Retiring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Stay, Pension, Taxation and Health

French nationals are subject to a visa requirement, to be requested online or from the DRC embassy in Paris, with a passport valid for at least six months from entry; timescales can be long. A tourist visa covers less than six months, and beyond that a residence permit is requested in the DRC from the General Directorate of Migration (DGM) or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France Diplomatie). The record describes no visa for retirees or resource condition: the DGM site was not responding at the time of writing, and these conditions should be confirmed in writing with the DRC embassy and the DGM.

On arrival, the yellow fever vaccination record is checked on every flight, and travellers without proper documents are turned back with no possible intervention by the French embassy. French and international driving licences are not valid: a Congolese licence is obtained from CONADEP. The embassy recommends registering on the register of French nationals living abroad for any stay of more than six months; see also living in the DRC.

Assurance retraite pays the pension every month in more than 180 countries, into a French account or, on request, into an account abroad; you must report your departure and your contact details to your regional fund. Aspa (the solidarity allowance for older people) and the supplementary disability allowance are no longer paid if you leave for abroad, as they require residence in France.

Every year, a life certificate must be completed by the competent local authority, then returned online or by post to the overseas pension processing centre in Tours, within two months; without transmission, payment is suspended. The interactive map of Assurance retraite indicates the authorised authority in the DRC. See receiving your pension abroad.

For a tax home outside France, the CSG, CRDS and Casa (French social charges and a solidarity contribution on pensions) are not deducted; a health insurance contribution of 3.20% may be deducted if the retiree comes under a compulsory French scheme, or if they are a foreign national with 15 years of old-age insurance in France. See insurance for retirees abroad.

CLEISS specifies that France is linked to about forty States and territories by social security agreements; the DRC is not one of them, and no presentation page of the Congolese scheme was found on the CLEISS site. No totalisation of periods is therefore organised: each pension follows the rules of the institution that alone pays it.

For those who have also contributed in the DRC, the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) opens the right to the old-age pension at 60, with at least 180 months (15 years) of insurance and the cessation of any salaried activity; compulsory retirement is set at 65. A voluntary early pension is possible from 55 with 180 months, reduced by 5% per year of anticipation. Below 180 months, a single allowance is paid, and an insured person aged at least 60 can buy back up to five years of missing contributions. The pension is paid quarterly in arrears; the amount does not appear on the page read and should be requested from the CNSS (contact@cnss.cd).

The page on international tax treaties on impots.gouv.fr lists no treaty with the DRC, and the BOFiP annex (the French tax administration’s official doctrine), which flags only the agreements in force, does not mention it either; the ‘Treaties and agreements’ database of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs makes it possible to confirm this point. Without a treaty, the domestic law of each country applies and the risk of double taxation cannot be ruled out.

On the French side, the tax home is determined under Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code. For a person not domiciled in France, a pension paid by a payer established in France remains subject to the withholding tax of Article 182 A: base after a 10% allowance, then 0%, 12% or 20% depending on the bands of a scale revised each year, with no withholding if it does not exceed €8 a month.

On the Congolese side, the General Directorate of Taxes indicates that personal income tax applies to residents whatever the origin of their income; the page read does not detail the treatment of pensions of foreign source. A written consultation of the DGI before departure, supplemented by an exchange with the French non-resident tax office, avoids unpleasant surprises.

Assurance retraite reserves the certificate of entitlement to healthcare for general-scheme retirees living in the European Union or in a country linked to France by an agreement; for permanent residence outside an agreement, Assurance Maladie (the French national health insurance) specifies that healthcare costs are no longer covered by the French scheme. The retiree therefore chooses between the CFE and private insurance.

The CFE offer for retirees has a contribution that depends on age and the plan chosen according to its home page; it is aimed at holders of a pension from a French basic scheme with no professional activity, with no medical questionnaire. Cover is immediate if joining before departure or within three months of settling abroad; otherwise, the waiting period is three months before age 44 and six months from age 45. See the guide to health insurance for retirees abroad and the page on the CFE.

On the spot, France Diplomatie describes very run-down public hospitals and a good-quality private sector in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, where all services are paid for in advance; insurance covering hospitalisation and medical repatriation is judged essential. The guide to the healthcare system in the DRC details the range of care, and repatriation and assistance the evacuation cover.

For a temporary stay in France, a general-scheme retiree can join the Cnarefe (the health insurance centre for retirees living abroad), if they are in a regular situation and can show 15 years of contributions (10 years for those affiliated before 1 July 2019). The spouse is not covered: insurance taken out before the stay is advised (CLEISS).

No average budget is put forward, as no official source read publishes rents or reference prices. The currency is the Congolese franc, but the US dollar is commonly used for payments; the Central Bank of the Congo publishes an indicative rate every day. Card payments are accepted only in large hotels in Kinshasa and a few restaurants, and cash machines are rare. The items that matter for a retiree are secure housing with private guarding, the driver (driving with a French licence is not valid), health insurance and tickets to France, with a departure tax of USD 50 Go Pass and a USD 5 statistical tax on international flights.

Inflation and the standard of living are tracked in the ‘Economic indicators’ block above. Several airlines link Paris to Kinshasa every week according to France Diplomatie, which makes stays in France for care or family easier.

Kinshasa is home to the French embassy, a French lycée (1,050 pupils, according to the AEFE, the Agency for French Education Abroad), most of the private healthcare offering and the main services; Lubumbashi has a consular agency and a French school.

France Diplomatie advises against tourist travel throughout the country; the east of the country, notably Goma and Bukavu, is classed as a red zone, and the rest of the territory, Kinshasa included, as an orange zone. Health alerts regularly report epidemics, notably of Ebola and cholera, including in Kinshasa. A retirement project is therefore validated with the embassy before any decision, and registration on the Ariane platform is recommended.