France Services

[Blaze]

OH has been going through the hoops for claiming his pension for work done in France over the last 25 years and boy, is it difficult.
He was born in Hong Kong and trying to get a birth certificate has been extremely difficult, not helped by the fact that it has to be less than 3 months old.
However, he has finally sorted that out and received a copy from what is now China.
He has worked for different people/organisations, in various parts of the country under different employment regimes ....

After coming to a halt in the on-line application for his pension, he went to the Mairie who directed him to France Services, who help with many different areas of French administration and its red tape.
Absolutely brilliant. The conseilleur was wonderful and admitted that OH's situation was rather complicated ! We were there for an hour and a half and she negotiated all the different pension caisses as well as getting round the Livret de famille problem : as we have no children, it isn't an issue. He just needs to provide a copy of his birth certificate (again).

I believe France Services, which is a government organisation, has been mentioned in the Connexion. They offer a wide range of services (free) and advice, though if they can't help with something, they'll tell you.
Their website show the services provided and you can see if there's an office near you :
https://www.france-services.gouv.fr

[ajm]

Thanks for the link. Have found our nearest office about 5 minutes away. Didn't know it existed. Hope we dont have to use them.

[Chappers51]

I used a nearby France Service a few years ago when I was trying to sort out some administrative issue and was encountering endless problems on line. They sorted everything out very efficiently, I was most impressed.

[Bayleaf]

Ah, I wonder if this is what one of my elderly clients is using to help her through an extraordinary Court case today? She was a professional Falconer in the UK before she moved here 20 years ago. She still had some birds and researched thoroughly (as did the haulage company she used) to make sure it was ok for them to come to France. Most of them have since died of old age by now, having lived in large aviarys in her garden for the duration. She couldn't fly them anymore - too many trigger-happy hunters over here.

She had three left, after putting a sign on her door a few years ago saying "please do not bring me your injured birds of prey - take them to the vet". Well, the vet ended up using her as a stopover for birds they couldn't take!

18 mths ago, she was raided by the "goodness knows what" police - on a quiet Saturday afternoon. 11 apparently anti-terrorist/drug brigade dressed in black, carrying rifles, with a couple of Environmental peeps. They ransacked her house (she's a tiny little old lady for pete's sake), accusing her of housing dangerous men and drugs. Then they homed in on the three birds left in the aviarys - kestral and little owl, who couldn't be released back into the wild because of injuries from back along, and her large Eagle Owl, Sage, who was the remaining one from the UK who was born in captivity.

They accused her of running an illegal non-domestic bird establishment and the trading thereof. They roughly inspected the smaller birds, despite supposedly being "professionals", and when she tried to help them catch Sage by showing how it's done, they pushed her out of the way. She was distraught as you can imagine.

They took away her substantial pile of papers showing that she is the rightful owner of Sage, and loads of guff from the UK - which they've since lost. They only homed in on her as her name was on an invoice for shared bird food at another lady's house who had similarly been raided earlier that same day in another village. That other lady was being investigated over a complaint about horse negligence - she ran (definitely illegally) some sort of sanctuary with lots of birds, and various other wild animals - she regularly used my client's knowledge to help her with her birds.

18 mths later my 80 year old client is today attending a pre-Court session accused of being an illegal bird trader. Thankfully, she has two good translaters with her. Her story has been covered by journalists and she appeared in the Sud Ouest a couple of Sundays ago. Whilst I don't condone people keeping birds in cages - she had no choice with these few birds, especially when the local vet supported her.

I'm surprised she hasn't suffered an heart attack from this, as her birds "are her children" (only better, as they don't cause you grief!)

Sorry to digress - but I'm hoping that this France Service has been a great help. I'll find out later.

[Blaze]

but I'm hoping that this France Service has been a great help.

I very much doubt it as this isn't the sort of service France Service provide. She may be going through the CLCV, which is a bit like the Citizens Advice Bureau, but I'm not sure.

It sounds as if she had a horrendous experience and shouldn't be going through such hell. Keeping wild animals/birds is illegal in France unless you have a licence or right to do so. UK paperwork is probably worthless here, particularly after Brexit. It's good she's got the support of the local vet but perhaps it's her connection with the other woman that has led to her being investigated as well.

[Bayleaf]

Ah yes, CLCV probably. Yes, because her name was on that wretched bird food invoice, when the Gendarmes searched the other woman's paperwork. Needless to say, they haven't spoken since that day! Not sure how they matched up keeping some birds with drugs and dangerous men with guns though - that's still a mystery!

If she'd been told 20 years ago that she couldn't bring the birds with her, she'd have (tearfully) found some other solution. The fact that her local vet has always been supportive of her expertise and care will hopefully help - I believe he tried to 'phone the necessary dept that was dealing with the case. Even her Mairie is on her side.

Sorry, unnecessarily hijacked your thread!

[Polarengineer]

For those who are not too familiar wit France Services, I have a translation from a Dutch local paper.
Services that are particularly important for anyone in France.
"Quote"
Each France Services establishment shall house at least one expert representative of the following public bodies:

La Direction générale des finances publiques DGFiP - the tax authorities

L'agence nationales des titres sécurisées (ANTS) - provision of government documents such as driving license, carte grise, formalities in the sale/donation of a car, ...

Assurance Maladie (CPAM) - the general (basic) health insurance

Point Justice - questions about legal proceedings

Caisse Nationale des Allocations Familiales - child benefit

Pôle Emploi / France Travail - employment centre

La Poste - postal services

And since January 2024, a France Services branch also houses information officers in the field of:

Subsidies for energy-saving investments in your home (MaPrimeRénov'),

Subsidies for the adjustments of your home due to old age or disability to stay independent for longer (MaprimeAdapt'), as well as

Qualifying for the so-called Energy Cheque.


Hope it helps someone.

[Blaze]

You should be able to get a leaflet from your local Mairie though of course it will be in French.
The services may well vary from department to department. Ours has a leaflet that sounds a bit more user-friendly than the Dutch one !
There are lists of the services they provide, one of which is applying for a French pension which can be a minefield (I've mentioned this in my original posting).

Their services are particularly useful for those who don't have or use computers ...

[ajm]

As nearly everything has to be done on line it's good to know that you can actually speak to a real person

[Quiksilver]

As you say, Blaze, the services do vary from département to département. I tried to contact our FS in person in two local towns last year, after finding out the limited opening hours. The first was shut because the 'staff', all one of her, hadn't bothered to turn up, according to the Maire's secretary. The second, a week later, was closed for holidays (it was a pont). Not terribly impressive, tbh.