The Pimpernel glossary
French life comes wrapped in acronyms and officialese, and every guide on this site hits a few. This is the whole vocabulary in one place, in plain English — the residence permits, the tax forms, the health cards, the planning consents. Wherever one of these crops up in a guide, you can click it there for the same explanation; here they all sit together, so you can look one up cold or just browse until France's paperwork starts to make sense.
Grouped by where you'll meet them. Everything is the everyday, practical meaning — not a legal definition — aimed at a British newcomer trying to get something done.
Residency & admin
The French government's online portal for foreigners' residence-permit démarches.
An official certificate (£45 from the UK's FCDO) that authenticates a British document so France will accept it as genuine.
A sponsorship certificate from the mairie, needed when a non-EU visitor comes to stay with you.
Your French residence permit.
A single secure login that opens more than a thousand French government services.
The town hall — the first port of call for a huge range of local admin.
Pacte civil de solidarité — a registered civil partnership, lighter than marriage but with real legal effects.
A dated receipt the authorities issue when you submit — often your proof of the right to stay or drive while you wait.
A tax stamp you buy online to pay an administrative fee, such as for a residence permit.
The umbrella term for a French residence permit.
Visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour — the long-stay visa you validate online after you arrive.
Money, tax & work
Your French tax assessment — the statement the tax office issues after you file; widely used as proof of income.
The single official online portal for registering or changing a business.
Proof of address (a utility bill, say) — asked for constantly in French admin.
The simplified tax regime for furnished-letting income, with a flat expense allowance.
The simple self-employed regime with flat social charges levied on your turnover.
A state-appointed legal officer who handles property sales and estates.
Capital-gains tax, for example on selling a second home.
Relevé d'identité bancaire — your French bank-details slip, handed over to set up any payment or direct debit.
The 9-digit root number identifying a French business (the SIRET is the SIREN plus an establishment code).
The 14-digit number that officially identifies a French business; you quote it on invoices and to the authorities.
The local residence tax — now abolished on main homes but still due on second homes.
The annual property-ownership tax, paid by whoever owns the property.
Taxe sur la valeur ajoutée — French VAT.
The body that collects social-security contributions from the self-employed and employers.
Health & family
Affection de longue durée — long-term-illness status giving 100% reimbursement for that condition.
Aide personnalisée au logement — CAF housing benefit that helps with rent or a mortgage.
Caisse d'allocations familiales — the body that pays family benefits and housing benefit.
The green card that makes French health reimbursements automatic at the doctor or pharmacy.
Caisse primaire d'assurance maladie — your local state health-insurance office.
Top-up health insurance that covers the part the state doesn't.
Your declared regular GP, who coordinates your care; without one, reimbursements drop sharply.
Prestation d'accueil du jeune enfant — CAF's package of early-years support for a new baby.
The coordinated-care pathway: see your médecin traitant first for full reimbursement.
Protection universelle maladie — the scheme that gives legal residents access to French state healthcare.
A UK form that makes Britain pay for your French healthcare, mainly for state pensioners.
The arrangement where you don't pay upfront — the state and your mutuelle settle directly.
Home, vehicle & property
Agence nationale des titres sécurisés — the portal for vehicle papers and driving-licence exchanges.
A vehicle's French registration document (the certificat d'immatriculation).
The coloured windscreen sticker rating a vehicle's emissions for low-emission city zones.
The form certifying building work is finished and built as permitted.
The lighter planning consent, for small works and changes of a building's appearance.
A private septic tank — how rural homes handle drainage where there's no mains sewer.
The full French building permit, for anything substantial.
The plan local d'urbanisme — your commune's local planning map and rulebook: what can be built where, at what height and in which materials.
The national planning rules that apply where a commune has no local plan of its own.
The public body that inspects private septic-tank systems.
A one-off development tax on building work that creates surface, such as an extension, pool or shed.
Start at the beginning
New to all this? Our moving checklist lays out the whole relocation in order, from the UK to your first French tax return.
Read: The moving checklist →Straight from the source
For the official rules behind any of these, service-public.fr is the French government's definitive guide to your rights and procedures.
These are plain-English, practical explanations to help you navigate French life, current for 2026. They are not legal definitions, and the rules behind each term can vary by your situation and change over time. Check the official source or a qualified professional for anything that turns on the detail.