Retiring in French Polynesia: Local Pension, Mainland French Pension, Taxation and Access to Healthcare

A French citizen has no entry formalities or visa to apply for in French Polynesia, according to the High Commission, which requires a valid passport; the notion of a retiree visa therefore does not apply. What matters for a retiree is health cover and taxation, which fall to the Country. The page on living in French Polynesia describes the move, and the guide to retiring abroad the general principles.

As for budget, the ISPF (the local statistics institute) measures prices on average about 30% higher than in mainland France (+45% for food, +35% for housing, about 25% less for fuel), and moderate inflation. The Pacific franc has a fixed parity with the euro (IEOM, the overseas issuing institute). A flat-rate State territorial continuity aid (CFP 111,575, i.e. €935 per traveller for a return trip to mainland France) is open to residents of at least six months under an annual income ceiling of CFP 2,147,971.

Employees of the Country come under the CPS pension scheme, whose rules for the general employees’ scheme the CLEISS (the French centre for international social security links) describes for band A (up to CFP 269,000 of monthly salary):

• Age and length: 62 since 1 January 2023, with at least 60 months of insurance and the end of salaried activity. A full pension requires 38 years (456 months); the pension is then 70% of the average salary, calculated on the best 180 monthly earnings of the last 240 months, and otherwise proportional to the number of months contributed.
• Early retirement: from 57 with 33 years of insurance, with a reduction; from 55 with 33 years and 120 months of arduous work in the last 180; from 50 in case of incapacity, with at least five years of insurance.
• Band B: the part of salary above the band A ceiling opens points, equal to annual salary divided by CFP 1,024.74, valued per point according to a value revised periodically.
• Supplementary: joining the Agirc-Arrco is optional in the territory.

Self-employed people can join the non-salaried scheme’s pension voluntarily: basic pension from 62 with 5 years of insurance, full rate of 70% of average income with 38 years. The CPS also manages aid for older people, including the solidarity allowance for older people cited on the page of its solidarity scheme; the conditions are checked with it. Pension amounts are not put forward here for lack of an official scale read.

A retiree of the mainland scheme continues to receive their pension from the territory. For health cover, form 980-06 is completed in part A by the pension fund, then in part B by the CPS. According to the High Commission:

• Private sector: report the change of situation to the CPAM (local health insurance office) of Seine-et-Marne (the national centre for French retirees abroad, CNAREFE), then request the 980-06 from the national old-age insurance fund, stating the date of settlement.
• State pensioners: since 1 January 2023, management falls to the Rennes pension management centre, and since the end of June 2024 the 980-06 is requested through the secure messaging of the ENSAP account.
• On arrival: declare yourself to the CPS with the form, an updated certificate of entitlements, bank details, a birth certificate and an identity document. Processing time can reach several weeks: plan ahead.

The certificate of entitlements sent to the CPS is valid for one year at most and must be renewed at least a month before it expires, failing which the CPS suspends entitlements without notice. The High Commission also specifies that, for a State employee or a pensioner living in Polynesia, the residence check of universal health protection must only justify an activity or a pension, and above all not residence in mainland France, at the risk of being struck off.

Anyone domiciled in French Polynesia is subject to the territorial solidarity contribution (CST) on their pensions, retirement pensions and annuities, as a principle and in full, according to the DICP (the tax and public contributions department). When the paying body is established in Polynesia, it withholds the CST on salaries and pensions (CST-S) and the beneficiary has no steps to take. When the payer is located outside the territory, the holder is personally liable and declares their income under the CST procedures, notably the half-yearly declaration of CST on multiple sources. The State pensions service states that French Polynesia applies a withholding system for its pensioners.

As for French tax, the BOFiP (the French tax doctrine database) reminds readers that Article 83 A of the French general tax code provides a 40% reduction on the gross amount of pensions paid by a payer established in mainland France to people domiciled in French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands or New Caledonia, to offset the higher cost of living, and that salaries, pensions and annuities of French source paid to people domiciled outside France come under the withholding tax of Article 182 A. The tax administration publishes a “French Polynesia” page in its list of international conventions, the content of which could not be read. The pages consulted do not make it possible to say how the CST and the French withholding combine for the same pension: to be confirmed with the DICP and the non-residents’ tax office before departure.

The CLEISS adds that if tax residence is no longer in France, the CSG, CRDS and Casa (French social levies) are not deducted from the pension; a health insurance contribution is withheld if the retiree still comes under a French scheme, for example for their entitlements during stays in France.

State pensioners who live in French Polynesia can receive the temporary retirement allowance (ITR), a pension supplement requested from the pension centre through ENSAP messaging, with an annual declaration of residence and absences (State pensions service). Decree no. 2009-114 of 30 January 2009, whose initial version was read on Légifrance, sets the rate at 75% of the main amount of the pension for French Polynesia, requires actual residence of more than 183 consecutive days and suspends payment beyond three months of cumulative absence in the year, justified medical evacuations not being counted. The annual ceiling falls by €800 a year, from €7,200 in 2019 to €800 in 2027, then €0 in 2028, depending on the year of first payment: the allowance therefore decreases for new beneficiaries. The consolidated version of the text and the service conditions are checked with the pension centre. The order of 28 July 1967 also provides uplift coefficients for serving civil servants (1.84 in the Windward and Leeward Islands, 2.08 elsewhere).

Once the 980-06 is filed, the retiree is registered with the CPS, as are the dependants who live with them, for health care; the reimbursement procedures on site are requested from the CPS. The Centre hospitalier de la Polynésie française, in Pirae, has 490 beds, 45 of them intensive care; 15 is the emergency number. If care cannot be provided on site, the CPS organises a medical evacuation, whose cover differs depending on the scheme: the member of mainland Sécurité sociale (French social security) only has their return ticket advanced, with accommodation and meals remaining at their expense. A long-term condition is recognised with the CPS as well as with the mainland body in order to be covered at 100% on both sides.

During a stay in mainland France or in an overseas department, care is reimbursed by the fund that pays the pension, on presentation of the pension certificate; a hospitalisation of more than a month requires prior agreement after medical review. For unforeseen care in another country, costs are advanced then reimbursed by the CPS under Polynesian legislation. The non-pensioned spouse is not covered in France: “healthcare and hospitalisation” insurance is advisable before the stay. Members of the CFE (Caisse des Français de l’Étranger, the voluntary health insurance scheme for French people abroad) send their claims for care received in France to the CPAM of Seine-et-Marne; a resident’s eligibility is confirmed with the CFE. See also a retiree’s health insurance abroad and the page on healthcare reimbursement in French Polynesia.

Tahiti concentrates services: the census counts about 210,000 inhabitants in the Windward Islands, nearly 30,000 of them in Faa’a and nearly 29,000 in Punaauia, and about 18,000 in Moorea, within reach of the CHPF. The Leeward Islands (36,000 inhabitants) and the remote archipelagos depend more on medical evacuation to Papeete, which involves thousands of patients between islands according to the IGAS/IGA/IGF report. For someone on regular treatment, proximity to a hospital therefore weighs in the choice of place. Protecting yourself from dengue and ciguatera, heat and coral wounds is among the Health Directorate’s advice.

For a return to mainland France, universal health protection requires proof of stable and regular residence in France; you must contact the fund of your place of residence to reopen your entitlements. The guide to retirement insurance abroad complements these benchmarks, and the glossary defines form S1, which is specific to the European Union and irrelevant here; Expavy offers a situation check to compare supplementary insurance options.