Retiring in Sierra Leone: Residence, Taxation of Your Pension, Health and Daily Life

French nationals must obtain a visa for Sierra Leone. The application is made online before departure on the Sierra Leone immigration website (evisa.sl); France Diplomatie indicates that French nationals can also obtain a visa on arrival, at Freetown airport. The country has no diplomatic representation in France. The price, duration of the visa, conditions of stay and list of documents do not appear on that page.

No “retiree” residence visa is mentioned in the official sources read. For a long-term move, the residence permit, the resources required and the documents asked of a pensioner should be confirmed with the Sierra Leone immigration service before committing to a lease, a removal or the sale of a property in France. In case of difficulty, the French embassy in Conakry, competent for Sierra Leone, and its diplomatic office in Freetown advise nationals.

Registration on the register of French nationals living abroad is recommended for any stay of more than six months. The guide receiving your pension abroad summarises the supporting documents that pension funds ask for (certificate of existence, bank details).

French retirement pensions can be paid abroad. No social security agreement links France and Sierra Leone: no totalisation of insurance periods, no bridge between schemes. If you have worked locally, the NASSIT scheme applies its own rules: pension at 60 with at least 180 months of contributions, reduced pension between 55 and 59, and for members aged 55 and over who do not have the 180 months, a retirement allowance (NASSIT). The guide quarters worked abroad explains the effect on your French rights.

One practical point weighs on daily life: the leone can be neither exported nor converted abroad, payments in foreign currency are officially prohibited locally, cards are accepted only by a few hotels and the ATMs in Freetown charge a significant commission with a high risk of fraud (France Diplomatie, useful information). Arrange the transfer of your pension and the management of your cash before departure, and notify your fund, the CPAM (local health insurance office) and the CAF (family allowance fund) of your departure.

The list of tax treaties concluded by France (BOFiP) does not mention Sierra Leone. In the absence of a treaty, each state applies its domestic law: a pension of French source paid to a person who has moved their residence to Sierra Leone remains in principle subject to the French rules applicable to non-residents, while the host state may claim taxation under its own legislation. The criteria of tax residence (home, main stay, centre of economic interests) and their consequences should be validated with the tax office for non-residents before departure.

On social levies, a retiree who is no longer a French tax resident pays no CSG, CRDS or CASA, but a health insurance contribution is withheld when a French scheme covers them, for example for their temporary stays in France: 3.2% on the basic pension, 4.2% on the supplementary pension and 7.1% on pensions from self-employed schemes (CLEISS). Property income, property capital gains and inheritances follow separate rules.

The S1 form is reserved for retirees of the European Union; for a country without an agreement, the CLEISS suggests three avenues: checking local cover, joining the CFE voluntarily or taking out private insurance. The CFE offer for expatriate retirees is priced on quotation, requires a pension from the French basic scheme and the absence of activity, and includes no health questionnaire. Cover is immediate if enrolment takes place before departure or within three months of settling; beyond that, the waiting period is three months before age 44 and six months from age 45.

As France Diplomatie indicates that health infrastructure is little developed and that there is no emergency service in the country, the contract must fund medical evacuation and repatriation (assistance and repatriation). See also retiree health insurance abroad, CFE or private insurance and retirement insurance abroad. Details of care are on the healthcare system page.

For temporary stays in France, the retiree is covered if they receive a French basic or survivor’s pension, can show at least 15 years of insurance in France and do not work; a hospital stay of more than one month requires the prior agreement of the CPAM, and the spouse is not covered. The CNAREFE (the French health insurance office for retirees living outside the EU), attached to the CPAM of Seine-et-Marne, handles the affiliation and reimbursements of retirees living outside the European Union. Reimbursements by status appear on the reimbursement page.

The official sources read publish neither rents nor a typical budget. Freetown and the peninsula, which France Diplomatie judges to have a low level of insecurity, concentrate the range of services, the diplomatic office and the private establishments able to provide some emergency care. The inland towns (Bo, Kenema, Makeni) offer fewer services; the border area with Liberia is advised against except for compelling reasons.

The climate is marked by torrential rain from May to November, with floods, landslides and sometimes impassable roads, then by the harmattan, which reduces visibility the rest of the year. The main roads of Freetown are paved, but several roads on the peninsula are in poor condition, traffic is heavy and serious accidents are frequent. Motorcycle taxis and tricycles are strongly advised against: plan a trusted driver. To put a figure on healthcare, see budgeting for health when living abroad.

France Diplomatie recommends not displaying signs of wealth, not walking alone at night, asking permission before photographing or filming people and not resisting in case of armed assault. Drug possession is severely punished, homosexuality is illegal, and riots linked to the rising cost of living may occur at any time, including in Freetown.

Checklist: visa and conditions of stay confirmed, yellow fever vaccination done, assistance contract with evacuation, CFE membership or private insurance decided before departure, tax residence validated, solution for cash, prescriptions in INN (international nonproprietary names). The page living in Sierra Leone complements these points; Expavy helps you compare health contracts according to your profile.