Legal
The rules that apply when you use this site and when you engage us. Last updated 16 September 2026.
We are an administrative assistance service, not a law firm. We prepare and submit your file and we follow it through, but the decision belongs to the French administration. Our fees are separate from government fees. You can cancel before we start work, and we tell you clearly what happens if you cancel after.
FR : Assistance administrative, pas un cabinet d'avocats. La décision appartient à l'administration. Honoraires distincts des frais d'État, conditions d'annulation précisées.
Riviera Expat Services is the trading name of Laurent Faure, sole trader, SIRET 832 615 686 00058, registered at 902 Chemin de la Rouguière, 06740 Châteauneuf-Grasse, France. Contact: riviera.expat.services@gmail.com, +33 7 46 37 71 29.
We provide administrative assistance: assessing your situation, assembling and checking your file, completing forms and online portals on your instructions, submitting to the relevant administration and tracking it to a decision.
We are not lawyers and we do not provide legal representation or legal advice within the meaning of French law. We do not represent you before a court or a tribunal. Where your situation calls for a lawyer, we will tell you and, if you wish, point you towards one.
The prices shown on this site are our fees, in euros, for the service described. They do not include French government charges, which are set by the state, paid by you directly, and always quoted to you separately before we begin.
Every file includes the translation of one document up to two pages. Anything beyond that is at your cost, and we tell you what it will be before any further page is translated.
A written quote is issued before we start. It is valid for thirty days.
Unless otherwise agreed in writing, a deposit is payable when the engagement is confirmed and the balance on submission of your file. Invoices are payable on receipt. Late payment carries interest at three times the French legal rate, plus the statutory fixed recovery charge of forty euros, in accordance with the French Commercial Code.
We depend entirely on what you give us. You undertake to provide accurate, complete and genuine documents, to tell us promptly of any change in your situation, and to respond within reasonable time when a deadline requires it. We cannot be held responsible for the consequences of information that turns out to be incomplete, out of date or inaccurate, nor for a deadline missed because documents reached us too late.
We commit to a complete and compliant file: every document present, every form correct, submitted in the manner the administration expects. We accept only the cases we are confident we can bring through, and we say so plainly at the first call when a case is not one of them.
The decision itself belongs to the prefecture or to the relevant authority, and so does the timing. Processing times vary by office and by season and are outside our control. Our obligation is therefore one of means and diligence, not of result.
FR : Obligation de moyens et de diligence. Dossier complet et conforme garanti, décision et délais préfectoraux hors de notre contrôle.
Where you engage us as a consumer at a distance or away from our premises, French consumer law gives you fourteen days to withdraw. If you ask us in writing to begin work within that period, you accept that the right to withdraw ends once the service has been fully performed, and that work already carried out is payable in proportion.
If you cancel after work has begun, we invoice the work actually done. Government charges already paid on your behalf are not refundable by us.
Everything you tell us and every document you give us is treated as confidential and used only to carry out your file. Anyone working with us is bound by the same duty. How we handle your personal data is set out in our privacy policy.
Our liability is limited to direct damage attributable to a proven fault on our part, and capped at the amount of the fees you paid for the service concerned. We are not liable for indirect loss, nor for decisions, delays or changes of practice on the part of the administration.
Write to us first, at riviera.expat.services@gmail.com. We answer every complaint. If we cannot resolve it between us and you are a consumer, you may refer the matter free of charge to a consumer mediator, and to the European online dispute resolution platform. Failing agreement, French law applies and the competent courts are those of the jurisdiction of Grasse, subject to the rules protecting consumers.
The information on this site is given in good faith for general guidance and reflects the rules as we understand them at the date shown. French immigration rules change. Nothing here is advice on your particular situation, and only a call can establish what actually applies to you.
These terms cover the usual ground for a service business of your size and are drafted to be fair to both sides. They are not legal advice. Because you handle residence files, having them checked once by a French lawyer before you rely on them is a sensible investment.
FR : Base solide et équilibrée, mais une relecture par un avocat français reste conseillée avant de s'en servir comme contrat.
