Al Qantara Institute settles expatriates and their families in France under a single 360° mandate: residency, home, schools, wealth structuring and cultural integration. One senior interlocutor orchestrates all five workstreams with teams in Paris and Dubai, and a typical family move takes 5 to 9 months from first consultation to a settled household.
We run every engagement from a single document, drafted in the first three weeks and kept current until the last box is unpacked. Here is how a family mandate works, and the ground we cover for you underneath it.
After the first consultation we draft your family's blueprint: the residency route, the school shortlist, the property brief, the budget architecture and one calendar that holds them together. You approve it before anything is filed.
School deadlines, consular appointments, notary dates and movers are sequenced in one place. When one date moves, we re-sequence the rest, so you are never asked to arbitrate between your own advisers.
You have one senior interlocutor, one written point of situation at the rhythm you choose, and a decision list that never grows in silence. You always know what is done, what comes next and what we are waiting on.
We take on few families at a time, we publish no case studies with your name on them, and what we learn of your affairs stays between us and the advisers you have approved.
Each workstream is a discipline in its own right, and four have their own dedicated practice. Under a 360° engagement we run all five to a single calendar, so a school decision never collides with a consular appointment or a notary's deadline. For the entrepreneurs among the families we serve, company creation and investor visas are handled through our Business & Investor Services.
Most families enter France on the long stay visitor visa (VLS-TS) or the multi-year Talent card, valid for up to 4 years as of 2026. We select the route that fits your family's plans, assemble the file and coordinate with the consulate and the préfecture. We prepare and orchestrate the application. The consulate decides.
Residency & Visas in detailWe manage the search brief, the visits, the negotiation and the notarial purchase process, or arrange a long lease when renting first is the wiser landing. Acquisition costs run at roughly 7.5 to 8.5% of the price in existing buildings as of 2026, and we budget them from day one. Then comes the practical layer: banking, insurance, utilities, household staff.
Property & Installation in detailThe school decision shapes the neighbourhood, the calendar and often the visa strategy, so we begin here. We shortlist international and bilingual schools, manage the applications (the most sought-after ask for files 12 to 18 months before entry) and prepare each child for the transition. Private international fees range from €7,000 to €40,000 a year as of 2026.
Schools & Education in detailFamilies who prepare before departure keep more room to plan. We map the subjects that matter, from the impatriate regime to real estate wealth tax and cross-border estate planning, and settle each of them in writing before residence moves, so the plan never rests on an assumption.
Wealth & Tax Advisory in detailThis part of the move is what helps a family feel at home. We arrange language tutors for each member of the family and introductions to the communities that matter to you, and we help with the practical side of daily life: halal dining, physicians, drivers and getting to know the city. Our guide to living in France is a good place to start. We stay at your side for the first 12 months.
Part of every 360° engagementThe ranges below cover advisory fees only. Government charges, school fees, property prices and the invoices of third-party counsel are always yours, billed directly and never marked up.
| Scope of the mandate | Advisory fees |
|---|---|
| Single workstream | from €10,000 |
| Full 360° family engagement | from €25,000 |
| Complex or multi-property mandates | on request |
We quote precisely after the first consultation.
Al Qantara Institute is a boutique practice. We take on a limited number of families each year, and we decline work we are not the right size for. The 360° engagement is built for households settling in France for the long term: a main home, children in school, affairs that need structure, and a preference for one interlocutor over a list of vendors.
It suits families who value discretion, expect precision, and would rather approve a plan than put one together themselves. It is not the right fit for a one-off piece of paperwork, and when we are not the right firm for your project, we say so at the first conversation.
Students and independent applicants preparing a French degree remain welcome through our dedicated student services, the practice on which this firm was built. And for a first sense of everyday France, begin with our Journal's guide to living in France.
A 360° engagement brings five workstreams under one mandate: residency and visas, property and installation, schools and education, wealth and tax coordination with regulated French advisers, and cultural integration. One senior interlocutor runs a single calendar and reports to you at an agreed rhythm.
A typical family engagement runs 5 to 9 months from first consultation to a settled household. The visa itself is counted in weeks once the file is ready; schools and property set the longer arc of the calendar.
No. We work with families from around the world. Our offices are in Paris and Dubai, across your time zones.
You deal with one senior interlocutor, who orchestrates the specialists behind the scenes: our own team in Paris and Dubai, across every discipline your file requires. You are never handed from desk to desk.
Engagements begin at €10,000 for a single workstream and at €25,000 for a full 360° family engagement; complex or multi-property mandates are quoted on request. We quote precisely after the first consultation.
Yes, and most families do. The blueprint, the school applications and the visa file are all prepared before you travel; the consulate in your country of residence issues the visa decision, so early groundwork shortens the calendar considerably.
Tell us about your family's French project. A senior advisor will reply within one business day, in confidence and without obligation.
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