Retiring in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) as a French National: Stay, Taxation and Health

The Falkland Islands Government’s Customs and Immigration Service publishes visitor, work, volunteer, dependant, carer and permanent residence permits, as well as “Falkland Islander” status. None of these pages describes a permit or visa reserved for retirees, and the financial conditions of such a stay could therefore not be read. A French retiree arrives with a visitor permit: France is not on the list of nationalities subject to a visa and no electronic travel authorisation is required. The permit is stamped on arrival for one month at most, up to six months on prior request, with a ceiling of nine months in twelve (twelve months in twenty-four for relatives of a permanent resident). It requires a return or onward ticket, booked accommodation, sufficient funds for the stay and insurance covering aeromedical evacuation for at least 2,000,000 US dollars.

For a lasting stay, the permanent residence permit requires at least three years of residence, a criminal record checked over five years, a good level of English, suitable housing, health assessments showing that the applicant is not, and is not likely to become, a substantial burden on public funds, and a points system that takes in particular employment, income, age and community involvement. Applications may be temporarily suspended by official notice. The dependant permit is reserved for relatives of a permanent resident or of a holder of local status, and “Falkland Islander” status requires seven years of residence and British, British overseas territories or British overseas nationality. Any plan to stay several months a year should be confirmed before departure with the Customs and Immigration Service (+500 27340). The census of the territory counts about 260 retired people, excluding the Mount Pleasant complex.

The BOFiP list of tax treaties concluded by France, does not include the Falkland Islands, and the list of tax information exchange agreements does not cite them, whereas it cites several other British territories. The only tax treaty identified for the territory links the Falkland Islands and the United Kingdom (arrangement of 17 December 1997, HMRC); it does not bind France. It is therefore French domestic law that applies. Tax residence remains in France if the home or main place of stay, professional activity or centre of economic interests is there (article 4 B of the French General Tax Code, CGI); it is enough for a single criterion to be met. The territory does not appear on the list of non-cooperative States and territories, which is regularly revised.

For a person whose tax residence is outside France, pensions, retirement benefits and life annuities paid by a payer established in France are subject to withholding tax (article 182 A of the CGI). The base is the amount paid after a 10% allowance. According to the BOFiP, the scale has three rates (0%, 12% and 20%) applied by bracket, the thresholds of which are revised every year; the 12% and 20% rates are reduced in the overseas departments. The 12% bracket is final; the portion subject to 20% is credited against the tax due, calculated with a minimum rate of 20%. The taxpayer declares their French-source income and can claim a refund of excess withholding.

On the territory’s side, the Taxation Office taxes tax residents, present at least 183 days in the year, and lists pensions among the income to be declared: after an annual personal allowance, the next £18,000 are taxed at 21% and the rest at 26%. A retiree who spends fewer than 183 days on site remains a non-resident and benefits from an allowance reduced pro rata to their presence. How the territory and France combine their taxation without a treaty should be confirmed with the tax administration concerned.

CLEISS (the French centre for European and international social security liaison) specifies that a retiree who is no longer a French tax resident pays neither CSG, nor CRDS, nor Casa. If the retiree still depends on a French scheme, a health insurance contribution is withheld from their pensions, at rates of 3.2% on the basic pension, 4.2% on the supplementary pension and 7.1% for self-employed workers’ pensions. The guide receiving your pension abroad recalls the steps with the funds.

Form S1 is valid in the European Union and does not apply to this territory. CLEISS asks the retiree to check with the local institutions to what extent the local scheme covers their care, then to join the CFE voluntarily or take out private insurance. On site, the public service is free for exempt residents; a retiree who stays as a visitor is not exempt and pays for care according to the fee notice in force: £147.25 (about €175) for a doctor’s consultation, £522.70 at the emergency department, £1,591.15 per 24 hours of hospital stay. For residents aged 65 or over, routine dental care is exempt from the part A fees of the notice. See the page healthcare system in the Falkland Islands.

The first route is the CFE retirees’ plan, with a contribution depending on the country, age and family situation: it is reserved for people with no professional activity who receive a pension from a French basic scheme, with no health questionnaire, with immediate cover if membership takes place before departure or within three months of settling, then a three-month waiting period before age 44 or six months from age 45. The plan pages consulted do not mention medical evacuation. The second is international health insurance with medical evacuation, essential here: medical evacuation charged to a non-eligible person includes £727.10 of administration fees plus the medical flight at actual cost.

During a temporary stay in France, cover applies to holders of a French pension who can show at least 15 years of insurance in France; the accompanying spouse is not covered and must take out insurance before the stay. See the guide health insurance for retirees abroad and the page healthcare reimbursement in the Falkland Islands.

The Retirement Pension Scheme is a public basic pension scheme, funded by a weekly contribution of £47.80, split equally between the employer and the employee, for residents aged 17 to retirement age who earn more than £386.40 a week. The full-rate pension is £197.19 a week after at least 2,200 contributions; a partial pension is possible between 250 and 2,200 contributions, and the right to a pension is lost without refund below 250 contributions at age 70. Pension age depends on the year of birth (from 64 to 70, 66 for people born from 1965 to 1973) and can be deferred up to 70. It is not possible to contribute for periods before arrival in the territory; anyone who leaves it can continue to contribute from abroad by registering as a voluntary contributor, at £64.60 a week. The pension is paid by bank transfer to residents abroad.

A French retiree who has not contributed locally has no entitlement to this pension. Without a social security agreement, France does not combine local periods with French periods, according to CLEISS. A second scheme, the Falkland Islands Pension Scheme, is a defined contribution scheme, compulsory for most public servants and some private sector employees.

The official sources consulted publish no typical budget for a retiree. The Policy Unit keeps a quarterly retail price index (basket of 175 goods and services) whose latest quarter file could not be read, and launched a household expenditure survey whose results are not published on the page consulted. The “Economic indicators” block above gives updated inflation and exchange rates where they exist. The benchmarks available come from the census of the territory: 54% of households were owners, 36% tenants, and half of households paying rent or a mortgage reported £401 to £700 a month (about €477 to €833). The conversions on this page are based on the ECB reference rate.

Two items should be anticipated: health insurance with evacuation, whose price depends on age and contract, and travel, since leaving the territory by air gives rise to a departure tax of £40 (about €48), an amount that may be revised. Links run via a UK military service twice a week and a weekly link from Chile, according to the FCDO.

No official source consulted ranks localities by their appeal to retirees. A decisive criterion is proximity to care: the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Stanley (24 beds, a resident surgeon and anaesthetist, emergency department open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday) is the territory’s only hospital, and the emergency number is 999. In the “Camp”, patients have a medicine kit, telephone consultations and a flying doctor service, but the FCDO reminds readers that emergency response may be delayed outside Stanley. The Department of Health and Social Services also publishes policies on meals at home, sheltered housing and adult care needs assessment, whose access conditions were not read and should be requested from the department.

A retiree on the roll of French nationals living abroad depends on the French Consulate General in London, which France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) says is responsible for the Malvinas Islands; registration is valid for five years. The guide living in the Falkland Islands details the formalities, climate and risks.

Service-public indicates that, for a return from a country outside the European Economic Area, a CFE member can keep their expatriate benefits for three months after their return, under conditions. A retiree who is not covered by a social security agreement, which is the case for this territory, can apply for universal health protection with form S1106 if they meet the conditions of stable and regular residence. According to the CFE retirees’ plan page, no waiting period applies on return to France and the retiree automatically rejoins the general scheme. See the page return to France.