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

Number 9 Brigitte Saiz

First French passport request : no need for a birth certificate for French citizen born abroad As of June 1st, French citizen born abroad which birth certificate has been registered in the registry of the central civil status service of Nantes (SCEC) will not need to provide any birth certificate when requesting their French passport for the first time. The vital statistics verifications of the passport request applicants born abroad – in or out of the European Union – and registered in the SCEC are now performed through electronic data exchange between the different state services. The applicants will not need to provide a birth certificate issued by the SCEC.

Online registration in the Global register of French citizen living abroad It is now possible to perform an online registration in the Global register of French citizen living abroad, a major step among the administrative formalities that our fellow citizen formerly needed to perform in the consulate. Registration is done through the Service-public.fr web site. Less than twenty minutes are needed to fill out the online form, and to send the scanned copies of your passport or French ID, proof of residence in the foreign country, and ID photograph. The registration is not compulsory, but is strongly recommended, for security reasons (consulate can contact incumbents in in case of major event in a specific area), for applicants to accomplish citizenship duties in presidential, legislative or consular elections, and to facilitate other administrative proceedings (registered information can be used for other formalities, such as passport or scholarship requests, or when the incumbent returns to France).

The Commissioner for Rights has now a delegate for the French citizen living abroad As of 1st of March, a delegate for French living abroad has been appointed by the French Commissioner for Rights. The position has been assigned to Brigitte Bonnaud, a former foreign affairs inspector and general secretary of the foreign affairs council. Her office based in Paris is the last piece of Commissioner for Rights’ network, which is composed of 397 delegates in mainland France and French overseas dependencies, and is the interface between claimants residing abroad and the different Commissioner for Rights’ service departments. Her contact address: Madame Brigitte BONNAUD - Déléguée des Français de l'Étranger - Défenseur des droits 11 rue Saint-Georges 75009 PARIS - 09 Telephone number: +33 1 53 29 43 51 – or email.

Justice.fr: new web site for better access to justice This new web site is aimed to facilitate the access to justice in France. Users can look for information about their rights, download necessary forms, find the closest competent court or the contact details of a legal professional, obtain criminal records, get a legal advice, evaluate their right to a legal aid... all of which is now possible to be performed on the web site, that remains scalable; it will soon allow to perform paperless administrative processes.

A few hints for better conditions to return to live in France If your expatriation is coming to an end, or if your life plan involves a comeback to France, it is important for you to know the formalities and administrative procedures that you need to perform before leaving your current home country and as soon as you arrive in France. In that respect, the following portals will provide useful information:

Section "Le retour en France" (Coming back to France) of the French ministry of foreign affairs: for a better general understanding of the administrative procedures you need to perform;

Individualised interactive website to return to France: it consists of a survey allowing you to establish a personal journey;

retourenfrance.fr: this new web site supplements the other two sites by providing valuable tips for your well-being, and for a harmless social integration.

Get to know everything about emergency medical evacuation to France Every French citizen planning to travel abroad is responsible for taking out a repatriation insurance policy before departure. In emergency situations where there is a risk of death for a fellow citizen, the Foreign Affairs ministry can, even if insurance is missing, can arrange on an exceptional basis a medevac. You can find detailed information about existing repatriation modalities in Français du monde web site.

Silence deemed to be consent (French administration) : an online service to find the procedures involved

A new service has been put online by Service-public.fr to inform the public about French administrative procedures for which silence can be deemed consent. This online service can be used by individuals, professionals and associations. The list of procedures delivered by the search engine is nevertheless for reference only.

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

Number 9 Brigitte Saiz

Flat rental in France : some hints about the standard contract If you are about to sign a rental agreement for an empty or furnished apartment in France, you should know that a standard rental agreement has been implemented since august 2015. The French National Institute for Consumer Affairs addresses here the compulsory statements that must be included in a lease contract.

Fiscal obligations for users of online sale, rental, or shared services between individuals As of 1st July 2016, all transactions between individuals made through online services, and in particular for property rental (housing) or services sharing (ridesharing) will entail a message addressed to the users about their declarative obligations, specifically when it comes to the revenues generated by these transactions, as established in article 87 of the French 2016 Finance law. These reporting requirements are meant for French citizens residing in France or, if residing abroad, that sell (online) property or services located in France. Find additional information here (in French).

Start of academic year in France University registration fees and student’s social security insurance premium (215 euros/year) have been frozen for 2016 academic year. The registration fees are settled at 184 € for national License diplomas, 256 € for Master diplomas, 391 € for doctorates and 610 € for engineering diplomas.

New guide about the « Consular service assistance » The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (MAEDI) assists the mobility of French nationals abroad through the Directorate for French citizens living abroad and consular administration (DFAE), which drives a vast network of more than 217 consular offices. These offices provide to more than 2.5 million French citizens living abroad and to around 13 million French citizens traveling annually access to French public services in more than 160 countries. You can find the guide its consular assistance on the French version of the MAEDI.

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

Pôle emploi international

French Embassy in Venezuela

Custom clearing formalities in France

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

French schooling abroad: CNED and AEFE web sites

French Embassy in Saint-Lucia

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

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