Different visa options

Visas are the solution for non-EU citizens who wish to stay in France for longer than three months, with the notable exception of spouses of EU – but not French – citizens, who can move to France with their spouse and later apply for a residency card.

It is also, in most cases, the only way in which to come to France to work or study if you are not an EU citizen, unless you are completing, for example, a very short course (see chapter 1 for more exceptions).

A visa is a sticker put in your passport which shows that the holder has the right to come and go over the French border and to stay on French territory.

A residency card is a plastic card confirming a right to stay in France for a given period and set reasons, such as work or leisure, dependent on the type of card.

Residency cards are usually not issued early in the immigration process, apart from the exception of the card that non-EU spouses of EU citizens may apply for if they have stayed together in France for an extended period.

Once issued, visas allow the holder to come and go during the stated validity period, which can vary depending on the person’s situation and plans.

Applications from most countries should usually be begun via the France-Visas website.

However, the application then, in most cases, has to be printed out and taken to a visa office along with supporting documents, and it is only once it is handed over for processing by the consular service that it is officially lodged.

In July 2024, a decree aiming to allow visa applications to be made online at this website, and for a wide range of applicant details to be processed online and kept for up to five years, gave rise to hopes that this process may be simplified.

Details mentioned included contact and passport details, work details, family links in France, students’ French educational establishments, applicants’ French accommodation and previous long stays.

If this can help avoid trips to visa offices and simplify future visa applications, it would be especially helpful to second-home owners who are currently obliged to start the whole process each time they want to apply for a ‘temporary’ visa to visit their French homes for a period of more than three months.

In many cases, this means full applications and visa office visits every year.

The Interior Ministry has also recently indicated that full digitalisation of France-Visas applications, including submitting supporting documents online, is being studied, but is not expected to be on offer before 2028.

However, there is no indication that a method of giving fingerprints remotely is planned.

Obtaining a visa is not a right. Factors taken into account include the risk of the applicant becoming a financial burden to the French state or overstaying.

Issuing visas is the responsibility of the French consular service in the country of your current residency.

Often, a third-party service provider, for example TLScontact in the UK and US, collects application information and payment of a fee and, after it is forwarded to officials to process the application, returns the passport with the visa.

An admin fee is also payable for their services.

There are several kinds of long-stay visas (we do not consider short-stay Schengen visitor visas in this guide).

When you apply, you are asked to describe your plans and intended duration of stay, and officials will assess what is most appropriate.

It is important to make sure you provide enough information and that you obtain the right kind of visa.

It is not possible, for example, to go to France on a ‘visitor’ visa and then start a self-employment business once there, even if only part-time.

Requests to change one’s status are possible, made to the local préfecture, but can be complex and are not guaranteed to be accepted.

Time in France on a visa is not taken into account for purposes of the 90/180 days rule (see chapter 1).

Note that unless you are coming temporarily, notably on a temporary long-stay visa, you will at a later stage need to apply online for a residency card.

Usually, the card will have similar wording on it to the visa.

Each individual has to make their own visa application, but family applications are linked and sometimes one person’s application is dependent on another person’s (for example, that of a spouse), whose income they rely on.

You list family members you are travelling with.

There is no in-depth interview for a visa. You just bring the completed paperwork. In the case of questions from the consulate, these usually come by email.

Visa types vary depending on their duration and the purpose of the applicant’s stay in France.

Most require further formalities once the person has moved to France, but some do not.