Key things to know before moving

  • A long-stay visa (VLS-TS) is required for any stay over 90 days, applied for at the French consulate in Sydney, Canberra or via VFS Global before departure ;
  • The Working Holiday Visa (Programme Vacances-Travail) is open to Australians aged 18-35, valid 12 months, with the right to work for any French employer ;
  • The Australia-France 1976 tax treaty (revised in 2006) prevents double taxation through clear residence rules and a foreign tax credit mechanism ;
  • Australian driving licences are valid for 1 year after becoming a French resident, then must be replaced through the full French driving test (no direct exchange agreement).

Visa Options for Australians Moving to France

Australian passport holders can enter France without a visa for up to 90 days within any 180-day rolling period under the Schengen rules. Anything longer requires a long-stay visa (visa de long séjour), and you must apply for it at a French consulate in Australia before you leave. Switching from a tourist stay to a long-stay status from inside France is not allowed.

The right visa depends on what you plan to do in France. The table below summarises the most common routes for Australians:

Type Duration Conditions Best for
VLS-TS Up to 12 months, renewable Validated online with the OFII within 3 months of arrival Most expats settling for a year or more
VLS-T 4 to 12 months Temporary, no intent to settle, no renewal Sabbaticals, internships, study abroad
Working Holiday Visa 12 months, single entry Aged 18-35, AUD 5,000 minimum funds, no dependants Young Australians wanting to work and travel
Talent Passport Up to 4 years, renewable Skilled workers, founders, researchers, investors High-skill professionals and entrepreneurs
Étudiant Up to 12 months, renewable yearly Enrolment in a recognised French institution Bachelor's, Master's, MBA, exchange programmes
Visiteur Up to 12 months, renewable Sufficient resources, agreement not to work in France Retirees, remote workers, long-stay visitors

For the full breakdown of categories, fees and supporting documents, see our dedicated guide to French visa requirements.

Working Holiday Visa: the Australian Advantage

The Working Holiday Visa (Programme Vacances-Travail, PVT) is the single most popular route for Australians settling in France. The bilateral agreement was signed in 2003 and took effect in January 2004, giving Australians one of the most generous youth mobility schemes France offers to a non-EU country.

Eligibility and conditions

To qualify for the French Working Holiday Visa, you must:

  • Be an Australian citizen aged 18 to 35 inclusive at the date of application ;
  • Hold an Australian passport valid at least three months beyond the visa end date ;
  • Have AUD 5,000 minimum in available funds (bank statement) plus a return ticket or funds to buy one ;
  • Have no dependant children travelling with you ;
  • Hold private health and travel insurance covering the full 12 months ;
  • Have a clean criminal record.

The visa is granted once in a lifetime and lasts a maximum of 12 months from entry. There is an annual quota set by the French government, but in practice it is rarely reached and the visa stays open to applications throughout the year.

Work rights under the WHV

The PVT gives you the right to work for any French employer with no work permit needed. You can work full-time, part-time or seasonally, and switch jobs freely. The only practical limit is that you cannot work for the same employer for more than six months within the 12-month period — a rule originally designed to protect the youth-mobility spirit of the visa.

If you find a long-term employer who wants to keep you, you can switch from a WHV to a salarié or Talent Passport visa from inside France, with the employer sponsoring the application. This is one of the most common pathways from temporary to permanent residency for Australians.

Application Process and the French Consulates in Australia

All long-stay visa applications go through France-Visas, the official French government portal, then through a biometric appointment at a VFS Global centre, the official outsourced provider for visa services in Australia. The Embassy of France in Canberra and the Consulate General in Sydney handle the final decisions.

Where to apply

France maintains a network of consular posts across Australia:

  • Embassy of France in Canberra — handles diplomatic matters and oversight ;
  • Consulate General in Sydney — the main office for visa decisions covering New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and the ACT ;
  • Honorary consulates in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide — limited consular services, no visa processing ;
  • VFS Global biometric centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane — the actual application drop-off points for almost everyone.

Documents to prepare

The exact list depends on the visa type, but most applications require:

  • A valid Australian passport with at least two blank pages, valid for three months beyond your stay ;
  • Proof of accommodation in France (lease, host attestation, hotel for the first weeks) ;
  • Proof of sufficient resources (bank statements, employment contract, pension statements) ;
  • Proof of private health insurance covering your first months in France ;
  • A birth certificate avec filiation, ideally apostilled and translated by a NAATI-accredited translator ;
  • Recent passport photos meeting French biometric standards.

Processing typically takes 2 to 6 weeks, sometimes longer in the December-February peak. Once in France, you must validate your VLS-TS online within three months and start gathering documents for your French residence permit renewal.

Healthcare for Australians in France

After three months of stable, regular residence in France, Australians can apply for PUMa (Protection Universelle Maladie), the French universal healthcare coverage. PUMa reimburses around 70 % of routine medical costs and up to 100 % for serious long-term conditions (affections de longue durée). The remaining 30 % is generally covered by a mutuelle, a private top-up health insurance.

No bilateral social security agreement: what it means

Unlike the UK, Canada or the US, Australia has no comprehensive social security agreement with France. The Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) Australia signed with several European countries does not include France. In practice this means three things:

  • You cannot rely on Medicare for treatment in France ;
  • You must hold private travel/health insurance for the first three months, before PUMa kicks in ;
  • Australian and French pension contributions are not aggregated, so you cannot count years worked in France towards an Australian Age Pension or vice versa.

Getting your Carte Vitale

Your application is filed with the local CPAM (regional health insurance office). Once approved, you receive a Carte Vitale, the green smart card that handles reimbursements automatically at the pharmacy and the doctor. A GP visit costs €30 (€26.50 reimbursed by PUMa), and most prescription drugs are partially or fully reimbursed. Our step-by-step guide to applying for the Carte Vitale covers the documents and timing in detail.

Banking as an Australian: Easier Than You Think

Opening a French bank account is markedly easier for Australians than it is for Americans. France and Australia have no FATCA-style automatic reporting, so French banks treat Australian residents like any other non-resident customer: a few extra documents, but no compliance overhead heavy enough to make banks refuse you.

Most Australians choose between two routes:

  • Traditional banks (BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, LCL): branch-based, full service, ideal for mortgages or business accounts ;
  • Online banks (Boursorama Banque, Hello bank!, Fortuneo, BforBank): no branches, faster onboarding, often free account opening, perfect as a daily account ;
  • Neobanks (Wise, Revolut, N26): a French IBAN within minutes, useful as a bridge before your French address proof is ready, or as a permanent secondary account.

By French law, anyone legally resident in France has a right to a basic bank account (droit au compte): if every bank refuses you, the Banque de France will designate one for you. For the full version, see our guide to banking in France.

Taxes: the Australia-France Treaty

Unlike the United States, Australia does not tax its citizens on worldwide income once they cease to be Australian tax residents. That makes the tax picture cleaner for Australians than for Americans, but it also means you must cleanly switch your tax residency from the ATO to the French impôts when you move.

The 1976 treaty, revised in 2006

The Australia-France tax treaty was signed in 1976 and substantially revised in 2006 (in force 1 June 2009). It defines who is a tax resident of which country and assigns taxing rights for each type of income. The general rule: once you are a French tax resident (typically after living in France more than 183 days a year, or having your main home and economic interests in France), you declare your worldwide income to the French tax authorities, and Australia steps back except for income clearly sourced in Australia (rental property, Australian employment).

Where the same income is taxable in both countries, the treaty awards a foreign tax credit in the country of residence equal to the tax paid in the source country, eliminating most cases of double taxation.

ATO obligations and superannuation

When you leave Australia, the practical checklist is:

  • File a final Australian tax return for the year of departure, declaring the date you ceased Australian tax residency ;
  • Update your residency status with the ATO and inform any Australian payers (employers, banks, Centrelink) ;
  • Decide what to do with your superannuation: keep it in Australia until preservation age, or transfer it (the QROPS-style transfer to French plans is restrictive ; most Australians keep their super in Australia) ;
  • Be aware that Australian-sourced income (rental property, dividends, super pensions) may still be subject to non-resident withholding tax in Australia, with the French foreign tax credit offsetting it.

For the French side, our guide to paying taxes in France covers residency rules, declaration deadlines and the online impots.gouv.fr portal.

Driving Licence: 1-Year Transition, Then the French Test

This is one of the rougher edges for Australians. Unlike Quebec, which has a direct exchange agreement with France, Australia is not on the list of countries with simplified licence reciprocity. There is no bilateral exchange agreement, neither at federal level nor with any individual state or territory.

The one-year grace period

Once you become a French resident (typically the date you validate your VLS-TS or activate your carte de séjour), your Australian licence remains valid for driving in France for one year. During that year you can use your Australian licence as-is, ideally accompanied by an International Driving Permit issued in Australia before departure (free or low-cost from the AAA's state affiliates: NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAA, RAC).

After the first year

After 12 months as a resident, your Australian licence is no longer valid for driving in France. The only route is to obtain a French permis de conduire from scratch:

  • Enrol in a French driving school (auto-école) ;
  • Pass the theory exam (code de la route), available in English in some centres ;
  • Pass the practical exam (épreuve pratique), conducted in French ;
  • Budget €1,500 to €2,500 in total, depending on the auto-école and the number of lessons needed.

Our broader guide to driving in France covers the full procedure, the documents required and the timeline.

Working in France as an Australian

Outside the Working Holiday Visa, employment in France requires a visa that authorises work. The most common routes for Australians are:

  • Talent Passport for skilled professionals, researchers, founders, qualified employees of recognised companies, and investors meeting threshold requirements ;
  • Salarié visa when a French employer sponsors you and the contract is approved by the French labour authorities ;
  • ICT (Intra-Company Transfer) for employees of an Australian group transferring to a French entity ;
  • Profession libérale or entrepreneur visa for freelancers and self-employed workers, with a viable business plan and proof of resources.

Once employed, you fall under French labour law: 35-hour week, 5 weeks of paid leave, 11 public holidays, and the Code du travail protections that often surprise Australians coming from a more flexible employment culture. Social charges are higher than in Australia (around 22 % under the micro-entrepreneur regime, more in standard regimes), but they fund the comprehensive welfare system you have just joined.

The Big Move: Shipping Your Belongings from Australia

An international removal from Australia to France is among the longest in the world: 30 to 45 days by sea freight from Sydney or Melbourne to Le Havre or Marseille, plus 1 to 2 weeks of inland transport. Budget AUD 6,000 to AUD 15,000 for a small apartment by sea container, more for a full house. Air freight halves the time but doubles or triples the cost. Major Australia-to-France movers include AGS, Allied Pickfords, Crown Relocations, Grace Removals and Conroy Removals.

For French customs (douane), you will need:

  • A Certificat de Changement de Résidence from the French consulate that handled your visa ;
  • A detailed inventory in French with the approximate value of every item in euros ;
  • A copy of your visa and proof of French residence ;
  • Receipts for items owned for less than six months (a 20 % VAT applies otherwise) ;
  • For inherited goods, documents proving the relationship and date of death — duty-free import is allowed within one year of death.

All shipments must arrive within twelve months of your move to qualify for duty-free entry as personal effects. Given the long transit time from Australia, plan the booking at least three months before departure.

The Australian Community in France

Around 12,000 Australians are officially registered with DFAT as living in France, with the real number probably double that once short-stay WHV holders are included. The community is concentrated in three places:

  • Paris (especially the 11th, 15th and 20th arrondissements), home to most professional Australians and the embassy ;
  • The South-West (Bordeaux, Toulouse, the Dordogne), favoured by retirees and lifestyle migrants ;
  • The Côte d'Azur (Nice, Cannes, Antibes), with a smaller but visible expat scene around the marinas.

Useful contacts and associations:

  • Embassy of Australia in Paris: 4 rue Jean Rey, 75015 Paris — +33 1 40 59 33 00 ;
  • Australian Business in Europe (ABIE) France: networking and professional events for Australians in France ;
  • Aussies in France and Australians in Paris: large Facebook groups for practical advice and meet-ups ;
  • For day-to-day issues, our directory of English-speaking helplines in France covers emergencies, healthcare, energy and telecoms.