Fax in United States

Sending a fax to France from the United States

The service works from the United States exactly as it does in France: in an ordinary web browser, with no software, no sign-up and no international call charges. Upload your PDF, enter the recipient’s number, and the fax goes straight to their machine. The one condition: the number must be French — ten digits starting with 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 or 09. One-page faxes are free and unlimited; a multi-page document costs €3.99 including VAT.

Plenty of US offices still have a fax machine, but a fax to Europe goes over an international line that is often billed by the minute. From the browser there is no call to pay for — the typical case being French expats writing to their pension fund or notaire, and Americans dealing with a property or an estate in France.

Time difference and office hours

Usually: 6 hours behind Paris. For a few weeks in spring and autumn, when the clocks do not change on the same dates: 5 hours behind Paris. The country spans several time zones: these figures apply to the reference zone used here (Eastern Time).

French government offices, insurance funds and notaires are generally open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 5 pm, Paris time. You can send the fax at any hour: it reaches the recipient’s machine and is dealt with during opening hours. For you, the 9 am to 5 pm window usually corresponds to 3:00 AM – 11:00 AM.

The French bodies most often contacted from abroad

• Health insurance (CPAM) — reimbursement of treatment received in France, certificates of entitlement, the file of a policyholder who has moved abroad.
• Pensions (Assurance retraite, Carsat, supplementary schemes) — pension claims, supporting documents, and the life certificate that pensioners living abroad must provide on a regular basis.
• Tax — French-source income of non-residents is handled by the tax office for non-resident individuals (SIPNR); for a property located in France, the local tax office often remains the point of contact. Fax numbers of individual tax offices
• Prefectures and sub-prefectures — correspondence about a file that is already open (residence permit, naturalisation, driving licence). Most applications are now made through online services. Prefecture fax numbers
• Notaires — estates, property sales, powers of attorney: notaires’ offices often accept documents by fax from clients living abroad.

Before sending, check that the body accepts faxes for your procedure and use the number shown on its latest letter or on its official website. Directory of French government fax numbers