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Newsletter from your consular officer in the consular district of Venezuela – Trinidad & Tobago – Saint-Lucia

N° 5 – March - April 2015 . Brigitte Saiz

Regional visit - 6 to 10 April 2015

My first regional trip to Trinidad, Saint-Lucia, Barbados and Dominica was the opportunity for rich encounters and surprising discoveries. Four days in four islands, difficult logistics, but a generous welcome, such were my first impressions of this trip. First stop: Castries (Saint Lucia). A duty period in the hotel allowed me to meet families in dramatic circumstances, French citizens living abroad for too many years, or having never lived in France; challenging family situations are encountering more and more restricted means on the side of the French Consulate, whose geographic range has increased following the closing of the Consulate of Port-of-Spain, but which budget didn’t increase accordingly,. In the evening, I had a very cordial dinner with ambassador Eric DE LA MOUSSAYE and his wife. Next day, was the departure from Castries at 7:15am towards Dominica. Second stop: Roseau (Dominica). Before reaching the capital of the island, I am crossing North-to-South an island with extreme tropical accents, deploying an exuberant nature that resists the human invaders, with a French presence that strives to expand its economic and social action. Following an open meeting with the honorary consul of France Mr Hervé NIZARD, his assistant Ms. Anne BRUNO and Mr. Stanislas RIENER, director of the Alliance Française in Roseau, I had the opportunity to meet fellow citizens around a very friendly lunch. The recurring themes of pension, health and complicate dealings with the French administration were discussed. Following these meetings, I went back to the airport (one hour trip) to depart to Barbados. Third stop: Bridgetown (Barbados). Evening arrival and dinner with the honorary consul of France Mr. Don CHEE-A-TOW and his wife Catherine. The next day, duty reception in the Barbados Yacht Club followed by a vin d’honneur. Afternoon visit to St - Nicholas Abbey North of the island, a former plantation and distillery rum from 1658, converted into a museum. After this pleasant visit, we departed to the University of the West Indies to attend the extremely interesting lecture by Dr. Hélène Zamor about Madras tradition in Guadeloupe and Martinique. Fourth stop: port-of-Spain (Trinidad). Arrival at 8:15am. After a transfer to the hotel to drop luggage, I went straight to the French embassy in order to have a working session with Ambassador Hedi PICQUART and his team. After a lunch in the company of embassy’s officials, I had a duty period in the premises of the former French Consulate. The issue of the closure of the Consulate and the need to perform civil and nationality paperwork in Saint Lucia was repeatedly raised, sparking indignation among some and misunderstanding among others. I could also feel this misunderstanding amongst the personalities that Mr. Ambassador gave me the honor of meeting the same evening at a cocktail arranged by at the French Residence. The next day, after another duty at the Embassy, I went to the Alliance Française of Port of Spain with Mr. Ambassador, Mr. Daniel WISCHNEWSKI (political adviser of the Embassy) and Mr. Patrick RASOANAIVO, Administrative Manager of the Alliance. We had the opportunity to value the works of Trinidadian artist Susan Wiltshire in an exhibition named 'Turquoise blessings', which she dedicated to the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. This last step marked the end of my journey.

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Income tax return 2015

If you reside abroad and your fiscal residence is outside France, you must file a tax return if you continue to receive income of French sourcing. These revenues are taxable in France, except as provided in the tax convention signed between France and the foreign country in which you reside. You can find practical information about the formalities to be completed and the fiscal calendar here.

At the Alliance Française Roseau (Dominica)

At the Barbados Yacht Club with. M. Don-Chee-A-Tow et M. Jacques Anfossy

Castries St. Nicholas Abbey (Barbados) Cocktail at the ambassador’s residence (Pot-of-Spain)

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Newsletter from your consular officer in the consular district of Venezuela – Trinidad & Tobago – Saint-Lucia

N° 5 – March - April 2015 . Brigitte Saiz

Breaking news: Civil records extract issuance by the French Central Office of Civil Status (SCEC) – Imminent closure of the central reception counter (Nantes)

As of 01 June 2015, Civil records extracts held by the French Central Office of Civil Status (SCEC) shall be exclusively requested:

Through the following web site: https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/dali. Application is free of charge

By regular mail. The SCEC central reception counter in Nantes will not deliver those extracts directly any more. The counter will still remain open to the public Monday to Friday, 14h to 16h, from 01 June to 03 August 2015. Leanr about the objectives of the Central Office of Civil Status and its archives.

CSG - CRDS : the Court of Justice of the European Union rules against France

The Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxemburg issued on 26 February a ruling which has the effect of immediately depriving France the right to withhold social security contributions on equity income when the tax payer is affiliated in another EU State Member social security system. It concluded that France had no right to levy the “Contribution Sociale Généralisée” (CSG) and the Contribution for the repayment of the social debt (CRDS) on the equity income earned abroad by a taxpayer not liable to social security taxes in France, to the extent that individuals affected do not benefit from the French social security. For the moment this ruling only applies to non-residents that are subject to the social security legislation of another EU State member. It also allows affected non-residents to claim full repayment of the 15.5% of CSG and CRDS unduly taxed on equity income since 2012, plus interest. It is now up to the French State Council to decide on the basis of this ECJ decision. Whether the scope of this case-law could apply beyond the EU is still to be determined. No prescription may in any event be opposed to the decision. The French government is already preparing itself to cope with the reimbursements. More information here (in French) Source: Français du monde-adfe

Friends of France, come and sign-up on France Alumni

Every year, nearly 300.000 foreign students come to France to continue their studies, this puts makes France the third most attractive country worldwide when it comes to university studies. The digital platform France Alumni is aimed to allow these numerous foreign alumni to stay in contact with France, its schools, its universities, its enterprises, and its cultural offering. With France Alumni, they will be able to talk to each other, and to gain access to a variety of training courses, scholarships, internships or employment offerings, and to be kept informed about French cultural and touristic events. This new portal also represents an opportunity for the international development of our enterprises and our universities, which will be able to establish new economic or academic partnerships, through these alumni. On 14 May, the French ambassador in Venezuela opened the portal specific to that country. But whichever is your country of residence, you are all kindly invited, as well as your students, members, colleagues or friends to open your account on http://www.francealumni.fr/en.

22nd plenary session of the Assembly for French living abroad

The 22nd session of the Assembly of the French living abroad (AFE) was held in Paris from 16 to 20 of March. The AFE, which brings together 90 Counselors elected by and from among the consular officers, is the interlocutor of the Government regarding French citizens established outside France and the policies related to them. If the previous session was primarily focused on the internal organization of the Assembly, this session represented the concrete start of its work. Internal rules of procedure were adopted, and the different committees met to deal with the issues concerning our fellow citizens living abroad: education, welfare, taxation, security, trade, applicable regulations, and the consular network. Discussions were held with administrative officials, as well as with parliamentarians representing the French established outside France. This session was also the opportunity to meet Mr. Mathias FEKL, Secretary of State for foreign trade, for the promotion of tourism and for the French living abroad. A first summary of the Assembly work was made with him. He confirmed his willingness to maintain the French exception in consular matters and announced that the project for implementation of the virtual Consulate or remote Consulate was progressing well. It will be soon possible to register online in the local consulate. The only grey area was the deferral of the end of the dual appearance for passports issuance, due to the terrorist attacks occurred last January in France. Most of the resolutions adopted in the plenary session were issued under the patronage of the group “Francais du monde, Écologie et Solidarité”, which is composed of 34 counselors; these resolutions include requesting the integration of very small business in to the support system established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (MAEDI), maintaining a budget to support employment and professional training or the request for creation of a Maison des Personnes Handicapées (MPH) for the French living abroad. The AFE counselors also requested, in the case where the

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Newsletter from your consular officer in the consular district of Venezuela – Trinidad & Tobago – Saint-Lucia

N° 5 – March - April 2015 . Brigitte Saiz

decision of the Council of State would lead to a reimbursement of the CSG-CRDS, that the French citizens living abroad outside the European economic area are not excluded from the decision. This session of the AFE was bereaved by the announcement of the attacks in the capital of Tunisia. A moment of silence was observed in tribute to the victims of the attacks around the world on the occasion of the arrival of the Secretary of State. To learn more and read the reports of the various committees you can visit: www.assemblee-afe.fr (in French) Source: Français du monde-adfe

Happy 25th anniversary to the AEFE

The Agency for the French education abroad (AEFE) is the oldest operator of the MAEDI, and the most important when it comes to budget and human resources allocated. The AEFE supervises nearly 500 schools in 135 countries, welcoming 330,000 students, 60% of which are not French. Freedom, tolerance, secularism, respect, are the values that the AEFE promotes at the crossroads of the cultures of the world. In its role of curricular continuity for expatriate students, for education in citizenship, for multiculturalism and multilingualism, the AEFE network is undergoing major challenges for the years to come: the financial resources of the MAEDI are decreasing, vs. a growing requirement of quality of education, evolving in an increasingly global and digital world. Miguel Bonnefoy, winner of the 2013 prize for young writer in French language and former student of Colegio Francia in Caracas, was one of three former students of the network to be guests of honor at the celebration of the anniversary of the AEFE hosted by the Minister Mr. Laurent FABIUS at the Quai d'Orsay on 8 April. The Director of the Agency, Mrs. Hélène FARNAUD-DEFROMONT in turn celebrated this anniversary on 10 April. It was a full day of meetings and sharing perfectly illustrating the networking concept: duplex with different schools from the end of the world, videos and radio sequences performed by students, tweets wall, and an orchestra of students coming from a dozen schools around the world. Roundtables have punctuated the day bringing together several quality stakeholders. Two highlights of the day: the speech of Lilian Thuram in defense of a "humanistic education" to be promoted by all means, digital or otherwise, which strives "not to reproduce the hierarchies of the past – namely –among others- the “superiority” of men over women or of a skin color over another". Then the speech of Cédric Villani, Fields prize of mathematics, a bright mind, who emphasized how much the use of digital tools required more than ever the development of a critical mindset. Find the relay of this event here (in French only) Source: several (particularly Français du monde-adfe)

Social housing in France (HLM) : online request is now possible

Any person residing in France who wishes to obtain a rent-controlled housing (“habitation à loyer modéré” or HLM) must prepare a dossier. The request that can now be made online in a dedicated web site doesn’t entail any charges (nor would it when done at the counter). It however requires having means to scan some documents, including those of identity. The candidates’ dossiers are examined by an awarding committee that prioritizes individuals in the following situations:

With disabilities or with dependents with disabilities,

In an emergency situation (having particular difficulties to find a housing either due to financial reasons, or to unhealthy housing, or to eviction or threat of eviction),

Hosted or housed temporarily in an institution or transitional housing,

Victims of violence within their couple (married, common-law couples, concubines) attested by a receipt linked to the filing of a complaint. The waiting period is calculated as of first request for housing in the French Department where the request was filed. This period varies from one Department to another in particular based on the importance and the nature of the requests by municipality. If the applicant hasn’t received any housing offer within the deadline set by the prefect, he can freely refer his case to a mediation board to enforce his housing right. If the request has been rejected instead, the decision of rejection shall be notified in writing to the applicant, who will not have the opportunity to refer to mediation board anymore. A housing request that hasn´t gone through must be renewed every year, or it will be cancelled.

Source: service-public.fr

COUNSEL section – links for better information (all in French)

Preparing your return to France Legal guide for French citizen living abroad

MonConsulat.fr (my French consulate website) Your rights and proceedings (French ministry of justice)

French taxes for French citizens abroad

Ministry of Foreign affairs agencies

Traveling advices

French Embassy in Venezuela

Custom clearing formalities in France

The Government's report on the situation of the French citizen living abroad (2014)

French Embassy in Saint-Lucia

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Newsletter from your consular officer in the consular district of Venezuela – Trinidad & Tobago – Saint-Lucia

N° 5 – March - April 2015 . Brigitte Saiz

CONTACT ME

Email: BsaizConseillereC@gmail.com On call through Skype: prior appointment through email (above). My user name in Skype is Brsaiz

You are receiving this message because your email address is mentioned in the consular electoral register. As per recommendations from the CNIL (French Data Protection Authority) when it comes to usage of electoral registers, you can easily stop further messages from your consular officer on demand, by clicking on the link

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