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Explained: How to get a visa if you want to move to France for work

If you are looking to move to France for work as a foreigner, then you will need to be realistic about your options and residency status. Here are some things you should know.

Published: 2 July 2024 15:57 CEST

Explained: How to get a visa if you want to move to France for work

A passenger at Charles De Gaule Airport in Roissy-en-France. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)

Hollywood has inspired many to dream of moving to France, whether that be a calmer life in a small village or the romantic idea of working in Paris, mirroring the lives of iconic characters from hit series like Emily in Paris.

In reality, moving to France as a foreigner for work is more difficult than portrayed on the big screen, especially if you are not a citizen of an EU country.

To begin, we have a helpful guide to job-search websites, as well as tips for writing a French CV and converting your foreign qualifications.

There are also several benefits to first getting a higher education degree from a French institution, including a shortened wait time when applying for French citizenship and a one-year buffer to find a job.

But before you start sending out applications, you will want to be realistic about your options for moving in the first place – in particular with regards to visas and work permits.

This article is focused on people moving to France in order to work – you can find more information about the situation for people already in France here, and on moving to France as a retiree here.

Visas and residency

The first and most important thing you will need to consider is your residency status. If you are an EU citizen or French national (including dual nationals), then you have the right to work in France and you can disregard this section.

Non-EU citizens, including Brits, need to think first about a visa.

Citizens of some countries – including the UK, USA and Canada – are entitled to spend 90 days in every 180 visa free in France, but if you’re planning to move here and work then you will need a visa and then a residency card (titre de séjour).

Certain residency cards act as work permits, automatically conferring the right to work in France, while others require a separate document – a work permit, or autorisation de travail.

Meanwhile, visas like the visitor visa explicitly forbid working in France and require that applicants declare they will not “exercise a professional activity” here.

If you are the spouse or parent of a French national, then you would likely hold a vie privée et familiale (family and private life) residency card. Included within this status is the right to work in France without the need for a work permit or any tie to a particular job.

The same goes for spouses of EU nationals – who would hold the carte de séjour membre de famille d’un Européen – the full right to work in France is included within this residency status.

Holders of the student visa or residency permit also have the automatic right to work, albeit with a limit of 964 hours per year.

Which is the best visa/residency card option?

For those who don’t have any family connections to France such as a French spouse, and who haven’t studied at a French university, there are four main options;

Posted worker status

This is for people who are already in work and whose company is willing to keep them on in their existing role and send them to France to work.

This option is usually only available to people with higher seniority, so you would be unlikely to benefit as an entry level worker and crucially requires the agreement of your employer.

There are two residency permits related to seconded employees, and both confer the right to work in France, albeit only for your current employer.

The first (Salarié détaché) requires that the person have at least six months seniority within the organisation. The employment contract – which remains with your home country, so it is technically not a French contract – should consider you to be a manager or expert.

The idea is that this is a short-term status that does not put you on a path toward long-term residency in France. As such, this card cannot exceed a maximum of three years and it is not renewable.

Because you are essentially considered a temporary visitor to France, you cannot count your years as a posted worker when applying for a 10-year carte de résident, and there are different implications for taxes and social charges, dependent on the bilateral agreement France has with your country of origin.

If you wish to change jobs once in France, then you would need to go onto a different residency card. More information on changing status here.

Posted workers can also take advantage of the ‘passeport talent‘ – more on that below.

Talent passport

This is one of the best options for foreigners looking to move to France for work – if you can qualify for it.

It’s relatively new, it began in 2017 and is intended to bring foreign talent, especially tech start-ups, to France

It typically lasts up to four years, acts as its own work permit, so your employer would not need to go through the process of applying for one on your behalf. Plus, the procedure to bring your family is simplified,

There are 11 different statuses within the ‘talent passport’ umbrella from researchers to artists and investors – more details in our guide.

However, many of the statuses require minimum salary and education levels.

For example, the requirements for the ’emploi hautement qualifié’ category include holding a higher education degree (or five years of relevant professional experience), being offered an employment contract of at least one year, and earning a (gross) salary of €53,836.50.

For those coming from countries with high salary levels, this may sound feasible, but according to France’s Observatoire des Inégalités this salary would put you in the top eight percent of earners in France.

There is also a status especially for posted workers called salarié en mission.

In order to qualify for this, you must have at least three months’ seniority at your company, which belongs to an ‘international group of companies’. You must have been “asked to carry out a mission at the French company within the conglomerate” and be offered a French employment contract.

You must also have a (gross) salary of at at least €38,165.40 (as of 2024).

This card lasts up to four years and unlike the salarié détaché card it can be renewed. As your residency card is related to your specific employment contract, at the card’s expiration you would need to switch onto a new status that takes into account your new contract.

For example, if you no longer benefit from the ‘talent passport’, you may need to follow the process to apply for a standard salarié residency card.

The standard salarié visa

The salarié status (or travailleur temporaire if you are offered a short-term contract) is the generic residency status for foreign workers in France.

In order to apply for this card, you need to have already been offered a job – the process is that the employer offers you a job and then the employer will need to request an autorisation de travail for you.

In some cases, the employer might have to demonstrate that you are more qualified than an EU candidate and that the job was published for at least three weeks with the French public employment agency before submitting a work permit application. These requirements are dispensed with if the applicant holds a higher degree from France.

Once the work permit is issued, you then apply for the visa.

The benefit to this status is that it can apply to all types of jobs, as there is no minimum salary for the work permit aside from the existing minimum wage in France.

However because of the extra paperwork involved and the extra time required, non-EU candidates are in general less attractive to French employers. In practice this means that employers are often reluctant to hire non-EU staff for low-wage jobs, and non-EU candidates need to prove that they have something special to offer to make the extra paperwork worth while.

You may see job adverts that specify that candidates must already have the right to live and work in France, or that employers will not sponsor visas.

The self-employed visa

If you want to either set up your own business or work on a freelancer/ contractor basis, you will need to apply for the ‘entrepreneur’ visa.

You don’t need a job offer to qualify for this, but you will need a detailed business plan to prove that you will be able to support yourself financially – or evidence of savings.

Visas are decided on an individual basis, but the guideline is that you will need to provide evidence that your work will provide income at least equivalent to France’s minimum wage (currently €1,766.92 gross per month).

Once in France you will need to register yourself as a business, and you should also check in advance whether you will be able to work in your chosen field in France – there are many ‘regulated professions’ that are only open to people who have French qualifications or are a member of a French professional organisation.

Other options

The above options are the most commonly-used, especially for people who want to move to France and live here on a long-term basis.

However there are some alternatives, although most of them are aimed at short stays.

Probably the most popular method is via the working holiday visa, also known as the young traveller visa, which allows you to stay in France for one year and work – and does not require sponsorship from an employer, so you can arrive in France and then look for work.

They are used a lot by people who want to work the ski season, the wine harvest or in holiday camps, or who just want to travel and do the odd bit of bar work to supplement their income as they go.

However these are limited to people aged between 18 and 30 or 35 (depending on the country) and are also limited by nationality. Citizens of just 16 countries can apply for these and Brits and Americans are not eligible.

EXPLAINED: France’s working holiday visa

If you already have a job lined up you can apply for a long-stay visa travailleur saisonnier (seasonal worker) which allows you to work six months out of every 12 in France and is specifically targeted at sectors like agriculture and tourism.

However, like the salarié status, you will need a formal job offer in place and your employer will have to secure a work permit on your behalf.

If your aim is to develop your language skills then working as an au pair is also popular. There is a dedicated visa/ residency permit for this role, but you must be under 30 to qualify.

In this situation, your employer then counts as your sponsor for your visa, and because you generally live with the family that also takes care of accommodation. It’s a great way to meet people, improve your language skills and really get immersed in French life, but it can also be very hard work depending on how many children you are taking care of and how well behaved they are.

Many people want to move to France as a digital nomad or to work remotely, but France does not have a specific ‘digital nomad’ visa.

Some foreigners move to France on a ‘visitor’ visa with hopes of continuing to work remotely for a company based outside France.

However, this is a legal grey area and you will need to consider the implications it will have on other parts of your life here – from tax to social security contributions and insurance.

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Mythbuster: Is it actually impossible to be sacked in France?

France has some strong protection mechanisms for workers – including the right to strike, which is in the Constitution. Many workers in France benefit from a 35-hour work week, and salaried employees get at least 25 days of paid leave, plus public holidays, and perks including restaurant vouchers and complementary health insurance.

In addition to benefits that French workers enjoy, there is also the common myth that it is impossible for them to get sacked, even for bad behaviour.

While it is true that there are several steps involved in firing someone in France, as well as the burden of proof placed on the employer to have a real and genuine reason for the termination (licenciement), it is entirely possible to sack an employee. It is also possible to make them redundant if the business is not doing well.

In 2023, 89,892 French employees were laid off for economic reasons and 895,799 for non-economic reasons (including the early termination of a fixed-term contract), according to data collected by the French government.

In France there are two types of contract – a permanent contract known as a CDI and a fixed-term contract known as a CDD. Employers have the option to simply not renew a CDD contract if they are not happy with the employee, but if they want to terminate their contract early for non-economic reasons then there is a slightly different process for CDD workers and CDI.

Legally, the rule is that an employee cannot remain on a fixed-term contract for more than 18 months (including contract renewals), though there are some exceptions (ex. employees sent abroad).

Economic reasons

This covers all dismissals that are not related to the employee’s behaviour at work, or their performance or productivity. Licenciement économique might happen if the company experiences a decline in revenue, there are technological changes, the company ceases to operate or there is a re-organisation of the business that eliminates certain roles.

Only workers on a CDI can be terminated for non-economic reasons, although employers do have the option of not renewing contracts for short-term workers (CDD).

Economic termination can be either just one employee at the company, or it can be a ‘small’ collective dismissal (two to nine employees), or a ‘large’ collective dismissal (concerning more than 10 employees in a 30-day period).

If a company wishes to make staff redundant they must follow the procedure – failure to do so can result in an employee bringing a successful case against the company and winning a big payout.

In order to make people redundant, the company is required to prove that all training and adaptation measures were taken to try to keep the employee either in his/her position or send them to another division. If it is not possible to send the worker to another position, or if they reject the offer, then the employee must be invited (by registered letter) to an interview called the entretien préalable, which should take place a minimum of five days after the receipt of the letter.

During the entretien, the employee should be given one of two options for their ’employability package’, which will depend on whether the company has over 1,000 employees. Basically, there are two possibilities – CSP and Congé de reclassement – both offer personalised aid and accompaniment to help you get back to work, and it is not the same as chômage (unemployment).

You should be given at least 7-15 working days to make your decision on the ’employability package’. Then, you will be sent (by registered letter) a formal termination notice (lettre de licenciement), with your final date of employment.

Once you have finished working, you will receive several documents, as well as your final salary and depending on your situation you may also receive certain payouts (ex. unused vacation time). If you were at the company for at least eight months, you should be entitled to a severance package.

Non-economic reasons

This is anything that is linked to the employee’s behaviour or work, rather than the company’s financial position – this can be used for both workers on the permanent CDI contract and the short-term CDD.

The employer is held to a high standard in this regard – the firing must be based on “real facts” that are “precise, concrete and verifiable” and of sufficient importance that they would justify termination.

You might be fired based on disciplinary grounds (wrongful behaviour of the employee) or on non-disciplinary grounds (inadequate performance).

When it comes to disciplinary grounds, these are ranked from ordinary misconduct (faute simple, eg. an error or negligence) to serious misconduct (faute grave, eg drunkenness at work, harassing a colleague or insubordination) and finally gross misconduct (faute lourde, eg. deliberate destruction of company property, physically attacking a supervisor). An employee on a CDD contract cannot be terminated for a faute simple, only a faute grave or a faute lourde.

In ‘ordinary misconduct’ the worker may still receive severance pay, but in the latter two they would not.

The steps are similar to the ‘economic’ path, but there is not the same requirement to find the worker a new post in the company.

Broadly, they include:

Being summoned by registered letter (or in person/by bailiff) to the entretien préalable
The preliminary interview (at least five days after the letter is delivered). Technically, the employee is not required to attend.
The official dismissal notice (lettre de licenciement). This should state the motif (the reason) for the firing, which would include the level of ‘faute’ if there is a disciplinary element. The registered letter should be sent at least two working days after the preliminary interview. In most cases, the maximum deadline would be one month after the interview.
The start of the notice period, if the person is being fired for a faute simple. The notice period will begin once they receive the letter unless the employer has exempted them from it (in writing) or if there is a legitimate reason such as illness.
The end of the employment contract, if the person is fired for serious or gross misconduct. In this situation, there is no notice period and the contract ends as soon as the official dismissal notice is served.

After concluding these steps, employees will receive several final documents, including a certificat du travail and a Pôle Emploi (now ‘France Travail’) certificate to receive unemployment benefits.

Can I contest being fired?

Yes, within 15 days following the official dismissal notice you can send another registered letter requesting additional information about the firing. Upon receipt, your employer would then have 15 days to respond.

If the employee remains unsatisfied, they can refer the matter to the courts.

If I get fired, what happens to my residency?

If you lose your job – for those whose status has changed from ’employed to unemployed’ and they were previously on a residency permit tied to their work status, then “the préfecture will be bound to renew your status as long as you have rights to chômage [unemployment]”, according to immigration lawyer and expert, Maître Haywood Wise.

What can you NOT be fired for?

French law protects employees from being fired while pregnant or on maternity/paternity leave, or while on leave due to an occupational illness or injury, as well as a number of other reasons.

You cannot be fired…

Due to discrimination
For exercising your fundamental rights (freedom of expression, association, etc)
For exercising your role as a juror
For refusing an international transfer to a country that criminalises homosexuality, on the basis of your sexual orientation
For reporting or bearing witness, in good faith, to facts constituting a crime
For being a whistleblower
As a result of legal action relating to discrimination
As a result of legal action relating to gender equality
Against victims or witnesses of moral or sexual harassment (except in bad faith on the part of the employee)
Without consideration for the protection afforded to ‘representative’ employees (more info here)
With disregard for the right to strike
For reporting the abuse of a disabled person
For being absent due to the death of a child under 25 or a disabled dependent under 25

You can find the full list here.

What about unemployment benefits?

French unemployment benefits are often seen as generous, even by European standards and amid recent efforts to reform the system.

Any employee who lost their job – whether for economic or non-economic reasons – can access chômage (unemployment), as long as they fit the other requirements. These requirements include having worked in France for a minimum period of six months in the previous 24 months). This can even include those fired for serious wrongdoing.

However, the French government recently passed legislation making it impossible to access unemployment benefits after walking off the job.

For employees who choose to leave work, there may be the possibility of a rupture conventionnelle – which is when a permanent contract is terminated via mutual consent between the employee and employer.

This allows the employee to access unemployment benefits afterwards, and it was created to avoid workers ‘going slow’ and staying in jobs they would otherwise leave, in the hopes of being terminated in order to access unemployment.

In all other cases, leaving a position voluntarily means the worker will not be able to access chômage.

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