THE BEST ONE FOR STARTING A BUSINESS IN FRANCE?

My wife and I are Americans, currently in Boston, but are interested in moving to France to start our own business. We’ve been looking into the visa options lately, and are a bit stuck trying to decipher the difference between “talent passport – new business” and “entrepreneur/profession libérale”. I’ve read many of the blog posts about the profession libérale visa, but would appreciate any clarification between the two, specifically: 

1 – Does anyone feel like one of these visas is easier to get or better to have than the other? For the passeport talent you must “prove that you have a real and serious business creation project” as well as hold a master’s degree or have five years’ experience. To get the profession libérale visa you need to “demonstrate the economic viability of your project.” I’m having a hard time determining what meets the latter requirement. Does the idea need to be much more unique to qualify for this versus the talent passport? 

2 – My wife and I are going to run our business together. With the talent passport, family members are issued a multi-year residence permit. How would this work with the profession libérale visa? Do we both have to apply for separate visas? can we apply jointly? can one of us apply and the other then get a spouse’s visa? or is there something else? 

3 – Assuming we get approved for one of these visas, after we move to France and start creating and running our business, are there any differences or restrictions for talent passport holders versus entrepreneur/profession libérale visa holders?

QUESTION

DOES A SIX MONTH VISA GRANT IMMIGRATION STATUS?

At the French consulate in Chicago, I got a six month visa instead of a twelve month one. Do I still need to present my forms to the OFII and have the medical exam/validate the visa long sejour? Or only if I am staying longer than six months? Everybody is telling that I cannot stay past six months. Did the French consulate screw me over?

The Times They Are a-Changin’ was the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 13th, 1964.

While drafting this issue, I realized that neither of my children knew the album’s title song, even though they listened to some folk music, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, when they were teenagers. I must have missed something in their education. History never repeats itself exactly, however it can be possible to make some comparisons. Not since the 1960s has the USA had public demonstrations of such size and frequency as we have seen in recent months. In both cases, the demonstrations are against federal government police – in those days, for civil rights and against the Vietnam war. Dylan, as early as 1964, captured this massive wave of change, which was growing in momentum.

Today, people also express themselves in “town hall” meetings with their congressional representatives. The discussions are mainly about healthcare coverage. Aside from the question “Is this the right policy for the USA?”, it seems to me that this song captures the spirit of what is going on today, both the major changes the federal government is trying to make and the sizable expression of people wanting things to be different.

It does not take a crystal ball to see that France, with its newly elected president, is also headed toward a time of major change and major resistance. That does not mean the two countries’ presidents are alike, just that they are adopting some radical policies.

On a much lower level, someone living abroad needs to change big time to fit into their new country, and adjusting to France is no exception. Aside from expats who stay in France for only a few years and barely mingle with French society, foreigners who move to France on their own are often on a soul-searching quest, even if it is a minor one. It may be an escape from personal trauma, though always presented in a positive way, such as, “I love France and the opportunity to learn something new.”

It is absolutely true that undertaking immigration on one’s own is a lifelong learning experience. That does not negate my observation; it may even explain why someone would be interested in cutting ties with home to wander in a country of which they know very little, regardless of how often they visited on vacation. As one of my clients recently admitted, he never expected such a radical change in his life – he thought he knew France. He could have sung “The Times They Are a-Changin’ ”; he was of my generation and would have known the song.

MY SUMMER VACATION: THE OFFICE IS CLOSED IN JUNE
The office will be closed for less than two weeks starting Thursday, June 8th, reopening on Wednesday, June 21st. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. This time I am leaving France and email will be the only way to reach me in my absence.

THE RESULTS OF THE FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Emmanuel Macron was elected by a large margin and this is good news. But just about everything else is bad news, looking at the details of the results of this election. I would like to review these disturbing figures.

First, the share of spoiled or unmarked ballots topped almost 12%, which was unheard of. It means a large fraction of French voters could not decide between Mr. Macron and Marine Le Pen, and wanted this to be known. It sends a powerful message when people take the time to go vote knowing their votes will not be valid.

Furthermore, about 25% of registered voters did not go to the polls. Except in places where voting is mandatory, there are always people who do not vote. Usually more people vote in the second round than in the first one. This time, it was the other way around, and the non-voting rate was high for France for the second round of a presidential election. That alone is quite troubling, regardless of people’s reasons for staying away.

Many people add those two figures and state that Mr. Macron came first, angry people came second with 37%, and Ms. Le Pen came third. Of course, the official results do not say that. Still, the point is valid.

I believe that overlooking this striking outcome would be a serious mistake. People had to be really angry to behave this way. Also, there were many sizable demonstrations on election day, with considerable violence. This, too, is almost unheard of: generally people rejoice, since the majority wins and minority voters lick their wounds in silence. It is difficult to know why people were so angry that they immediately took to the streets. It is clear that all this, when added to the share of the vote that Ms. Le Pen received, indicates that in fact a majority of French voters are unhappy.

To conclude, I would like to point out where the word “republic” comes from:
Res = in Latin means things
Publica = in Latin means common good of the people.

The very root of the idea is that the republic is intended to protect the common good of the people – understood as meaning everyone. This is true for both the USA and France. We have recently seen two presidential elections that ended up with two very different results. In both cases, a large share of the people were and are angry.

This cannot be ignored.

THE NEWLY ELECTED FRENCH PRESIDENT, MR. MACRON
Normally I would be quite cynical about a newly elected president, expecting him to forget overnight half the promises he was elected on and have a think tank come up with ways to minimize the changes derived from the other half. Everybody stated, in both in France and the USA, that a new era had started with a new president.

A few things are worth mentioning, however, even though President Macron has held this position for only a short period.

On Facebook and elsewhere, I saw the following meme: “This is the first time in history that the French president will speak better English than the American president.”

I am not qualified to evaluate and compare their mastery of the English language. But whether the meme is true or false, it is worth noticing. People used to joke, “Who is worse than Americans at learning a foreign language? The French!” For along time there was some truth in that. But things have changed in France, without really making headlines anywhere.

On May 15th 2012, Jean-Marc Ayrault became the French prime minister. He was also a certified German teacher at high school and university level. I do not believe he ever had a chance to solidify his relationship with Germany, but here was a bilingual person leading the French government. I saw this as a hint that it was time for a change.

About 25 years ago, the best business schools in France started to offer curriculums almost entirely in English, usually with native English speakers as teachers. Slowly but surely, this has changed the profile of French economic leaders, especially those holding CEO positions.

On September 1st, 2008, Mr. Macron started to work for Rothschild & Cie Banque, with a specialty in multinational mergers and acquisitions. At that level in the global business world, everything is done in English. Year after year, deal after deal, he must have mastered English really well to be good at his job. This gives a hint of his level.

This is no joke: I have heard him saying in both French and English that Americans are welcome in France because a new era of entrepreneurship has started here. His ability to make this comment and not be seen by the public and the media as a laughing stock says a lot about how credible his statement is. Perhaps only a handful of Americans will respond positively to the invitation, but there is one thing I am sure of: the new president will welcome immigrants. In particular, I can envisage the passeport talent status growing, applying to more situations and becoming easier to obtain. Making France a land of business opportunities to challenge the USA is certainly wishful thinking, and unlikely to happen in my lifetime. Striving for it, though, and implementing policies to make it possible, is his vision, as his track record shows.

What was initially called the Macron law, but which ended up being watered down and called the El Khomri law, was passed on August 8th, 2016, to deal mainly with French labor laws. Even after the law was passed, the result is such a complex situation that I believe both parties, employer and employee, are entangled in an unhealthy relationship. The fact that the situation is biased in favor of the employee while trying to help businesses create more jobs makes the situation even more schizophrenic. I have no idea if Mr. Macron has found a solution for the problem. I know a majority of the French people would disagree, but I think shaking this situation all the way down to its roots is better than leaving it as it is. If he succeeds, it will be a big step in the direction of making France a land of business opportunities.

One last comment on this topic: The Rothschild bank is not like Goldman Sachs, especially regarding their respective histories. The Rothschild family business blossomed in 1760 in England and in Frankfurt (Germany), which led to the creation of family banks in England, France, Germany, Austria and Italy. Georges Pompidou, the French president from 1969 to 1974 and before that prime minister, worked at Rothschild bank from 1954 to 1957 as the closest advisor to Guy Rothschild, CEO of the bank. Like his predecessor, Charles de Gaulle, President Pompidou was adamant that bankers would never dictate the policy of France, that the government runs France. Forty years later, so much has changed; is any of this still valid? I believe it is. Going back to this way of running the country would for sure be a major and very drastic change.

FOREIGNERS GETTING PACSed IN FRANCE
France and many other countries have an alternative status to marriage. The French one is called PACS, which stands for pacte civil de solidarité. The law creating it was passed on October 13th 1999, and the status is still quite popular. The intent was to offer an alternative to marriage for same sex couples. In 2015, there were 188 947 PACS unions for 236 316 weddings. Homosexual couples accounted for 3.71% of the PACS cases. Everybody in France considers PACS as a real alternative to marriage. Soon there could be as many PACS unions as there are marriages.

Many foreigners get “PACSed” in France, as there is no need to be French. Foreigners are asked to produce a legal opinion (certificate de coutume) that they have the legal right to get PACSed in their home country or countries, and a certificate that they are single (attestation de celibate). Many embassies in Paris are now equipped to respond to demands for documents from the French administration when it comes to a wedding, as all countries recognizes the legal status of marriage. But relatively few have a status equivalent to the PACS, which creates some confusion. Either the embassy states that it cannot provide the certificate de coutume because nothing similar exists, or it addresses the PACS more or less as a business partnership, totally missing the point.

However, the purpose of the two documents is exactly the same for a PACS as for a wedding. Therefore, the solution is, when asking for the documents, to state that it is for a wedding; the fact that occasionally the certificates state that they are for the celebration of a wedding does not disqualify them for a PACS. Some embassies have very strict guidelines and will only issue the documents when the couple has already registered with the city hall and started the process. Thus you can go to your local city hall and state that you are interested in getting married. You then get the kit from the city hall to prepare for the wedding, and later show it to the embassy to get the required certificates.

This might seem like deceiving the authorities of both countries. I see it merely as handling a situation where what is asked for does not exist in one country, and finding a substitute. Since both statuses are very close in France in terms of rights and obligations, I do not see this as being deceitful, especially since the Tribunal d’Instance accepts the documents drafted for marriages without any problem.

Being a foreigner often means being creative in order to get things done, since very little fits naturally between the two countries.

Best regards,

QUESTION

SPLITTING ASSETS AND DEBTS AFTER A DIVORCE DECREE

After living in France for over ten years and being married for just about as long, I finally asked for a divorce. I left my husband several years ago on the excuse that I got a good job in another city and the daily commute would be insane. So it was a mutually agreed divorce, requête conjointe, and I agreed on everything just to get rid of him.
The procedure took over a year, and now I hate myself for having done this. He was not working and used my money in the joint bank account to enjoy himself while I was earning this money working hard. Also I did not say anything about his affairs in France and in my country.
I would like him to pay me about 40,000€, which is what I consider to be the most obvious and fully documented theft he committed against me. My lawyer says it is impossible, the divorce decree is final and all I can do is to split the community property we have, i.e. all that I earned alone will be split in two, which is adding insult to injury. I cannot accept that. Is there any way I can salvage some of my stuff without sharing with him?

QUESTION

MULTIYEAR CARTES DE SEJOUR: THE SITUATION CHANGES

I came to France as a student for one year on the exchange program with my American university. At that time, I started to date a Frenchman. After several years of trying to stay and overstaying my tourist visa, I managed to get PACSed to a Frenchman with a lot of complications and even a harder time at the prefecture. I now hold a family carte de séjour for one year. The woman at the prefecture told me that I would get a two-year card upon renewing it. We are getting married just one month before the appointment to renew my card and I just learned that this card again would only be good for one year. I do not understand how this is possible. I though that marriage was stronger than PACS. I am sure that the prefecture gave me the wrong answer but they keep saying the same thing. That makes me very angry.

In her movie of the same name, Ms. Sophia Coppola shows quite well that having an interpreter often does not make it any easier to understand what is going on in a foreign culture. Sometimes things just get lost in translation. Some of the problems my clients have come from the fact that the choice of words did not work for them no matter how perfectly the translation was done. One example found in my column over the years illustrates quite well what I mean by this. As far as I can remember, I have always used the term « French Congress » which is not truly the right word to describe the French legislative power. I know that, but at the same time, most of my readers are Anglophone and generally know the American system much better than any other. Therefore, transposing a concept from one country onto another is sometimes a more efficient way of explaining than offering a perfect translation. Indeed, our French word “parlement” can be exactly translated in English to “parliament”. Still, my impression is that the majority of Anglophone people are not necessarily well-versed in British political sciences and would have a hard time fully understanding what is described with this word. There is one last element I would like to add. In provision 26 (article 26) of the current French constitution, there is a description of the special procedure where the entire legislature sits together for special votes. This procedure is called “called as Congress” or in French, “Parlement convoqué en Congrès”. Do I really need this kind of lengthy explanation to ground this decision?

On June 1st, just after I sent out the column, I received this message in an email: “The Engllish in the later paragraphs is not understandable.” I assure you that this is a copy-paste of the content of the message. English is not my native language, so I admit that on numerous occasions, my very first draft contains very hard to understand paragraphs. What reassures me some is that professional authors also feel that sections of their first draft are as clear as mud. I do feel bad for the team of editors who help me with putting together this column and whose work is blamed just as much as mine by this comment. It reminded me of a harsh response I got from a French born bilingual lawyer after my first attempt to syndicate my column. The last sentence of his letter was, “This underlines the necessity of obtaining qualified advice on specific individual circumstances, rather than relying upon “kitchen sink” solutions based upon irrelevant generalizations or incorrect assumptions”. The last paragraph of my reply to him stated, ” Our modern society has an ever increasing need for legal specialists. You are one of them, and you seem to serve your community with excellence. My readers learn that, more often than they first think, they need legal specialists. I do not have a problem with my column smelling of the kitchen sink if this is the price to pay in order to reach this goal.” This letter was sent during the month of November 1998 and its content is still true today.

A client seeking advice from a professional cannot ask a « stupid question » no matter how idiotic it seems to be. If there are questions left unanswered, my work has not been completed. This rule is even more pertinent when the client is a foreigner trying to understand what is going on in France. One client experienced a situation that synthesized all this quite well. A foreigner was selling a Parisian apartment and the presale contract stated that there was a kitchen and a very short list of furniture to be purchased as part of this transaction. To make a long and difficult story short, the French buyer threatened to cancel the closing and probably the sale altogether because the seller was not complying with the provisions of the contract. Indeed a few appliances had been left in the kitchen. The seller, exasperated, said at one point, “I am selling an apartment with a kitchen, these things are part of the kitchen by definition anyway.” It happens that legally speaking in France the kitchen is the room where you find the kitchen sink – nothing else – when the lodging is sold. So on the evening before the closing date I went to the apartment, removed the few appliances left, and put them on the sidewalk so that the specialized team from the city could pick them up. The next morning the sale went through very smoothly. So much was getting lost in translation!

Best regards,

QUESTION

PACS AND A WILL IN FRANCE

I am American and my partner is French. We recently purchased a new apartment in Paris and therefore we need to update our PACs paperwork to reflect this, and I am also creating a will with an attorney in the US. I need to French-ify (sp?) this document. Should it be done before or after the update of the PACS?

QUESTION

OWING TAXES AFTER MOVED OUT OF FRANCE

We lived in France from 2000 to 2003, leaving in March 2003. Before we left, we went to the Tax Office where an official figured our 2002 and 2003 income taxes. We submitted the forms and paid the taxes. Sometime in 2004, we received a notice saying we owed more money. I did not understand why and didn’t feel capable at the time of asking, so we ignored the notice. We received a few more notices, which we also did not answer. I’m feeling frustrated about this: we feel we went out of our way and assumed some financial hardship to pay in advance. What’s the best way to handle this situation? They say we owe around 300 €.