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🇫🇷  Retiring in France from New Zealand

What New Zealanders need to know: the visa, how your pensions are taxed, what to do before you leave and every year after.

By the retireacross editorial team · Last reviewed

Visa for New Zealanders

Check the visa-free stay for your passport with the consulate before a trial stay. To live there you need a residence route:

  • Long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS "visiteur"): income from 1,478 EUR a month. Official page

With an EU, EEA or Swiss passport (for example a second Irish passport) you need no visa: you register as a resident instead.

Check your figures in the visa checker

Sources: French government: minimum wage raised on 1 June 2026 (checked 2026-10-22) · Préfecture des Alpes-Maritimes: visitor card, resources of 12 × net SMIC (checked 2026-10-22) · France-Visas (official visa portal) (checked 2026-10-22) · European Commission: Schengen visa policy (90 days in any 180) (checked 2026-10-22)

How your pensions are taxed

New Zealand has a tax treaty with France: it decides which country taxes NZ Super and your New Zealand pensions (usually your new country for private pensions, and often the paying country for government pensions). Ask Inland Revenue so the right tax is withheld.

  • State and government pensions: the treaty's pensions and government-service articles decide.
  • Private pensions: usually taxed in your country of residence.

Sources: Inland Revenue Tax Policy: New Zealand tax treaties (checked 2026-10-26)

New Zealand: You stay New Zealand tax resident while you keep a permanent place of abode there (a home you go back to), even if you are away more than 325 days; NZ Super paid abroad under general portability is paid gross. Official page

France's own rules: Residents are taxed on worldwide income at progressive rates up to 45%, plus social charges on investment income. France taxes high-value real estate (IFI, above €1.3 million) and has an inheritance and gift tax.

Before you leave New Zealand

  1. Check NZ Super before you go (New Zealand): To get NZ Super you must be ordinarily resident in New Zealand when you apply at 65, and meet the residence rule (10 to 20 years since age 20, rising with your birth date). If you plan to leave before 65, check how and when you can apply first. Official page
  2. Call International Services at least 6 weeks before leaving: NZ Super does not follow you automatically: apply to keep it going by calling Work and Income's International Services at least 6 weeks before you leave. It cannot be paid if you move to the United Kingdom. Official page

More for New Zealanders

Rules and figures change and we can make mistakes: confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor before acting.