Expat Community > France

caramellos
Joined 2015
Posts: 5

Pregnant and Moving to France

9 years ago

Hi,

I am an American, 10 weeks pregnant living in the UK currently with dual US/UK citizenship. As my family is in the US and my partner's family is in France, we have no one in the UK really but each other, so we've decided we want to move to be closer to family and France is the most logical choice as neither of us have to get a visa to settle there.

We are considering moving to the south east of France, preferrably within 2 hours drive of Beziers but we aren't 100% on where. We are both in IT, with me being a system admin and my partner being a senior java engineer. We've seen there's a technology hub around Sophia Antipolis which may be a bit far from where we're looking, but we may consider it if that's where the jobs are and it pays well enough.

There are a few worries and uncertainties for us, which can be summed up in the following:

1. We have a mortgage on our current house, we know it's possible to sell at a small profit (though possibly not to the full extent of our initial downpayment on the house), but we're not sure when, and if we should sell before securing employment or purchasing a house in France. If we did this, we would downsize our belongings and rent until we found something, but would it make more sense to sell our house after we've already confirmed employment and housing in France and just move straight across? We live in a big city with a housing crisis already, so I do not doubt we will be able to take our house from advertising to completion within a few months, but there is the worry of needing to get everything done in time so that we do not end up spending or wasting excess money. Our budget will be tight and all money from our house here will go into moving and purchasing a place in France.

2. Is it sensible to make this move before or after the baby comes? I worry about setting up French antenatal care, I have been learning French for the past year but I would still not be able to arrange these appointments myself in French, though my partner or a relative potentially could. At the same time though, is there any sense in sitting around waiting for 3 months? If I give birth here, it will just be my partner and I raising the baby, to have his family nearby for moral support would be far more preferred.

3. Are there any limitations for me as a dual UK/US citizen that would prevent me from settling in France? My partner and I are unmarried and it may be a couple of years before we can do so, but with my UK citienship I should currently be allowed under EU law to come and go freely in the EU.

Any advice on any or all of these points would be deeply appreciated!

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