Moving from Turkey to France (2026): Relocation Guide

Moving from Turkey to France (2026): Relocation Guide

Key takeaways

• Start with your pets. Turkey is not an EU-listed third country, so a dog or cat entering France needs a rabies antibody titration test (blood drawn at least 30 days after vaccination, result at least 0.5 IU/ml) followed by a mandatory three-month wait before EU entry — the longest lead item in the whole move, about four to five months.
• Your used household goods can enter France duty- and VAT-free under the franchise de déménagement, provided you lived outside the EU for more than 12 months and have owned and used the goods for more than six months.
• As a third-country national you need a long-stay visa (VLS-TS), which you must validate online within three months of arriving in France.
• Sea freight from Ambarlı or Mersin to Le Havre or Marseille-Fos typically takes around one to two weeks port-to-port depending on routing; air freight suits a small, urgent load.
• Keep a detailed, signed inventory and proof of prior residence — French customs require them, and you commit not to sell or lend the goods for 12 months.

1. Leaving Turkey: what to close out

Begin by winding down your Turkish affairs. If you hold a Turkish residence permit (ikamet), there is nothing to formally cancel — it simply lapses when you leave and stop renewing it. The responsible authority is the Presidency of Migration Management (Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı, PMM), whose provincial offices are listed on goc.gov.tr. Settle rent, utilities and any tax matters, and keep your tenancy contract and utility bills: they prove your prior residence in a non-EU country, which French customs require for duty-free entry.

Exporting your household effects. Turkey does not charge export duty on your own used personal belongings, but the goods still clear customs on the way out. Prepare a detailed inventory describing each item, with brand and serial numbers for electricals, and do not pack used appliances or electronics in their original boxes, which can lead customs to treat them as new. A Turkish removals agent handles the export declaration and terminal formalities at the port.

Exporting a pet. To take a dog or cat out of Turkey you need an export health certificate from your local directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı), General Directorate of Food and Control. It is typically valid for only about 10 days and is issued shortly before departure — but the veterinary groundwork behind it (microchip, vaccination, blood titre) must start months earlier. See section 5.

2. How your household goods ship to France

Most Turkey-to-France household moves travel by sea in a container. The usual departure gateways are Ambarlı near Istanbul and Mersin on the south coast; common French arrival ports are Le Havre on the Atlantic and Marseille-Fos on the Mediterranean. Port-to-port sailing time is broadly one to two weeks depending on the exact service and routing, and you should add time on each side for collection, packing, export clearance and inland delivery to your new home.

Match the mode to your volume. A full container load (FCL) — a dedicated 20ft or 40ft box — suits a whole household on a fixed schedule. A shared container (LCL, groupage) splits space and cost but is slower, as it waits for consolidation and deconsolidation. For a small, urgent load — a few boxes and essentials you need before the sea freight lands — air freight from Istanbul to a French airport is faster, but priced by weight and volume, so keep it modest.

Your Turkish inventory does double duty as the basis of your French customs declaration, so make it detailed, dated and signed — France requires exactly that (see section 3). Photograph valuables and keep receipts where you have them.

3. France customs & transfer-of-residence relief

Because you are transferring your normal residence from a non-EU country into France, your used personal property can be imported free of customs duty and import VAT under the franchise de déménagement (transfer-of-residence relief). Two conditions must be met simultaneously: you must have resided outside the EU for more than 12 months, and you must have owned and used the goods for more than six months before the transfer.

Further conditions apply: you must transfer your main (normal) residence to France — not furnish a second home — you must import the goods within 12 months of settling in France, and you commit not to sell or lend the goods for 12 months after their entry. French customs require a detailed, estimated, dated and signed inventory in two copies, proof that you held a residence in a non-EU country and are now settling in France, and — for valuables and vehicles — the declaration form Cerfa n°10070*02. A French customs broker or your mover can lodge the declaration for you; because the paperwork is in French and precise, this is worth delegating. Restricted and dutiable categories (alcohol and tobacco above allowances, weapons, some plants and foods) sit outside the relief. Confirm current requirements on the French customs (douane.gouv.fr) and Service-Public pages before you ship.

4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare

Visa and residence. France is in the EU, and there is no free movement for Turkish citizens, so as a third-country national you must obtain a long-stay visa from a French consulate in Turkey before you travel. For stays up to one year the common route is the VLS-TS (visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour), a long-stay visa that acts as a residence permit. Crucially, you must validate the VLS-TS online within three months of arrival on the French foreigners’ administration portal (ANEF), paying the applicable tax; if you miss the deadline the visa loses its residence-permit status and downstream steps (health cover, bank, benefits) are blocked. Longer or different purposes may instead require a residence permit (titre de séjour) applied for through the same portal.

Address and local set-up. France has no single nationwide address-registration counter like Germany’s Anmeldung, but your address is central to almost everything — the VLS-TS validation, health cover, banking and your local mairie services — so secure a tenancy and keep proof of address (justificatif de domicile) to hand.

Healthcare. Once you are legally resident and stable, you can join the French health system (assurance maladie) via your local CPAM under the résidence-based scheme; expect to provide your validated visa, proof of address and identity. Private cover or a top-up (mutuelle) is common for the portion the state does not reimburse. Arrange interim cover for the gap before your affiliation is active.

Driving licence. You may drive on your valid Turkish licence for an initial period after becoming resident, subject to conditions (an official French translation or international permit is often needed). Whether you can exchange your Turkish licence for a French one without a test depends on the current bilateral arrangement between France and Turkey and on your permit category, so check the official rules and, if exchange is available, apply within the allowed window through the ANTS licence service.

5. Pets

Pets set the pace of the entire move, so book the vet before you do anything else. Turkey is not on the EU list of approved third countries, so bringing a dog, cat or ferret into France requires the full non-listed-country procedure, in strict order:

• Microchip — an ISO-standard microchip must be implanted first, before the rabies vaccination, so the record ties to the chip.
• Rabies vaccination — administered after the microchip; the animal must be at least 12 weeks old for the vaccination to count.
• Rabies antibody titration test — blood must be drawn by an EU-approved laboratory at least 30 days after vaccination, and the result must show at least 0.5 IU/ml.
• Three-month wait — you must wait three months from the date of the successful blood sample before the animal may enter the EU.
• EU animal health certificate — issued by an official veterinarian for EU entry; on the Turkish side you also need the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry export health certificate, issued just before travel.

Added together, that is roughly four to five months of lead time — longer than any shipping or visa step — so the pet timeline, not the container, is usually your binding constraint. If you have not started the chip-and-vaccine sequence, do it now. Always confirm current rules on the European Commission’s pet-travel pages and with the French Ministry of Agriculture before travel.

6. Money, banking & tax basics

Opening a French bank account typically requires proof of identity, your validated visa or residence status and proof of address (justificatif de domicile), so it usually follows your first tenancy. If you struggle to open an account, France has a “droit au compte” (right to an account) mechanism through the Banque de France. Until your account is live, keep a working international card and enough accessible funds for a deposit and first bills. For moving larger balances out of Turkey, compare your bank against specialist transfer services and mind Turkish documentation and limits on outbound transfers.

On tax, France taxes residents on worldwide income, and you generally become tax-resident once your main home or centre of economic interests is in France. A mid-year move, any continuing Turkish income, and the France–Turkey double-taxation treaty interact in case-specific ways, so take professional advice rather than assuming. Keep clean records of your arrival date, final Turkish and first French income, and any assets you retain in Turkey.

How Flyto handles your Turkey to France move

Flyto Relocation coordinates the whole corridor: export packing and customs clearance in Turkey, sea or air freight to Le Havre or Marseille-Fos, the franchise de déménagement paperwork (including the signed inventory and Cerfa n°10070*02 where needed) on the French side, and delivery to your door. Because we run our own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, your shipment stays within one accountable network rather than being handed between disconnected agents — and we sequence the dependencies that catch people out, above all the pet titre-test timeline and the VLS-TS validation, so your arrival goes to plan. Send us your dates and inventory and we will map the critical path and price it. Get a quote.

Frequently asked questions

Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to enter France from Turkey?
Yes. Turkey is not an EU-listed country, so a rabies antibody titration test is mandatory (blood taken at least 30 days after vaccination, result at least 0.5 IU/ml), then a three-month wait before EU entry. See the European Commission.

How long does the pet process take?
About four to five months: microchip, then rabies vaccination, then blood test 30+ days later, then a fixed three-month wait, then the health certificates. Start it first. See Your Europe.

Will I pay duty or VAT on my household goods?
Not if you qualify for the franchise de déménagement — resident outside the EU for 12+ months and goods owned and used for 6+ months, with a signed inventory. See Service-Public.

What is the VLS-TS and when must I validate it?
It is a long-stay visa that acts as a residence permit; you must validate it online within three months of arriving in France. See France-Visas.

Can I move to France on my Turkish passport alone?
No. As a third-country national you need a long-stay visa obtained from a French consulate before travel. See France-Visas.

How long does sea freight from Turkey to France take?
Broadly one to two weeks port-to-port to Le Havre or Marseille-Fos depending on the service, plus collection, clearance and delivery each side. Air freight is faster for a small load.

Sources

• Service-Public — Settling in France from a non-EU country: customs duties (franchise)
• French Customs (Douane) — Removal formalities into France
• France-Visas — Long-stay visa (VLS-TS)
• ANEF — French foreigners’ administration portal (VLS-TS validation)
• European Commission — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country
• Your Europe — Travelling with pets and other animals in the EU
• Presidency of Migration Management (Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı), Turkey
• Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry — pet export health certificate

Hiring an international mover? See our full International removals to Turkey service — Flyto’s own European hubs, vetted local partners and one English-speaking coordinator, door to door.