Moving to France from Germany: Rules, Steps, Sources
Vathanakone Prakosay · Updated on
In short: Moving to France from Germany is covered by EU free movement: you can stay three months without registering as a resident. After that you need work, or sufficient resources and comprehensive health cover. This guide lists the official rules with their dates.
Moving to France from Germany: What do you need to know first?
If you are an EU citizen, you move under EU free movement rules. You can stay up to three months without registering as a resident (Your Europe, checked 14.10.2026). After that, the rules depend on whether you work.
This guide follows official pages from France, the EU and Germany. Each section names the authority and the date of its page. It covers entry, residence, registration, health cover, a bank account, rent and work. Other destinations are listed in the Countries overview.
Which requirements apply at a glance?
| Topic | Rule according to the source | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Passport or national ID card; a driving licence is not enough | German Foreign Office, 25.10.2026 |
| Stay up to 3 months | No registration as a resident | Your Europe, 14.10.2026 |
| Stay over 3 months without work | Sufficient resources without social assistance, comprehensive health cover | Your Europe, 01.07.2026 |
| Residence card | Optional for inactive citizens and for workers | Service-Public, 01.04.2026 and June 2025 |
| Permanent residence | Automatic after 5 years of legal, continuous residence | Your Europe, 01.07.2026 |
| Social security number | Apply at the local CPAM with ID and birth certificate | ameli, 02.10.2026 |
| Bank account | If a bank refuses, the Banque de France names one | Service-Public, 19.10.2026 |
| Deposit, unfurnished flat | At most 1 month of rent without charges | Service-Public, 09.06.2026 |
| Work permit | Not needed for EU citizens | Your Europe, 14.10.2026 |
How do you enter France from Germany?
You enter with a passport or a national ID card. The German Federal Foreign Office states that a driving licence does not count (checked 25.10.2026). Police carry out spot checks at the land border between the two countries, and Germany also checks at all land borders for now.
Cash of 10,000 euros or more must be declared when you enter or leave the EU. For other currencies, the euro equivalent counts. The same page gives this rule.
Do you need a residence card in France?
No. Service-Public writes that retirees and other inactive citizens do not need a residence card to live in France (checked 01.04.2026). EU workers and self-employed people can apply but do not have to (Service-Public, French original checked 11.06.2025).
Inactive citizens apply online through ANEF and collect the card at the prefecture or sub-prefecture. Issuing is free. Conditions: no work in France, health insurance and sufficient resources. At most 651.69 euros a month may be demanded from a single person without children, and 977.54 euros from a couple without children. With children the cap rises and reaches 1,952.65 euros for a single person with four children. The first card lasts at most five years. After that comes the "Séjour permanent" card, valid for ten years, where resources and insurance no longer need proof.
That worker page is older than one year. It carries the date June 2025 and mentions that the rules are under review. No newer version was found.
How long can you stay, and when do you gain permanent residence?
You can stay three months without registering. Beyond that, a person without work needs sufficient resources, which may come from third parties, and comprehensive health insurance (Your Europe, checked 01.07.2026). Retirees count the pension as income.
After five years of legal and continuous residence you gain the right of permanent residence automatically. You lose it after more than two consecutive years outside the country. Absences under six months a year do not harm it. Expulsion is possible only in exceptional cases, such as public order or security, in writing and with a right of appeal.
Do you need a visa to move to France?
The official pages used for this guide describe EU citizens. They speak of a three-month stay without registration, an optional residence card and a registration after three months, and they do not mention a visa for this group. Citizens of non-EU countries who live in Germany follow other rules. The checked pages do not cover that route, so it is left out here.
Expats often ask about a "carte", the French word for a residence card. For EU citizens it is a free and voluntary document, as shown above.
How do you register for social security?
People born abroad ask the local health office, the CPAM, for a social security number. The form is S1106, and the CPAM also asks for ID and a birth certificate (ameli, checked 02.10.2026). EU citizens can show an S1 or another portable EU document as proof of identity.
While the application runs, you receive a provisional number (NIA) that works for nine months. With it you get neither a Carte Vitale nor an ameli account. The application itself can take as long. Without the certificate, rights are suspended at the six-month mark and refunds are blocked for now. At the nine-month mark the rights are removed.
After three months, a country may ask you to register, often at the town hall or with the local police, says the EU page on registering. The certificate is issued immediately, and a missed registration can bring a fine but not expulsion (Your Europe, checked 01.07.2026). For a tax number and for any town-hall registration in France, no official statement is available in the pages used here.
How do you get health cover in France?
Workers join through the employer. The employer starts the opening of rights, then come the number, the ameli account and the Carte Vitale. You also name a family doctor (ameli, checked 19.01.2026).
Inactive EU citizens can join the French system after more than three months of stable residence, if household resources reach at least the level of the RSA or ASPA benefits (ameli, checked 09.06.2026). Below that level there is no French insurance, but the state medical aid AME may apply. The CLEISS page says access to PUMa is not automatic for inactive citizens. It is secure after five years of permanent residence. Before that, the health fund looks at each case individually. Students and job seekers do not count as inactive.
Behind this stands an EU rule: after three months without work, you need comprehensive health cover in the host country. The opposite move is described in health insurance when moving to Germany. Details on costs, waiting periods and top-up cover are not available in the checked pages.
How do you open a bank account in France?
Ask a bank first. If it refuses, or stays silent for 15 days, you can ask the Banque de France, which names a bank within one working day. Basic services are free (Service-Public, checked 19.10.2026).
This right covers French citizens abroad and EU citizens who legally live in another EU state. Private use is a condition, and you must not hold another account in France. The bank has three working days to send its list of documents and three more to open the account after your file is complete. Overdraft charges are capped at 4 euros per transaction and 20 euros a month.
What should you know about renting in France?
Unfurnished flats carry a deposit of at most one month of rent without charges, and the cap for a furnished flat is two months (Service-Public, checked 09.06.2026). The landlord must return it within one month if the inventories match, otherwise within two months.
An unfurnished lease runs at least three years, a furnished one at least one year, and students get nine months (Service-Public, French original checked 06.03.2026). Tenants usually give three months of notice on an unfurnished flat, with one month in special cases. On a furnished flat one month is enough.
Can you work in France?
Yes. EU citizens do not need a work permit, as employees or as self-employed people (Your Europe, checked 14.10.2026). If you look for work, you can usually stay six months. After that, authorities may check that you search actively and have real chances.
For regulated professions, recognition rules apply. Doctors, general care nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, architects and vets are recognised automatically (Your Europe, checked 25.06.2026). The authority confirms receipt within one month and decides within three months of a complete file. This guide did not check a French recognition body, so it has no national detail.
What about tax and pension?
This part stays short because the sources are thin. According to Service-Public (checked 01.01.2026), tax residence depends, among other things, on your household or main home in France with at least 183 days, on your main activity and on the centre of your economic interests. Residents pay tax on worldwide income, non-residents only on French income. Property tax applies to every owner on 1 January, whatever the place of residence.
The German Pension Insurance pays a pension within the EU, EEA and Switzerland in most cases at the same amount to an account of your choice. Report the move at least two months before. The yearly proof of life is required. No checked source covers the tax treaty between Germany and France or the taxation of the statutory pension.
What do the sources not cover?
Several popular topics have no official source in this guide: the cost of living, the best places to live, the French language level needed at the offices, taxes beyond residence rules and any treaty between the two countries. Property purchase rules and the extra costs of a purchase are also absent. For those points, ask the competent French office for the current information.
What you need to bring
- Entry: passport or ID card.
- Social security number: ID, birth certificate and form S1106 for the CPAM.
- Optional residence card for workers: ID or passport, proof of address under six months old, a photo with code, an employer certificate or proof of activity.
- Basic bank account: application, ID, proof of address under three months old, the refusal letter of the bank and a sworn statement.
No single official master list exists. Ask the responsible office for the current list if your case differs. For your registration in Germany, the guide to registering your address in Germany shows how the same step works there, and Moving to Germany covers the opposite direction.
Frequently asked questions
Can you stay in France without registering?
Yes, up to three months without registering as a resident (Your Europe, checked 14.10.2026).
Is a residence card compulsory in France?
No. Service-Public calls it optional for inactive citizens (checked 01.04.2026) and for workers (June 2025). It is free.
How do you get a French social security number?
People born abroad apply at the CPAM of their home town with ID, a birth certificate and form S1106 (ameli, checked 02.10.2026).
How high can a rental deposit be?
At most one month of rent without charges for an unfurnished flat and two months for a furnished flat (Service-Public, checked 09.06.2026).
Do EU citizens need a work permit in France?
No. The rule covers employees and self-employed people alike (Your Europe, checked 14.10.2026).
Is German pension paid in France?
In the EU, EEA and Switzerland the pension is in most cases paid at the same amount to an account of your choice. Report your move at least two months before.
Sources
- German Federal Foreign Office: France, travel and safety advice (German), 2026 (As of: 25.10.2026)
- Your Europe: Residence rights in the EU, 2026 (As of: checked 14.10.2026)
- Your Europe: Inactive EU citizens, 2026 (As of: checked 01.07.2026)
- Your Europe: Registering your residence, 2026 (As of: checked 01.07.2026)
- Service-Public: Residence card for retirees and inactive EU citizens (F22117, French), 2026 (As of: checked 1 April 2026)
- Service-Public: Residence card for EU workers and self-employed (F16003, French original), 2025 (As of: checked 11 June 2025)
- ameli: Social security number for people born abroad (French), 2026 (As of: 02.10.2026)
- ameli: Inactive EU citizens (French), 2026 (As of: 09.06.2026)
- ameli: Workers moving to France (French), 2026 (As of: 19.01.2026)
- CLEISS: Living in France as an EEA citizen and PUMa (French), 2026 (As of: page undated, retrieved 25.10.2026)
- Service-Public: Right to a bank account (F2417), 2026 (As of: 19.10.2026, translation)
- Service-Public: Rental deposit (F31269), 2026 (As of: 09.06.2026)
- Service-Public: Tenancy duration and notice (F1165, French original), 2026 (As of: checked 6 March 2026)
- Your Europe: Working abroad in the EU, 2026 (As of: checked 14.10.2026)
- Your Europe: Regulated professions, 2026 (As of: checked 25.06.2026)
- Service-Public: Tax residence in France (F36401), 2026 (As of: 01.01.2026, translation)
General information, not legal advice. Rules change: check the linked official pages before you act.
Author: Vathanakone Prakosay · Updated on October 25, 2026
