Immigration Info
Different administrative procedures related to foreigners residing or intend to reside in FrancePasseport talent: multi-year residence permit for foreigners in France
If you are a foreigner (except citizen of a European Union country or Algeria) and wish to work in France for more than 3 months, you can benefit from a multi-year residence permit (passeport talent). This card is issued in several situations, particularly if you are highly qualified to obtain a suitable job, wish to create a company or invest in France, or you are an artist. It is valid for a maximum period of four years and is renewable.
If you live in France
You must submit your application to the prefecture (or sub-prefecture) of your place of residence (find out more on the prefecture’s website) within 2 months before the expiry date of your residence permit.
If you live in a foreign country
You must submit your application to the French consular authorities in your country of residence. When you arrive in France, your card will be given to you at the prefecture or sub-prefecture of your residence upon presentation of your visa.
Salarié qualifié
You can obtain a talent passport card – qualified employee – exercising an employed activity if you meet the following conditions:
You have obtained, in France, a professional bachelor’s degree or a Specialized Master’s/Master of Science (labeled by the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles or at least equivalent to the Master’s degree).
You have an employment contract of more than 3 months that provides for a gross annual salary of € 36,946.00 or more.
Emploi hautement qualifié
You must have :
a diploma certifying at least 3 years of higher education or 5 years of professional experience of comparable level
An employment contract of at least 1 year
A gross annual salary of at least 53,836.50 €
Profession artistique et culturelle
performer
or author of a literary or artistic work.
You can obtain a residence permit – talent passport – economic investment – all commercial activities related to the project if you make a direct economic investment in France.
Investment via a company
* You invest through a company that you personally manage or in which you hold at least 30% of the capital.
* You plan to create or safeguard employment in the 4 years following the investment in France
* The investment in tangible or intangible assets must represent at least 300 000 €.
Personal investment
You personally invest in a company in which you acquire a lasting interest (at least 10% of the capital).
You plan to create or safeguard employment within 4 years of investing in France
The investment in tangible or intangible fixed assets must represent at least €300,000.
Recrutement dans une entreprise innovante
You are recruited in a young innovative company or a company recognised as innovative by the Ministry of the Economy
Your duties are directly related to the research and development project of this company.
You have an employment contract that provides for a gross annual salary of € 36,946.00 or more.
Création d'entreprise
You can obtain a residence permit for a talent passport – business creation – authorising you to carry out a commercial activity if you meet the following conditions:
You have a degree at least equivalent to a master’s degree or 5 years of professional experience of a comparable level
You have a real and serious plan to set up a business (commercial, craft or industrial) in France.
Investment of at least €30,000 in business projects
Existence of assets commensurate with minimum wage (SMIC), i.e. €20,147.40 (as of 1st August, 2022)
Investisseur
Investment via a company
* You invest through a company that you personally manage or in which you hold at least 30% of the capital.
* You plan to create or safeguard employment in the 4 years following the investment in France
* The investment in tangible or intangible assets must represent at least 300 000 €.
Personal investment
You personally invest in a company in which you acquire a lasting interest (at least 10% of the capital).
You plan to create or safeguard employment within 4 years of investing in France
The investment in tangible or intangible fixed assets must represent at least €300,000.
Procedure of administrative regularisation of foreign nationals living in France without official stay permit
Minimum eligibility to obtain immigrant status through work (admission exceptionnelle au séjour-salarié)
- you have been living in France for 3 years without an official stay permit, you can apply for a permit if you have worked for 24 months, including 8 in the last 12 months
- you have been living in France in same situation for 5 years or more, you need to provide proof of having worked for 8 months over the last 2 years
- The abovementioned work must be minimum 80 hours of monthly work
- You must speak elementary level French
- You must not represent a threat to public order, nor live in a situation of polygamy in France
- Domicile address provider must be qualified as per the terms of the police prefecture
At the time of submitting this application, your employer must provide a written guarantee of full-time CDI work for you after your residency is approved.
Those who are residing in France for more than 7 years and have at least 12 payslips from employment within last 36 months (3 years) can apply for regularising their administrative situation even if they do not have a job currently. In this case they will be given a provisional attestation of identity with a validity of 4 months to find a job. In the meantime, if one gets a job, he/she can apply for immigrant status.
Beware of the authenticity of payslips
With the possibility of obtaining immigration status through work, some business owners take advantage of the ignorance, faith or vulnerability of the people in need by giving them fake payslips against payment of cash. On the otherhand, many eligible employees procure paysilps at the last-minute before submission of files. For this reason, there may be some errors in accounting. Earlier its was not so important issue. But nowadays the Prefectures check payslips throughly during the submission of files. Some prefectures check payslips on spot. So make sure that the accounting is correct in the payslips. In particular if the salary is paid in cash. Salary paid by cheque or bank account transfer (VIREMENT) is the proof that you have indeed worked for the employing company. Therefore, avoid accepting cash only if you don’t have a bank account and if you take cash, don’t forget a collect a copy of the receipt of payment with company stamp on it. The cheque or the transfert amount must be equal to the sum mentioned in the payslip so that its authenticity can be ascertained.
New domicile rule at the prefecture
Most of the prefectures have introduced a new rule on the home address of applicant whether it is registered with Income Tax and Security Social offices during the submission of file. If you have changed your home address but haven’t made the modification on abovesaid official documents, do it as soon as possible. If you’ve an identification number with Income Tax office, you can make the modification online. However, you’ve to go physically to the centre of Security Social under whose jurisdiction you are domiciled. Those who are finding it difficult to change the address at Security Social even after visiting the centre, do it on www.service-public.fr and print out the proof. Submit it to the centre of Security Social with the proof of residence and ask for a receipt. Keep in mind that although it is stipulated in the law, they don’t want to give a receipt easily, Therefore, insist for it.
Regularisation on the basis of ten years of continuous presence in France
Those who apply for administrative regularisation on the basis of 10-years continuous stay in France will need to provide at least 4 proofs (one from each trimester) per year.
It is good to have a work contract or recruitment commitment, certificate of participation in French language learning programs and social organization work
If all your documents are in order, you can get a one-year ‘Carte de séjour – vie privée et familiale‘ for the first time.
In many cases applicants are called before a decision-making commission for a proper analysis of their situation. In this case, the applicant’s proficiency in the French language and experience about the French society become important.
Physical illness (Maladie) and in need of treatment
The rules for submitting “Raison médicale” files have changed. From now onwards the file has to be submitted to the OFII. No further medical certificate is required to be submitted at the Prefecture. To start with, you will have to procure an application file from the Police Prefecture depending on your residence address. There will be a form reserved for medical certification which should be filled by your personal/hospital physician. An envelope will be provided along with the file by the Prefecture and all your documents will have to be delivered to the specified address of the OFII inside it.
The doctor who treats you or your child in usual cases will provide you with prescriptions, all medical certificates, various pathological test reports, and all other medical documents that you think may be beneficial for your application. But all documents must contain signature and seal of your personal doctor. Remember, under the new rules, you don’t need to submit any medical certificate at the Prefecture.
The doctor at OFII will examine your medical records and will contact your doctor, if necessary, to find out other information. In that case you will be contacted. Your doctor must provide the required information within 15 days.
The doctor at OFII may call you back for a medical examination. They may conduct pathology tests. These tests will be done free of cost. All your medical documents will then be sent to OFII’s Medical Board. They may call you for an interview. You’ve the right to attend interviews with a physician of your choice and a translator. You’ve to show an ID card at each interview. At this time you may have to undergo a new medical examination. This medical board will inform the Prefecture of their decision on your application. And the prefecture will reply to you based on aforesaid decision.
Admission exceptionnelle au séjour (AES): request for first residence permit
To request an appointment within the framework of “admission exceptionnelle au séjour” – Salarié/ Vie privée et familiale at all préfectures within the Île de France area, specific documents are required to apply online or by email depending on the rules of each prefecteur.
For AES / premier titre de séjour à Versailles – by email
For AES / premier titre de séjour à Bobigny – by démarches-simplifiées
For AES / premier titre de séjour à Sous Préfecture Rancy – by démarches-simplifiées
For AES / premier titre de séjour à Sous Préfecture Paris – by online form
For AES / premier titre de séjour à Préfecture Nanterre – by démarches-simplifiées
For AES / premier titre de séjour à Préfecture Val D’Oise – by email
For AES / premier titre de séjour à Préfecture Évry/Essonne – by démarches-simplifiées
Renewal process of Titre de séjour - salarié
Nowadays, it is compulsory to procure ‘autorisation de travail’ for the renewal of Resident Card for salaried persons (Titre de séjour- salarié), by applying for it on the website of DIRECTION GÉNÉRALE DES ÉTRANGERS EN FRANCE.
This application has to be made uniquely online.
For this purpose you have to ask your current employer to proceed. .
Your employer has to submit a certain numbers of documents,
After submitting of the application, your employer has to monitor his / her email regularly for reply and act according to the instructions from DIRECTION GÉNÉRALE DES ÉTRANGERS EN FRANCE within a given deadline.
Marriage and Family Reunion (Regroupement Familial)
Statutory refugees and stateless persons are governed by French law as the law of the country of residence (Articles 12 of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to refugees and the 1954 New York Convention relating to stateless persons). This same law is applicable to the beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.
Consequently, if the marriage of a protected person celebrated in abroad is in contradiction with the French rules, the OFPRA will not take cognizance of it.
- Those statutory refugees who are married before leaving the home country must register their marital and family status with OPFRA and demand ‘Titre de séjour’ at the prefecture. Once the civil status certificate and the ‘titre de séjour’ are delivered, they can apply for family reunification at the relevant French embassy. In such cases, there is no need to provide proof of lodging facilities and permanent income. But keep in mind that as per the regulation, a statutory refugee should submit a copy of ‘Titre de voyage’ alongwith the application. However, the demand can be made without it, but the embassy may later ask you to complete your file.
According to November 2015 decision, if someone marries outside France after obtaining asylum status must apply to OFII for ‘Family Reunion’ (Regroupement Familial) to bring spouse in France. In that case the applicant must have a residence in his/her name, tenant or owner, and adequate source of income.
- When a statutory refugee wants to marry outside of France, he/she has to procure the ‘certificat de coutume’ from the OFPRA before applying for the ‘certificate of capacity to marry (certificat de capacité de mariage)‘ from the relevant French Embassy based in the third country (as statutory refugees in France can’t enter his/her mother country) where he/she likes to officialise marriage, before getting married. In some French Embassies, online appointments can be made. Take an appointment before travelling and prepare your file with all necessary documents. If you get married without ‘certificate of capacity to marry’ and ‘Publication des bans’, the OFPRA will not register the marriage.
Proceed with correct and current information to avoid committing error.
When proper housing and adequate income are criterias:
Those statutory refugees who have married in a third country and those who have been regalarised in France with salaried resident card must submit application to the OFII for Family Reunification.
Salary card holders can apply only after 18 months of their regularization.
In this case, the size of the residence is calculated on the basis of 11 square meters for each of the family members. For example, 22 square meters for a couple and 11 more square meters per child, i.e., 33 square meters for 3 members family, and 44 square meters for a family of 4.
Accommodation must be rented or owned by the applicants.
Applicants must have full-time CDI work and monthly income must be adequate to support household expenses.
The house rent should be commensurate with the monthly income.
Another important thing is that the living environment must be healthy. In particular, kitchens should have adequate smoke and odor extraction, house heating in winter, and toilets and bathrooms should be kept clean.
What to do once your family arrives in France - if you're a refugee
Once your wife and children (if any) arrive in France with a 3 month visa, they will need to procure an appointment from the prefecture to request for delivering residence card (carte de séjour). All necessary documents must be submitted online on the website of the prefecture. If the prefecture receives all the documents correctly, they will send an appointment via email or online via the website from which the appointment was requested.
What to do once your family arrives in France - if you are an immigrant
Once your wife arrives in France with a 1 year visa, she will need to validate the visa online. After validation, she will receive an attestation directly at her registered email. This attestation is usually valid according to the duration of the visa on her passport. Two months before the expiry of the validation of this attestation, she has to visit the prefecture with an appointment to renew her residence premit (autorisation de séjour) applying on the website of the prefecture. In such cases, the prefecture will first give her a récépissé and later she will receive ‘Titre de Séjour’.
After your minor child (if any) arrives in France with a 3-month visa, in some cases (depending on the visa category) you will need to validate his/her visa online. Later on, you have to request for delivering DCEM (ID for circulation) online.
For those who do not need to validate the visa, you have to request for delivering DCEM (ID for circulation) online.