Living in Wallis and Futuna When You Come from Mainland France

The territory consists of the island of Wallis (Uvea), the largest, Futuna and Alofi, 235 km from the first. It became an overseas territory after the referendum of 27 December 1959, the law of 29 July 1961 gave it its status, and the constitutional revision of 28 March 2003 made it an overseas collectivity under Article 74 of the Constitution. The institutional organisation is unique: the republican institutions (a prefect, senior administrator, and a territorial assembly of twenty elected members), the three customary kingdoms of Uvea, Alo and Sigave and the Catholic Church, according to the IGAS (the French social affairs inspectorate). Customary law is particularly present on land questions.

According to Insee (the French national statistics institute), the population has been falling since its peak in the early 2000s (nearly 15,000 inhabitants) to reach about 11,000 inhabitants, with a fertility rate of about 1.7 children per woman and a median age of 38. About 80% of residents were born in the territory, 10% in New Caledonia and 6% in mainland France. Wallis holds nearly three quarters of the population (about 104 inhabitants per km²) against 48 per km² in Futuna. Life expectancy reaches about 76 years for men and 81 years for women. The guide to health and social protection in Wallis and Futuna details the applicable scheme.

The climate is tropical: the IGAS notes that dengue and leptospirosis are regularly present, sustained by this climate and by the islands’ isolation. The territory has two airports, Hihifo (Wallis), the only one able to handle international flights, and Pointe Vele (Futuna), reserved for rotations to Wallis.

A French citizen needs no visa or residence permit: the entry and residence rules published by the State services concern foreign nationals. Everyday procedures (national identity card, passport, driving licence, vehicle registration certificate) are prepared on the territory’s State services website, with appointments on site. Access is by air from Nouméa or Fiji, with the only airline serving the archipelago.

• Before departure: ask your primary fund what it maintains or suspends. According to the Assurance Maladie (French public health insurance), the territory is not among those that have signed a bilateral agreement with mainland France, and a non-civil-servant who transfers their residence cannot benefit from any cover in mainland France. The guide to healthcare reimbursement details each situation.
• Health on site: no affiliation to a local health insurance is needed; care is free for residents. You should, however, contact the Health Agency to learn the access conditions (notion of resident) before arrival.
• Employer and local fund: the employer declares the employee to the Caisse des prestations sociales (the local social security fund) before hiring (pre-hiring declaration, online, by email, at the counter or by registered post).
• Customs: all imported goods must be declared. In case of a transfer of main residence, household and personal goods owned and used for some time can be exempt from duties and taxes; appliances (cameras, radios) must have six months of use at the date of departure; motor vehicles are excluded from this exemption. Weapons, plants, products of animal origin and live animals require authorisation; cash and securities of €10,000 or more must be declared (XPF 1,193,317), except for journeys from or to mainland France, the overseas departments, New Caledonia or French Polynesia.

The currency is the Pacific franc (XPF), at a fixed parity with the euro: the State services state that XPF 100,000 equals €838, i.e. XPF 119.3317 for €1. The guaranteed inter-professional minimum wage (SMIG) is of the order of XPF 592 an hour, i.e. about XPF 100,000 for 169 hours (about €838), revised periodically by order.

The territorial statistics service publishes the consumer price index by category (food, hotels-cafés-restaurants, housing, energy, transport). The IEOM (the overseas issuing institute) tracks inflation in its annual report. The official sources consulted do not publish a price-level comparison with mainland France.

Water and electricity services are the subject of territorial social aid for Wallis subscribers, subject to income conditions (labour and social affairs inspectorate). The Court of Audit notes that the water purification project should lead to its being free of charge being called into question. Residents are, moreover, subject to no national tax or social contribution (Court of Audit): the details are in the page on working in Wallis and Futuna.

Nearly 90% of residents own their home according to Insee, more than 93% of main homes are solid-built or modern, nearly 96% have indoor water, about 85% a fridge and fewer than half an air conditioner. Customary law governs land: the IGAS reminds readers that the scheme applied leads to land being inalienable and non-transferable, and the Court of Audit recommends securing public-interest investments with written land rules. For a newcomer, this points towards renting, official housing or housing provided by the employer.

The labour code applicable in the territory provides that, when a permanent worker who is not from the place of employment cannot house themselves by their own means, the employer must provide them with adequate housing (Article 92). The terms are negotiated in the contract; the length of a fixed-term contract, renewals included, cannot exceed three years for an employee whose usual residence is outside the territory (Article 31). The sources consulted do not publish rent levels.

As for equipment, 89.2% of households have a mobile phone and 72.5% an internet connection (77.2% in Wallis, 59.9% in Futuna); 4G reaches 51.4% of households. A submarine cable links the archipelago to Samoa and Fiji (IGAS).

Primary education is entrusted to the Catholic Education Directorate, under State concession, while secondary education falls under the vice-rectorate, the local branch of the national education system. The State services count nine primary or elementary schools (seven in Wallis, two in Futuna), six lower secondary schools (two of them in Futuna) and two upper secondary schools in Wallis: a general one and an agricultural one opened at the start of the 2011 school year. The vice-rectorate can be reached in Mata’Utu (courrier@ac-wf.wf, 00 681 72 28 28).

No higher education institution is cited, apart from a “connected campus” attached to the territory’s digital university: students follow BTS, DUT or bachelor’s courses there remotely with tutoring (one tutor for ten students), the State funding €50,000 per site and €1,000 per student over three years. Young graduates most often leave for New Caledonia or mainland France, according to the IGAS. Nearly half of the population has no qualification (a sharply falling share) and about 16% of those aged 25 or over hold the baccalaureate. Scholarship applications are filed with the State services. For studies outside the territory, the pages on student insurance and the student guide help prepare cover.

According to the IGAS, the New Caledonian airline is the only operator present in the territory: it provides two weekly flights from Nouméa or Fiji (three in school holiday periods). Futuna can only be reached from Wallis, by a twin-engine rotation of about fifteen seats, six days a week depending on weather conditions, under a public service delegation. There is no passenger sea link.

Daily life is organised around the community: about 3.6 people per household on average, nearly a third of the population under 20 and nearly a fifth aged 60 or over (Insee). The labour market is dominated by the public sector (more than half of jobs) and the census-based unemployment rate is of the order of 8%. The Court of Audit notes that 90% of the population is overweight and 70% obese, with high rates of diabetes, which shapes the Health Agency’s prevention offer.

• Advantages: French citizen status with no residence permit; free healthcare for residents; no national tax, neither on income nor on companies; island way of life, close-knit community, tropical climate; education from nursery to upper secondary school on site; locally set SMIG.
• Drawbacks: remoteness (more than 16,000 km from mainland France, limited flights), non-transferable land, rising food prices, reduced healthcare provision with several specialities absent, distance-only higher education, no health cover for care outside the territory and no unemployment insurance.

For a lasting move, it is useful to compare these elements with the organisation of healthcare and with retiring in Wallis and Futuna, then to plan insurance for stays outside the territory.