Touring France (1 Viewer)

[gallois]

Hi, being new to motorhoming I'm wondering how long we can stay in France for? We have put our house up for sale and as soon as we sell we are planning to tour France for at least 6 months, maybe longer. We will still have an address in this country but not sure if you have to have a visa or something for long stays in France.

 

[theresa]

Hi, being new to motorhoming I'm wondering how long we can stay in France for? We have put our house up for sale and as soon as we sell we are planning to tour France for at least 6 months, maybe longer. We will still have an address in this country but not sure if you have to have a visa or something for long stays in France.

first of all good luck with the sale of your house , we spend around 6 months in spain for the winter and all we have are our passports and of course the E111 heath cards just in case we get ill. Hope it all works out for you ,its a lovely way of life , but i must had we still have a house to come back to .:thumb:

 

[Beachbum]

Hi, being new to motorhoming I'm wondering how long we can stay in France for? We have put our house up for sale and as soon as we sell we are planning to tour France for at least 6 months, maybe longer. We will still have an address in this country but not sure if you have to have a visa or something for long stays in France.

Welcome aboard Gallois. GB is part of the EC. That gives you the right to stay as long as you wish in France. You even have the right to emigrate to France, land up on their doorstep, registrar, work and pay your taxes. Make sure you have your E 111. this is your passport to medical problems when they arise. Talking about Passports, it is required but I am quite sure an identity card itself would give you the right to enter any EC country. So your query regards a Visa, the answer is NO.

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[smifee]

When the pet passport scheme started we went to France for 6 months in a small MH towing a caravan. Making enquiries about VEL & MOT I found that you can take your vehicle into an EU country, as a VISITOR, for 6 months. If you take your vehicle into the country with the intention to live there permanently you must register yourselves & the vehicle in that country. If as a visitor you stay over 6 months you must register.

So just pop into Andorra or Monaco one day before the 6 months is up.

Vehicle documents is another potential bureaucratic minefield. I decided to get VEL, insurance and MOT renewed so they all run out at the same time and we could come back once a year to renew them all. The DVLA view on this was that if you took a vehicle to another country for longer than 6 months you were 'permanently exporting' it.

Have a great time.

 

[gallois]

Many thanks for replies, a great help, cant wait to get going !!!

 

[hilldweller]

Hi, being new to motorhoming I'm wondering how long we can stay in France for? We have put our house up for sale and as soon as we sell we are planning to tour France for at least 6 months, maybe longer. We will still have an address in this country but not sure if you have to have a visa or something for long stays in France.

Only negative I can recall is France just altered the terms of their health care support for people in France long term. I'm sure this was beyond your timescale where you E111 will get you better care than here ( from posting on this forum ).

The nuisance of MOT/roadfund has already been mentioned.

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[stevegreen]

Hi, being new to motorhoming I'm wondering how long we can stay in France for? We have put our house up for sale and as soon as we sell we are planning to tour France for at least 6 months, maybe longer. We will still have an address in this country but not sure if you have to have a visa or something for long stays in France.

I'm really glad you asked this as I was going to ask the same!

We are planning to go mid-November for 6 months (taking in Spain and Portugal as well) and SWMBO asked me the very same question this morning, I didn't know oh:, now I do :thumb:

 

[lebesset]

well , don't get sick in france unless you have private insurance as well as your EHIC

the E111 stopped being valid some years ago

most french people have private insurance as well as the state scheme which only pays between 40 and 70% of the cost of the standard approved price [ the ultra poor french residents get 100% ]...and many doctors are now charging higher than that ; so be prepared for some steep bills

a year ago I spent the morning in a day hospital and had a CAT scan ....€800, of which the french insurance office paid €300 and I had to stand the rest ; ok , that included lunch

there is good news...if you don't see a doctor but end up directly in the emergency ward this will be basically free

the much vaunted french system ain't a patch on the NHS for value for money .. be warned , don't believe what you read in the british newspapers ...ever read that the french pay 22% NI instead of 12% in UK , or that that only pays part of your costs?