# Remote GP and moving to France



## DocMJ

Hello forum,
I am British and doing remote GP work. I would like to move to France and looking for the best way to do this and keep working remotely.
I have read up on it but am still not sure how best to go about it. I do my work as a Locum and use a Limited Company so I am classified as a consultant and not an employee.
I would be grateful for any help and advice or if anyone that knows of a reasonably priced service that could “hold my hand through the process”.
Thank you !


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## Bevdeforges

I'm not sure that there really IS a "service" that can help you set up as you would need to do. But first of all, you need to look into your long-stay visa options for moving to France. You may want to consider looking at the requirements for a "passeport talent" visa - though I'm not sure if simply setting up a business entity for your GP work is sufficient to qualify for that. (However, you'll never know if you don't ask the question.)

For setting up a business entity to work remotely, I'd normally direct you to the CCI (Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie), however, since you'd be working as a medical doctor, you may need to contact the International Relations

France hasn't established a "remote worker" visa category at this point and the fact that you'd be working primarily with patients in the UK further complicates the issue here. Your UK based Limited Company may or may not be useful in establishing the necessary credentials to practice medicine from France rather than in France. But under the oft quoted (here on the forum) "butt rule" you're considered to be working in whatever country you park your butt in whilst doing the work and that complicates the issue of which country you need to be qualified in. You will, however, need to be set up to pay French taxes and social insurances, whether as an employee or as a small business.


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## EuroTrash

My initial thought was that this won't be legally possible if your GP qualifications aren't recognised by France. Seems to me that one way or another, if you want to exercise your profession, albeit remotely, whilst living in France then one way or another you will need to register for that profession whatever French business structure you use, whether as a profession libérale or through an umbrella company or via some kind of business entity. You won't in a position to register if your medical qualifications aren't recognised, and so would be highly unlikely to be granted a working visa since your project wouldn't be feasible. I appreciate that all your patients would be outside of France but I'm not aware that France has a special category for foreign doctors living and working in France but providing services exclusively in other countries. It would be an anomaly and it's hard to see why France would have any interest in setting up such a category, because where's the benefit to France.
But it will be interesting to see what comes out of the discussion.


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## DocMJ

Thank you for your response, I will follow the links. I suppose my thinking is that if I am living in France, paying rent etc and spending money there + paying the necessary taxes that should be an advantage to France.
I am not yet fluent in French to pass the language part of Medical registration and frankly I really like the flexibility that remote working gives me. 
If anyone knows of an agency that can help I would be grateful.


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## Bevdeforges

DocMJ said:


> if I am living in France, paying rent etc and spending money there + paying the necessary taxes that should be an advantage to France.


That's what lots of folks think, but it doesn't fly for visa purposes. What you might look into is some sort of portage arrangement, particularly if they have some sort of portage company that specializes in medical professions. In that sort of situation, you would be an employee of the portage company, who would handle the social insurances and taxes (and also take a cut of your earnings). 

But the first problem is whether or not such an arrangement would get you in the door for a long-stay visa with work privileges. France doesn't really have a "self-employment" category like in the UK (and a few other countries). You need to have some sort of business entity established in order to work remotely and bill whoever is paying you for the services you render. And for a visa you need a "reason" to be relocating to France to work. Usually, it's that your employer needs or wants you to be present in France, or that you are establishing a French business entity to bring some new business or service to France. In your case, you don't appear to have enough of a "reason" to work remotely from France.


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## EuroTrash

Bevdeforges said:


> What you might look into is some sort of portage arrangement, particularly if they have some sort of portage company that specializes in medical professions. In that sort of situation, you would be an employee of the portage company, who would handle the social insurances and taxes (and also take a cut of your earnings).


That of course would raise the issue of having authorisation to work in France. If the person doesn't have the right to work in France the portage company couldn't register them as an employee, computer would say no. I think there was a discussion on here not so long back about whether a portage company would be prepared to, or even be in a position to do the necessary to apply for a work permit. I think someone came up with a clever idea but I've forgotten what it was.


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## Bevdeforges

Yeah, it's kind of a Gordian knot type of situation. If the OP had another "reason" for moving to France - say, to join or care for a close family member, or was thinking of setting up some sort of related medical service business that would be available to the French, too, it might be possible to justify either a "vie privée et familiale" visa (which includes working privileges) or to fit one of the categories for the passeport talent visa (say to train French medical professionals to work remotely in underserved areas i.e. "medical deserts" in France. But there is still the hurdle of qualifying to practice medicine here in France.


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## BackinFrance

Frankly the OP would do best to just spend 90/180 days in France and move here to live once he/she is fully retired. The desired project won't work under current regulations in France.


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## DocMJ

Thank you for the responses. They have helped in considering my options. I could look down the path of being under my husband’s visa and have him apply for the talent visa I suppose. Then the only issue would be the tax declarations.


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## EuroTrash

DocMJ said:


> I could look down the path of being under my husband’s visa and have him apply for the talent visa I suppose. Then the only issue would be the tax declarations.


Not really because before you can carry out any professional activity in France, you have to be properly registered to do that specific activity. It's not like the UK where you can just set up "a business" and HMRC don't care two hoots what you do as long as you earn money and pay tax on it. In France, every activity has its own activity code, and you have to be registered under the correct code for each activity that you perform. You can't register as an electrician and then sweep chimneys, and you can't register as say a teacher and then give medical consultations. The details of the activity codes associated with every SIRET number are recorded on the INSEE database which can be checked by anyone, the authorities and members of the public alike.
Tax declarations would in fact not be the only issue because you would also pay French social security contributions, which are quite separate from tax. The way you contribute depends on how you are registered eg employee, independent consultant, non salaried company director. It would be a consideration because cotisations are relatively high compared with the UI, but not an issue as such because social security affiliation follows more or less automatically once you're registered. But, I still don't see how you can get round the issue that nobody can legally register under an activity code that allows them to practise medicine in France iunless they can prove the relevant qualifications.


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## DocMJ

Thank you very much for your responses. I appreciate you taking the time to do so. I have found a firm that can help with my unique situation and as I am determined to move to France, I am sure I will find a way ! Thank you again !


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## EuroTrash

DocMJ said:


> Thank you very much for your responses. I appreciate you taking the time to do so. I have found a firm that can help with my unique situation and as I am determined to move to France, I am sure I will find a way ! Thank you again !


That's great to hear, but please do be careful and check things out for yourself. Some advisors are only interested in collecting their fee, and if an advisor gives bad advice that contravenes legislation and you follow their advice to the letter and further down the road it bites you in the bum, the consequences will be all yours.


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## Bevdeforges

ET, you beat me to it, but I was going to advise: Caveat Emptor, which I'm told means "buyer beware." There is a lot of misinformation floating around out there thanks to Brexit and the current "novelty" of Brits needing visas and work permits to live in France. (OK, it makes a huge difference if you'll just be living in France for a year or two vs. if you're moving to France for the long term.)

And there are out and out scams out there - so be careful and check out your firm and what they tell you before you part with your money. Since you mention your husband, you may have some options depending on his reasons for moving to France and what his job status will be. If that is the case, he may want to talk to the HR people at his employer to see what they can advise.


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