Valley International / moving to france
Opening French bank accounts and moving your money in
Every other step of settling in France waits on this one, and it is the step newcomers schedule last.
A French bank account is required in practice for a lease, a salary, utilities, social security reimbursements and most direct debits, and opening one is subject to anti-money-laundering identification requirements that a newly arrived foreign national satisfies badly: no French address history, no French tax number, and identity documents the branch does not see every day. The delay this produces has nothing to do with discrimination, and insisting will not shorten it; it is simply a compliance process running its course. Treat the account as the first task, not an administrative afterthought, and every other deadline becomes achievable. The same checks apply with the same severity when the account is for a new company instead of for yourself, and Forming a French company as a foreign founder covers that version of the process.
What banks actually ask for, and why
The recurring list is identity, address, and the origin of the funds. Identity is the easy part. Address is where newcomers stall, because proof of address usually means a utility bill or a lease, and both often require the account you are trying to open. The way out is normally a document from the employer confirming the posting and the French address, or the lease itself where a landlord accepted you without a French account. Origin of funds is the third question, asked more insistently the larger the transfer, and documents answer it — explanations do not.
Being a US person adds a further filter. Reporting obligations under the France-United States agreement lead a number of French institutions to decline US persons instead of carrying the compliance burden, and this is a commercial decision they are entitled to make. The page US persons in France: what you can actually own explains why that constraint comes before every question of what to hold.
The right to a basic account
French law provides a procedure by which a person refused an account by banks can obtain the designation of an institution obliged to open a basic one, offering essential services. It exists, it works, and it is slow. It is a remedy of last resort, not a first approach, and what it delivers is a functional account rather than the banking relationship an executive expects. Knowing it exists is nevertheless useful, because it means a categorical refusal is not the end of the matter.
Moving a large sum without creating a problem
Two rules make the difference. Move the money through the banking system, not by any other route: transfers between accounts in your own name across a border are entirely ordinary and are documented by definition, which keeps a traceable record without you having to build one. And keep the evidence of where the money came from, at the moment you have it: the sale contract, the employment agreement, the inheritance deed, the tax return of the year it was earned. Producing that evidence later, from another country, after several years, is materially harder than filing it now.
There is also a declaration obligation on physically carrying cash or bearer instruments across the border above a threshold set by law, sanctioned independently of any tax question. The threshold is not reproduced here; the practical advice is simply not to carry sums of any significance.
Keeping your home-country accounts
You may keep them, and you must declare them. Article 1649 A of the French tax code requires every account opened, held, used or closed outside France to be reported with the annual return, whether or not it produces income and whether or not it holds anything. Article 1649 AA does the same for life assurance and capitalisation contracts with a provider established abroad, and article 1649 bis C for digital asset accounts, with its own penalty scale at paragraph X of article 1736. The fine for an unreported bank account under article 1736 IV is €1,500 per account per year. Build the list in the first year and keep it current. Reporting foreign accounts, contracts and trusts in France sets out the full detail, and Becoming a French tax resident: the four tests that decide explains the date these obligations start from.
The order that works
Ask your employer for a letter confirming the posting, the French address and the salary, before you arrive. Approach a bank that has an international or expatriate desk rather than the nearest branch. Bring documented proof of the origin of any substantial funds. Open the account before signing a lease if you can, and expect it to take longer than anything else. And list every foreign account you are keeping, on the day you arrive, for the first French return.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it so hard to open a French bank account?
Because anti-money-laundering rules require the bank to verify identity, address and the origin of funds, and a newly arrived foreign national satisfies none of those easily: no French address history, no French tax number, and documents the branch rarely handles. The delay is a compliance process, not a judgement about you, and insisting does not shorten it. What does shorten it is arriving with an employer letter confirming the posting and the French address, and with documented evidence of where substantial funds came from.
Can a bank simply refuse me?
Yes, an individual bank can decline, and US persons are declined more often than most because the reporting obligations under the France-United States agreement are burdensome and institutions are entitled to avoid them. French law does provide a procedure by which someone refused by banks can have an institution designated to open a basic account offering essential services. It works and it is slow, and it produces a functional account, not the full banking relationship you might expect, so treat it as a remedy rather than a route.
How should I transfer a large sum into France?
Through the banking system, between accounts in your own name, so that the movement is traceable by construction, and with the evidence of origin assembled at the moment you still have it easily: the sale contract, the employment agreement, the inheritance deed, the relevant tax return. Producing that evidence three years later from another country is far harder than filing it now. Separately, physically carrying cash or bearer instruments across the border above a statutory threshold must be declared, and is sanctioned independently of any tax question.
Should I close my accounts back home?
Not necessarily, and the decision should not be driven by the reporting obligation, which is easily satisfied. Every account held outside France must be declared annually under article 1649 A of the French tax code, foreign life assurance and capitalisation contracts under article 1649 AA, and digital asset accounts under article 1649 bis C with its own penalty scale at paragraph X of article 1736. Declaring costs nothing. What matters instead is whether the account still serves a purpose and whether its contents remain suitable now that France taxes the income.
ÉTHIQUE ET PATRIMOINE, a French simplified joint-stock company (SAS), registered office at 41 rue Saint-Ferdinand, 75017 Paris, France, Paris Trade Register no. 803 414 796, VAT no. FR 40 803 414 796, registered with ORIAS under number no. 24001817 (www.orias.fr) — Financial investment adviser (CIF) no. 18002418, member of ANACOFI-CIF, a professional association approved by the Autorité des marchés financiers, and Anacofi-Courtage for its brokerage activity. Presence: Paris, Montpellier, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Shanghai and Dubai.
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Book a callWritten by Stéphane Molère, Président d'Éthique et Patrimoine — page last reviewed on 2026-08-30 — rules quoted are those in force at that date.