The visitor visa benchmark is about €1,478/month in income. Citizenship still takes 5 years. And under the US tax treaty, your 401(k), IRA and Social Security are taxed in the US — not France. Here's everything else, from official sources, checked and dated.
The long-stay visitor visa, the 1-year renewal cycle, the 10-year card at year 5, and the 5-year path to citizenship.
3 guides → Guide hub2026 brackets (0%–45%), why the US treaty makes France a tax haven for American retirees, and the Canadian departure-tax question.
Read → Guide hubJoining the state system (PUMa) after 3 months, the carte Vitale, and what a mutuelle costs in your 60s.
Read → Guide hubBuying vs renting, the 7–8% purchase costs, and why no one stops a foreigner buying a French house.
Read → Guide hubReal INSEE data: 0.9% inflation, falling energy prices — and what a couple actually spends per month.
Read → Guide hubWhy the visitor visa bans work, the routes that allow it, and the US and Canadian totalization agreements.
Read → Guide hubSwapping your US or Canadian driving licence (18 states qualify), bringing pets, setting up utilities.
Read → Guide hubParis, Nice, Occitanie, the Dordogne, Brittany — real prices and honest trade-offs.
Read →Income benchmarks, documents, fees, and realistic timelines — for applications from the US and Canada.
Read the guide → HealthcareEligible after 3 months' residence. How to apply, what the state pays, and the "PUMa tax" some early retirees owe.
Read the guide → Visas & ResidencyThe renewal cycle, the 10-year card, and the new B2-plus-civic-exam citizenship rules from January 2026.
Read the guide →Sixty YouTube channels, Instagram and TikTok accounts, podcasts, blogs and communities run by people who actually live in France, filtered by region. Curated 16 September 2026.
From first visa question to keys-in-hand — tell us where you are in the move to France and we'll answer, or introduce a specialist we've independently vetted.