The move is the easy part
Most Americans planning a move to France prepare carefully for the visible obstacles. The long stay visa, the lease, the school places, the shipping container. Those problems are well documented and there is an industry built around solving them.
The financial consequences of the move are far less documented, they arrive later, and they are the ones that cost real money. This page sets them out in the order you will actually meet them.
Nothing here is tax or legal advice. It is orientation, so that you know which questions to put to a qualified professional and in what sequence. Thresholds and rules change, and the ones that matter to you depend on your citizenship, your assets and the year of your move.
One: your US investment accounts
This is usually the first thing to break, and it breaks quietly. When a US brokerage records a French address, the relationship may be restricted, limited to sales only, stripped of mutual fund access, or closed outright. Policies vary by firm and change without notice.
The trigger is regulatory rather than personal. Serving a client resident in France can mean doing business in France, which brings licensing and supervision requirements that a domestic US firm has little reason to take on for a small number of relocated clients.
The practical consequence is that a portfolio you spent decades building can become unmanageable at the exact moment you need it to fund a move. We set out the mechanics, the four possible outcomes and what to ask before you go in a dedicated article: Your US Brokerage Account After Moving to Europe.
Two: opening a bank account in France
French banks are subject to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which requires them to identify US persons among their clients and report those accounts to the US authorities. A number of institutions concluded that the compliance burden was not worth the revenue, and either refuse American clients or accept them for day to day banking while excluding them from investment services.
You will usually find a current account. What you will struggle to find is a bank that will manage money for you. The detail is here: US Expat Banking in Europe: Navigating FATCA.
Three: what you can legally hold once you are there
This is where well intentioned decisions do the most damage. Having lost access to US products, the natural move is to buy what the local bank offers. For an American, that is frequently the wrong answer.
Most funds domiciled outside the United States are treated as passive foreign investment companies under US tax rules. The reporting is heavy and the tax treatment can be severe enough to erase the return. An American who solves the account problem by buying French or Luxembourg funds may create a larger problem than the one they started with.
There are structures that work. Identifying them is a question for a US tax professional working alongside an adviser who is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, not for a local branch manager.
Four: buying property in France
France remains open to foreign buyers, and there is no general restriction on Americans owning French property. The difficulty is not ownership, it is financing.
French banks do lend to non residents, typically with a larger deposit than a domestic buyer would need. For US citizens a second obstacle appears. A French bank arranging a mortgage will usually want a banking relationship alongside it, including assets under management. That is precisely the relationship FATCA makes them reluctant to enter. The file does not get refused for a stated reason. It simply stops moving.
The route around this is to attach a portfolio held by an SEC registered adviser to the file, which gives the lender the collateral relationship it needs without requiring the bank itself to take on a US person as an investment client. Two articles cover the mechanics: How Americans Can Finance European Property Without Full Cash Payment and Portfolio-Backed Financing for European Property.
Five: the tax layer
French tax residence is not decided by counting days alone. French law looks at where your home is, where you principally stay, where you carry on professional activity and where your economic interests are centred. Meeting any one of those can be enough.
Once resident, you are generally taxable in France on worldwide income. The United States continues to tax you as a citizen wherever you live. The France United States tax treaty and foreign tax credits exist to prevent the same income being taxed twice, and they largely work, but the interaction depends heavily on the type of income and is not something to improvise.
One item catches property buyers by surprise. France levies an annual wealth tax on real estate assets, the impôt sur la fortune immobilière, which applies once net taxable property value passes a threshold currently set at 1.3 million euros. Confirm the figure and the treatment of debt for the year of your move, because it changes the arithmetic of a large purchase.
The order to do things in
Twelve months out. Ask your US brokerage in writing what happens to your account under French residency. Establish where the assets would go if the answer is unfavourable.
Six months out. Engage a US tax professional who works with France, and decide what you will hold once you arrive. Do this before any forced liquidation, not after.
Three months out. If a property purchase is planned, open the financing conversation now. Attaching a managed portfolio to a mortgage file takes time, and it is far easier to arrange before a compromis de vente puts you on a deadline.
On arrival. Open local banking for daily life. Keep investment assets where they can actually be managed.
Common questions
Can an American get a mortgage from a French bank?
Yes, but it is materially harder than for a French resident. Beyond the usual deposit and income requirements, many French banks are reluctant to lend to US citizens because the relationship brings FATCA reporting obligations, and because the bank often cannot manage the investment assets that would normally serve as collateral. Files that stall for this reason can generally be reopened once an SEC registered adviser holds the portfolio.
Will my US brokerage account still work if I live in France?
It depends entirely on the firm. Some maintain full service, some restrict the account to sales only, some remove access to mutual funds, and some close the account outright. Ask your brokerage in writing about French residency specifically, before you move.
Why do French banks refuse American clients?
Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, financial institutions outside the United States must identify accounts held by US persons and report them to the US authorities. Many banks decided the compliance cost outweighed the revenue and stopped accepting American clients, or accept them for current accounts only.
Can I just buy French investment funds instead?
This is the most common and most expensive mistake. Most non US funds are treated as passive foreign investment companies under US tax rules, which brings heavy reporting and potentially punitive tax treatment. Speak to a US tax professional before buying any local fund.
Does France tax my worldwide income once I live there?
French tax residents are generally taxable in France on worldwide income. The United States also taxes its citizens on worldwide income wherever they live. The France United States tax treaty and foreign tax credit mechanisms exist to prevent the same income being taxed twice, but the interaction is technical and depends on the type of income.
Where Amberlake Partners fits
Amberlake Partners is the first wealth manager based in Monaco to be registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm is authorised and regulated by the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières in Monaco, and the SEC registration is verifiable on the regulator's public register.
That registration is what allows the firm to advise American citizens and green card holders living in France and elsewhere in Europe, with custody across Monaco, Geneva, Luxembourg, Madrid, New York, Miami, Dubai and Singapore. Amberlake is independent and works on open architecture, with no in house products to place.
Related reading
European Funds and American Investors: Why the Obvious Choice Is Usually the Wrong One
Other destinations
Americans Moving to Spain: Banking, Investments and Property Financing
Americans Moving to Italy: Banking, Investments and Property Financing
Americans Moving to Portugal: Banking, Investments and Property Financing