SPOTAHOME

Difficulty: Hard

Available banks: Crédit Agricole (CA), BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Caisse d‘Epargne (CE), Banque Populaire (BP), Crédit Mutuel, La Banque Postale, LCL

Types of bank accounts: Non-residential (compte non-résident), residential

Documents you will need:

For a residential bank account:

Proof of identity with a recent photo (ID, passport or titre de séjour)
Proof of residence (titre de séjour, visa, lease copy, insurance policy, bills less than three months old)
Work or student permit (letter from your employer/university)
Birth certificate (issued within the past 3 months and translated)

Non-residential (compte non-résident) bank account:

Proof of identity (passport, birth certificate)
Proof of residence (bills less than three months old)
Reference (recommendation from a bank)
Initial deposit (depending on each individual bank)

Waiting time:

Depends on the bank, your papers and your luck.

Spotahome’s Top Tips:

Expats all agree that opening a French bank account from overseas never works.
Translate all documents to French (better more than less).
Make sure you bring all necessary UK and French paperwork – the more you have the better.

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