The issue of whether or not it is possible for non-EU nationals living in France to work remotely for foreign employers – including when on a long-stay ‘visitor’ visa / residency card – is often raised. Some websites advise that holders of these visas/cards can work as ‘digital nomads’ for foreign employers from France.
We reviewed the laws on this regarding residency rights, work law, tax and social charges.
In summary, many experts caution against it as a general rule, however there are grey areas, especially if the person has not clearly settled permanently in France.
Read more: Renewing residency cards proves slow process for many in France
What is a long-stay ‘visitor’ visa?
Long-stay (three months or more) ‘visitor’ visas include:
‘Temporary’ visas for people such as second-home owners, often issued for six months, with a fixed end date. Applicants asked to show enough savings or income (from pensions, investments etc) to support themselves during the stay and to sign an agreement not to work in France. They must have healthcare cover (Ehics/Ghics are acceptable).
Visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour (VLS-TS) – ‘long-stay equivalent to a first residency card’): usually for one year, renewable. Requirements similar to above but Ghics/Ehics are not accepted. Typically issued to pensioners or early-retirees; often includes people intending to stay on a settled basis, in which case the visa may be renewed by requesting a ‘visitor’ residency card before expiry. The French consulate in London previously told us: “In the case of a stay of more than six months, the ‘second home’ becomes, de facto, the main home, at least for the year under way.”
VLS-TS ‘visitor’ applicants often take out comprehensive healthcare cover for the first year (not essential for state pensioners with ‘S1’ form for cover from their home state), but if settling, the health authorities allow them to register with French social security for cover after three months and remain registered if residency is ‘legal and stable’. France’s social security code defines the latter as having your ‘normal’ or ‘habitual’ home in France and living there at least six months of the year (see article R111-2: tinyurl.com/stable-res).
Can you do any work?
The French immigration code says (article L426-20) applicants for the ‘visitor’ residency card must “prendre l'engagement de n'exercer en France aucune activité professionnelle” (promise to carry out in France no professional activity).
Some websites say it is acceptable to work remotely for a foreign firm, especially if it has no clients in France.
Alexandre Gillioen, part of Gillioen Avocats, a team of two immigration lawyers in Lyon, stated he has “numerous American, Canadian, British and Australian clients who do it”.
It is possible either as an employee of a foreign firm, or working for one’s own foreign self-employment business and billing via this, he said.
“The person never works in France as they don’t have the right,” he added.
However, two other avocats took a different interpretation.
Xavier Duquenne of Valoris Avocats, a Strasbourg-based firm of 24 lawyers in tax, social security, work and international mobility, said: “We have seen many websites advising using a long-stay ‘visitor’ visa as a ‘digital nomad’, but in our capacity as lawyers we can’t legally validate this view for our clients.”
He said the immigration code, in saying that the holder should not work in France, does not distinguish between work for French or foreign employers.
He added that in advising this, such sites make no mention of the tax and social charge consequences of such work.
Read more: What is a French ‘visa d’installation’ and is it possible to apply for one?
Haïba Ouaissi, from Cassius Avocats in Paris, a team of six specialised in work and business law, said: “The French visitor visa strictly forbids any professional activity, including working at a distance for foreign firms.”
He added: “If someone on this visa works in France there could be checks made – they’re quite rare but there are possible sanctions, up to expulsion from France. To work, the person must have a long-stay visa which authorises professional activity in France.”
For example, if a person has an ‘employee’ or ‘self-employment’ visa, they can work in France, he said.
Mr Ouaissi said non-EU foreigners should also not work in France if they are here on a ‘visa waiver’ short-stay basis (for less than three months); official website service-public.fr gives limited exceptions, including providing services in someone’s home, or doing artistic or cultural work, but none covering general employed/self-employed work (tinyurl.com/90-days-work).
A spokesman for French tax authorities DGFiP said: “Even if a firm has no presence in France, the fact of carrying out one’s activity, physically, from French territory, constitutes, in tax law as in residency law, a professional activity carried out in France.
“From the residency point of view it breaks the conditions of the ‘visitor’ visa, which forbids any professional activity, employed or self-employed. It can result in an administrative fine or refusal of renewal of a residency card.”
However, the Interior Ministry, responsible for foreigners’ residency rights, gave a nuanced view stating the restriction listed in article L426-20 means the person “must carry out no professional activity falling under French law”.
“On the other hand, carrying out a job that does not fall under French law, notably with regard to social and tax aspects, is possible”, a spokeswoman said.
If a person works at a distance in France for a foreign firm are there consequences for French tax/social charges/work law?
Mr Gillioen said: “As the service is provided abroad, there are no social or fiscal obligations in France.” The person should in this case have comprehensive health insurance and not register with the French health service, he said.
However, Mr Ouaissi said: “If a person works remotely in France as an employee of a foreign firm, there is an obligatory registration with Urssaf.
Read more: UK-EU summit: Will British travellers be allowed to use e-gates in EU?
“Any foreign firm that employs a single person residing in France must register itself with the firmes étrangères service, even if it has no set-up in France. From the moment that an employee works from France they are covered by French social security.”
He said it is an online declaration and is not too complicated.
The firm must also respect basic French work law rules, he said, including subsidising mutuelle health cover, paying employer’s and employee’s French social charges and taking off French income tax at source [and repaying it to the French tax office].
He added that the employee should also declare their earnings to France.
He said if a person does self-employed work in France they should register a French self-employment business and pay social charges via this set-up, and their income is taxable in France.
We note that working in France is one test of French tax residency, unless it is only a side activity, and French tax residents must declare worldwide income annually to France. Others include having one’s ‘habitual’ home in France, spending more than half a calendar year in France (or more time in France than anywhere else).
If the person does not meet rules for French tax residency they may still in some cases have to declare work done in France, depending on the double tax treaty with the country of their residence. UK/US residents do not have to declare French employed work or self-employment income to France if it is not done for a French firm/structure and they do not carry out this work over a period longer than 183 days (six months).
Mr Duquenne said: “According to work law, any work done on French territory must be done respecting the rules of French public policy and the ‘core’ of French work law: working time, minimum wage etc.
“Concerning social security law, if an employee works in France, they must pay social cotisations in France, apart from in cases where they are coming from abroad for a foreign employer for a temporary mission (assuming France has a social security agreement with the country of origin).
“With regard to tax, in principle if an employee resides in France, salaries are taxable in the place where the work is carried out, so in France if work is done from France, even if it is distance working and even if it is for a foreign employer.”
With regard to self-employment work it is “strongly advised” to create a new self-employment business in France to ensure compliance with tax and social security law, he said.
However, he said, an employee of a foreign firm should not come to France and work for them in ‘self-employment’, unless they are truly ‘independent’ and have other clients as well.
Read more: Does France have a 'digital nomad' visa?
The DGFiP said: “From the tax point of view, the administration considers that the place of physically carrying out the service determines the place of taxation. The income is therefore assessable for tax in France, even if the employer is abroad.”
Its spokesman added that it is not permitted for a person on a ‘visitor’ visa to set up a French small business, and working for one they set up abroad would also raise questions around residency law, tax and possible social charge consequences.
However, there is nothing stopping a ‘visitor’ from living from income from rentals (as long as the person does not meet criteria for being a ‘professional letter of furnished accommodation’), pensions or investments, he said.
A spokesman for Urssaf (social charges body), said as a general rule social charges are paid in the country where “the work is effectively carried out”.
He said if the worker resides and lives in France permanently, the firm must register with firmes étrangères and pay social charges. “If the worker is set up for self-employment abroad, but resides in France, they should change instead to a French self-employment set-up such as an auto-entreprise and pay French cotisations through this.”
