HOME CONSEIL RELOCATION

The uncertainties of immigration for 2025, 2025/01/07

While thepolitical uncertainty following the dissolution of the National Assembly on 7July 2024 seems to be resolved with the appointment of a new Prime Minister,uncertainties persist for the year 2025 concerning four sometimes littleconsidered areas of International Mobility. Our dedicated teamsresponsible for tax registrations, apostilles andlegalizations aswell as professional immigration procedures take stock/evaluatethe current situation/circumstances.<o:p></o:p>

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Theuncertain competence for apostilles and legalizations<o:p></o:p>

Oftenlittle known, the procedure for legalizing a document isnevertheless central to enabling other procedures to be carried out (visaapplication, social security affiliation, etc.). It then consists of affixing aseal on it, attesting to the authenticity of the signature of the author of thedocument as well as its function. This legalization by the Ministry of ForeignAffairs must also be supplemented by legalization by the Embassy or Consulateof the recipient country in France.<o:p></o:p>

When thecountry receiving the document adheres to the 1961 Hague Convention, thedocument can be apostilled. This is a simplified authenticationprocedure, in the form of a “stamp”, dispensing with legalization by theEmbassy or Consulate of the recipient country.<o:p></o:p>

Thus far,requests were made only in paper format. The legalization office of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs was responsible for legalizationrequests, while the apostille was affixed by the Court of Appeal.<o:p></o:p>

Initiallyscheduled for 1 September 2023, the entry into force of the reformannounced by Decree No. 2023-25 ??of 23 January 2023 "the objective of modernizing administrative procedures linkedto the authentication of French documents intended for foreigners" had been postponed to 1 January 2025.<o:p></o:p>

The newreform plans to:<o:p></o:p>

• Transfer the competence to legalize and apostille documents to notaries
• Simplify the application procedure by dematerializing it
• Centralize requests on a dedicated platform
• Create a national database of public signatures

Witha MinisterialDecree dated 23 December 2024, the reform has been postponed,respectively to 1 May 2025 for Apostilles, and to 1 September 2025for Legalisations.<o:p></o:p>

Our teamsare ready to adapt to these new skills and tools, maintaining daily contactwith the administrations in order to ensure the most reliable and rapid servicepossible.<o:p></o:p>

Theuncertain scope of tax registration<o:p></o:p>

With theentry into force of the withholding tax reform on 1 January 2019, HomeConseil Relocation has set up a tax registration service to allowfirst-time tax filers (foreigners impatriated to France or evenFrench nationals returning from a long expatriation) to accomplish adouble objective:<o:p></o:p>

• Proactively make yourself known to the SIP (Individual Tax Services) to obtain a tax number and access to the personal online account
• Adjust their withholding tax rate, the “default” rate applied by the FISC being the highest rate applicable to the range of their income declared via the DSN by their employer