Been offered a job in Basel...and been told it may be cheaper to live in St Louis.(France)..?
1, how does that work out with salarys etc,
2, whats the process of finding a place,
3, websites for rentals ???....keeps showing me ST Louis Paris.....can u help.
Totally confused, PLEASE HELP.
Also, if you are without kids and you have a partner who will work too, go to France.
This is all because of income tax and childcare.
IF you choose France, I wouldn't choose St Louis (postal code 68300, should help with googling). But go for one of the surrounding towns or villages, it depends where you will work and which side of Basel you need to get to, but I'd be happy to recommend via PM, just message me directly.
One rental agency for you: http://www.logic-immo.com/location-immobilier.php
Search for "Saint Louis, 68300, Immo, Louer" to find more agencies.
If you are single, or a couple where one will stay home; then I'd stay in Switzerland. Main reason is that it is much better for the social life and easier to get around on the public transport.
In Basel-Land the rent is a bit cheaper (tax typically too) and the commute into town is typically nice/easy/fast.
We lived in Basel town and a village in Basel-land before we had kids. We loved both locations (both on tram lines).
Now we have 3 kids and are 20km north of Basel with no public transport to speak of, but we are just as happy!
My old halls of residence at university were at the Elephant and Castle and I don't think that St Louis (for all it's bad name) could ever get close to the crime rate/dive effect of there!
It's all a matter of perspective and what you prefer. St Louis is not that bad, it's just that the surrounding area is so much nicer.
I have a friend who moved to the area and she and her hubby chose to live in France instead of Switzerland. She is not EU and because of this, she is having to find a job in France (even though her hubby works in Basel) as that is where she has residence permit, rather than in Switzerland.
As well as St Louis, check out Huningue (mixed area) and also Hegenheim which has a few Swiss working expat families.
Also take into account the languages - if you don't speak French, then it will be harder to work out all the admin involved with renting in France, than if you are in Basel, where you are more likely to get help with the paperwork, from your Swiss place of employment. :-)
I really don't see the point in saving CHF500 a month if you spend 90 minutes or more a day commuting when compared to living near to work in Baselstadt. Same if you end up having to buy a car whereas in Baselstadt you may not need to.
Also, if you work in Basel then that's where your social life will be centered and where you'll be making friends, so heading back into France at night may not be desirable for you.
Then there is the Euroairport, the planes fly over quite a few villages (as well as Allschwil and Binningen) so check out the noise levels.
And finally, how's your French ?
I agree with mother of 3 boys here - if you're single and want to go out a lot, I would recommend Basel. There's not much nightlife where I live. And if you are not planning to have a car - public transport is not the best and good point about commute - mine is 10 minutes, but if your work is at the other end of Basel, you might be stuck in traffic for a quite considerable time. Also, as mentioned, if you don't speak French, it will be difficult to manage.
Otherwise, I don't quite understand what people mean by stating that the quality of life is better in Switzerland - I certainly prefer it here. Everything is cheaper, shopping, services, insurances etc. Child care is actually affordable. The school in our tiny village is good and French/German bilingual. Health insurance - 1/3rd of the price of what I paid in Ch, but no deductible and dental included. and so on. I find that the local people are more relaxed as well. We bought a house and for a comparable place (were considering buying in Switzerland as well at first, so did our homework) we paid only about 1/2.
Salaries - your Swiss employer will deduct the social deductions (AHV, accident insurance etc) from your salary. You will pay your income tax in France. All bigger employers are used to having frontaliers so should not be an issue.
http://www.frontalier.org/fiscalite.htm
St. Louis is a bit of a dump, so make sure you visit before you decide. Much nicer are some of the surrounding villages, as others have pointed out.
Cost of living is lower in France, but realistically you'll need a car to get to/from work and a place to park it.
Sorry for the delay, my wife and I will be coming to Basel, no kids, will be working on Flughanstrasse, near airport (Hope this helps), just keeping my options open at the moment. I will be the only earner at first, until we find my wife a job, presently does private house cleaning here in London, own business, would be looking to do something similar, hotels etc, speaks Thai and English well.
How does it work with crossing border everyday, and registering to live in France, sorry fr being so naive..
Thanks for your help so far...!!!
Do some searches on this website for work/social options for your wife.
There is certainly a Thai community in Basel, no idea about St Loius.
I'm sure other trailing spouses can chip in here on what may be best for your wife.
Register in France - if you and your wife both have UK passports, you don't need any special permits. Just go to the local village/city hall and let them know that you're living there now and that's it.
What would be the process of doing it in france..?
http://www.alle-immobilien.ch/
To call some of the villages in France 'very quiet' is a bit of an understatement, especially if you are used to London.
Make sure you find somewhere nice to live, especially if your wife will not be working for quite possibly some time.
You need a happy home as the stress of changing country is high enough as it is.
I just wanted to make clear that St Louis is not a social dumping place like you may be used to in some places of the US or UK, it's just a place with some pretty poor areas and other modest but calm residential areas.
But DO go and see the place for yourself, and don't forget the price difference between Basel and Alsace gets bigger the further away from the border you are. Meaning that you don't save that much by living very close to the border.
The salary work like this. You pay certain parts at source in Switzerland, AHV, ALV NBU pension scheme and loss of salary sickness insurance. You will pay tax in France. Yearly tax returns have to be done before the 31st May each year, for the previous years tax.
They are pretty helpful, you can pop along and speak to one of the advisers and get an estimate for your next years tax if you want.
RECETTE PRINCIPALE SAINT LOUIS
8 RUE DE HUNINGUE
68300 SAINT-LOUIS
téléphone : 03 89 70 97 42
Horaires d'ouverture : LU-VE 8H30-11H30 - LU-JE DE
Horaires d'ouverture : 13H30 A 16H - VE 13H30 A 15H30
If you have a kid or kids then you will have to claim child benefit in Switzerland unless your partner is working in France, in that case you could claim from the CAF which is in Mulhouse.
I live up the road so have had to discover all this stuff myself. If you need more info about schools, buying a car, etc etc you can just PM me and I will try and help.
If you have kids then the French side is good. Schooling is good, and free, etc. Just something to consider
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Has to be close to shops, amenities. I do drive but wife doesn't.
Many Thanks.
If just the basics is enough (supermarket, post office, bakery, doctor maybe) then check Hegenheim, Hesingue, Huningue, Blotzheim, Village Neuf as well - all just minutes from airport.
There are a lot of people who also commute from Mulhouse - it's only about 30 km (but traffic jams at peak times quite common). But if you are used to average London commute, then consider this option as well - lot bigger town so your wife would find everything necessary there.
If not, aim for close to Basel. Village Neuf would be ideal.