Retiring in the Pitcairn Islands as a French National: Stay, Taxation of the Pension and Health

The immigration policy of the Government of the Pitcairn Islands includes no visa specific to retirees. Four routes emerge from the documents read. The long-stay visitor visa allows a stay of six months, with an extension of six months at most, but its holder cannot work. The seasonal resident visa is aimed at someone who intends to spend up to six months per 12-month period on the island; it is valid for five years and extendable, but the seasonal resident is not a permanent resident and is not entitled to the latter’s benefits. The settlement visa (two years) requires the intention to settle permanently, with a close relative lawfully resident on the island (spouse or partner, child, parent, brother or sister) or skills useful to the community. Permanent residence can be requested after more than two years of lawful residence, the Governor being able to defer the decision by 12 months.

For each of these routes, the applicant must meet requirements of character, health, travel and health insurance, and financial means (sufficient funds or a guarantor), unless the Governor grants a waiver; the Governor rules after consulting the Island Council, taking the public interest into account. The health requirement is the one that weighs most on a retirement plan: the applicant must not be a danger to public health nor place significant costs or demands on the island’s health services, the length of stay and the arrangements already made to meet their health needs being taken into account. The financial conditions of these visas are not quantified in the policy read; they should be clarified with immigration. The file includes a medical examination, a chest X-ray certificate and police certificates. Fees are set by a government notice. See the page living in the Pitcairn Islands.

The BOFiP list of tax treaties concluded by France does not include Pitcairn, and the entry on the United Kingdom mentions no extension to a territory. The list of tax information exchange agreements names several British territories, but not Pitcairn. Tax domicile remains defined by article 4 B of the CGI (the French general tax code) (home or main place of stay, professional activity, centre of economic interests); a single criterion is enough to be domiciled in France. A retiree who keeps their home in France may therefore remain tax-domiciled there.

For a retiree who has become a non-resident, the BOFiP specifies, outside any treaty, that French-source pensions, that is, those paid by a payer established in France, are subject to a withholding tax levied by the pension fund. The base is the amount after a 10% allowance, the scale is progressive by brackets set each year by order, the first portion is taxed at a rate that discharges the tax and the upper portion at a rate that is credited against a tax calculated with a minimum rate. The taxpayer may request the average tax rate if it is more favourable, and must declare all of their income taxable in France and the total withholding suffered. Thresholds change each year: they are not written here.

On the local side, the list of ordinances published by the government includes no income tax ordinance; the local tax regime should be confirmed with the Pitcairn Island Office in Auckland. A retiree who is no longer a tax resident in France pays neither CSG, nor CRDS, nor Casa, according to CLEISS (the French centre for European and international social security liaison); a health insurance contribution is still withheld from the pensions of people attached to a French scheme. To receive your pension abroad, the guide receiving your pension abroad details the steps.

The S1 form exists for European Union countries and equivalents; Pitcairn is not one of them, and CLEISS records no agreement. CLEISS indicates that it is up to the retiree to check with local institutions to what extent the local scheme covers their care, and that they may join the CFE voluntarily or take out private insurance. The CFE retirees’ plan is aimed at holders of a French basic scheme pension, with no health questionnaire; it covers only care provided abroad, and care in France remains covered by the French compulsory scheme. The price is on quotation, and the availability of the plan for this destination should be checked with the CFE. The guide retiree health insurance abroad and the page healthcare reimbursement in the Pitcairn Islands detail the cases.

On site, the government clinic has a doctor and a nurse, with no hospital: hospital care takes place in Tahiti or New Zealand. The seasonal resident does not have the benefits of the permanent resident, and the new arrival in the settlement period pays full price at the clinic and must keep private insurance covering off-island care and evacuation. Only the permanent resident has access to reduced rates and to funding of off-island care. The FCDO stresses that insurance matters more for someone with a pre-existing health problem. During a temporary stay in France, cover applies to holders of a French pension showing at least 15 years of insurance in France; the spouse who accompanies them is not covered and must take out their own insurance, and a hospital stay of more than one month requires prior recognition.

The Social Welfare Benefits Ordinance allows the Council to grant a pension to permanent residents who ordinarily reside on the island, from age 65, after twelve months of continuous residence where they have lived on the island for more than five years in the last twenty, or three years otherwise. The rate is set by the Governor, and payment is suspended after seven months of continuous absence from the island, then ended after two years. A French national who settled recently therefore does not meet these conditions. CLEISS specifies that, without an agreement, local insurance periods do not count towards the French pension and that each country examines pension rights separately.

The government’s social protection policy also provides case-by-case support to islanders in difficulty, after examination of their financial situation. The sources read describe no specific arrangement for a foreign retiree who is not a permanent resident.

The official sources read publish no rents, property prices or price index for the territory. The homestays, studios and independent bungalows offered to visitors are priced per day and per person on the official tourism website, with weekly or monthly rates for long stays. The government publishes a communal housing policy, whose conditions were not read. Everyday shopping is done at the Adamstown general store; other goods travel by container, and international mail goes through New Zealand with a delay of several weeks. The currency is the New Zealand dollar, and the island’s treasury handles banking operations. Importing alcohol without a licence, honey or used beekeeping products is prohibited (FCDO, the British foreign office).

The official sources rank no neighbourhoods: community services are grouped in Adamstown. For a retiree, the choice comes down mainly to accessibility. The FCDO specifies that the roads are mostly dirt tracks, that landing is by launch, which can be difficult for people with reduced mobility, that cliff paths are narrow and slippery, and that cyclones do not normally affect the island. The health centre is the only care facility. Evacuations depend on the supply ship or another passing boat. A trial stay, on the long-stay visitor visa or the seasonal resident visa, makes it possible to check these constraints before committing. To compare insurance options, the guide expat health insurance is a starting point.

On return, service-public states that a CFE member may keep their expatriate benefits for three months under conditions. A retiree with no rights open must show three consecutive months of stable residence in France to submit their application for universal health protection (form S1106); the CFE specifies that there is no waiting period on return for its members. A retiree of the general scheme living outside the European area falls, according to CLEISS, under the CNAREFE. See the page return to France.