Different types of residency cards and when to apply

People wanting to settle in France long-term must apply for a residency card.

This can be undertaken from four to two months before expiry of a VLS-TS visa or within the first months after arrival for those on visas that require this.

In most cases you apply online at the Interior Ministry’s Anef site, although a few applications, such as those for family members of WA Britons, still involve paper applications at a local prefecture. In theory, other options should always be possible, as a French court ruled that this should be maintained for those who cannot, or fail to use the website. In which case, you must try to contact the local prefecture.

The generic French term for these credit-card style cards is titres de séjour and most have names including carte de séjour or carte de résident. They show the holder’s name and address and details of their rights to live in France.

English-speakers sometimes use the term carte de séjour as a general expression for a ‘residency card’, but officially it has a narrower definition, contrasted with a carte de résident (resident’s card).

A ‘resident’s card’ indicates that you have become an established long-term resident in the country and conveys more rights. It allows you to live and work in France on similar terms to a French person so, for example, you can freely choose how to earn your living.

A carte de séjour, by contrast, usually defines a more narrow status to which residency rights in France are tied.

France’s 2024 immigration law called for several new kinds, such as cards for irregular migrants who have been working in so-called métiers en tension, ie. trades facing worker shortages, such as the building sector, and a new card for healthcare workers such as doctors, pharmacists and midwives.

Common kinds of residency cards include:

Carte de séjour visiteur. Contrary to the name, this is for people wanting to live in France on a long-term basis (more than three months), but without working. It is issued for one year but can be renewed and is thus deemed one of the ‘temporary’ forms of cartes de séjour, which contrasts with cartes de séjour pluriannuelles (multi-year), issued for two to four years.

Carte de séjour salarié for workers with permanent jobs.

Carte de séjour entrepreneur / profession libérale for people wanting to work in self-employment.

Ordinary carte de résident for people who have family links in France.

The carte de résident de longue-durée UE (EU long-term resident card). This is for people who have lived in an EU country for at least five years, meeting certain ‘stable and legal’ residency criteria, including earning at least the French minimum wage.

Until you have a ‘resident’ card, it can be difficult to change your status in France, so it is important that your initial visa matches your intentions when settling.

Visa holders must apply for the same category of residency card at least once.

It is then possible to seek to change to another status, but the process can be complicated and there will be new supporting documents and requirements for the new status, and it is not guaranteed to be approved.

Asked how people change from a ‘visitor’ visa to working, one expert on visa formalities, Allison Lounes of Yourfranceformation, said:

“You can’t do this in the first year. You have to renew the visitor visa at least once (with a ‘visitor’ carte de séjour) and then a firm that wants to hire you would have to go through the same process as if hiring you from your original country.”

Applying on the official Anef website

The French authorities say they aim to place all residency card applications online eventually (although, as stated, a court ruled that there should always be an alternative method).

Currently, cards that can be applied for online – whether a first application or a renewal – at the Anef website include student, visitor (eg. for retirees/early-retirees), passeports talents for certain highly-qualified workers, optional residency cards for EU citizens, and some kinds of cartes de résident.

It should also be possible to use the same website to make requests for duplicate cards due to loss or theft, as well as due to a change of address, name, or family situation.

If applying for a card on expiry of a visa or previous card, you click Je demande ou renouvelle un titre de séjour; if you are applying for a card with no visa, click Je demande un premier titre sans numéro étranger, sans visa. If you need a new card because of other circumstances (loss, change of address…), click Je déclare un changement de situation.

You usually need your numéro d’étranger, which can be found along the right-hand side of most French residency cards printed between 2011 and 2020; on cards printed since October 2020, you need the 10-digit numéro personnel printed in the middle of the card near the bottom.

Applications for other kinds of cards, such as employee and self-employed people’s cards, are still made on paper at prefectures, as are their renewals.

If in doubt, contact your prefecture – its phone number and/or email or online contact details should be available via its website. There is one main prefecture per department of France and sometimes also smaller sous-préfectures, but usually the latter do not deal with residency. Look for the section relating to étrangers (foreigners).

For applications direct to prefectures, you will typically need to attend the offices in person to drop in supporting documents and have them checked, as well as to give passport photographs and have your fingerprints scanned.

Once this is done and officials are satisfied they have everything required, they will give you a récépissé – application receipt – which constitutes proof of you having carried out the process.

When a card is ready, you will have to visit to collect it. Prefectures typically notify people of this by text message.

Anef has a questions section with tips on using the site.

Rules for photographs

Photographs should be taken in official booths featuring the French ‘Marianne’ logo. If you need a photo for online purposes, look for a booth that allows for the creation of digital photos stored online. These are printed out and include a code that can be entered on websites to retrieve the photo.