Renewing or updating cards

Important note: One-year cartes de séjour can no longer be renewed more than three times (a VLS-TS is equal to a first card). From January 1, 2026 at the latest, first-issue of a multi-year carte de séjour or one of the three cartes de résident will be subject to language and culture tests, see pages 34-35).

Multi-year cards: who can apply for one? 

When an ordinary carte de séjour (issued for a year) expires, it can be replaced by another one-year card or, under certain conditions, by a pluriannuelle card, valid for two to four years. This is the case notably for cards for employees and self-employed people and vie privée et familiale cards.

In some cases, such as with people settling in France long-term with a permanent job contract, a multi-year card may be issued as their first card upon expiry of a VLS-TS visa.

The holder must though be deemed to meet the requirements of their contrat d’intégration républicaine (CIR), including taking French lessons if this was among them (keep reading this chapter for more information about changes to this).

Unless you request a change of status, the multi-year card is issued under the same heading as the previous one-year card or visa.

Multi-year cards are not issued as a replacement for a travailleur temporaire card for a fixed-term job, nor for people on au pair or stagiaire (intern) visas nor seasonal worker (travailleur saisonnier) visas. It is also not issued in replacement for a ‘visitor’ status card.

This means that people in France on the latter cards must renew them annually for at least the first five years.

Note also that the passport talent can be issued for up to four years straight away (not subject to a CIR or language test).

To request a multi-year card you must continue to fulfil the requirements of the initial card/visa, eg. employees must still be employed full-time on a CDI permanent work contract; self-employed workers must be earning a living with a registered, viable, French business.

You must also fulfil the conditions of ‘integration’ in France, notably taking lessons if your French level was found to be less than A2 of the European language standards.

Exemptions from the CIR/language test do exist, including where you have previously completed at least three years’ schooling in a French school or at least one year of higher education in France.

The 2024 immigration law has been passed and provides for changes to the rules.

A multi-year card will now require the person to show they have A2-level French. This requires understanding simple phrases and communicating regarding everyday tasks.

Applicants will be able to show their own level by arranging to take an approved test to obtain a certificate of their level, as is the case for the carte de résident or when applying for French nationality.

Another rule says that for cards involving signing a CIR it will not be possible to renew them as one-year ‘temporary’ cards more than three times, so people will be obliged within a few years to know at least A2 French to stay in France.

The language level codes are in reference to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale. 

Residency card applications that do not require a language test, such as a Brexit WA Card or the talent card, are not affected by these rules.

Resident’s cards offer more security 

A resident’s card (not to be confused with the general term ‘residency card’) gives the holder a more secure status.

The holder’s right to live in France is not dependent on conditions linked to means or healthcare or the way in which they earn – or do not earn – a living. They also no longer need an autorisation de travail to hold a work contract.

The cards cost €225 and are valid for 10 years. Minimal paperwork is required for a renewal (especially for the ‘permanent’ kind of card).

There are three types: an ordinary carte de résident, a carte de résident de longue-durée – UE and carte de résident permanent,

People who meet the requirements can apply for one, usually four to two months before expiry of a previous card.

Immigration lawyer Alexandre Gillioen said there is, generally speaking, no ‘risk’ involved in requesting one: in the worst-case scenario he said officials just ‘implicitly’ refuse it by renewing the previous card instead.

Most applicants have to demonstrate a certain level of French, for example by passing a test such as the TCF (test de connaissance du français) and reaching an overall level of at least A2 (this is a ‘basic’ level but not complete beginner). This is rising to a B1 (lower intermediate) level.

People aged 65 or above do not have to demonstrate any language levels.

Brexit WA cards are comparable to cartes de résident in as they give strong residency protections and an unconditional right to work.

Similarly to a carte de résident permanent, a 10-year WA card is renewable with very light formalities.

However, as with the carte de résident de longue-durée UE, the residency right conferred can be lost after a certain period away. In the case of the WA card this is five consecutive years of being away from France; for the longue-durée card it is three consecutive years outside the EU or six consecutive years outside France.

The European Commission said there is nothing to stop Britons living in the EU with WA cards from also applying for an additional status via the résident de longue-durée card if they wish. However, the Interior Ministry said France only allows people to hold one residency card at a time.