Retiring in Tokelau: Stay, French Pension, Taxation, Retiree Health and Risks

The official pages read describe no retiree visa or status for Tokelau. The brochure Guidelines for visiting Tokelau, published by the Department of Transport and Support Services, states that non-Tokelauans must apply for a permit to enter; the application is addressed to the immigration officer at the Savalalo office, in Apia. The duration of this permit, its financial conditions and the possibility of a lasting stay should be confirmed with the Government of Tokelau, as France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) describes no entry rule specific to Tokelau. A retirement plan is therefore prepared only after a written answer from the government.

The Government of Tokelau specifies that the territory has no established tourism industry, that access is by boat only from Apia (about 24 hours to Fakaofo, 26 to Nukunonu and 30 to Atafu) and that accommodation is provided privately, in village guesthouses or with host families. Life there is communal, organised around the village councils. Transit through Samoa is prepared using the France Diplomatie page on that country.

The list of bilateral social security agreements in force published by CLEISS includes neither New Zealand nor Tokelau. For a retiree, this means there is no S1 form and no coordination of schemes. Periods of work completed locally are not coordinated with French pension rights. The payment of the pension abroad and the supporting documents requested are settled directly with the pension fund before departure.

On the contributions side, CLEISS specifies that a retiree who is no longer a tax resident in France pays neither CSG, nor CRDS, nor Casa. A health insurance contribution is nevertheless withheld from the pension when they remain covered by a French scheme, for example for their stays in France: as a general rule 3.2% on the basic pension and 4.2% on the supplementary pension. See the page healthcare reimbursement in Tokelau.

The BOFiP list of tax treaties concluded by France includes New Zealand (treaty of 30 November 1979, in force since 19 March 1981) but no entry for Tokelau. Article 3 of the New Zealand treaty, which defines its territorial scope, could not be read on impots.gouv.fr at the time of writing: it should be read before assuming that the treaty applies to a pension received by a resident of Tokelau.

The starting criterion is tax domicile. Under article 4 B of the French general tax code, a person is tax-domiciled in France if they have their home or main place of stay, their main professional activity or the centre of their economic interests there; persons domiciled in France are taxed on all of their income, of French or foreign source (BOFiP). A retiree who keeps a home, a family or most of their assets in France may therefore remain a French tax resident. If they cease to be, the rules applying to non-residents, notably the withholding tax on pensions, can be read on impots.gouv.fr. The income tax regime applying in Tokelau was not found in the sources read. Validation by the French tax administration before departure is therefore essential.

CLEISS invites a retiree in a country without an agreement to check with local institutions the share of their care that is covered, then to join the CFE voluntarily, if they are French, or to take out private insurance. The CFE offers a health plan for retired expatriates and their dependants, valid worldwide, with a price on quotation. In Tokelau, no local contribution-based health insurance fund is described, and the patient referral scheme cites residents, people resident for more than six months, medical locums and government contractors, with no mention of foreign retirees.

The three public hospitals mainly deliver primary care, and serious cases are referred to Apia or New Zealand (MFAT). A retiree on regular treatment brings their medication for the whole length of the stay with a clinical summary, as Tokelau’s Department of Health asks, as the choice of medicines available on site was limited at the date of the MFAT evaluation. The page healthcare system in Tokelau details the facilities, evacuation and health risks.

For a retiree with a chronic illness, the distance from a secondary or tertiary care hospital is decisive: an evacuation to Apia takes 24 to 30 hours by boat, the ship’s schedule being liable to change, and the patient referral scheme does not cite visitors among its beneficiaries. France Diplomatie reminds travellers that an assistance contract or insurance covering all medical costs and medical repatriation is imperative, that the French embassy can under no circumstances cover them, failing which access to care may be refused, even in a life-threatening emergency.

In New Zealand, citizens, including those of Tokelau, residents and certain work visa holders have access to publicly funded services; other people pay for their care (Health New Zealand). A French retiree outside these categories relies on their insurance. ACC, the accident compensation scheme, covers travellers in the event of an accident but does not replace travel insurance (France Diplomatie).

No reference rent or typical retiree budget is published in the official sources read. Accommodation is provided privately (Government of Tokelau). Fresh water is limited, with the MFAT evaluation noting the absence of surface water storage, the increasing frequency of dry periods and a growing dependence on imported goods and food.

The Government of Tokelau’s climate strategy cites among the main hazards tropical cyclones, drought, flooding linked to storm surges and exceptional tides, sea level rise and tsunamis, and describes climate change as an existential threat to the territory. The atolls rise to three to five metres. These factors weigh on the choice of a lasting retirement and justify insurance with evacuation.

• Obtain in writing the Government of Tokelau’s answer on the entry permit and on the possible length of stay.
• Contact the pension fund about paying the pension abroad and CLEISS about health cover.
• Compare the CFE (retirees’ plan) and private insurance, checking evacuation from an atoll.
• Have tax residence and the applicable treaty validated with the tax administration.
• Bring medication for the whole length of the stay and a clinical summary.
• Register on the roll of French nationals living abroad at the French embassy in Wellington.

Expavy compares international health cover for retirees; the page health insurance in Tokelau summarises the obligations and costs.