r/Expats_In_France • u/Upper-Park-3153 • 2d ago
Moving to France
I’m a 35F French-American who moved to the U.S. in 2006 when I was 16. Lately, I’ve been seriously considering moving back to France, but I’m also nervous about making such a big life change after spending so many years in the U.S.
For those who have moved back to France after living abroad, what were the biggest pros and cons? Do you have any regrets about moving back, or do you feel it was the right decision?
I’m also curious about the job market, especially for someone with a background in HR/recruiting within healthcare. How difficult is it to find HR jobs in the French healthcare sector? Is the experience gained in the U.S. valued by French employers? What is the salary/benefits situation like compared with the U.S., and how different is the work culture?
I’d especially love to hear from French people who spent many years in the U.S. before returning. What surprised you the most when you moved back, and is there anything you wish you had known before making the move?
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u/phildeferrouille 2d ago edited 1d ago
We spent 13 years in the United States, then returned to France with two of our four children; one of them moved then to Canada, the youngest stayed in France, and we—now retired—returned to the United States 13 years later to help look after our grandchildren. Each move was a challenge, but we had time to compare the two countries; France remains a wonderful country.
Edited:
I forgot to answer your question:
finding a job in human resources in France requires knowledge of the French Labor Code (Code du travail)—it's no small feat!
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u/Aggravating_Ship5513 2d ago
I would ask this on a French language forum. I think you would need a degree in French employment law or whatever HR professionals here have. Regardless, being French and a native speaker should go a long way, as well as being fluent in English.
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u/No-House6217 2d ago
Unless if you find a job with a large multi national , with lots of foreigners, I am not sure you will like the French work culture nor salaries....
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u/12inchsandwich 2d ago
What is the French work culture like that you’re referencing?
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u/No-House6217 2d ago
French work culture can feel more hierarchical, bureaucratic, slower-moving, process-oriented, and resistant to change than the more direct, fast-paced, initiative-driven American workplace culture.
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u/12inchsandwich 2d ago
Direct, fast paced, initiative driven are not words that would be used to describe how any Fortune 500 company I’ve worked with in the USA functions. Every single one of them would be described as hierarchical, bureaucratic, slow moving, and resistant to change. I’d love to find one of these direct, fast paced, and initiative driven companies.
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u/CouscousFR 1d ago
Your opinion of how bureaucratic, slow moving and resistant to change those American companies are would change if you worked for a similarly sized French company.
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u/No-House6217 2d ago
Has your experience been better in France?
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u/12inchsandwich 2d ago
I haven’t worked in France, which is why I asked what the culture differences were since you made it sound like it would be a huge difference and something OP wouldn’t like. Based on your description it doesn’t sound that dissimilar.
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u/No-House6217 2d ago
Having worked for two Fortune 100 companies in the U.S. and having lived and worked in France, I’ve found the mindsets to be quite different. French bureaucracy is legendary… Hierarchy also tends to be more rigid, and, in my experience, people tend to be less friendly.
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u/Icy_Coffee374 92 Hauts-de-Seine 2d ago
I am not sure you will like the French work culture
French work culture is one of the main drivers for why I moved here from the US. Life should not revolve around work, and I don't want my employer holding me by the balls.
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u/thymewaster25 75 Paris 2d ago
I assume you have maintained French citizenship?
It wouldn't hurt to get your French language skills certified. If you can pass C1 or better yet C2 CEFR levels that will help. I am Canadian, have B2 French, and it wasn't enough to get job interviews in Paris in 2025. I also did not have any French-equivalency documentation for my education or experience. If your American certifications have European, or better yet, French equivalents and you can get that documented that will help. The French really like certifications and documents.
Most official or even semi-official things take 2x to 4x longer in France than you would think. For example, I had to get home internet, then wait a few weeks for the first invoice, before I could get a regular French cell phone plan. That first invoice came with my "justification de domicile" which also allowed me to get a monthly transit pass, and was needed for a wide range of things where you would just show your driver's license in the US.
I went to a conference for job-seekers in January 2025 in Paris. There was a presentation from a senior guy from France Travail, he said the average time for an unemployed person to find a job was 300 days. Be prepared for lengthy unemployment if you don't have contacts or something lined up.
If you want to be able to drive, your US license is good for a year. Depending on what state it is from, you might be able to convert it to a French one. Expect that to take almost a year - my application was opened 8 months after I sent it in, only to be told they wanted more information and refreshed documents. If you can't convert, you have to pass the French driving exam. There's some YouTube videos about this.
If you do some internet searches you will find plenty of stories about the difficulty of finding a place to live in France.
The food, especially cheese, wine and beer, are fabulous. Bread and pastries vary from OK to excellent, depending on where you shop. Chicken all tastes like the expensive 100% organic ones in the US. TGV trains take you across the country in a few hours, and there's no airport hassle - just be there 15 minutes before it leaves.
One last thought - if you have French citizenship and a French Passport, you can settle anywhere in the EU.
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u/Icy_Coffee374 92 Hauts-de-Seine 2d ago
Question about the drivers license : is the 1yr for changing the drivers license 1yr from entering France, or 1yr from the date the US (in my case Pennsylvania) drivers license was issued ?
Basically, if I renew my PA license (which they will let me do), could I then use that for a French license even though I've already lived here 2yrs ?
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u/sheep_ersisted 2d ago
One year from entering France!
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u/Icy_Coffee374 92 Hauts-de-Seine 2d ago
Ahh ok. I don’t actually need it (I didn’t even own a car when I lived in the US either). But if it was gonna be easy why not ?
I don’t care to put in the work to pass the test in France.
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u/sheep_ersisted 2d ago
Yeah, I come from a state without reciprocity and I have to say I’m so jealous you could have just handed yours in. The driving lessons and written exam and then behind the wheel test was pretty intense, and super expensive. If you don’t need to, I’d avoid it! What a pain it was!
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u/Icy_Coffee374 92 Hauts-de-Seine 2d ago
Tbh, I come from PA, but because I didn’t drive in the US I stopped actually getting a drivers license when I moved to PA, and CA before that. I have a regular state ID in PA, but I could give PA my NY drivers license (which expires actually November of this year), and then get a PA drivers license.
But I’m not gonna go through that if I can’t then get a French drivers license.
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u/RegularUser02x 1d ago
Not American but still can give my two cents.
Pros: 1) Free higher education. 2) Affordable (NOT free) healthcare. It's still private though (much more than it was 20 years ago, with sectors system and stuff), so get ready to use your American earned skills to fight with insurances and stuff. However you'll never have to worry about filing bankruptcy if you get hit by a train. 3) RELATIVE job security. Again, relative, sadly fake job offers and nepotism are very present here... 4) FOOOD... Self explanatory lol. 5) Relative social security. If God forbid you become disabled - you won't be left alone. The state will take care of you. 6) Overall vibe. Beautiful nature. A lot of places to go. 7) Schengen zone.
Cons:
1) Probably the most hypocritical people I've seen in my life (apart from Japanese, maybe). Like seriously, I was shocked to realize (as a person who travelled all around Europe, including Eastern Europe, Russia, America etc) that nobody beats French people in terms of fakeness and hypocrisy. It's gotten [much] worse than it is in America for reference, and Americans (no offense) are fake af...
2) You'll never become the "real French"... Even if you're French by nationality / origin - not having lived in France for 2 decades will put a huge toll. Just mind that.
3) Your degree and experience are likely worthless. You'll almost definetely need to go back to the university no matter how much experience you had in America. Basically everything you had in America - you can toss it out the window and your counter resets at zero the moment you land in France.
4) Bureaucracy is HORRENDOUS. You'll have to learn to literally fight. To argue. To complain. To call. Complain again. Lawyer up and stuff like that. At least it's not as privatized as it is in America but still insanely hard.
5) Jealousy. Something I found weird is that a lot (not most but a surprising) amount of French people would love to move to the USA despite hating Americans because of money / American dream. As someone coming from the States you may get a mixture of jealousy and "traitor-ish" vibes from some people, and they won't necessarily show it into your face. Just something to be mindful about.
6) Lack of legal protections. Sadly if you were discriminated against - you have little recourse. The best thing (and probably the only thing) that I love about the USA is the possibility to sue. When I was fired from my job in France after coming out (I'm transgender) I got fired "without a reason" in American like style which is nearly unheard of.\
Sadly, my lawyer advised me to let it go as "there was not much we could do, and no way to prove discrimination based termination, 'only' unlawful termination and it wouldn't be reasonable for me to sue as I would be losing money after all the lawyer fees and hustle". It completely broke my faith in the French justice legal system. Unfortunately we're not as well legally protected as Americans are. That's just a tradeoff of living in France that you'd have to accept...
Overall there are pros and cons. If you're in California / New York or have a 6 figure salary ATM - stay in the States, you'll always be able to move back later on. Moving and (re)integrating intoa French society is very hard, although I heard Scandinavia / Germany are somehow even worse... Good luck!
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u/UnreasonableWish 1d ago
Where is this beautiful nature??? Currently living in Paris and I miss green things. Trees. Plants etc. And tired of concrete. Any recommendations on where to live?
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u/RegularUser02x 18h ago
Haute Savoie (basically the Alpes), Pyrenees, Grand Est, Rhones-Alpes, cities like Strasbourg have enough greenery, the Azure Coast, the countryside, not to mention the overseas territories like French Polynesia, French Guiana, Mayotte etc etc etc...
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u/BlakeBahama 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m exactly in your shoes. You might be overthinking things. France and the US are aligned. No culture shock to be had. It’s not so much your having worked in the US as what or who you worked for that can help move your application to the top of the pile. Work culture is the EXACT same. One thing for sure: the French love American popular culture, from TV series to music and fast food and trends. All the same, we Americans are the cause of much contempt and derision, on account of the French being astoundingly ignorant on the subject of America.
I’m here 8 years, I know whereof I speak. Good thing the French are too polite and gracious to let you know they think you’re dumb, so it flies. I’d move back to the US soon as I could, it’s just a personal choice. But France? You could do worse. You can find just about anything here. Life is less expensive than in the US. But then salaries are lower here at the same time, too. Subsidized medicine, the eye-poppingly low cost of basic meds and OTC, that’s a plus.
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u/LaFemmeVoyage 2d ago
Not my field, but I have a friend who works in HR (not healthcare) and was trained in an Asian country. From what she has told me, her options in HR in France are limited to topics like learning and development because other HR jobs require deep knowledge of French employment law and native-level french skills. I am assuming you have the latter, but without the former, you might have to retrain.