About Infobest

Infobest stands for ‘INFOrmations- und BEratungsSTelle’ (Information and Advice Centre). The Infobest centres are the first points of contact for all cross-border enquiries relating to Germany, France and Switzerland. As public institutions and points of contact for all enquiries, the Infobest centres aim to facilitate and promote cross-border life in the German-French-Swiss Upper Rhine region.

Infobest is a network of four advice centres spread across the entire Upper Rhine region. Each advice centre is staffed by bi- and trinational teams comprising fully bilingual staff.

The fully bilingual staff at the Infobest centres provide information and advice to citizens, associations, businesses, public authorities and political stakeholders across the entire Upper Rhine region on all cross-border issues between Germany, France and Switzerland.

The Infobest centres provide information on Germany, France and Switzerland and offer free advice on a wide range of topics, including social insurance, employment, taxes, relocating to a neighbouring country, education, as well as vehicle registration and transport. Infobest also assists and supports citizens with their administrative procedures in the neighbouring country.

Infobest facilitates contact with the relevant authorities in Germany, France and Switzerland, helping to overcome language barriers and find the right point of contact.

The Infobest network also acts as a bridge between the administrations of the three countries, promoting exchange and cross-border cooperation. It identifies regulatory gaps and inconsistencies, and helps find solutions to cross-border obstacles.

The free services offered by Infobest to citizens include:

• Information and advice, in person, by telephone or by email
• Referrals to the relevant authorities
• Topic-specific information sheets and leaflets
• A comprehensive French- and German website
• cross-border consultation days, where citizens can discuss their concerns directly with staff from the relevant authorities
• the organisation of talks and information seminars
• the publication of a bimonthly newsletter on cross-border news

The Infobest centres now also offer support with completing cross-border online applications and procedures.

As part of the Infobest 4.0 project, citizens receive targeted, multilingual and free assistance with completing their cross-border applications. This service is available in person at the Infobest centres in PAMINA, Kehl/Strasbourg, Vogelgrun/Breisach and Palmrain, where customer advisers provide personalised, hands-on support.

Please find more information here: www.infobest.eu/de/ueber-infobest/infobest-40-service-zentrum-oberrhein

The teams at the four Infobest centres answer several thousand cross-border enquiries each year relating to Germany, France and Switzerland. They record the key parameters in their joint statistics.

Infobest PAMINA was founded in 1991, Infobest Palmrain and Infobest Kehl/Strasbourg in 1993, and Infobest Vogelgrun/Breisach in 1996. All four were initially set up as INTERREG projects.

With the exception of Infobest PAMINA, which is integrated into the local cross-border cooperation of the PAMINA Eurodistrict, the Infobest organisations are based on agreements between their respective funding partners. Infobest Kehl/Strasbourg and Infobest Vogelgrun/Breisach are each financed equally by their German and French funding bodies, whilst Infobest Palmrain is financed by its funding partners from France, Germany and Switzerland. A total of 58 local authorities and other public bodies are involved.