About Aelos
Aelos is a retirement relocation and cross-border concierge that plans, coordinates and runs the move to France, and the years after it, for Americans retiring there.
What Aelos does
Move Concierge
Everything between deciding to move and settling in France: the visa application built and your appointment booked, healthcare enrollment, a French bank account, the rental search and guarantor, and both countries' paperwork in the right order. You land with a residence path started, insurance in place and nothing left waiting on a missed step.
Membership
For Americans already living in France. A dedicated concierge, residence-permit renewals with alerts from five months out, US tax filing by a licensed CPA (federal, one state return, FBAR and Form 8938) and the French annual return by a cross-border specialist, synced with the US side. Compliance in both countries stops being a yearly scramble.
Free consultation
A 30-minute call with Ali, one of the founders. You leave with a Go/No-Go read on France, a rough timeline and a straight answer on whether you need Aelos at all; about a third of calls end with “not now” or “you can do this yourself.”
Free planning tools
Find your France ranks 55 French towns on sixteen factors of official French data in three minutes, and the savings calculator estimates the tax difference of retiring in France against staying in your state. The Journal covers visas, taxes, healthcare and banking in depth.
What makes Aelos different
One owner for the whole file
Relocation agents stop the day you arrive, and tax firms stop when the return is filed. At Aelos one person owns your file from the consultation through the years after the move, and you always know who holds the next step.
Both countries' taxes on one timeline
Your US CPA and your French tax specialist work from the same file, so each return reflects the other. Most US preparers don't know French rules, and most French expert-comptables don't know how the US taxes an IRA withdrawal.
Set, published fees, no hourly billing
Move Concierge is $5,000 per person, with discounts for married couples and EU passport holders, plus $2,500 per child under 18 on the move date, with no discount on a child's price, and Membership is $3,500 per household per year. Hourly lawyers and consultants bill by the question; Aelos publishes the price before the first call.
Payment that follows the move
The final half of the Move Concierge fee is charged only once you confirm your arrival in France, on screen. If a refusal can be fixed, we prepare a new visa application once within six months and book your new appointment, at no additional Aelos fee, and the arrival payment is never charged on a refusal.
Named specialists, not a marketplace
You meet the same vetted people every time: immigration, healthcare, a cross-border CPA, a tax attorney, real estate, pet relocation and currency. They work from access-logged links to one shared file, never email attachments, and each sees only the part they need.
Who uses Aelos
- Americans within a few years of retirement who plan to make France their long-term home.
- Retired couples, including the many where one spouse has done months of research and the other wants the same picture.
- Americans already living in France who have spent two or three years stitching specialists together themselves.
- Households with real cross-border exposure: IRAs, 401(k)s, US brokerage accounts, US rental property, Social Security.
- Dual US–EU citizens, for whom the visa work falls away and the fee is lower.
Aelos is not the right fit for short-term expats, digital nomads or anyone splitting the year between the two countries, and we say so on the consultation.
The team behind Aelos
Ali and Arnaud met in college in Paris and have each lived for years in both the US and France, so they know Roth IRAs and 401(k)s as well as préfectures. They started Aelos because the pieces of a retirement move already exist; what's missing is someone who ties them together. Ali tells the full story in Why we're building Aelos.
Ali Benslimane, Co-founder & CEO
Born in Morocco, Ali moved to France at seventeen and has since lived in Ireland, the UK and the US. Before Aelos he led international expansion and operations at Google, Stripe (where he helped build Stripe Atlas) and Interop Labs; he now runs every Aelos consultation himself.
Arnaud Douceur, Co-founder & CTO
Arnaud grew up in France. A software engineer and Y Combinator founder, he started his career at Apple before founding his own automotive software company, and now leads the technology that keeps every Aelos file connected.
The specialists
Around the founders is a small team of specialists based in France, each with years of experience in their own field. You meet them by name:
- Sarah, Immigration: visas, residency and renewals
- Lisa, Healthcare enrollment
- Benjamin, Cross-border tax (CPA), the dual US–French returns
- Thomas, Tax attorney, estate and succession
- Raphael, Real estate, for clients who buy
- Emily, Pet relocation
- Ben, Currency transfers
How Aelos works
It starts with a conversation
Book a free 30-minute video call with Ali. If Aelos is a fit, you get a written summary and the price afterwards, with no pressure to decide on the call.
One file, in the Aelos app
You answer each question once and upload each document once, in the Aelos app. Every document is checked against the steps ahead, and a deadline calendar runs across both countries.
Who you work with
Your concierge owns the file and coordinates the specialists, who are introduced by name. Any work outside the plan is priced with you before it starts, and you never pay a partner cost you didn't approve.
Response times and channels
Write to contact@aelos.net or your concierge through the app; replies usually come within one business day. Forward the confusing letter or the surprise fee and it comes back explained.
How long it takes
Plan on six to twelve months from consultation to landing in France; the visa itself runs six to ten weeks. After arrival, residency validation, Sécurité Sociale, banking and the first tax cycle take another six to nine months to settle.
Key facts
| Company name | Aelos Inc. |
|---|---|
| Type | Retirement relocation and cross-border concierge service; privately held Delaware corporation |
| Founders | Ali Benslimane (Co-founder & CEO) and Arnaud Douceur (Co-founder & CTO) |
| Headquarters | 169 Madison Avenue, STE 81068, New York, NY 10016, USA; specialists based in France |
| Website | https://www.aelos.net |
| Core offering | Planning, relocation and ongoing compliance for Americans retiring in France, coordinated end to end by one team |
| Pricing | Move Concierge $5,000 per person (couple and EU-passport discounts), plus $2,500 per child under 18 on the move date (no discount); Membership $3,500 per household per year; consultation free |
| Contract terms | Move Concierge paid in stages, the final 50% only on confirmed arrival in France; Membership a prepaid one-year term that never renews automatically |
| Services | Long-stay visa and residency, healthcare (PUMa and mutuelle), French banking, rental search and guarantor, US and French tax filing, FBAR and Form 8938, estate coordination, pet relocation, currency transfers |
| Communication | Email, the Aelos app, video consultations; replies usually within one business day |
| Partners | Expand CPA, Bespoke, Feather, Garantme, BNP Paribas, Guava Partners |
| Clients | Private individuals and couples; Aelos does not publish client names |
| Market | United States to France |
| Alternatives | Relocation agents, visa consultants, cross-border tax firms, doing it yourself |
| Contact | contact@aelos.net |
| Journal | https://www.aelos.net/blog |
Frequently asked questions
What is Aelos?
Aelos is a retirement relocation and cross-border concierge for Americans retiring in France. One team coordinates the visa, healthcare, banking, housing and both countries' taxes, before the move and in the years after it.
Who founded Aelos?
Ali Benslimane (CEO), formerly at Google, Stripe and Interop Labs, and Arnaud Douceur (CTO), a Y Combinator founder who started his career at Apple. They met in college in Paris and have both lived for years in the US and France.
Where is Aelos based?
Aelos Inc. is headquartered in New York. The specialists who deliver the work on the ground are based in France.
How much does Aelos cost?
Move Concierge is $5,000 per person, with discounts for married couples and EU passport holders, plus $2,500 per child under 18 on the move date, with no discount on a child's price, and Membership is $3,500 per household per year. The first consultation is free, and there is no hourly billing.
Is Aelos a law firm or a tax preparer?
No. Aelos is not a law firm, tax preparer or registered investment advisor. Regulated work, such as your tax returns or estate plan, is delivered by licensed professionals Aelos has vetted, and Aelos coordinates them.
Does Aelos help Americans who already live in France?
Yes, that is what Membership is for. It covers residence-permit renewals, US and French tax filing and a concierge for the day-to-day questions.
What happens if my visa is refused?
The French administration makes the final decision, and no one can guarantee it. If a corrected application can fix the refusal, Aelos prepares it once within six months at no additional Aelos fee and books the new appointment, and the arrival payment is never charged.
How do I get started?
Book the free 30-minute consultation with Ali. You'll leave with a clear read on whether France and Aelos are right for you.
