Catch 22

A small step for mankind, perhaps, but a huge step for me. Today was a real milestone. Yes. I have now, finally, managed to open a French bank account. This might not seem like such a big deal. But it is, I can assure you.

In France, you cannot do anything without a bank account. No car. No electricity. No water. No phone.

Guess what sort of documentation you need to open the bank account, then! Yes, a copy of your electricity bill. The one you cannot get without the bank account, or the RIB, as they call it.

So, armed with copies of my electricity, cable and phone bills from Oslo, combined with my tax return and a paper from the French notaire stating that we have a property in France, we were able to open a special bank account for foreigners. Which can in turn be changed to a normal French account as soon as I can show them my first electricity bill.

It's not supposed to be easy, I guess.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad