Moving from Israel to France (2026): Relocation Guide
Key takeaways
- Plan your pet first. Israel is not on the EU’s list of rabies-favourable countries, so a dog or cat needs a rabies antibody titration test (blood taken at least 30 days after vaccination, result ≥0.5 IU/ml) and then a mandatory three-month wait before EU entry. Budget roughly four to five months.
- France gives you duty and import-VAT relief on used household goods under the franchise de déménagement, if you lived in a non-EU country for at least 12 months and are transferring your main residence. You file customs form CERFA 10070 with a signed inventory.
- There is no exit visa to leave Israel, but plan for breaking Israeli tax residence (the “centre of life” test) and notify Bituach Leumi that you are moving abroad.
- Israeli citizens are third-country nationals and normally need a French long-stay visa (VLS-TS). Many Israelis hold an EU passport through ancestry, which grants free movement and skips the visa.
- Validate your VLS-TS within 3 months of arriving, online via the ANEF portal, or it stops working as a residence permit.
- Household goods sail Haifa/Ashdod to Marseille or Le Havre in roughly one to three weeks port-to-port; air freight is the fast alternative for a small, urgent shipment.
1. Leaving Israel: what to close out
Israel has no exit-visa system, so your departure is unrestricted. The work is administrative and financial, and the two areas that catch people out are tax and national insurance.
Tax residence. The Israel Tax Authority decides residence primarily on the “centre of life” test, weighing where your family, home, economic and social ties lie. Day-count presumptions assist it: being in Israel 183 days or more in a tax year presumes residence, as does 30 days or more in the year combined with 425 days across that year and the two before. Failing the day tests does not automatically make you non-resident, and merely leaving does not end residence. To break it cleanly, build a genuine centre of life in France: relocate the family, take a home and job, move banking and assets, and keep Israeli visits limited. Take advice before departure, because an unclear exit can leave you Israeli-resident for years.
Bituach Leumi (National Insurance). Notify the National Insurance Institute that you are leaving Israel. It generally treats you as resident for the first years abroad and expects contributions to continue; lapsed payments can suspend your entitlement to health services. If you are genuinely emigrating you can begin formal deregistration (residency-determination questionnaire, Form 627). Your Bituach Leumi status and tax status are assessed separately.
Accounts and admin. Close or restructure Israeli bank accounts you no longer need, settle arnona (municipal tax) and utilities, cancel local subscriptions, redirect post, and keep statements and contracts as proof of a genuine move. Keep your Israeli passport and Teudat Zehut.
Household export. Personal effects leave through Israeli Customs; an international mover files the export declaration and inventory and ships from Haifa or Ashdod.
Pets. To take a dog or cat out of Israel you need an Israeli veterinary export health certificate from the Israeli Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Because the EU entry chain is long, start the pet timeline before anything else.
2. How your household goods ship to France
Most Israel-to-France household moves travel by sea in a container. You will usually choose between a full container (FCL, a 20ft or 40ft box for a whole home) and shared groupage/LCL, where you pay for the cubic metres you use. FCL is faster and more secure end-to-end; LCL suits a flat or partial load but adds consolidation time at both ends.
Containers leave Haifa or Ashdod for French ports, most commonly Marseille-Fos on the Mediterranean (the natural gateway for a Mediterranean crossing) or Le Havre on the Atlantic coast. Sailings run regularly, and port-to-port ocean time is generally around one to three weeks depending on the service and any transhipment. Once you add packing and collection in Israel, export clearance, French import clearance and inland delivery, a realistic door-to-door window is several weeks. Treat any single figure as indicative and confirm the live schedule at booking.
Air freight is the fast alternative for a small, urgent load, cutting transit to days. It costs far more per kilo, so most families air-freight only essentials and send the bulk by sea.
Insist on a detailed, valued and signed inventory. French customs require it for the franchise de déménagement, and it is your insurance record too.
3. France customs & transfer-of-residence relief
When you transfer your main residence to France from a non-EU country such as Israel, your used personal belongings can enter free of customs duty and import VAT under the franchise de déménagement (removal relief). You declare them on customs form CERFA 10070, the déclaration d’entrée en franchise de biens personnels en provenance de pays tiers.
The core conditions: you must have been resident in a non-EU country for at least 12 consecutive months; you must be genuinely transferring your main home to France; the goods must be used personal property that you owned abroad; and, once admitted duty-free, they cannot be sold, lent or hired within 12 months of import. You submit a detailed, dated and signed inventory (typically in duplicate) plus evidence of your prior residence abroad and of establishing yourself in France. Some items, such as vehicles, carry their own conditions and a non-disposal commitment.
In practice your mover or a customs agent lodges CERFA 10070 with the inventory and supporting documents at the point of import. Keep names, dates and addresses consistent across every document, because mismatches are the usual cause of delay.
4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare
Residence and visa. As Israeli citizens you are third-country nationals. Israelis can visit France (Schengen) without a visa for short stays, but to live or work you generally need a French long-stay visa. The most common is the VLS-TS (visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour), a long-stay visa that doubles as a residence permit for the first year. Categories include employee, visitor, student and the Passeport Talent for skilled workers and their families. If you hold an EU passport through ancestry (many Israelis have French, Polish, Romanian, Hungarian or other EU citizenship) you have full free movement: no visa, and you simply establish residence.
Validating the VLS-TS. Crucially, you must validate your VLS-TS online within 3 months of your first entry into France, through the ANEF portal (administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr). The clock runs from the day your passport is stamped at the border, not from your lease or job start. Miss it and the visa stops functioning as a residence permit, leaving you without legal status. Validation involves a fee (a timbre fiscal) and, for some categories, an OFII step, after which OFII may summon you for a medical check.
Driving licence. A non-EU licence can generally be used for a limited initial period after you take up residence. Beyond that you may need to exchange it, which depends on whether France has a reciprocity agreement with the issuing authority; where none applies you may have to take a French test. Check your position with the French authorities (ANTS) soon after you arrive.
Healthcare. Once settled and eligible, residents join the French health system (PUMa / Assurance Maladie) and obtain a carte Vitale; many also take a complementary mutuelle. Arrange interim private cover for the gap between arrival and enrolment.
5. Pets
This is the longest lead item in an Israel-to-France move, so plan it first. Israel is not on the EU’s list of rabies-favourable third countries, so a dog or cat cannot enter on vaccination alone. The EU chain is: (1) an ISO microchip, implanted before or at vaccination; (2) a valid rabies vaccination after the chip; (3) a rabies antibody titration test on blood taken at least 30 days after vaccination at an EU-approved laboratory, showing at least 0.5 IU/ml; and (4) a mandatory wait of three months from the date of that blood sample before the animal may enter the EU. An EU animal health certificate is then issued by an official vet close to travel.
Because the titre and the three-month wait stack onto vaccination timing, the realistic runway is around four to five months. On the Israeli side you also need the Israeli veterinary export certificate from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Services. Enter through an approved traveller point of entry and follow France’s entry rules for pets. If dates slip, the three-month clock does not restart while the titre remains valid, but you cannot shortcut it, so start the vet timeline the day you decide to move.
6. Money, banking & tax basics
Opening a French bank account is easier once you have a French address and a residence document, though app-based banks can help you start sooner. Keep an Israeli account open through the transition for closing balances, standing obligations and any Bituach Leumi contributions you still owe.
On tax, France taxes residents on worldwide income, and Israel may keep treating you as resident until your centre of life has genuinely shifted, so avoid accidental dual residence. The France-Israel double-taxation treaty exists to stop the same income being taxed twice, but it does not remove the need to establish your position cleanly. If you hold Israeli assets, options, pensions or a company, take cross-border advice before you move, as the departure year is where costly errors are made. France also levies wealth tax on real estate (IFI) above a threshold, so factor property holdings into your planning.
How Flyto handles your Israel to France move
Flyto runs the corridor end to end: export packing and clearance in Israel, the sea (or air) leg from Haifa or Ashdod, French import clearance with the CERFA 10070 franchise de déménagement claim, and inland delivery to your door. Because we operate our own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, we coordinate the French side directly rather than handing you off, and we sequence the long-lead items, above all the pet titre and three-month wait, so nothing derails your date. Share your rough timing and inventory and we will plan backwards from it. Get a quote and we will build your plan.
Frequently asked questions
Does my dog or cat need a blood test to enter France from Israel?
Yes. Israel is not an EU-listed country, so after microchipping and rabies vaccination your pet needs a rabies antibody titration test (≥0.5 IU/ml) on blood taken at least 30 days after vaccination, then a three-month wait before EU entry. See European Commission — Bringing a pet into the EU.
How long does the pet process take?
Plan around four to five months: vaccination, a 30-day gap before the blood draw, the three-month wait, plus the EU animal health certificate near travel. Start before anything else. See European Commission — pet entry rules.
Can I import my furniture into France without paying tax?
Generally yes, under the franchise de déménagement declared on CERFA 10070, if you were resident outside the EU for at least 12 months and are transferring your main home, with a signed inventory. See French Customs — transferring your main residence to France.
Do Israeli citizens need a visa to live in France?
Israelis are third-country nationals and normally need a long-stay visa (VLS-TS) to live or work, though they can visit Schengen visa-free for short stays. An EU passport through ancestry removes the visa requirement. See France-Visas — official visa portal.
When must I validate my long-stay visa?
Within 3 months of your first entry into France, online via the ANEF portal, or the VLS-TS stops working as a residence permit. See ANEF — validate your long-stay visa.
Will I still owe Israeli tax after I move?
Possibly, until you break Israeli residence under the centre-of-life test; day-counts (183 days, or the 425-day rule) are only presumptions. Get advice and build a clear centre of life in France. See PwC — Israel individual residence.
Related moves
Sources
- European Commission (Food Safety) — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country
- French Customs (Douane) — Transferring your main residence to France (franchise de déménagement, CERFA 10070)
- France-Visas — official French visa portal
- ANEF — validating your long-stay visa (VLS-TS)
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Israel: individual residence
- Israel Ministry of Agriculture — Pet export requirements and forms
- Bituach Leumi — notifying the National Insurance Institute of departure
- Your Europe (EU) — Travelling with pets
Hiring an international mover? See our full International removals to Israel service — Flyto’s own European hubs, vetted local partners and one English-speaking coordinator, door to door.