Retiring in Zambia: Stay, Taxation and Healthcare

Holders of a French passport have paid no visa fees since 1 November 2022 and can stay up to 90 days per calendar year. The immigration officer often grants 30 days on arrival; the extension, to be requested before expiry, is free up to 90 days and then paid beyond three months. The passport must be valid six months after the end of the stay and have two blank pages.

A visitor stay confers no right of residence: overstaying without an extension is illegal, and France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry’s travel advice service) reports a fine of 18,000 kwacha, with possible imprisonment until it is paid. To settle for the year, the immigration department indicates that people coming for work, investment, study or residence must apply for the appropriate permit, including online.

The precise conditions of a residence permit for a retiree (proof of resources, health insurance, criminal record, term, renewal) do not appear in the pages read for this guide: they should be requested in writing from the immigration department in Lusaka before booking housing or shipping furniture.

The BOFiP list of tax treaties indicates that France applies to Zambia the Franco-British convention of 14 December 1950 (Official Journal of 20 and 21 August 1951), supplemented by exchanges of letters of 5 November and 31 December 1963, for income tax only. It is an old text, with no modern provision on transfer of residence and perhaps no article dedicated to pensions: it should be read in its consolidated version before departure, with the help of the tax office for non-residents.

The BOFiP general rule is that private pensions paid to a person who is not tax-resident in France by a payer established in France are subject to the withholding tax of Article 182 A of the French General Tax Code, unless a treaty deprives France of the right to tax. Social security pensions (general scheme, compulsory supplementary pensions) are the subject of specific rules in some treaties and, in the absence of a specific clause, are reserved to the State of residence. This reading must be confirmed for Zambia.

On the Zambian side, the Zambia Revenue Authority sets the tax of residents through the PAYE system and other levies; the scales should be checked on its website. A transfer of tax residence comes with steps: declaration in France, informing the pension funds, a written simulation. The guide receiving your pension abroad details the steps.

The pension can be paid into an account in France or, on request, abroad. Each year, Assurance retraite (the French pension fund) sends a proof-of-life certificate that must be completed by a competent authority in the country of residence; if it is not returned, payment may be suspended. It is sent online from the personal space or by post to the overseas pension processing centre in Tours.

For a tax domicile outside France, the pension is not subject to the CSG, CRDS or CASA. A health insurance contribution of 3.20% may be deducted if the retiree falls under a French compulsory health insurance scheme, or if they are a foreign national and have at least 15 years of old-age insurance in France.

The calculation of rights is presented in the guide quarters worked abroad and the page retirement insurance abroad.

Assurance Maladie (the French national health insurance) reserves form S1 for moves to the European Union, the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, or to a country bound to France by an agreement including healthcare. Zambia is not among them: cover is built with the CFE or private insurance. The guide a retiree’s health insurance abroad details the framework.

The CFE offer for retirees is aimed at holders of a pension from a French basic scheme with no professional activity, with no health questionnaire and no exclusion possible; it has a contribution that depends on age and the plan chosen according to the home page, varying by country and age. Membership before departure or within three months of settling in opens immediate rights; beyond that, a waiting period of three months (under 44) or six months (45 and over) applies.

For temporary stays in France, the Cnarefe (the national centre for French retirees abroad) requires 15 years of contributions to a French compulsory scheme (10 years for those affiliated before 1 July 2019). As some conditions are only treated in South Africa or France according to France Diplomatie, insurance including evacuation usefully complements the CFE.

No average budget is put forward: prices are compared on the spot, and current inflation is shown in the “Economic indicators” block. The main items for a retiree are secure housing, health insurance, the car (roads are sometimes in poor condition and night driving is discouraged) and trips to France.

The climate is subtropical at altitude (around 1,300 m) and tropical in the valleys and by the lakes; the rainy season, from December to March-April, can flood roads. Lusaka offers the most complete services, Livingstone opens onto Victoria Falls with safety precautions between the town and the site, and the Copperbelt (Ndola, Kitwe, Chingola) is a mining hub. Cholera is frequent from November to April in Lusaka and the Copperbelt, and tap water is not drinkable.

Consular procedures fall to the Consulate General in Johannesburg; the Lusaka embassy issues neither passports nor travel documents. See living in Zambia.

France Diplomatie describes a country where incidents are few but assaults can be violent: armed robberies, burglaries, carjackings. It advises against travelling on foot, by car or by intercity bus after nightfall, except in an emergency, and considers city taxis reliable for night-time journeys. The basic recommendations: do not display valuables, lock the home and vehicle, do not resist in a robbery.

For a retiree, choosing an enclosed home, close to a care centre and with road access that is passable in the rainy season matters more than price. The three telephone operators (Zamtel, MTN, Airtel) require an identity document and an address for the SIM card; the Visa card is the most widespread for paying, and card fraud has been reported in Lusaka.

• Obtain in writing from the immigration department the conditions of the residence permit for a retiree.
• Have tax simulated: the 1950 text, the withholding of Article 182 A, tax domicile.
• Notify your pension fund, prepare the proof-of-life certificate and a bank account for the pension.
• Compare the CFE and international insurance with medical evacuation.
• Get vaccinated: yellow fever if needed, hepatitis, typhoid; plan antimalarial prophylaxis.
• Register with Fil d’Ariane and on the register of French nationals living abroad.

Overview: retirement insurance abroad.