Newsletter from your consular officer in the consular district of Venezuela – Trinidad & Tobago – Saint-Lucia N° 6: May- June 2015
Brigitte Saiz
.
"Aides en poche" : new pocket mini-guides collection from the Ministry of Social and Health Affairs The French Ministry of Social, Health and Women Rights Affairs is launching a new pocket-size booklet collection called « Aides en poche » in alliance with Documentation Française. This collection aims to bring to the attention of specific audience (adults with disabilities, elderly people, etc.) the social allowances and mechanisms that they are be entitled to (only valid in French territory). The booklets specify the conditions for applying to the allowances and benefits available, as well as the steps to perform, the allowance amounts, their duration, and the contact persons through which the applicants may assert their rights. For example, the guide for disabled adults social benefits evaluates the different benefits available : to guarantee a minimum income, employment programmes, housing benefits, or aids to compensate for disabilities; it provides details about the contact points, beneficiaries, and welfare lifetime, requirements, and allowance and social benefit amounts, etc. The different booklets describe real-life examples and specific focus areas. They are available on sale in book stores and at the Documentation française portal. Source : Ministère des Affaires sociales, de la Santé et des Droits des femmes
Family allowances to be adjusted based on income thresholds as of 1st July 2015 Of interest for French expatriates: A decree has been published in the French Official Bulletin on 5 June 2015 that defines the family allowances and age additions, which amounts will vary based on household income. The allowance scale will be effective as of 1 July 2015. 1. For household income below or equal to 55.950 Euros with a dependent child supplement of 5.595 euros each, the rate (calculated as a percentage of the monthly family allowance assessment base) will be of 32% for the second dependent child, and 41% for every subsequent dependent child. Age addition will be 16% of the monthly family allowance assessment base. 2. For household income above 55.950 and below or equal to 78.300 Euros (with a dependent child supplement of 5.595 euros each), the rate will be of 16% for the second dependent child, and 20,5% for every subsequent dependent child. Age addition will be 8% of the monthly family allowance assessment base. 3. For household income above 78.300 Euros (with a dependent child supplement of 5.595 euros each), the rate will be of 8% for the second dependent child, and 10,25% for every subsequent dependent child. Age addition will be 4% of the monthly family allowance assessment base. You can find additional information (in French) in the following site: Service-public.fr. Source: service-public.fr
Certified copies should only be requested in certain cases As per a ministerial reply issued on 17 March 2015, the French minister for the Decentralization and Public Service reminded that photocopies of original documents must be accepted by the public administration as long as they are readable. The administrative unit could request, when the authenticity of the rendered original document or the photocopy cannot be established, that the original is produced through registered letter with an acknowledgement of receipt. The proceedings deadlines are suspended until the requested documents are delivered. Documents’ certified copies could still be mandatory when requested by foreign authorities. Authorized bodies, in particular municipal services, must then certify all submitted documents. Likewise, French administrative bodies could request certified copies of documents delivered by foreign administrative bodies. In addition, certain copies or certified copies could be only delivered by certain administrative or judicial bodies or by legal professionals. This is the case of judicial or authentic instruments, which are within the jurisdiction of court registries or judicial officers (for instance notary, usher). As per a decree issued on 1 October 2001, French public administrative bodies cannot request applicants to deliver certified copies for documents issued by another French administration. The interdiction applies to: State and public administrative bodies, Regional bodies and related public entities, Managers of public services, Social Security entities, All other state controlled entities. Source: service-public.fr
Civic service: now possible for all French young people as of 1 June 2015 All 16 to 25 year old youngsters can, as of 1 June 2015, can request to do civic service (whether they are graduated or not). The president of the French Republic announced this during a press conference on 5 February 2015. Solidarity, health, education for all, culture and leisure, environment, memorial
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Newsletter from your consular officer in the consular district of Venezuela – Trinidad & Tobago – Saint-Lucia N° 6: May- June 2015
Brigitte Saiz
.
and citizenship...: civic service is aimed for young people wishing to commit to public interest for a period ranging from 6 to 12 months. No particular training, competence, professional or voluntary experience is requested. Requirements are To be aged between 16 and 25 years old, and to be a French citizen (or native from a European country). Youngsters wishing to sign up should apply for civic service online. Source: service-public.fr
Who can apply for a French « frequent traveler » passport? As of 2 april 2013, you can request a 48 pages passport delivery (16 more pages than the classic one) if you make frequent travels abroad. The frequent traveler passport is aimed to people traveling abroad very frequently, in particular out of the Schengen territory, for professional reasons (for example). Applicants must provide, in addition to documents for a classic passport application, solicitors must provide a written motivated request, made on plain paper. The request will be probably considered substantiated if –for instance- you request a new passport after having been awarded an anticipated passport renewal less than 10 years ago (due to lack of available pages). Source: service-public.fr
Pursuit of post-bachelor studies in France: an upper class standing in the French bachelor degree can pay well! You wish to study in France after the French baccalaureate? If you had good results, financial benefits are offered to you: besides the merit grant accessible to social grant holders (which was maintained in 2015 even if the amount represents half of the sum assigned previous years), the French banks strive to seduce the new high school diploma holders who become their clients by offering an "entrance gift", which varies depending on the upper class standing obtained: such entrance gift can range from a free bank card during one year, up to a 160-euro bonus. For additional information, see this article of the newspaper Le Parisien (in French).
Aids and scholarships for (European) high school students in France Allowance type Social grants (BCS)
Merit grant
Allowance for diversity in the public service International mobility grant Emergency aid
Scope Students facing economic hardship to continue studies Students having obtained « Très bien » mention in the French bachelor exams
Maximum age 28 years, with exceptions 28 years, with exceptions
Students preparing a public service entrance exam
-
Students wishing to continue university studies or a trainee period abroad (outside France) Students facing financial difficulties
28 years, with exceptions 35 years
Annual amount Up to 6.647 €
Possible combination with
Requirements (in French)
All the other aids listed below, except international mobility grant All other aids listed except allowance for diversity in the public servide
BCS
Social grant (BCS)
Diversity allowance
Up to 3.600 €
Social and merit grants, Full year emergency aid
Ingternational mobility grant
Up to 4.768 €
In case of one-off aid: Social and merit grants, International mobility grant
Emergency aid
900 to 1.800 € depending on situation 2.000 €
Merit grant
Source: service-public.fr
Simplifications : 40 new measures announced with implications to individuals During a press conference held on 1 June 2015, the secretary of state for State Reform and Simplification announced 40 new simplification measures for individuals (a few of which are already being implemented) as well as 50 measures related to companies. Following are some of the measures that could be of interest for French citizen living abroad: Citizenship Online request of voting proxy – Due date: 2016, Paperless delivery of voting proxies (in order for French living abroad to vote in France) – Due date: October 2015, Automatic link between removal from register of French citizen living abroad and removal from electoral consular register – Due date: January 2016, Recording in the Register of French citizen living abroad without being automatically registered in the electoral consular register – Due date: January
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Newsletter from your consular officer in the consular district of Venezuela – Trinidad & Tobago – Saint-Lucia N° 6: May- June 2015
Brigitte Saiz
.
2016, Better access to administrative information by redesigning the administration unique website Service-public.fr – Due date: December 2015, Improvement of access to judicial information (relevant jurisdiction and addresses, need or not for an attorney representation, online implementation of a simulator in order to check eligibility for a legal aid...) – Due date: End 2015, Deployment of the Marianne framework in the consulates – Ten pilot consulates by end of summer 2015 Taxes Paperless pay slips for public agents – Due date: Experimental deployment in 2016. Employment Online registering in Pôle emploi - Due date: September 2015. Driving Real time access to driving permit exam results and temporary et provisional permit on smartphone – Due date: June 2015, Online contest of a radar fine if you were not driving the ticketed vehicle – Due date: 2016. Pension Generalization of the single point of contact to request the supplementary pension – Due date: March 2016, Simulation to calculate pension rights on the Agirc-Arrco website for the persons insured under the general scheme – Due date: end 2015, On line request of tax certificate in the Agirc-Arrco website – Due date: June 2015. Persons with disabilities New personalized file request for persons with disabilities - Due date: End 2015, End of the disability card production of the disability card to the CAF (Family Allowance Service) when requesting a Disabled Adult Allowance (AAH) – Due date: End 2015, Extension from 3 to 6 months of the validity period of the medical certificate which serves as proof for the requests performed before the Departmental House for disabled persons (MDPH) – Due date: June 2015, Young citizens Specific online service to rights of French citizens younger than 25 years – Due date: January 2016. Source: service-public.fr
COUNSEL section – links for better information (all in French)
Preparing your return to France MonConsulat.fr (my French consulate website) French taxes for French citizens abroad Ministry of Foreign affairs agencies Traveling advices French Embassy in Venezuela
CONTACT ME
Legal guide for French citizen living abroad Your rights and proceedings (French ministry of justice) Custom clearing formalities in France The Government's report on the situation of the French citizen living abroad (2014) French Embassy in Saint-Lucia
Email: BsaizConseillereC@gmail.com On call through Skype: prior appointment through email (above). My user name in Skype is Brsaiz
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