Moving from Colombia to France (2026): Relocation Guide

Moving from Colombia to France (2026): Relocation Guide

Key takeaways

• Colombia is not an EU-listed third country for pet travel, so a dog or cat must complete a rabies antibody titration test (blood taken ≥30 days after vaccination, ≥0.5 IU/ml at an EU-approved lab, then a 3-month wait) before entering France. It is the longest-lead task — plan pets first.
• Your used household goods can enter France free of customs duty and VAT under the franchise de déménagement (transfer-of-residence relief), declared on CERFA form 10070, if you have lived outside the EU for at least 12 months and owned and used the goods for at least 6 months.
• As a Colombian national you need a national long-stay visa arranged before travel; after arriving you must validate your VLS-TS on the ANEF portal within 3 months (or apply for a carte de séjour if your visa requires it).
• Sea freight runs Cartagena to Le Havre on North Europe liner services (around two weeks at sea direct); plan roughly 5–8 weeks door to door for a full move.
• Despite common belief, France and Colombia do not have a driving-licence exchange agreement — a Colombian licence is valid for one year after you settle, then you must pass the French test.

1. Leaving Colombia: what to close out

Begin by winding down your Colombian administrative ties. If you are a foreign resident holding a cédula de extranjería, there is no formal exit-cancellation procedure, but you should close leases, utilities, mobile contracts and local subscriptions before you leave. If you are registered with the tax authority (RUT with DIAN) because of local income or a business, ask a Colombian accountant about your final filings for the departure year and whether to close the RUT.

Your household effects (menaje doméstico / trasteo) leave Colombia as used personal property, exported through a formal maritime export declaration with DIAN. Used household goods are not normally charged export duty, but the export declaration and a detailed, valued inventory must be prepared properly — this is the job of a licensed Colombian customs agent (agente de aduana) working with your international mover. The same inventory is re-used in France for your franchise de déménagement and, in fact, French customs specifically require a detailed, valued, dated and signed inventory in two copies, so accuracy here saves trouble later. Keep copies of your passport, French long-stay visa and proof of your French address.

Ship from Colombia’s container ports: Cartagena on the Caribbean coast is the standard gateway to Northern Europe and France; Buenaventura on the Pacific suits departures from the Cali/Valle region, though its cargo to Europe usually routes via the Caribbean or the Panama Canal. Book a pre-move survey early so your mover can size a full container (FCL) or shared groupage (LCL) load.

2. How your household goods ship to France

Colombia’s Caribbean ports connect to North Europe on weekly liner services that call at Le Havre — France’s main container port and the natural entry point for household moves, with easy onward road transport to Paris and beyond. A direct Cartagena–Le Havre sea leg is around two weeks; some sailings transship at a nearby hub such as Rotterdam or Antwerp, adding a few days. Southern France is normally served through the same northern gateways and inland transport rather than a direct Mediterranean call.

Adding packing, the export declaration, waiting for a sailing, the ocean transit and French customs clearance, plan a realistic door-to-door window of about 5 to 8 weeks for a full household move, with groupage (LCL) at the longer end because the shared container waits to fill. For a few urgent essentials — documents, a laptop, a season’s clothes — air freight from Bogotá (El Dorado) to Paris (Roissy–Charles de Gaulle) is only a few days in transit and clears quickly, but is far dearer per kilo, so keep it for what you truly need on day one while the bulk travels by sea.

3. France customs & transfer-of-residence relief

When you transfer your main residence to France from outside the EU, you can import your household effects free of customs duty and VAT under the franchise de déménagement. French customs (Douane) set three core conditions:

• You have resided outside the EU for at least 12 months.
• You are transferring your main residence to France.
• You import the goods within 12 months of your move, and the items have been in your private use for at least 6 months.

You must present the completed and signed CERFA form n°10070 (“Déclaration d’entrée en franchise de biens personnels en provenance de pays tiers”), together with a detailed, valued, dated and signed inventory in two copies, and documents proving both your residence in Colombia and your move to France. The declaration can be lodged on the douane.gouv.fr portal. Goods admitted under the relief may not be sold, lent or hired out for 12 months after import. Alcohol, tobacco and commercial/professional equipment are excluded. Because the CERFA and inventory must dovetail precisely, this is best handled by your mover’s French clearance team.

4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare

Residence and visa. Colombians are third-country nationals, so any stay beyond 90 days needs a French national long-stay visa obtained before you travel (work, family, “visitor”, student, and so on). Many long-stay visas are issued as a VLS-TS — a long-stay visa that doubles as a residence permit for up to a year.

Validate the VLS-TS within 3 months. This is the step newcomers most often forget. After arrival you must validate your VLS-TS online on the ANEF portal (the French government’s digital service for foreign nationals) within 3 months of arrival, paying the tax due. Once validated, the VLS-TS serves as your residence permit for its whole validity — no separate card needed during that period. Some visas instead carry the wording “carte de séjour à solliciter” and require you to apply for a residence permit within two months; check which type yours is.

Driving. A widely repeated myth is that France and Colombia have a licence-exchange agreement — they do not. Colombia is absent from France’s official reciprocity list, so a Colombian licence cannot be exchanged for a French one. You may drive on your Colombian licence (with an official French translation) for up to one year after establishing residence; after that you must obtain a French licence by passing the French theory and practical tests. Plan for the test rather than a swap.

Healthcare. France’s system, PUMa (Protection universelle maladie), covers residents who live in France on a stable, regular basis — generally after about three months of residence. You apply to the local health-insurance fund (CPAM) and receive a social-security number and, in time, a carte Vitale. Until your affiliation is active, keep private/travel health cover so you are not exposed in the gap; some visa categories require proof of insurance anyway.

5. Pets

Organise this before anything else, because it fixes the earliest date your animal can legally enter France. Colombia is not a listed (approved) third country under EU pet-travel rules, so a dog or cat coming from Colombia must complete a rabies antibody titration test. The order is fixed:

1. Microchip (ISO standard) first, implanted before or at the same time as the rabies vaccination.
2. Rabies vaccination by an authorised vet, after the chip.
3. Blood sample taken at least 30 days after vaccination and tested at an EU-approved laboratory, showing a rabies-neutralising antibody level of at least 0.5 IU/ml.
4. Three-month wait: your pet may only enter the EU 90 days after the date of the successful blood sample. (The wait is waived only for pets titre-tested before ever leaving the EU — not applicable here.)
5. EU animal health certificate from an official vet close to travel, with the lab titre report and your owner declaration attached.

To leave Colombia, your pet also needs an ICA (Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario) export health certificate — the Certificado Zoosanitario para Exportación — arranged through a registered vet in ICA’s SISPAP system, usually with a vet health check within about 3 days of departure. Between the chip, vaccination, the 30-day minimum before the blood draw, laboratory turnaround and the 90-day wait, expect roughly four to five months of lead time at minimum. Tell your mover the breed early, as certain categories of dog face additional French rules.

6. Money, banking & tax basics

To function in France you will need a French bank account and, with it, a RIB (bank details slip) for rent, salary and direct debits. Opening an account is easier once you have a residence document, a French address and, ideally, proof of income; some newcomers start with an online/neobank while a traditional account is set up. You are assigned a numéro fiscal (tax number) once you enter the French tax system, and you become tax-resident on the basis of living in France, so if you keep income or assets in Colombia, take advice on the France–Colombia tax position so nothing is taxed twice. Budget for French rental up-front costs: typically the first month plus a deposit (often one month for unfurnished), and landlords frequently ask for a guarantor or extra documentation from newcomers.

How Flyto handles your Colombia to France move

Flyto Relocation runs its own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, so your Colombia–France move — which usually arrives through a northern gateway like Le Havre before inland delivery — is coordinated as one project rather than a chain of handoffs. We manage the Colombian export (packing, the DIAN export declaration via a licensed agent, booking from Cartagena or Buenaventura), the ocean or air leg, and the French arrival — preparing your CERFA 10070 and the two-copy valued inventory for the franchise de déménagement, and sequencing the pet titre-test timeline so it aligns with your visa and VLS-TS validation. One team, one inventory, from Bogotá to Paris. Get a quote and we will build your plan around the longest-lead item — usually the pet.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a rabies titration test to bring my dog or cat from Colombia to France?
Yes. Colombia is not an EU-listed third country, so a titration test is mandatory: blood taken at least 30 days after rabies vaccination, tested at an EU-approved lab at ≥0.5 IU/ml, then a three-month wait before entering the EU. See European Commission — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country.

How early should I start the pet process?
About four to five months: microchip, rabies vaccination, a blood sample at least 30 days later, lab turnaround, then a mandatory three-month wait after a successful result before EU entry. It is the single longest-lead task, so start before booking anything else. Source: European Commission — Bringing a pet into the EU.

Can I import my furniture into France duty-free?
Yes, under the franchise de déménagement, if you have lived outside the EU for at least 12 months, owned and used the goods for at least 6 months, and import them within 12 months of transferring your main residence. You file CERFA 10070 with a two-copy valued inventory. See French Customs — Transferring your main residence to France.

What must I do about my visa after arriving in France?
If you hold a VLS-TS, validate it online on the ANEF portal within 3 months of arrival and pay the tax. Once validated it serves as your residence permit for its validity. See France-Visas — Long-stay visa.

Can I exchange my Colombian driving licence in France?
No. France and Colombia do not have a licence-exchange agreement, so you may drive on your Colombian licence for one year after settling and then must pass the French tests. See Sécurité routière — Foreign licence reciprocity (Colombia not listed).

How long does shipping from Colombia to France take?
Plan about 5–8 weeks door to door. A direct Cartagena–Le Havre sea leg is around two weeks, on top of packing, export clearance, any transshipment and French customs. See Fluent Cargo — Cartagena to North Europe transit.

Sources

• European Commission (Food Safety) — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country
• European Commission (Food Safety) — Listing of territories and non-EU countries
• ICA (Colombia) — Registro de viajero-exportador (pet export)
• French Customs (Douane) — Transferring your main residence to France (franchise, CERFA 10070)
• France-Visas — Long-stay visa (VLS-TS)
• Service-Public.fr — Validating a long-stay visa on ANEF
• Sécurité routière — Exchange of non-EU driving licences (reciprocity list)
• Fluent Cargo — Cartagena to North Europe transit (Le Havre)