Well, we got no choice
All the girls and boys
Makin’ all that noise
’Cause they found new toys
Well, we can’t salute ya
Can’t find a flag
If that don’t suit ya, that’s a drag
School’s out for summer
School’s out forever
School’s been blown to pieces

No more pencils no more books
No more teacher’s dirty looks yeah
Well we got no class
And we got no principals
And we got no innocence
We can’t even think of a word that rhymes
School’s out for summer
School’s out forever
My school’s been blown to pieces
No more pencils no more books
No more teacher’s dirty looks
Out for summer
Out till fall
We might not come back at all
School’s out forever
School’s out for summer
School’s out with fever
School’s out completely

School’s Out was the fifth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in 1972. I bought the LP when I was still in middle school. Its cover opened like an old wooden school desk, the type where students used ink from a small bottle on the right side of the desk. The top could be opened, and students would keep their things there, unlocked. I used such a desk in elementary school.

The issue of whether to reopen schools was covered by the media every day in July. In the USA, it has since been replaced by stories about the US Postal Service and absentee ballots, and I am sure there will have been other news by the time I send out this issue.

As is common these days, school reopening has become a binary issue: one side says it is completely safe and children do not get sick; the other side sees schools becoming centers of infection, propagating the virus throughout the community. Children, whether they become sick with COVID-19 or not, can pass it on to teachers and parents, and thus to the community at large. Students of all ages do indeed congregate, and classrooms make it difficult for them to stay away from each other.

I can see a striking difference in the way France and the USA measure the fight against the pandemic. France talks all the time about the transmission ratio and the ratio of infected people in the community. The transmission ratio must stay below one to indicate a decrease of the pandemic. This can only be achieved by tracing how many people each infected individual has contaminated. The infection ratio needs to be below 50 per 100,000 inhabitants to be considered safe. To measure this requires testing on a large scale. The earlier an infected person is tested, the fewer people are contaminated. That is how it is possible to have a ratio lower than one, and it is how the pandemic can and should be decreased in the population. In July and especially August, as many expected, both ratios worsened. Regional authorities have taken drastic measures to try to turn the situation around. Such measures are evidence of the failure of government policy. Wearing a mask is now required in the centers of many cities and in all workplaces, as these are the No. 1 place where infection spreads. Sadly, dealing with the pandemic ends up being a matter of trial and error, which is not really what is expected of the government.

So, “School’s Out” or “Back to School”? The decision should be based on the ratios mentioned above, as well as other indicators of whether the authorities have sufficient control over the spread of the disease to take the risk and see what happens. One thing is for sure, Alice Cooper should not be the authority on whether children go back to school. Obviously, in 1972 he was into provocation and extravagance – and still is. His solo album Welcome to My Nightmare was released in March 1975. I am afraid many feel the USA as a country has accepted this frightening invitation.

“LOVE IS NOT TOURISM” CAMPAIGN: REUNITING UNMARRIED COUPLES
Thousands of unmarried couples separated by the pandemic have found themselves unable to reunite, and also unable to ask for an immigration visa as the consulates first were closed and then did not accept the visa requests these people could submit. They should have asked for the visiteur visa but it was not considered essential travel. A campaign called “Love is not tourism” was launched on social networks to call on governments around the world to allow couples to get back together.

The French government is filling this legal vacuum by providing a procedure allowing a derogation from the pandemic travel rules. “The spouses must come to the consulate with documents attesting to joint activities, their identity documents, proof of residence in France for the French spouse, and a return ticket.” In short, the file must look pretty much like the one submitted by a PACSed couple at the prefecture. Cohabitation is often the hardest thing to prove, since most couples will not put the name of both partners on all the utilities and open a joint bank account, especially if one partner has no immigration rights in France. I will be keeping my readers informed about this as much as I can.
www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2020/08/10/la-france-va-mettre-en-place-une-derogation-pour-permettre-les-retrouvailles-de-couples-binationaux-non-maries_6048574_3224.html

IS FRANCE EXPERIENCING A SECOND WAVE OF COVID-19?
On August 15th, which normally is the height of French summer vacation when nobody works, many cities enforced mandatory mask-wearing in city centers or at least on particular streets, as was the case in Paris. American media covered these decisions as meaning Paris was in the “red zone” and France was being hit hard by a second wave.

This reflects a complete misunderstanding of French government policy. From the beginning of the gradual loosening of lockdown, the government stated that it would carry out its policy incrementally, in small steps, with the understanding that there might be some setbacks that would require stricter rules nationally or locally. The clear implication was that there would be an increase in infection. The challenge was to limit the number of people admitted first to emergency rooms and then to ICUs. At the time I wrote this in mid-August, hospitalizations were continuing to decline overall. As I said above, it is a matter of trial and error. With 2,669 new cases in 24 hours as of Thursday, August 13th, the progression of the coronavirus in France was at its highest since the end of lockdown, according to figures from the national public health agency, Santé Publique France. The number later reached more than 6,000 per day. On Saturday, August 29th, there were 5,453 new cases, and 6 deaths in France.

“50% of infection clusters are in companies, medical or non-medical. Hospitals are responsible for about 10% of clusters, medico-social establishments and nursing homes 20%, and private companies 20%.” This data came while France was still deep in summer vacation. Therefore many officials called for making masks compulsory in all enclosed places, including private companies.

Several union officials were in favor of implementing this policy, but employers’ representatives opposed making it a general rule, claiming that would be “excessive”. France is not immune to the debate over employee protection vs the cost and the complications such policies impose on employers.

Ultimately, the policy went into effect and masks became compulsory in all outside spaces in Paris, as well as all workplaces in France. This evolution can be interpreted differently depending on what you are looking for. What I see, which reassures me, is that the French people need to be reminded of the COVID-19 guidelines in stronger terms than what I had hoped for. On the other hand, the government seems to be in control and swiftly implementing policies to address the changes in the management of the pandemic.

I plan on enforcing this policy in my office as much as possible with my clients.
www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2020/08/13/pic-de-contaminations-journalieres-en-france-le-port-du-masque-au-travail-en-question_6048904_3244.html

CREATIVE WAYS PREFECTURES HANDLE PROCEDURES
COVID-19 has shattered the old way of doing a lot of things in our daily life. Wearing masks more and more often is just the most visible part of a more profoundly radical change. It is especially visible in Paris, where cafés, bars and restaurants have taken over parking spaces with tables so they can accommodate clients outside. A cynic might say having to choose between exhaust fumes from cars driving a few inches away or the risk of COVID-19 inside does not sound like a healthy choice!

More seriously, here are some of the changes I have recently experienced.

Entering the Paris prefecture
The website clearly states that it is impossible to enter the building without an appointment. During most of the morning, there are three checkpoints with police checking appointment notifications (convocations) and sending you to the next one, until you reach the security checkpoint. There are three lanes in front of the main door; which one police chooses, depends on when their meetings are and which offices they are going to. There are barriers to keep people in line.

The convocation states in bold that the applicant must come alone. However, professionals known by the security personnel have no difficulty entering with clients, although family members who are there to help must stay outside.

The convocation specifies that you should not come more than 15 minutes early, but my experience now is that you can arrive up to 30 minutes ahead of the appointment and be allowed to stay in the line.

As is often the case in France, the rule is not as strict as proclaimed. When the need is real, people without an appointment go in a different line, and eventually, after a long wait, can get some help.

Sending missing documents by email
It has long been possible, when a couple of documents were missing, to send them by email during the meeting at the Paris prefecture. A few months before the pandemic began, my clients could send one or two documents after the meeting was over. I saw many coming in at 8:30AM to bring missing documents, but the prefecture got stricter and stricter about only doing this early in the day so that it did not disrupt the normal schedule too much.

Since the prefecture has reopened, sending missing documents by email has become systematic, and can involve several important documents, whereas before, the prefecture would have required new appointments in such cases. That illustrates how much more relaxed the process has become. Nevertheless, files will go nowhere until the right documents are received. If it takes too long for the prefecture to get them, I am sure new appointments will be required, which will be unpleasant at best.

Sending complete files by post
About ten years ago, it was quite common for the Paris prefecture to accept files sent by snail mail, and a few rural prefectures continued to allow this for first requests as well as renewals. Now it appears it is becoming even more common.

The most recent case I saw involved the sous-prefecture in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which upon receiving the file sent a récépissé by regular mail. This was quite a novelty; I had never seen it done before.

I plan to continue describing such innovations as I encounter them, since it seems the prefectures are trying hard to keep the public from having to appear in person.

MY MINOR FEES INCREASED ON SEPTEMBER 1st, 2020
Handling mail in my office: 40 euros per month
Handling mail received at my home: 50 euros per month
Surcharge for out-of-the-office meetings: 60 euros which corresponds to less than 30 minutes’ transportation
Surcharge for meetings and phone calls at the client’s request after 7PM weekdays, all weekend and during national French holidays and vacations: 30%.

Best regards,

QUESTION

VISA REQUESTS AND COVID 19

I am an American married to a Frenchman and we live in the USA. We want to spend more and more time in France, about four to six months, but I can only stay for three months with an American passport. As the spouse of a Frenchman, I can apply for and should easily obtain a long-term visa. The French consulate is not issuing visas because of the COVID.
Do you know if it is possible for me to obtain a long-term visa in France and therefore locally through the prefecture? Once I’m there, can we request an extension if necessary?

QUESTION

APS CARD (NOW CALLED RESE) AND CHANGE OF 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!!).

I would like to wish all of you a great summer and a very nice vacation.

“Hit Me with Your Best Shot” is a song written by Canadian singer/songwriter Eddie Schwartz, and recorded by American singer Pat Benatar in 1980 on her second album Crimes of Passion. In view of the recent tragedies, I look at the message and lyrics of this song and I see many violent images. Poetic images are used all the time and they often give a better explanation, a better illustration of a situation than words do. This song is all about a woman in love and there is not an ounce of real brutality in it. All the same, the title and the lyrics use a language that, if taken out of context, would be seen as rather savage.

HATRED – VIOLENCE & INTOLENCE
During my twelve-day vacation in the USA, I visited a longtime friend in Waterbury CT. She invited my wife and me to the 28th Annual Lobsterfest of the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue in Connecticut. While we were there, she introduced us to many former students of Sandy Hook Elementary School, where she had been a student herself. At the end of the dinner, I asked where the school was in which the December 2012 shooting had taken place, and she answered: “Right behind you ” they tore it down to rebuild a new one!

Too often people are blas about this kind of news until they are personally affected in some way. Being a French person living in France, I stay away from the debate regarding mass shootings, which happen all too often in the USA. But because of the personal connection, the Sandy Hook one hit me hard twice. Learning that I was having a great time a few yards away from that school cast a pall on the rest of my evening, to say the least.

On June 17th in Charleston, a white man attacked an African-American church, killing nine people. The incident brought back memories of the Civil Rights movement, of African-American churches burning and people being killed. This is another tragedy, an expression of pure hate.

When my family visited Charleston in 2006, the four of us spent several hours at the Confederate Museum. It is a small space but there was so much I wanted to learn, to understand, as the story is almost always told from the other side. Clearly, this period is still alive for part of the population.

Are all expressions of hatred the same? Absolutely not! At the same time, such intolerance, hatred, discrimination and racism is unacceptable. At roughly the same time as the Charleston shooting, an elementary school on the French island of Corsica was forced to cancel the year-end school party because the teachers received death threats after deciding to have the children sing John Lennon’s song “Imagine” in five languages, including Arabic.

RETENUE  LA SOURCE  INCOME TAX WITHHELD BY THE EMPLOYER
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 are reluctant to change this set-up, but all of them combined are not enough to explain why it has not yet been done.

There is only one technical reason that withholding tax would be very difficult to set up. It is called thequotient 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.

These events occur frequently enough in the course of a lifetime that if France had withholding taxes, such happenings could significantly change the amount withheld. A withholding system works well only 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.

Now, however, the government is determined to have a new withholding system go into effect on January 1st 2018. Neither employers nor employees are very happy with this. Employers do not want an extra task to complicate the French pay slip even more. Employees do not want the change, as it will mean the employer will know much more about their private lives. Employees will be required to inform employers right away of any of the abovementioned changes in their life. The employers will then be obligated to inform the tax office to calculate the new amount owed. Considering the level of distrust that French employees have toward their employers, this could create major difficulties.

It is going to be interesting to see if this measure actually goes through. Most likely it will, but I can see a lot of problems arising from it, and there will be a lot of unhappy people in France before everything settles down.

OFFICE STAYS OPEN DURING THE SUMMER!
I have not scheduled trips this summer, but expect some absences between Friday July 17th and Monday August 17th. I will take a few extended week-end trips.

I would like to remind everyone that there is no August issue.

Best regards,

QUESTION

THE FRENCH WEALTH TAX

I am a recent subscriber to your newsletter, which I find very interesting, informative, and frequently helpful. My wife and I own property in Paris, where we live about six months per year  three months in the spring and three months in the autumn. We are mindful of, and studiously comply with, the 90-day tourist visa waiver program limits. Our question concerns the French wealth tax. Could you explain 1) generally, how it works, 2) who is subject to it, when, and to what extent, and 3) whether staying in France more than six months per year increases the risk of exposure to the tax. Thanks for any information you can provide on a subject that everyone seems to have a different, and conflicting, opinion about.

QUESTION

ABOUT THE FRENCH SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

I would like to make a comment about your explanation of the French social security number in the April 2015 issue.

I received mine long before my wife got hers. The delay was caused, according to what I was told, by the failure of the local town hall in the town where she was born in the USA to provide the sequential line number in the registry book. INSEE sent the letter requesting this vital number and nothing happened until they heard back. To fix the situation I sent two registered letters, one to CPAM asking them to try again and another to the town hall in the USA imploring them to respond to the request when they got it. This Wikipedia article explains that the last three digits correspond to the applicant’s birth order in a given place:

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Num%C3%A9ro_de_s%C3%A9curit%C3%A9_sociale_en_France

QUESTION

LOSING FRENCH RESIDENCY WHILE BEING MARRIED TO A FRENCH

I’m leaving France to move to Australia in six weeks, but my one-year family carte de séjour is still valid until October. I might want to return to France in a year or two. Do I need to do anything regarding my carte de séjour to make it easier for when I return? Or do I just let it expire? I’m Australian and I am married to a Frenchman.

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Num%C3%A9ro_de_s%C3%A9curit%C3%A9_sociale_en_France

QUESTION

COMING TO FRANCE AS AN UNMARRIED COUPLE

I am Polish but currently I am living in Australia. In July/August I am planning to move to Paris where I would have a contract job and I will be staying there for a few years. I am thinking of moving to France with my Thai girlfriend but we do not have any official documents for our relationship, as it is fairly new.

I know that I do not need a visa since Poland is a full member of EU now, but I would like to know about her rights. Is there any chance that she could get a long-stay visa in France with the option to work and that this visa could be granted because she is in a relationship with me?

Do I need to legalize this relationship somehow? Our friendship is not long enough to think about marriage but I would think about it if there were no other way.