if a French person is watching this and is struggling to open a bank account: law dictates that if 3 different banks refuse you their services, the national bank (Banque de France) will force the nearest bank to your appartement to open you an account :) -A French student studying economics in France.
@@damondominique True. It's easier when you already have a job. Coming in as an au pair, I had no problems getting an account. My banker even gave me a free Pikachu skin for my bank card! XD
Throwing in a pickup line to the cute bank employee in the middle of a rant about bureaucratic red tape is the most on-brand Damon Dominique thing I've ever heard
You know what’s funny: every French citizen opening a bank account nowadays needs to sign a paper saying they are not American or they will to deal with the IRS
Honestly bravo for sticking it out because adulting is hard enough when you live in your home country lmao. I probably would've had a mental breakdown if I had to jump through all these ridiculous hoops 😂
damon said that because. You need more POWWEEEEEEEER. Just fill the paperwork, get patient, fill the paperwork, avoid scam, fill the paperwork. And u might end up paying billions of taxes. With an ok health system. And food. Maybe dont try paris.
FRENCH GOVERNMENT: - I do enjoy seeing Damon and his life in Paris - I do enjoy seeing Damon and his life in Paris - I do enjoy seeing Damon and his life in Paris .... - I do enjoy seeing Damon and his life in Paris
Hi Damon, I just wanted to give you a heads up because now you might have some issues with Adsense. I opened my YT channel in Canada without a Canadian bank account (it was only an exchange year), so I could never collect the money from the Adsense revenue since you cannot change the country of an Adsense account. Therefore, you need to open the Adsense account with a new email and connect the YT channel to the new Adsense account if you want to receive the YT money on the French bank account. Hope it makes sense, it took me ages to figure it out and I don't want you to go through the same.
My friend and I saw you in Paris and I literally just stared shocked in your face whilst you were on the phone aoahakgakaba I’m sorry for that ! Hi! I love your videos and wish I had said something lmaooo
So freaking true and relatable - i feel you. As a foreigner, my worst nightmares living in France are the never ending amount of paperwork needed and time waiting, praying for things to get done! Recently just got my Carte Vitale ( health insurance card ) but only after 18 months... Bon courage!
I’m living abroad in Korea right now, and I FEEL YOU on shit like this. Living abroad is so awesome, but it also gave me VIP access to the struggle bus
In the Nordic countries most services are much easier and digitalized 😎 I live in Norway it’s pretty easy here, I went to France to help my sis move to study there, and gosh!! The terrible bureaucracy killed me, doing simple things like banc account, SIM card etc was hell we almost cried 😂
@Sabrina i live in spain at the moment, as a EU citizen, and still had and have to do a ridiculous amount or paper work to be able to get a job and even rent an appartment
I'm so evil I can't wait for the video where he needs to move and his internet provider starts its shenanigans. Or when his green healthcare card doesn't arrive. Or when he needs to officially declare what he makes as a freelancer, and to do so needs to create a "micro-entreprise" and then deal with "l'URSSAF". Those will be fun videos...But I also feel bad for you, and I apologize for our administration and paperwork: hang in there!
"this dude is modern and cool and knows how to use email" is basically the French in one sentence. I love the "let's save the planet" PAPER LETTERS But for real though, that whole "bank account" thing is so stupid. A friend of mine was turned down at multiple banks for over a month for all of the reasons you listed, it's stupid af. And me, I was "lucky" to have the first bank I walked into (which was, unfortunately, Société Générale) to open an account for me. I too had to fill out a bunch of forms even though I'm not American. And they gave me the card before giving the PIN code which is like.. what?! And then there's my funny story. The letter with the code secret failed to reach the mailbox for whatever reason, so like two weeks later I go to their office to ask for help and what they say is....... we can't help you because we're not YOUR agency. That was a new concept to me, I must say. And I also moved so I had to travel around Paris to Issy-les-Moulineaux to ask them to send me a new code secret. But since my salary was on that card and I had to wait for at least one more week and I didn't have any money, I asked them to cash me out some money from the account, to which they said, we're sorry, but we don't have money here, please, go to a different office. I was getting angry, but okay, I go to another office and there they say "we're sorry, but we're not your agency, go back" I was soooooooooo mad After I came back the lady started to apologize and gave me some money from the account. I've also had funny situations with CAF. They asked me to send them my revenues from 2018. Wtf? I'm not French, I came here in 2019 and I'm leaving in 2020 WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY I MADE TWO YEARS AGO????????????????????????????????????????????????? I'm sorry for this little rent. The system really gets to me And thanks for the video, nice to have someone to relate to, especially to someone who has been in Paris for quite a while
So this probably won't get read, but I think you should do a series on learning french, Like the basics, how to spell them, say them and etc.. I know this would help me, and many others :D
HA! This is actually hilarious and way too relatable. Getting a French bank account would be so helpful but it's actually impossible in my experience. This and your apartment search video are incredibly the same exact experiences I've had here in France. Having friends in the system are truly the best way to get around everything.... and as you said.... "it only takes 5 five years". I cried at this because of how true it is. Thanks for putting everything I know into understandable words that I can share with people hahaha
Ugh I'm always so early on you on accident but honestly like I don't even need the comment section to entertain me when your videos are extremely entertaining by themself omggggg I stan
That may be why there is so many tax evasion... It's not that our richest people don't want to pay, it's because it's too hard to open an account ! It's easier for them to put it in Switzerland or something.
You are just so adorable. You realize that may be the most difficult thing you ever have to do.in France! so congratulations! PS: attn. French Government, I enjoy Sat Bing Damon Domenique's captivating videos of his life in your beautiful country! And I look forward to reading many many more! So do my friends. We went to Paris for the first time last April and have tickets to come again in March.
Sean 션 The answer is no. It’s really easy to open a bank account in the United States compared to most countries. Walk in with your ID, walk out with your bank account.
I was stressing out with you in this video. I had similar stress when I moved from Florida to NYC....you would think it's a foreign country!!! Similar issues with guarantors, bank accounts, utilities. Ugh. Glad you got it all worked out.
This is hilarious but I also feel so sorry for you, I'm French but I've been living for 3 years in the UK now and it's really made me realise how complicated French bureaucracy is. Took me two hours to open a French bank account as a French person with all the right documents but it took me half an hour to open a UK bank account as a French person. It makes NO SENSE. They always seem to come up with unnecessary absurd rules which drives me insane. Good luck with whatever's next 😂
thanks for this absolutely relatable content. as an european citizen, my life should be easier, but it is stilllll super hard with the bureaucracy when moving to other countries in europe. probably easier than being an american. still super hard in some european countries. love it though.
It’s funny that they ask for an appointment when there’s NOBODY IN THE FUCKING AGENCY!!! Your rant videos are too funny and relatable, feel I could’ve scripted them.
imagine how hard it will be to close a french account. i had a friend who lived in france a bit and then when he came back they wouldn’t let him close his account because he owed 7 cents.
A tip: even if you live in France, nothing stops you from opening a bank account in a Belgian or German bank for example, which are waaaaay more efficient and have great apps. Personally I use Belfius, eventhough I live in France.
@@damondominique first: LOVE your videos and your take on Europe ❤️ but yeah you need and account for like, official reasons, but what we did is just using our modern foreign bank for everyday life, and only the French account for "official" things... Which is still a DAMN hastle not gonna lie #BanquePopulaireNeverAgain
This is so true, as an international living & working in France, it took me ages to close my french account, I kept emailing my account manager for since August 2019, I just called them last week again to close my account... it's a new level of frustration
Ture story about my french friend. She recently got cancer hence she had to quit her job. she is 63 so not old enough for pension either. she decided to sell her house in France and rent a smaller apartment. but after she sold the house for like half a million euro, she couldn't find a place to rent because, in order to rent, you need to prove that you are making 3 times salary than the rent and her half a million bank statement obviously can't prove she can afford the rent. She had to live in a hotel during the searching. Eventually, a friend's friend rented a studio to her after 6 months of struggling. How fucked up is that?
I feel this so hard! As an expat in Germany, I couldn't open a bank account until I had a lease with my name on it. I, like you, was in temporary housing at first that was not in my name. Of course, I couldn't get paid at work until I had a bank account. So my supervisor calls the local bank branch (this is a small town) and explains my situation, and asks very respectfully if they could please begin processing my account given that I will have a lease very soon. They miraculously agree! So I get there, and the lovely, small-town German teller has never opened an account for an American before. But we're chugging along until she goes to the printer to get the forms I need to fill out. She comes back and says "when I put that you are American in to the system, all these American tax forms printed out and I have no idea why or what to do with them. But why don't you just fill them out incase and we'll see what happens." I'm like... not really wanting to give all this private information "just incase", but also don't want to admit that I also have no clue, so I agree that this seems like something the American government would do and fill them out. She tells me she'll get things started and that I need to come back as soon as I get a signed lease. Course finding an apartment is a whole other story, but I come back with the signed lease and it works! I received not one, but three or four separate activation codes in the mail (one for the atm, one for online banking, one for transfers...). Good times! I get mad flashbacks watching these videos.
Things in France required to get a French bank account: residence and utility bill with your name on it. Things in France required to get a residence and utility bill with your name on it: French bank account. They make it an impossible loop on purpose just to make it impossible for foreigners, how nice...
I would of cried BIG GIRLY TEARS. BIG. GIRLY. TEARS. And completely flooded their bank. It would of been in the news: Sad and tragic event, American girl cries so hard in French bank everyone drowns in her tears. Details at 9.
I love your video, I went through this too with banks, then I go online to N26. I did first a mistake with the thumb but yes right now I put a thumb up. ⭐️
...I moved to Australia after living in Spain, where it took several months to open a bank account. I opened a bank account in Australia in 5 minutes. I was so confused at how easy it was, I walked across the street into different bank and opened a second account.
Thank you for the informative and funny video. My experience: The worst nightmare of living or studying in France is when you bear an Arabic name regardless of whether you are an Arab or not. You have suspicious tag on your account as long as you stay there.
Banks are gifted for making you feel like the poor unwanted migrant when it comes to open your bank account in a new country. The nonsense I had to go through when I arrived in the UK 5 years ago was just ridiculous, but probably not as bad as your experience.
Funny as hell. Storytelling on point. 👌🏾 Seeing France through a foreigner’s eyes actually reminds me of how ridiculous this country can be at times... 😏 (I’m Senegalese with French ancestry, grew up in Senegal, settled here for my studies and I actually remember feeling that everything just had to be kafkaesque or nothing. Luckily, this feeling fades out overtime and all these shenanigans become the new normal. You’ll see...)
Having also recently opened a French bank account in Paris, I relate to this on so many levels. Took 2 months for my account to be opened, then my card didn't even work and I had to wait for another. I never thought it was possible to love and hate a place so much at the the same time.
I love your video so much it's so entertaining! Haha. It's hard as a white immigrant who speak french, so can you imagine how hard it is for non caucasian n those who dont speak French haha
Stuff is so comicated in France. My dad has been living there for a year and they ask for SO many documents for the smallest thing. And he has a european passport...
Oh MAN This reminds me of my experience. I'm an Australian living in China for almost a year. Online payments via Wechat and Alipay (with QR codes) is extremely popular here. To the point where a majority of shops don't accept cash. So I thought 'cool, ok I'll get a wechat' but you need a Chinese bank account. But to get the chinese bank account you need to go to the closest bank to your accommodation. With your passport, visa, proof of accommodation and a Chinese friend to 'recommend' you to the bank. Nowhere NEAR as hectic as this, but my GOD a mood.
Omg hahah I studied abroad in France and they are really so slow and relaxed about everything but glad you finally got it sorted with some persistent. Also, when I was in France, the government actually gave money back on my rent as an incentive to live there so maybe you can get that too and it’ll all be worth your hassles 😂
American here who just moved to France. From start to finish it took around 6 weeks. I honestly think they finally gave me an account because they got tired of me coming into the bank everyday. Good news is when I go into the bank now half the people working in the bank now waves at me because they clearly know who I am, LOL
While dealing with an insane system like this I got a friend to photoshop my name and address on some bills and used those 😂 Worked like a charm though 😉
Hate to break the news... but just wait until you need to close your account 😂. It took me two weeks of going into Societe everyday asking to close my account for someone to actually do it 🙄🤦♀️.
I need yoga.
Damon Dominique me 2
Mood
But you would need three different documents to even sign on a yoga class
Yoga With Adriene is my fave!!
Pleaee do a vid if u gonna start yoga 😊
if a French person is watching this and is struggling to open a bank account: law dictates that if 3 different banks refuse you their services, the national bank (Banque de France) will force the nearest bank to your appartement to open you an account :) -A French student studying economics in France.
Ok merci, mais tu pouvais juste le dire en français alors mdrr
Biba Oreo mdr de ouf oops
Only for french people?
@@amirasou1738 No, for anyone
@@kalfch1 oh that's so cool ! Thank you
you look so good its distracting
Yes. I can’t concentrate on negative while he’s being so cute. Doesn’t work
IFKR
@@theaileenwilson ^^
I LIIIIIVE for these rantssss they are soo RAW and HONEST and FUNNYYYYY
RAWWW RAWW RAW
This is why french people are mad all the time bureaucracy is awful here.
agreed!
tout à fait mdr
HONEYYY that’s just the tip of iceberg
Worse than Stalin USSR!
Bureaucracy Paper Work aux USA est encore encore PIRE que La FRANCE !
Me: wants to move to France
Damon: you thought this would be fun?
YOU CALL THIS FUN? But I'll admit: most of my problems are because I'm self-employed!
Even french peoples struggle... I can't imagine how painful it must be if you're foreigner on top of that. So good luck! And don't give up :)
@@damondominique True. It's easier when you already have a job. Coming in as an au pair, I had no problems getting an account. My banker even gave me a free Pikachu skin for my bank card! XD
@@KinkajusRevenge ^^
This is better than HBO
Kieran DeGrada ofc!!
Throwing in a pickup line to the cute bank employee in the middle of a rant about bureaucratic red tape is the most on-brand Damon Dominique thing I've ever heard
Totally! ^^
No wonder everyone there is so skinny, they have to go back dozens of time to get anything done
^^
Lmaoo who's skinny ? We're not skinny though especialy me i'm *T H I C K*
You know what’s funny: every French citizen opening a bank account nowadays needs to sign a paper saying they are not American or they will to deal with the IRS
AND We have to declare accounts we have outside of France...
My friend it is not just in France.
I remember opening bank account in my country; Malaysia back in 2013 . I needed to do the same.
Andipo Thank you President Obama
@@npineapple3077 Not in Romania :D
I don't understand. Are you saying that as an EU & American citizen, or they deal with the IRS?
Honestly bravo for sticking it out because adulting is hard enough when you live in your home country lmao. I probably would've had a mental breakdown if I had to jump through all these ridiculous hoops 😂
You can make the most irrelevant, uninteresting topics to me sound funny, entertaining, interesting and useful. That's a really worthy skill.
Exactly! :)
You in 5 years: How I got my french citizenships and gave up my american
In 10 years
Me: *dreams of living in France since I was in sixth grade*
Damon: lemme stop you right there
Exactly
No, no.. it's worth it though
LOL.. right!?!!
KinkajusRevenge it seems so as Damon keep coming back anyway 😅
damon said that because. You need more POWWEEEEEEEER. Just fill the paperwork, get patient, fill the paperwork, avoid scam, fill the paperwork. And u might end up paying billions of taxes. With an ok health system. And food.
Maybe dont try paris.
FRENCH GOVERNMENT:
- I do enjoy seeing Damon and his life in Paris
- I do enjoy seeing Damon and his life in Paris
- I do enjoy seeing Damon and his life in Paris
....
- I do enjoy seeing Damon and his life in Paris
Hi Damon, I just wanted to give you a heads up because now you might have some issues with Adsense. I opened my YT channel in Canada without a Canadian bank account (it was only an exchange year), so I could never collect the money from the Adsense revenue since you cannot change the country of an Adsense account. Therefore, you need to open the Adsense account with a new email and connect the YT channel to the new Adsense account if you want to receive the YT money on the French bank account. Hope it makes sense, it took me ages to figure it out and I don't want you to go through the same.
When I lived in France, I hired an agency to help handle this nonsense. It was absolutely worth it.
Edith Spencer hello Edith, can you please tell me the name of the agency?
@@sasagi1871 Adrian Leeds Group, which is geared towards Americans.
How much did it cost?
@@EMSpdx ^ Yeah how much did that cost you?
@@fanfoona6608 At the time ot was like $200 or so. It may be more given inflation.
So basically you've had a taste of French customer service.
mlu007 🤣
My friend and I saw you in Paris and I literally just stared shocked in your face whilst you were on the phone aoahakgakaba I’m sorry for that ! Hi! I love your videos and wish I had said something lmaooo
So freaking true and relatable - i feel you. As a foreigner, my worst nightmares living in France are the never ending amount of paperwork needed and time waiting, praying for things to get done! Recently just got my Carte Vitale ( health insurance card ) but only after 18 months... Bon courage!
omg I'm never going to get that. A year and a half, and I'm still on step 1: opening my account.
you really didn't have to go through all that, you could've just showered at his place lmfaoo
^^
That leather jacket coordinating with the couch and the undershirts with the fireplace and exposed beam ceiling - okkk so aesthetic!
THIS IS THE MOST SURPRISING VIDEO EVER TO BE EVEN REMOTELY FUNNY. LIKE I DIED WHEN U WERE TALKING ABOUT THE DUDE WHO DIPPED THE BANK !!!!! LMAOOO
Damon would do that. Can make everything funny, even painful and/or mundane ones. ^^
Your video editing >>
“People are just making up rules” 😂😂🤣 I feel for you Damon. Hang in there.
I’m living abroad in Korea right now, and I FEEL YOU on shit like this. Living abroad is so awesome, but it also gave me VIP access to the struggle bus
I too live in Korea. For the past 3 years. I can relate to his videos in a dark humour kind of way.
L'administration française in a nutshell
europe being a burocratic mess whats new
uk is the same or worse even if theyre like "no we're not europe we are more advanced" lmaoooooooooo
In the Nordic countries most services are much easier and digitalized 😎 I live in Norway it’s pretty easy here, I went to France to help my sis move to study there, and gosh!! The terrible bureaucracy killed me, doing simple things like banc account, SIM card etc was hell we almost cried 😂
Estela Espinós i literally opened a bank account 2 days after moving into the country WITHOUT A SINGLE PROBLEM!! 😂😂😂
@Sabrina i live in spain at the moment, as a EU citizen, and still had and have to do a ridiculous amount or paper work to be able to get a job and even rent an appartment
I’m German... it’s hell
Damon saying “got em!” after a pick up line is everything 😂
True. ^^
The color coordination...
I'm so evil I can't wait for the video where he needs to move and his internet provider starts its shenanigans.
Or when his green healthcare card doesn't arrive.
Or when he needs to officially declare what he makes as a freelancer, and to do so needs to create a "micro-entreprise" and then deal with "l'URSSAF".
Those will be fun videos...But I also feel bad for you, and I apologize for our administration and paperwork: hang in there!
Trop! ^^
Of course! I got it. Orange is the color. Thanks a lot. It's never been cooler
Nice glasses
"this dude is modern and cool and knows how to use email" is basically the French in one sentence. I love the "let's save the planet" PAPER LETTERS
But for real though, that whole "bank account" thing is so stupid. A friend of mine was turned down at multiple banks for over a month for all of the reasons you listed, it's stupid af.
And me, I was "lucky" to have the first bank I walked into (which was, unfortunately, Société Générale) to open an account for me. I too had to fill out a bunch of forms even though I'm not American. And they gave me the card before giving the PIN code which is like.. what?! And then there's my funny story. The letter with the code secret failed to reach the mailbox for whatever reason, so like two weeks later I go to their office to ask for help and what they say is....... we can't help you because we're not YOUR agency. That was a new concept to me, I must say. And I also moved so I had to travel around Paris to Issy-les-Moulineaux to ask them to send me a new code secret. But since my salary was on that card and I had to wait for at least one more week and I didn't have any money, I asked them to cash me out some money from the account, to which they said, we're sorry, but we don't have money here, please, go to a different office. I was getting angry, but okay, I go to another office and there they say "we're sorry, but we're not your agency, go back" I was soooooooooo mad
After I came back the lady started to apologize and gave me some money from the account.
I've also had funny situations with CAF. They asked me to send them my revenues from 2018. Wtf? I'm not French, I came here in 2019 and I'm leaving in 2020 WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY I MADE TWO YEARS AGO?????????????????????????????????????????????????
I'm sorry for this little rent. The system really gets to me
And thanks for the video, nice to have someone to relate to, especially to someone who has been in Paris for quite a while
In Spain, I would show up at the banking hours...and the banks would still be closed...because let's just make lunch keep going...
hhahahahahahahah I'm Spanish and this is freakin true
I live in France and I can literally relate to everything you say in your videos about living here
Who is following les péripéties de Damon since the ig storyss !
me, unfortunately
So this probably won't get read, but I think you should do a series on learning french, Like the basics, how to spell them, say them and etc.. I know this would help me, and many others :D
The french doing you dirty is honestly the most entertaining thing 😂
HA! This is actually hilarious and way too relatable. Getting a French bank account would be so helpful but it's actually impossible in my experience. This and your apartment search video are incredibly the same exact experiences I've had here in France. Having friends in the system are truly the best way to get around everything.... and as you said.... "it only takes 5 five years". I cried at this because of how true it is. Thanks for putting everything I know into understandable words that I can share with people hahaha
Ugh I'm always so early on you on accident but honestly like I don't even need the comment section to entertain me when your videos are extremely entertaining by themself omggggg I stan
thank you SO much for sharing!!
Listening to this stressed me out because I can relate. Saying French bureaucracy is a nightmarish hellscape is an understatement.
Hey, I'm an expat here too, wait to see when time comes to renew your visa :D Good luck lol
That may be why there is so many tax evasion... It's not that our richest people don't want to pay, it's because it's too hard to open an account !
It's easier for them to put it in Switzerland or something.
I am English and been living here for over 30 yrs. Never had a problem with banking, ID, taxes, driving license or buying and renting property.
Thank god you are not a citizen of Freedom land...
The most frustrating video on TH-cam rn
AGREED❗️
Damon Dominique ayyyye love you! Livin the dream and congrats on finally getting everything sorted haha 🥰
You are just so adorable. You realize that may be the most difficult thing you ever have to do.in France! so congratulations!
PS: attn. French Government, I enjoy Sat Bing Damon Domenique's captivating videos of his life in your beautiful country! And I look forward to reading many many more! So do my friends. We went to Paris for the first time last April and have tickets to come again in March.
will you ever become a french citizen?
if he marries one...maybe.
eligirl100 he’ll only get a green card if he marries un homme Français
@@thecrap17yearsago35 yea but after a few years, he'll be able to apply for the nationality
@@eligirl100 he can apply without being married
@@manuellab3333 allegedly... but with all the bureaucracy France has 😧 I don't even want to imagine
YES! We’re proud of you😂
Hahaha l'administration française, quel bonheur !
I feel your pain. They are not easy to deal with. You literally have to argue with them for every little thing. Good luck :)
This makes me really curious how hard it is for people living this lifestyle in the States like are our banks this pissy???
Sean 션 The answer is no. It’s really easy to open a bank account in the United States compared to most countries. Walk in with your ID, walk out with your bank account.
no you just need an id and proof of residency etc even immigrants without a SSN can get bank accounts
My mother is french comes visits me in the states and opens a bank account within 30 min. This is my mom 😳😵
I was stressing out with you in this video. I had similar stress when I moved from Florida to NYC....you would think it's a foreign country!!! Similar issues with guarantors, bank accounts, utilities. Ugh. Glad you got it all worked out.
Yeah, I don't wanna live in France. What the hell? I am stressed and it's not even me!
This is hilarious but I also feel so sorry for you, I'm French but I've been living for 3 years in the UK now and it's really made me realise how complicated French bureaucracy is. Took me two hours to open a French bank account as a French person with all the right documents but it took me half an hour to open a UK bank account as a French person. It makes NO SENSE. They always seem to come up with unnecessary absurd rules which drives me insane. Good luck with whatever's next 😂
Yes We Want You To Stay In Paris
This is literally my life the last 6 months!!!! American in Paris
thanks for this absolutely relatable content. as an european citizen, my life should be easier, but it is stilllll super hard with the bureaucracy when moving to other countries in europe. probably easier than being an american. still super hard in some european countries. love it though.
It’s funny that they ask for an appointment when there’s NOBODY IN THE FUCKING AGENCY!!! Your rant videos are too funny and relatable, feel I could’ve scripted them.
I've recently moved to Paris for a temporary job and this video is so relatable!! French bureaucracy doesn't make any sense!!
This was hilarious, you are my new fav youtuber! A breath of fresh air
imagine how hard it will be to close a french account. i had a friend who lived in france a bit and then when he came back they wouldn’t let him close his account because he owed 7 cents.
😂😂😂
A tip: even if you live in France, nothing stops you from opening a bank account in a Belgian or German bank for example, which are waaaaay more efficient and have great apps. Personally I use Belfius, eventhough I live in France.
Getting your gas/electricity (EDF) + internet + phone (Orange + SFR) set up required it! Or at least for me they did....!?
@@damondominique first: LOVE your videos and your take on Europe ❤️ but yeah you need and account for like, official reasons, but what we did is just using our modern foreign bank for everyday life, and only the French account for "official" things... Which is still a DAMN hastle not gonna lie #BanquePopulaireNeverAgain
Chileeeee this stressed me out and it's not even my bank account or card. 😂😂
I've been in France for the past 2months and a half and this is HELLA relatable, France isn't made for convenience
Honestly, I have a headache listening to this...I cant imagine having to actually live it...i think i would explode. 😟
OMG I just found your channel and you’re so funny! Hahaha! I agree! Oh French bureaucracy 😅
This is so true, as an international living & working in France, it took me ages to close my french account, I kept emailing my account manager for since August 2019, I just called them last week again to close my account... it's a new level of frustration
This sounds horrible but let me just tell you, Spain is worse and in addition people are severely rude it’s scary.
So I go the atm .......... I forgot my card
The way I screamed
Ture story about my french friend. She recently got cancer hence she had to quit her job. she is 63 so not old enough for pension either. she decided to sell her house in France and rent a smaller apartment. but after she sold the house for like half a million euro, she couldn't find a place to rent because, in order to rent, you need to prove that you are making 3 times salary than the rent and her half a million bank statement obviously can't prove she can afford the rent. She had to live in a hotel during the searching. Eventually, a friend's friend rented a studio to her after 6 months of struggling. How fucked up is that?
I feel this so hard! As an expat in Germany, I couldn't open a bank account until I had a lease with my name on it. I, like you, was in temporary housing at first that was not in my name. Of course, I couldn't get paid at work until I had a bank account. So my supervisor calls the local bank branch (this is a small town) and explains my situation, and asks very respectfully if they could please begin processing my account given that I will have a lease very soon. They miraculously agree! So I get there, and the lovely, small-town German teller has never opened an account for an American before. But we're chugging along until she goes to the printer to get the forms I need to fill out. She comes back and says "when I put that you are American in to the system, all these American tax forms printed out and I have no idea why or what to do with them. But why don't you just fill them out incase and we'll see what happens." I'm like... not really wanting to give all this private information "just incase", but also don't want to admit that I also have no clue, so I agree that this seems like something the American government would do and fill them out. She tells me she'll get things started and that I need to come back as soon as I get a signed lease. Course finding an apartment is a whole other story, but I come back with the signed lease and it works! I received not one, but three or four separate activation codes in the mail (one for the atm, one for online banking, one for transfers...). Good times! I get mad flashbacks watching these videos.
Things in France required to get a French bank account: residence and utility bill with your name on it.
Things in France required to get a residence and utility bill with your name on it: French bank account.
They make it an impossible loop on purpose just to make it impossible for foreigners, how nice...
We were both screaming WHY!!? 🤣🤣
I don’t know why things have to be so DAMN complicated. 👏🏿 Make 👏🏿 it 👏🏿 make 👏🏿 sense.
You got your activation card!!! YAY!! LOL :)...beaucoup travaille :(
I would of cried BIG GIRLY TEARS. BIG. GIRLY. TEARS. And completely flooded their bank. It would of been in the news: Sad and tragic event, American girl cries so hard in French bank everyone drowns in her tears. Details at 9.
Damon really ran a train over my dreams of living in Paris💀
I love your video, I went through this too with banks, then I go online to N26. I did first a mistake with the thumb but yes right now I put a thumb up. ⭐️
...I moved to Australia after living in Spain, where it took several months to open a bank account. I opened a bank account in Australia in 5 minutes. I was so confused at how easy it was, I walked across the street into different bank and opened a second account.
that's exactly what happened to me when i was trying to open a bank account a few days ago.........
And yes I can feel your struggle in France as an American, I studied there for 4 years and I can relate to everything you said
Thank you for the informative and funny video.
My experience: The worst nightmare of living or studying in France is when you bear an Arabic name regardless of whether you are an Arab or not. You have suspicious tag on your account as long as you stay there.
I'm moving to Paris on March for work reasons, and these past couple of videos of yours are just scaring the shiiiiiiiiiiit out of me :(!!!!
Best of luck!!!
Banks are gifted for making you feel like the poor unwanted migrant when it comes to open your bank account in a new country. The nonsense I had to go through when I arrived in the UK 5 years ago was just ridiculous, but probably not as bad as your experience.
Me considering moving to Paris
Me after watching damons video: nope
Funny as hell. Storytelling on point. 👌🏾
Seeing France through a foreigner’s eyes actually reminds me of how ridiculous this country can be at times... 😏
(I’m Senegalese with French ancestry, grew up in Senegal, settled here for my studies and I actually remember feeling that everything just had to be kafkaesque or nothing. Luckily, this feeling fades out overtime and all these shenanigans become the new normal. You’ll see...)
you can HEAR that they're just making things up
Here I am, 13 hours late, but still I see Damon and I click
Are we gonna talk abt how long this must have taken to edit?! Give him a break France!!!
Apparently Pain au Chocolat and la Tour Eiffel are worth all this heartache 😭😭
Having also recently opened a French bank account in Paris, I relate to this on so many levels. Took 2 months for my account to be opened, then my card didn't even work and I had to wait for another. I never thought it was possible to love and hate a place so much at the the same time.
I love your video so much it's so entertaining! Haha. It's hard as a white immigrant who speak french, so can you imagine how hard it is for non caucasian n those who dont speak French haha
Stuff is so comicated in France. My dad has been living there for a year and they ask for SO many documents for the smallest thing. And he has a european passport...
Oh MAN This reminds me of my experience. I'm an Australian living in China for almost a year. Online payments via Wechat and Alipay (with QR codes) is extremely popular here. To the point where a majority of shops don't accept cash. So I thought 'cool, ok I'll get a wechat' but you need a Chinese bank account. But to get the chinese bank account you need to go to the closest bank to your accommodation. With your passport, visa, proof of accommodation and a Chinese friend to 'recommend' you to the bank. Nowhere NEAR as hectic as this, but my GOD a mood.
Omg hahah I studied abroad in France and they are really so slow and relaxed about everything but glad you finally got it sorted with some persistent. Also, when I was in France, the government actually gave money back on my rent as an incentive to live there so maybe you can get that too and it’ll all be worth your hassles 😂
American here who just moved to France. From start to finish it took around 6 weeks. I honestly think they finally gave me an account because they got tired of me coming into the bank everyday. Good news is when I go into the bank now half the people working in the bank now waves at me because they clearly know who I am, LOL
While dealing with an insane system like this I got a friend to photoshop my name and address on some bills and used those 😂 Worked like a charm though 😉
I like your jacket do you know where you got it? Also, your french makes me randomly speak french, thank you!
I just got my 10 years visa and damn I feel reborn ,a free soul ready to live and love in France.
Hate to break the news... but just wait until you need to close your account 😂. It took me two weeks of going into Societe everyday asking to close my account for someone to actually do it 🙄🤦♀️.