Free resources · France
Banking, insurance, connectivity, shipping, housing, French, and US tax — organized by stage of your move, sequence first, brand last.
Last verified · 2026-08-21
Every relocation eventually turns into a spreadsheet of tabs: banking apps, SIM cards, moving quotes, insurance policies, apartment listings, language apps. This page is that spreadsheet, organized the way you'll actually need it — by stage of the move, not by brand.
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Don't start by picking a provider. Start by understanding what problem each category solves and when you'll hit it. A decision made before departure (which bank, which insurance) has downstream effects for months; a decision made in week six (which French class) barely matters if made a month later instead.
The page runs in three stages — before you leave, landing weeks, and first months — because that's how the needs actually arrive. Work through each section, understand the comparison criteria, then shop with a clear head. We name categories of solution and, where useful, specific well-known providers as examples — never as recommendations, and never with a link that earns us anything. Where a claim rests on an official rule, we link the official source so you can verify it yourself.
You'll need to move money across currencies and, eventually, receive euros or pay euro bills. A multi-currency account (the category that includes providers like Wise, Revolut, or Payoneer) lets you hold and convert USD and EUR, send money at a transparent exchange rate, and often gives you an EU IBAN before you have a French bank account. For a deposit, a mover, or a landlord who wants a EUR transfer, this is usually more useful than your home bank's international wire, which tends to bury a poor exchange rate inside a "no fee" wire.
What to actually compare, in order of how much it costs you:
This is the section where corner-cutting causes the most expensive mistakes, so read it slowly.
This is general information, not personal insurance advice. Travel/nomad policies are bridge coverage for your first weeks — they are not a substitute for enrolling in French state health coverage (PUMA) or a mutuelle.
The gap you may need to cover. Depending on your status and existing coverage, there may be a period between arrival and the opening of your French health-coverage rights that you need to cover privately — and some visa types carry their own insurance requirement with specific minimum coverage. Check the insurance requirement attached to your specific visa or status on the official France-Visas portal rather than assuming one policy fits every move.
If a bridge policy is what your situation calls for, compare policies on coverage caps, pre-existing-condition exclusions, hospitalization and repatriation cover, and whether the policy satisfies the requirement attached to your visa type.
Understanding the US side of your taxes belongs in the planning stage, because some decisions (timing of the move, how you're paid, which accounts you open) have US tax consequences that are cheaper to understand in advance.
US citizens and US resident aliens generally remain subject to US tax rules on worldwide income while living abroad, and many will continue to have an annual US filing obligation — whether a return is actually required still depends on the normal filing thresholds for your income and status. The IRS's own page for US citizens and resident aliens abroad is the correct starting source. Eligible taxpayers may claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion using Form 2555 — eligibility has real tests, it isn't automatic. Separately, the FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) applies once combined foreign account balances cross the reporting threshold at any point in the year, and FATCA adds its own reporting on foreign financial assets. These carry thresholds, deadlines, and interactions with French tax residency that change — verify against the linked official sources, and consider a professional who specializes in US expat filings for the first year.
A travel eSIM can give you mobile data immediately — it activates before you land and works from the airport. But many travel eSIMs are data-only and do not provide a French mobile number. If you need French SMS verification, calls from landlords, or a number you will keep long term, you will still need a French mobile line (Stage 2). Treat the travel eSIM as solving exactly one problem — internet on arrival — and plan for the French number as its own step.
Bridge housing. Signing a full French lease sight unseen, before you've walked a neighborhood, is a common and avoidable mistake — and the landing-period housing that removes that pressure is best booked before you arrive. Furnished monthly rentals can be more practical than hotels for an extended landing period because they typically provide a kitchen, living space, and a setup closer to normal residential life while you search for long-term housing at your own pace.
What to check in a listing before booking:
Shipping. Shipping prices can vary dramatically for the same move, and the "obvious" choice is rarely the cheapest for a given volume:
A real quote comparison means: itemized quotes (not just a total) from at least three providers in your volume tier, insurance specifics and what "full value protection" actually caps out at, which customs paperwork each provider handles versus what's on you, and delivery windows in writing.
A French SIM from a local carrier (the low-cost French carriers are worth comparing directly against the "major" networks — coverage and price differ more than brand recognition would suggest) gets you a real French mobile number, which matters once you're opening a bank account, signing a lease, or registering for anything that texts a French number for verification. Get it early in the move, once practical — prepaid or a short contract, not a 24-month commitment, until you're sure of your address. Compare plans on data allowance, EU roaming if you'll travel, and whether a contract requires a French IBAN for billing — some do, which loops back to the banking sections.
A multi-currency account is a bridge; once you have your address and residency paperwork sorted, opening an account with a French bank is usually worth it. To be precise about why: a French account can make everyday administration easier — some billers, employers, and platforms simply run more smoothly with a French IBAN — but as covered in Stage 1, an eligible EU SEPA account cannot legally be rejected solely for having a non-French IBAN. A French account is a convenience and a friction-remover, not a general legal requirement. Weigh the paperwork of opening one against the friction it removes in your specific situation.
With bridge housing holding the pressure off, run the real search: walk neighborhoods at different hours, view in person, and build your rental dossier before you need it — French landlords decide quickly, and the prepared file wins. (The document logic behind the dossier is its own topic — see our documents guide.)
Once you're living in France, the state health system is anchored by the Protection Universelle Maladie (PUMA). The route in depends on your situation: if you work in France, your health-coverage rights can open through your professional activity, without waiting for the residence-based period. If you are not working, eligibility is generally based on stable and regular residence in France, for which a residence period may apply. You register through your local Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie (CPAM), submitting proof of identity, proof of address, and (if applicable) your residence permit.
PUMA doesn't reimburse at 100% — most residents also carry a mutuelle, a complementary policy covering what the state scheme doesn't. Sequence it: bridge cover while it's needed (Stage 1), PUMA registration as soon as your route in opens, mutuelle once you know what your reimbursement rate leaves uncovered. Confirm current eligibility rules and required documents directly on ameli.fr and service-public.fr, since registration specifics are revised periodically.
You don't need fluency to move, but you need enough to function, and the honest tradeoffs between formats matter more than which app has the best marketing.
A realistic combination: an app for vocabulary maintenance starting before you leave, live tutoring or an intensive group course in your first months in France when daily immersion gives you constant practice, and administrative French (the vocabulary of prefectures, CAF, and CPAM letters) as its own targeted skill — it's a different register from conversational French, and it's what most of your official mail is actually written in.
The first months are also when the longer arc starts: your first French tax cycle, residence-permit renewals, and the administrative rhythm that doesn't end at unpacking. That arc is beyond a tools page — it's a sequencing problem.
Every category above is solvable on its own with an afternoon of research. What's harder to piece together from ten browser tabs is the sequencing — what has to happen before what, which deadlines are real, and how a decision made before departure quietly constrains your options in week six.
The toolbox helps you choose the individual tools. The France Edition shows you how the entire move fits together — the sequence, dependencies, dossiers and decisions from preparation through your first 90 days in France.