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Monday, 3 May 2010
Introduction
As a multicultural city, Montpellier welcomes many foreigners throughout the year, in particular English-speakers. Undeniably, those people need help to integrate into Montpellier life. This guide is a “first-aid kit" which provides information in terms of paper work, accommodation, health care, public transport and culture in order to facilitate the first months of their stay. The English-Friendly sticker responds to the need of pinpointing those establishments in Montpellier which are able to welcome foreigners in English - and do so with a smile.
Welcome Home.
Master 1 LEA – NPI AN
Facts and prices have been gathered from February to April 2010.
2010 Graphic content all rights reserved.
Administrative Procedures
Driving School
Questions | Answers | |
To get a driving licence | Schengen members | *Obtain French driving licence. Identity document required. *Transcription of the French driving licence in the country of origin. Necessary to pass road tests (black ice/snow). |
Non Schengen members | Obtain French driving licence. Necessary to have been living in France for 6 months. Valid residence permit and passport required. | |
To use your driving licence | Schengen members | No specific conditions required. |
Non Schengen members | *Student: can drive with no specific conditions during their stay. *Workers: need to transcript the driving licence into a French one. Conditions required. See directly with the “Préfecture”. | |
Supervised driving | Chaperones need to transcript their driving licence into a French one. See directly with the “Préfecture”. | |
A 1€/day loan to get the driving licence | No specific conditions. See directly with banks. | |
Questions | Answers | |
International driver licence | Town hall | *Double-sided (readable) copy of the driving licence. *Two original full-face ID photos (35mmX45mm). Name written on the backside. *If by mail, please add an envelope with the applicant’s name already written as the recipient, stamped at €0,56. |
Prefecture | *Double-sided (readable) copy of the driving licence. *Two original full-face ID photos (35mmX45mm). Name written on the backside. *Compulsory to join a €0,56 stamped envelope (20g max.) with your name and address written on it. | |
Banks
Questions | Answers | |
To open a bank account | Identity Document or passport + residence permit | |
Last 3 bank statements | ||
Proof of income | ||
If own accommodation | Electricity, gas, water or phone bill under your name, dated within the last 3 months. | |
If accommodated | Electricity, gas, water or phone bill under the host’s name, dated within the last 3 months. | |
Proof of accommodation signed by the host. | ||
Copy of the host’s ID | ||
If you are a student | Student card or proof of attendance | |
For insurances, same documents required. See Insurance chapter. | ||
Police force
Commissariat de Police Nationale (place de la Comédie)
Open from 10am to 5pm, from Tuesday to Friday
Open from 10am to 5pm, from Tuesday to Friday
Allée Jules Milhaud – 04 99 74 26 74
Insurance
Questions | Answers |
Personal liability | Compulsory to apply for it. Sometimes included in household insurance. €25/35. |
Household insurance | Compulsory to insure the accommodation. Possible to insure valuables. Lease only document required. ** |
Car insurance | Compulsory. Former certificates of insurance, car registration papers, driving licence. ** |
Health insurance | Not compulsory. *** |
** Price depends on the living space/car. *** See Health chapter. | |
Préfecture
Open from 8:30am to 4:30pm - Place des Martyrs de la Résistance, 34062 Montpellier Cedex 2
04 67 61 61 61
Road users | Car registration papers | Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri: 8:30am-3pm Wed: 8:30am-12:30am |
Driving licence | Monday to Friday: 8:30am-4:30pm | |
Foreigners | E.U. citizens | Mon/Tue/Wed: 9am to 11am |
Non E.U. citizens | *With notice: Monday to Friday: 2pm to 4pm *Without: Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri: 8.30am to 12am | |
National Identity Card: see with your local town hall. | ||
Students: see with the Pôle Universitaire Européen, 163 rue A. Broussonet. 34090 Montpellier. | ||
Mairie de Montpellier (Place de la Comédie)
Open from Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 5:30pm
Some departments close between 12pm and 2pm
Some departments close between 12pm and 2pm
1 place Francis-Ponge, 34064 Montpellier Cedex 2
04 67 34 70 00 - 04 67 34 59 80
Questions | Answers | |
To get married | Compulsory to withdraw a file at the town hall. Please note that it is compulsory for foreigners to join further documents translated by a certified translator (you have to pay €60 each). *Certificate of non-married status. *Birth certificate. *Certificate of custom dated within the last 6 months (French embassy in the country of origin). | |
Pacte Civil de Solidarité (PACS) | See directly with the courthouse. | |
Right to vote | E.U. citizens | Right to vote for European elections and elections for town council and mayor. |
Non E.U. citizens | No right to vote. | |
School registration Compulsory to register children from the age of 6 | Nursery and primary schools (école maternelle et primaire) | See with your local town hall |
Junior high school and high school (collège et lycée) | See with the local education authority (Académie de Montpellier). | |
English schools in Montpellier | ERIDAN http://www.ecole-eridan.com/ BSCHOOL http://ecolepriveebilingue.com/ | |
Grants | See with the CNOUS, Pôle des Relations Internationales, The Foreign Secretary (Ministère des Affaires Etrangères) and your university of origin. | |
Financial Assistance
Questions | Answers | |
Caisse Allocations Familiales (CAF) | Aide Personnalisée au Logement (APL) | Please note it is necessary to ask the CAF of Montpellier regarding your personal situation. |
Revenu Solidarité Active (RSA) | ||
Allocations familiales | ||
Taxes
Taxes to be paid to the Centre des Impôts de Montpellier or on the Internet: www.impots.gouv.fr
Accommodation
Youth Hostel
Auberge de Jeunesse
Hostel opens from January 4 to December 5
Desk opens from 8:00 to 12:00pm – 5:00pm to 12:00am
Impasse Petite Corraterie
Rue des Ecoles Laïques - 04 67 60 32 22
General information: €15,70/night, breakfast included. International application for youth hostels is compulsory (€11/year for people less than 26 years old. €16 for people over 16).
Services: free Internet, breakfast, lunch, picnics, and diner available. Laundry and shops nearby
Hotels
Hôtel du Littoral **
Rue Anatole France- Impasse St. Sauveur - 04 67 92 28 10
Rooms: from €28 to 58.
Hôtel Colisée-Verdun **
33 rue de Verdun - 04 67 58 42 63
Single room: from €32 to 55.
Hôtel Le Mistral **
25 rue Boussairolles - 04 67 58 45 25
Single room: €46.
Hôtel Kalliste **
14 rue Boussairolles - 04 67 02 76 59
Single room: €49.
Hotel des Arts **
6, Boulevard Victor Hugo - 04 67 58 69 20
Single room: €59.
Hôtel Les Alizés **
14 rue Jules Ferry - 04 67 12 85 35
Single room: €54.
Royal Hotel ***
8 rue Maguelone - 04 67 92 13 36
Single room: between €65 and €95.
Hotel Mercure Montpellier Centre ***
218 rue du Bastion Ventadour - 04 67 99 89 89
Rooms: from €79.
Hotel Le Guilhem ***
18 rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau - 04 67 52 90 90
Rooms (1 or 2 persons): from €96.
Espace Logement Etudiant
From July to October 2010, in the CORUM, Montpellier. For newcomers to find accommodation. Free entrance.
A large choice of apartments: more than 2,000 adverts updated every day.
Bilingual advisors offer personalized search assistance
Visitors dispose of several tools and logistic such as 6 free-call telephones, 10 computers with optimal Internet access to simplify tasks.
You are accompanied while completing all administrative procedures. There are partner stands in the fair to facilitate procedures: Ville de Montpellier, CAF, LMDE, CROUS, LCL, Le Crédit Lyonnais, TAM…).
Le Corum, Salon du Belvédère
Esplanade Charles de Gaulle, 34000 Montpellier
Websites for Private Individuals
www.seloger.com: real estate agency online
www.pap.fr: free, no need to register and constantly uploaded
www.locservice.fr: you need to register, free, student section
www.resamontpellier.com: The Montpellier Tourist Office helps you prepare your stay thanks to its online reservation service. You can compare multiple offers in real time, reserve and pay.
House and Apartment Sharing Websites
You have three options:
· Writing your own classified advertisement.
· Looking for accommodation offers: people who already have an apartment and are looking for an apartment mate.
· Looking for advertisements: people who are looking for accommodation, and who specify their requirements.
Price: to get phone numbers, emails, addresses etc., you need to call 08 99 78 05 05 (€1,80) or text “CODE” to 81021 (€2) to get a password. You can use it for 24 hours only!
You can post and consult ads for free, but you will need to pay in order to get advertisers’ contact information. You can subscribe for 10 days, 1 month, 2 months, 6 months or a year.
You have two options:
· Looking for apartment/house sharing offers
· Suggesting apartment/house sharing for people who already have an apartment and try to fill rooms.
There is a difference between basic and premium members: Basic members can answer to every post and contact all members, but premium members have additional access to all members’ personal data and appear among the first advertisement search results. So you would better subscribe as a premium member.
House/Apartment Sharing with Elder People
www.concordalogis.com - 04 67 54 95 12
Email: contact@concordalogis.com
You need to be a student, over 18 and have a moral referent. You will have an individual interview and be asked to join the association (€95/year).
CROUS
General Information
Accommodation from the CROUS (Centre Régional d’Oeuvres Universitaires et Sociales): CROUS accommodation divides students into 4 categories, in which criteria and prices vary:
· Scholars CROUS
· Exchange program (Erasmus, CREPUQ…)
· EGIDE: agreement between embassies and students
· Criteria: with the qualification in studies: Master 1-2. Thesis or specific schools such as Grandes Ecoles, Classe Préparatoire, IUT... This category is mostly for people who have decided to come to France to study on their own, without any agreement with a university or with their embassy.
Useful Information
Affectation to 6 Student residence halls.
12 other residences
Leaflets for International Student accommodation are available in Spanish and English on the Internet.
1,700 accommodations (for the whole CROUS of Montpellier):
· Scholars & individual students: around 1,000
· Exchange programs: around 600
· EGIDE: about 60
Quota international students housed: about 20 %.
Prices
Room: (Bathroom+WC, common kitchen on the floor): €137/ 230, no service charges
“Studette”: €240 /360, no service charges
Residences: €284 /360 + service charges
Warrantors and Deposit
Students who Want to Rent CROUS Accommodation
· In students’ residence halls: the University is the warrantor.
· For the students who are in EGIDE and Scholars categories: they need a warrantor to rent studios.
· For students without any agreement: a warrantor is compulsory.
· Someone who lives and works in France or someone who lives abroad but is liable to tax in France.
· Or the student has to pay the amount twice a year.
Students who Want to Rent Private Accommodation
To rent a apartment in any kind of real estate agencies:
· You need to have a French warrantor, someone who lives and works in France or someone who lives abroad but is liable to tax in France.
· You can have recourse to the banking deposit, i.e. you have to freeze a year of rent money on a bank account: for instance the bank BNP Paribas suggests an “Offre Jeunes Appart”. The bank is in charge of your deposit, your insurance and your security deposit.
Students who Work or Professionals
You can be helped by:
Action Logement “LOCAPASS”:
3rue des Catalpas, BP 35125 - 04 67 06 85 00
Financial aids
· APL: This aid is aimed at students and people who work
· ALS: This one is just for students
In order to receive all the information concerning these aids, you have to go to the Caisse d’Allocations Familiales (CAF).
Caisse d'allocations familiales de Montpellier
139, avenue de Lodève
Student Branch:
Avenue de la Pompignane
More information
CROUS Montpellier
2, rue Monteil, BP 5053 - 04 67 41 50 00 or 04 67 41 50 38
« Le Phare »: common system of the CROUS and the “Pole Universitaire Européen”.
63 rue Auguste Broussonnet, Rez-de-Chaussée de l'Institut de Botanique - Tram station Albert 1er
Montpellier Attractive Cité
This real estate agency welcomes a lot of international students and professionals, and can provide different types of accommodation. Its employees are English friendly and will receive you in French or, in English.
Agence Immobilière Lamy-Montpellier
1 rue Baudin (Place de la Comédie)
To buy: 04 67 06 83 63; To rent: 04 67 06 83 62
Apartments and Lexics
PART. = particulier = individual
T1: Type 1 pièce= studio=between 17 and 30m² with a bathroom (shower or bath) and an equipped kitchen in the room.
T1 bis= studio avec cuisine séparée= a studio with a separated kitchen
T2: Type 2pièces= 2pièces distinctes et séparées= 2 rooms
P2: Pièces 2= équivalent de T2= 2 rooms
F2= équivalent de T2 ou P2= 2 rooms
For the rent:
-TTC: toutes taxes comprises= all tax included
-TCC: toutes charges comprises= all charges included
-CC: charges comprises= charges included
- Ch.inc= charges non comprises/incomprises= charges excluded
Others:
Stand. = standing
FA = frais d’agence = agency fees
Nf = neuf = new
Prox. = proximité = proximity
Hono. = honoraires = fees
Réc. = récent = recent
Rents: average prices for T3 apartments for a month
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