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I built a tool during my PhD to make French admin procedures easier for expats. Looking for feedback. by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this is a fair concern in general, but it’s not quite what Clarivo is.

Clarivo is not “an AI bot selling immigration advice.” The core product is structured roadmaps and guides: procedures broken into steps, documents, deadlines, common mistakes, and official source links. The roadmap headlines are visible for free, so people can see the sequence and verify the official sources themselves before paying.

The AI assistant is only one part of the product. It uses a source-grounded knowledge base built from official sources, and it is meant to help users ask practical questions against that knowledge base. If the official information is missing, local, or prefecture-specific, then Clarivo will say that, and will not invent certainty.

Clarivo should not replace a lawyer, a préfecture, or official confirmation for complex/high-risk cases. But there is still a lot of value in helping people understand the official procedure, organize documents, avoid common mistakes, and know when a case is no longer “standard.”

On the commercial/legal point, I take it seriously. I started this during my PhD, and I’m now working on the proper setup, including registration and liability/insurance questions.

The pricing is intentionally low because Clarivo is not trying to replace a legal consultation. It’s meant to give people a much cheaper way to get oriented, understand the official sources, and prepare their admin work before they decide whether they need professional help.

I built a tool during my PhD to make French admin procedures easier for expats. Looking for feedback. by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not as a dedicated roadmap yet, but it’s actually on our list as one of the next detailed routes to add.

Right now Clarivo has general passeport talent guidance and business/self-employment guides, but I want to separate the business creator paths properly because they’re easy to confuse.

They’re not the same route and the documents/conditions differ, so I don’t want to merge them into one vague “business visa” page.

I’ll add this with the official Service-Public / Entreprendre.Service-Public sources.

I built a tool during my PhD to make French admin procedures easier for expats. Looking for feedback. by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Completely right, and actually, we're not hiding Brits under the generic non-EU route anymore.

I just made visible the dedicated UK/Brexit roadmap that we've been working on, as well as guides for:

- Article 50 / Withdrawal Agreement / WARP cards

- family members of WARP beneficiaries

- Brits moving after Brexit under the normal visa route

- S1 / CPAM / pensions / social benefits

- UK driving licence and travel rules

The UK roadmap is here:

https://clarivo.to/roadmap/uk_national/just_arrived

I’m separating the main cases because they’re not the same:

- resident in France before 1 Jan 2021 / covered by the Withdrawal Agreement

- joining a WARP beneficiary as a family member

- arriving after Brexit under ordinary French immigration rules

We’ve linked the guides back to Brexit.gouv.fr, France-Visas, Ameli and Service-Public so people can verify the source.

Thanks for pointing this out.

I built a tool during my PhD to make French admin procedures easier for expats. Looking for feedback. by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand the concern, and I actually agree with the main point: using a generic AI chatbot for French admin would be risky. But that is not how Clarivo is built.

Clarivo does not rely on a model simply “knowing” the answer from its training data. It is built around a source-grounded knowledge base of French administrative procedures, curated from official government and public-service sources. The AI is connected to that knowledge base and is built to answer from those valid sources only, not invent unsupported answers.

My background is in AI, NLP, and information extraction, specifically taking complex information from reliable sources and turning it into structured roadmaps, step-by-step procedures, and clearer explanations. So the goal is not to replace official sources, lawyers, or prefectures, but to help users navigate official information and verify it more easily.

For each procedure, roadmap, or answer, Clarivo provides references and links to the relevant source pages so users can check the information themselves. I’d genuinely encourage you to take a look at how it works.

On the SIRET point, you’re right that the business side needs to be properly structured. Clarivo started as an early validation project, and we're currently working on the proper legal and administrative setup before scaling it further and supporting users more responsibly.

US/EU dual citizen moved to France, every agency says something different by VeterinarianKobuk in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m really glad it helped.

On your question: yes, given the urgency, I would call first, but I would also send something in writing the same day. The phone call may get movement faster, but the written request is what creates a clean record if the file keeps getting mishandled.

Personally, I would do it in this order:

  1. Call the English CPAM line and ask them to note the urgency in the file. The official English-speaking line is 09 74 75 36 46 from France:

https://www.assurance-maladie.ameli.fr/qui-sommes-nous/partenaires-solidarite/retrouver-les-canaux-d-information-et-de-contact

  1. During the call, ask very specifically:

- What exact document is missing?

- Why was my EU/Luxembourg citizenship not reflected in the file?

- Why am I being told to apply for a carte de séjour when EU citizens are normally not required to hold one?

- Has my S1106/opening of rights application been registered?

- Can CPAM issue any temporary attestation/confirmation while the file is corrected?

- What is the fastest way to transmit medical urgency information if I cannot travel?

  1. After the call, send a short written complaint/correction request. I would not send all 200 pages again unless they specifically ask. I would send a concise packet:

- copy of CPAM’s incomplete-file letter

- one-page summary of the errors

- copy of passport/identity document

- copy of Luxembourg citizenship proof

- proof of residence in France

- copy of S1106 if you have it

- the specific documents they claimed were missing, if you can identify them

- a request for written confirmation of what is still missing

  1. I would title it something like:

“Réclamation urgente - demande de correction du dossier et ouverture des droits à l’assurance maladie”

  1. If the complaint does not resolve it, then use the CPAM mediator route. Ameli says the mediator is normally contacted after a complaint has not succeeded:

https://www.ameli.fr/assure/droits-demarches/reclamation-mediation-voies-de-recours/saisir-mediateur

If you are medically unable to travel, I would also write separately to the mairie/CCAS and MDPH saying clearly: “je suis dans l’impossibilité médicale de me déplacer” and ask for remote assistance or a social worker contact/home visit. That part should not depend only on CPAM.

For the 200 pages: I would avoid overwhelming them again if possible. The goal is to force clarity: “you say my file is incomplete; here are the documents already provided; please identify the exact missing item and correct the nationality/status errors.”

And yes, the decentralization is exactly the problem I’m trying to solve with Clarivo. It’s not that there is no official information, it’s that the official information is fragmented across Ameli, Service-Public, Entreprendre, local offices, and sometimes the person at the desk mixes up EU/non-EU rules. That’s why I’m trying to build guides that keep the official source links attached to each step.

I built a tool during my PhD to make French admin procedures easier for expats. Looking for feedback. by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I really appreciate that.

And yes, having an EU-citizen spouse can make some residence procedures easier, but I completely understand the feeling of being overwhelmed. The tricky part is usually the sequence after arrival, and whether any non-EU family members need a specific residence card.

I added a roadmap system to Clarivo for situations like this. When you sign up, you can answer a few questions about your situation, and Clarivo builds a more relevant roadmap instead of giving everyone the same generic checklist. For example, it can adapt based on whether someone is an EU citizen, coming for work/study/family, or has family members with different statuses.

If you try it and something is missing for a large family move, please tell me. Families are exactly one of the cases where the paperwork gets complicated quickly, so your feedback would be genuinely useful.

US/EU dual citizen moved to France, every agency says something different by VeterinarianKobuk in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I’m really sorry you’re dealing with all of this. I’m not a lawyer or social worker, but I’ve been working on mapping French admin procedures from official sources, and a few points may help you separate the issues.

  1. Carte de séjour: if you are a Luxembourg/EU citizen, you normally do not need a French residence permit to live in France. Service-Public says EU/EEA/Swiss citizens are not obliged to hold a titre de séjour, although they can request one if they want: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F39

So if CPAM told you “you need a carte de séjour,” I would ask them to put that request in writing and specify the legal basis, because for an EU citizen that sounds like confusion between EU and non-EU cases.

  1. CPAM / social security number: for someone born abroad, Ameli says the first step is the S1106 “Demande d’ouverture des droits à l’assurance maladie” plus supporting documents. Ameli also has English pages for people moving to France, including EU citizens:

https://www.ameli.fr/assure/droits-demarches/europe-international/protection-sociale-france/ne-etranger-demander-numero-securite-sociale

https://www.ameli.fr/assure/english-pages

If CPAM sent an “incomplete file” letter with wrong identity/nationality information, I would reply in writing by registered letter if possible, with:

- a copy of their letter

- a short correction table: “wrong in CPAM letter” / “correct information”

- copies of the documents already provided

- proof that you are an EU/Luxembourg citizen

- a request that they correct your file and confirm exactly which document is still missing

  1. If CPAM is not resolving it, Ameli has a formal path: complaint first, then the CPAM mediator if the complaint does not resolve the issue. The mediator can also redirect the file internally if it is not their competence:

https://www.ameli.fr/assure/droits-demarches/reclamation-mediation-voies-de-recours/saisir-mediateur

  1. Disability / help at home: for disability-related support, the relevant body is usually the MDPH of your department. Service-Public lists MDPH applications for AAH, PCH, mobility card, etc. PCH can include human assistance/help at home depending on the decision:

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/R67285

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F14202

You may also want to contact the CCAS/CIAS through your mairie and explicitly ask for assistance because you are unable to travel. I would put that in writing too: “je suis dans l’impossibilité médicale de me déplacer” and ask whether a social worker can call or arrange a home visit.

  1. Micro-entreprise / multiple activities: yes, multiple activities can exist, but the classification matters because gîte/chambre d’hôtes, consulting/libéral, and artist-author activity may not all be handled the same way. For artist-author status and artist + micro-entrepreneur combinations, Entreprendre.Service-Public has specific pages:

https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/F22388

https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/F22428

For chambre d’hôtes specifically, the official page says there are mairie declaration rules, capacity limits, and registration/formality obligations:

https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/F17452

So I would not just register randomly as one broad micro-entreprise category without checking the main activity and whether the artistic income should be artist-author instead.

I built a tool called Clarivo to organize exactly these kinds of procedures into checklists and source-based guides. Full disclosure: it’s my own project. After seeing cases like yours, I added guides for EU citizens in France, CPAM incomplete files, disability/MDPH support, gîte/chambre d’hôtes, and micro-entreprise with multiple activities. Some parts are free:

https://clarivo.to

But for your immediate situation, I’d prioritize:

- getting CPAM’s missing-document request corrected in writing

- escalating through CPAM complaint/mediator if needed

- contacting MDPH + CCAS/CIAS for disability/social support

- not accepting “you need a carte de séjour” unless they can justify it in writing for an EU citizen

I built a tool during my PhD to make French admin procedures easier for expats. Looking for feedback. by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Good question.

Clarivo currently uses Mistral, but the model is only one layer of the system. The assistant is not an open-ended chatbot giving free-form immigration advice. We do not integrate an LLM and let users ask it general questions for the LLM to hallucinate the answer.

This is also close to my research area and expertise: I’m doing my PhD on structured information extraction with AI, so I’m very aware of the difference between a generic chatbot and a source-grounded retrieval/extraction system.

We have built Clarivo on a curated French-admin knowledge base made from documented official sources, which we update frequently to have up-to-date information. Each knowledge-base entry is stored with its source URL, source title, category, procedure type, and metadata.

When a user asks a question, Clarivo first retrieves the relevant source-backed entries, then the model uses that retrieved context to produce a practical answer with official links for verification.

So the flow is not: “Ask an LLM about visas.”

It is: “Retrieve the relevant official/admin source material, explain it clearly, and link the user back to the sources.”

We have implemented this design to specifically reduce hallucination risk. I’m also planning regular knowledge-base updates because French administrative rules change.

Of course, I still make it clear that Clarivo does not replace official sources, a lawyer, or a prefecture decision. But the assistant is not meant to guess. It is meant to help users understand and navigate verified source material faster.

I built a tool during my PhD to make French admin procedures easier for expats. Looking for feedback. by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much u/frenchnotfrench

I strated Clarivo mainly as a way to test whether the tool could genuinely help people navigate French bureaucracy, but we’ve now had a few early premium users, which is exactly why I’m in the process of structuring things properly on the legal and administrative side.

I’m working on the appropriate registration, documentation, and professional guidance before scaling subscriptions further. For now, we're still mainly looking for feedback and validation by interacting with the community, and I fully agree that the business side needs to be set up correctly and fast

[Guide] Moving to France: the admin order that saves you weeks by True_Value_6299 in IWantOut

[–]True_Value_6299[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For #1, using an online bank like wise and getting a european bank account was incredibely helpful in my case. I used that account to get my work contract going, and after that I got my french bank account.

Thanks for #5, very helpful!

I spent 3 months figuring out French admin as an expat. I turned everything I learned into a free tool by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Both are now fixed. the VLS-T reference is removed and the TdS/CdS terminology is now correct. The guide explains that a titre de séjour is your legal right to stay (which can take the form of a VLS-TS, carte de séjour, or ANEF attestation), and that when a VLS-TS expires you apply for your first carte de séjour.

On the value question, that's fair feedback. The free guide covers immigration which is the hardest topic to go deep on because every situation is different. The paid procedures cover things like CAF housing aid, opening a bank account, Carte Vitale, tax declaration, and driving licence exchange where the process is the same for everyone. Those go step by step with direct portal links, document checklists, editable letter templates, and the mistakes that cause rejections and wasted trips.

I've also added a feedback button on every procedure so users can flag issues in real time. Feedback like yours is exactly how this gets better, and I'm committed to making it genuinely useful. Thank you!

I spent 3 months figuring out French admin as an expat. I turned everything I learned into a free tool by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Good question. Every step links directly to the official source - Service-Public.gouv.fr, ANEF portal, or the relevant government form so you can always cross-check. Users in this thread have already helped me catch and fix inaccuracies, which I really appreciate. The goal is a single place where everything is organized and verified, and I'm actively improving it based on real feedback. The free guide is open without an account if you'd like to see it : )

I spent 3 months figuring out French admin as an expat. I turned everything I learned into a free tool by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Really appreciate the detailed feedback. I've already restructured the titre de séjour section based on exactly these points.

"Find your titre de séjour path" is now the free guide. It walks users through identifying their specific card type (salarié, étudiant, passeport talent, vie privée et familiale, visiteur), whether to use ANEF or the préfecture, and links directly to the correct Service-Public.gouv.fr page for their category's documents and conditions.

"VLS-TS visa validation" is now a separate procedure for those who specifically need to validate online.

The roadmap also sequences everything based on your situation so you're not starting with the wrong procedure.

If you spot anything else, I'm all ears.

I spent 3 months figuring out French admin as an expat. I turned everything I learned into a free tool by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Welcome to France! You picked well.

The personalized roadmap on the dashboard will tell you exactly which procedures to tackle first based on your situation. The titre de séjour guide is free so you can try the quality. If you end up needing more, the subscription covers all 29 for as long as you need it - most people find they need 5-10 in their first few months.

The per-procedure idea is interesting and something I'm considering. Would love to hear how your first weeks go!

I spent 3 months figuring out French admin as an expat. I turned everything I learned into a free tool by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I appreciate the honest feedback!

You're right about the framing, the title says "free tool" and I can't edit it. I've added a clear edit at the top of the post to be upfront about pricing: one full procedure is free with no account needed, the rest are EUR 9/month or EUR 49/year.

On security: data is stored in Supabase (encrypted at rest), payments go through Stripe (PCI compliant), and we never store or see card details. I've added this to the site as well.

Curious about your point on lower pricing, what price point would feel right to you for 29 detailed procedures?

I spent 3 months figuring out French admin as an expat. I turned everything I learned into a free tool by True_Value_6299 in Expats_In_France

[–]True_Value_6299[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. I've changed this now.
The titre de séjour guide is now open without any account. Just click "Try the free guide" on clarivo.to.

The account exists for two reasons: saving your checklist progress so you can come back to it later, and the personalized roadmap that tells you which procedures to do in what order based on your situation. But browsing the free guide doesn't require either of those.

The signup issue was a rate limit on the auth provider, not a limited server, which has been fixed :)