Moving from Nigeria to France (2026): Relocation Guide

Moving from Nigeria to France (2026): Relocation Guide

Key takeaways

• As a Nigerian citizen you need a long-stay visa (visa de long séjour) before you travel — typically a VLS-TS (work, “passeport talent”, visitor or student) that you must validate online within 3 months of arrival to make it act as your residence permit.
• Plan pets first. Nigeria is not an EU-listed country, so a dog or cat needs a microchip, rabies vaccination, a rabies antibody titration test (blood drawn at least 30 days after vaccination, result at least 0.5 IU/ml) and then a compulsory 3-month wait before EU entry, plus an EU animal health certificate. Budget four to five months.
• Used household effects can enter France free of duty and VAT under the franchise de déménagement if you lived outside the EU for more than 12 months and owned and used the goods for more than 6 months — declared on form CERFA 10070 with a signed inventory.
• On the Nigerian side: valid passport, a Nigeria Customs Service export declaration for used effects, and a NAQS veterinary/export certificate for pets. Containers usually sail from Lagos (Apapa/Tin Can Island) or Port Harcourt.
• After arrival, validate your VLS-TS on the ANEF portal, and plan for healthcare (PUMA/carte Vitale), banking, and a driving-licence exchange or test.

1. Leaving Nigeria: what to close out

Your entry route comes first. Nigerian nationals are third-country nationals and must obtain a long-stay visa from the French consular network (via France-Visas and the appointed visa centre) before travelling. The common categories are the VLS-TS “salarié” or Passeport Talent (skilled workers, researchers, company transfers and highly qualified staff), the VLS-TS visitor (self-funded, no work), and the student visa. Each has its own income, contract, accommodation and insurance conditions, and the “Passeport Talent” family in particular is designed to speed up skilled migration. Book your France-Visas appointment early and prepare certified/translated documents, as slots and processing can take time.

Nigerian citizens do not need an exit visa to leave, but your international passport must be valid for the whole stay, and you should close out your Nigerian affairs: final matters with the Federal Inland Revenue Service, employer and school clearances, property/tenancy arrangements, and bank accounts. Foreign residents in Nigeria holding a CERPAC should resolve its status with the Nigeria Immigration Service before departure.

For your belongings, appoint a licensed Nigerian customs broker to file the export declaration for your used personal effects with the Nigeria Customs Service, backed by a detailed, valued inventory in English (you will also need a French version), your passport, packing list and bill of lading. Wooden packing must carry the ISPM-15 stamp. Collect and legalise/apostille the documents you will need in France — birth and marriage certificates, diplomas and transcripts, professional qualifications and vaccination records — with sworn French translations where required.

2. How your household goods ship to France

Most Nigeria-to-France household moves travel by sea in a shared (LCL/groupage) or dedicated (FCL) container. Loading is at the Lagos port complex — Apapa or Tin Can Island — or at Port Harcourt, with the usual French gateway being Le Havre (Marseille-Fos is an alternative, especially for southern France), from where goods move inland by road.

Transit runs in weeks. As a qualitative guide, sea freight from Lagos to Le Havre typically takes several weeks port-to-port, and you should add time for Nigerian export clearance (which can itself take one to a few weeks at Apapa or Tin Can Island) and French import clearance and delivery. Realistic door-to-door timelines of roughly six to ten weeks are common and can lengthen during congestion or if paperwork is incomplete. Avoid fixing a hard move-in date around an unconfirmed sailing.

For items you need immediately, air freight from Lagos (Murtala Muhammed International) to a French hub such as Paris (Charles de Gaulle) is far quicker — days rather than weeks — but charged by weight/volume, so reserve it for high-value, time-critical essentials. A practical approach is a small air-freight starter shipment plus the bulk of your home by sea. Whatever you choose, keep a signed, valued inventory in both English and French: it drives the Nigerian export declaration and the French franchise claim alike.

3. France customs & transfer-of-residence relief

France grants duty- and VAT-free import of used household goods to people transferring their normal residence from outside the EU, under the franchise de déménagement. To qualify you must have resided outside the EU for more than 12 months and have owned and used the goods for more than 6 months before the move. You must import the goods within 12 months of establishing residence in France and keep them for 12 months without selling, lending, hiring out or pledging them.

The claim is made on form CERFA 10070 (déclaration d’entrée en France en franchise de biens personnels), together with a detailed, valued, dated and signed inventory in two copies; proof that you lived in a third country; and proof that you are settling in France (certificate of change of residence, work contract, transfer order, or residence permit). Valuables such as antiques and works of art, and any goods subject to special formalities, require a separate declaration. New items bought just before the move are not covered by the relief.

Hand the completed CERFA 10070 and inventory to your customs agent or the competent customs office for clearance. As with the other corridors, the biggest cause of delay or charges is an incomplete or inconsistent inventory — get the documentation right before the container arrives.

4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare

Validate your visa. If you hold a VLS-TS, you must validate it online within 3 months of arrival on the ANEF foreigners’ portal (administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr), paying the residence tax and entering your arrival date and French address. Validation activates the VLS-TS as your residence permit; miss it and you fall out of legal status and cannot re-enter the Schengen area. Longer-term permits and renewals are handled through the same ANEF portal and your local préfecture.

Healthcare. Once you are legally resident and settled, you can join the French health system (Protection universelle maladie, PUMA) through your local CPAM, which issues a social-security number and eventually a carte Vitale; most residents also take out a complementary “mutuelle”. Keep private cover for the initial period before your affiliation is active.

Driving. A non-EU licence is valid for 1 year from the date you establish your normal residence in France. To keep driving beyond that you must exchange it — but exchange depends on a reciprocity agreement between France and the issuing country. Where no such agreement applies to your Nigerian licence, you must pass the French theory and practical tests. Confirm your position with your préfecture and on service-public.fr.

Everyday admin. Register children with the local mairie for schooling, and keep proof of address (justificatif de domicile) — a utility bill or tenancy contract — as it is requested constantly for French administration.

5. Pets

This is the longest-lead item of the move, so start it before anything else. Because Nigeria is not an EU-listed country, a dog or cat entering the EU (France included) must meet extra requirements beyond the microchip and rabies vaccination. In order:

1) Microchip (ISO standard). 2) Rabies vaccination after the chip is fitted. 3) Rabies antibody titration test — an EU-approved laboratory must test a blood sample drawn at least 30 days after vaccination, with a result of at least 0.5 IU/ml. 4) The mandatory 3-month wait — you must wait three months from the date the blood sample was taken before your pet may enter the EU. 5) An EU animal health certificate from an official vet shortly before travel, plus any tapeworm treatment where required.

Because the titre test can only be drawn 30+ days after vaccination and is followed by a three-month wait, the realistic pet timeline is about four to five months — usually longer than the visa or the shipment. On the Nigerian side you also need a NAQS (Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service) veterinary/export certificate confirming your pet is healthy and fit for export; NAQS certification is the prerequisite for the export permit. Pets normally travel as manifest cargo and are checked at an EU-designated travellers’ point of entry, so book with an airline and agent experienced in live-animal imports into France and confirm an IATA-compliant crate. Lock in the vaccination and blood-draw dates first — always verify current rules with the French agriculture ministry and the European Commission, as a missing titre can mean refusal or quarantine.

6. Money, banking & tax basics

Opening a French bank account usually requires your passport, proof of address (justificatif de domicile) and proof of your legal status; some newcomers start with an online/neobank account and then open a full account once settled. If a bank refuses you, France’s “droit au compte” gives access to a basic account via the Banque de France. Keep evidence of the source of funds transferred from Nigeria, and use a reputable licensed remittance/FX provider, mindful of Nigerian rules on outbound transfers.

On tax, you generally become French tax-resident once France is your main home or centre of economic interests, and are then taxable on worldwide income, with income tax collected largely at source (prélèvement à la source). If you retain income or assets in Nigeria, take advice on double-taxation and reporting. Budget for settling-in costs: rental deposit (usually one month’s rent for an unfurnished let) and often a guarantor requirement, the residence tax paid at visa validation, complementary health insurance, and any driving-test fees and sworn translations. Registering early with CPAM, your bank and the tax authorities smooths everything that follows.

How Flyto handles your Nigeria to France move

Flyto Relocation runs door-to-door moves from Nigeria to France: export clearance and loading at Lagos (Apapa/Tin Can Island) or Port Harcourt, sea or air freight to Le Havre and other French gateways, and duty-free clearance under the franchise de déménagement with your CERFA 10070 and inventory prepared correctly in advance. With our own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, we manage the destination side too — clearance, delivery and unpacking — and we build the pet timeline (titre test plus the three-month wait) into the plan from day one so your dog or cat never becomes the bottleneck. Get a quote and we will map the whole corridor to your dates.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a visa to move from Nigeria to France?
Yes. Nigerian citizens need a long-stay visa (often a VLS-TS: work, Passeport Talent, visitor or student) obtained before travel, and most must validate it online within 3 months of arrival. See France-Visas — Long-stay visa.

How long does the pet titre test and waiting period take?
The blood sample can only be drawn at least 30 days after rabies vaccination, must read at least 0.5 IU/ml, and is followed by a compulsory 3-month wait before EU entry — realistically four to five months. See European Commission.

Can I import my used furniture without paying French duty and VAT?
Yes, under the franchise de déménagement if you lived outside the EU for more than 12 months and owned and used the goods for more than 6 months, declared on CERFA 10070 with a signed inventory. See French Customs (Douane).

How do I validate my VLS-TS after arrival?
Validate it online within 3 months of arrival on the ANEF foreigners’ portal, paying the residence tax; this activates the visa as your residence permit. See ANEF portal.

Can I drive in France on my Nigerian licence?
For up to 1 year from establishing residence. To continue, you must exchange it where a reciprocity agreement exists, or otherwise pass the French tests. See service-public.fr — Exchange of a non-EU licence.

Which French port do goods from Nigeria arrive at?
Containers usually sail from Lagos (Apapa/Tin Can Island) or Port Harcourt to Le Havre (or Marseille-Fos for the south), then move inland by road. See Nigeria Customs Service.

Sources

• French Customs (Douane) — Déménagement / franchise (CERFA 10070)
• France-Visas — Long-stay visa (VLS-TS)
• ANEF — Validate your long-stay visa (Ministère de l’Intérieur)
• European Commission — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country
• service-public.fr — Exchange of a driving licence from outside the EU/EEA
• Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) — Animal Quarantine
• Nigeria Customs Service
• Nigeria Immigration Service