How to get residency in France in 2026

No golden visa, but a passport after 5 years rather than 10. Visitor status, the talent card, start-ups and study: thresholds in dollars, the new French language rules and a total for each route.

In detail

France has no golden visa and never had one, yet hundreds of thousands of foreigners get residence permits here every year. There are four doors: living on your own money, skilled work, your own business and study. Since 2026 each comes with a French language requirement, and fees have risen noticeably.

There is good news too: the talent card gives residence for up to 4 years at once together with your family, and the passport still takes 5 years, not 10 as now in Spain and Portugal. Below are all the routes with thresholds in dollars, timelines and the traps. Amounts are converted at the rate of 6 October 2026: 1 euro = 1.121 dollars.

What ways to get French residency exist in 2026

The simplest on paper is visitor status for those living on a pension, rent or capital. The most rewarding is the talent card: up to 4 years, family without waiting and work without a separate permit.

France has no separate digital nomad visa. Remote work for a foreign company does not fit visitor status, so nomads have to choose the talent card or another country.

Which route suits whom

• A retiree or capital owner - the visitor visa. Income from $20,000 a year and savings are enough, but you may not work in France at all.
• A professional with an offer from a French company - the talent card for an employee or the EU Blue Card. It is the shortest path to a multi-year permit and moving the whole family at once.
• A graduate of a French master's programme - first a student permit, then the talent card without a separate work permit.
• A founder of a tech project - the start-up visa through recognition of innovation.
• An owner of a conventional business - the entrepreneur card, but the business must earn at least the minimum wage by the first renewal.
• An investor with capital from $340,000 - the talent card for investors with a real stake in a company.
• A remote worker - there is no separate visa. Spain or Portugal is usually better value, and in France the talent card with a French employer remains.

If several routes fit, choose by the time to the resident card and by who in the family can come straight away.

The visitor visa: French residency on your own means

Visitor status is the French version of a passive income visa. The law requires proof that you will live on your own resources and names one figure: the annual minimum wage after deductions. That is about $20,000 a year, or $1,700 a month.

In practice consulates want to see more: savings of $23,000-34,000. The income must be yours and regular: a pension, rent, dividends. Transfers from relatives and money deposited a week before filing raise more questions than a modest but steady pension.

The main rule: no work

A visitor undertakes not to carry out any professional activity in France. This covers not only a French employer: freelancing for French clients, registering a micro-business and paid management of a French company are banned too. Remote work for a foreign company done from France is also professional activity on its territory, so this status does not suit nomads.

Steps and timeline

1. Find housing: a long lease, ownership or a host's letter.
2. Take out private health insurance for the whole visa term.
3. Fill in the form on the government visa portal and book the consulate or visa centre.
4. Get a long-stay visa that itself serves as the residence permit for the first year.
5. Within 3 months of arrival validate the visa online and pay the tax.
6. After a year apply for a multi-year card.

At each renewal the income and savings are proven again, so keep the pension or rent at the level you showed when applying.

The money: state fees per adult come to about $460: a consular fee of about $120 and a visa validation tax of about $340. All details are on the visitor visa for France.

The talent card: French residency for up to 4 years for professionals and investors

The talent card is the most generous way into France. The permit is issued for up to 4 years at once, no work permit is needed, and the spouse and children get their cards at the same time, without the eighteen-month wait of ordinary family reunification.

The threshold for an employee is about $45,000 gross a year. That is below Germany's Blue Card and almost half the Netherlands' requirement for professionals over 30. The investor route is the closest thing France has to a golden visa, but it too requires real economic activity: a stake of 30% or more or running the company and a jobs plan.

The card has one catch: it rests on a single ground. If the salary drops below the threshold, the employer changes or the project stalls, the renewal becomes a new exam, and the thresholds rise every year with the minimum wage.

The money: state fees per adult come to about $520: a visa fee of about $120 and the first talent card of about $400. Since 1 May 2026 the card has risen from about $260 to $400. All categories and documents are on the talent passport for France and in how to get a talent visa for France.

The start-up visa and the entrepreneur card

A start-up in France goes through the same talent card, and the decisive document is the economy ministry's opinion on the project's innovative nature. Money is needed too: the founder's personal means must reach the annual minimum wage, about $26,000 in 2026. More in the start-up visa for France.

For a conventional business without innovation there is the entrepreneur card. The first lasts 1 year and is renewed only if the business earns at least the minimum wage: about $2,100 gross a month. Since 2026 the prefecture must assess the project's economic viability. Registering a company does not give residence by itself. Terms are on French residency through business.

Study: a student permit in France

Since 1 August 2026 a student must show about $990 a month instead of the previous $690, or about $12,000 for an academic year. The requirement was raised by a decree of 22 June 2026, and applications filed from August are checked against the new amount.

A student permit allows work of up to 964 hours a year, about 60% of full time. Fees are lower than for others: a student visa of about $60 and a visa validation tax of about $170. After a French master's degree a graduate can switch to the talent card for a qualified employee, and two successful years of higher education in France cut the time to citizenship from 5 years to 2.

How much French residency costs: the total for each route

State fees in France per adult run from $230 for a student to $520 for a talent card holder. What costs real money is the income or savings you must show, insurance, housing and sworn translations. Below is the total for one adult for the first year: where savings or an investment are checked, they are part of the total; where income is checked, the total is the fees alone.

This leaves out health insurance, sworn translations, housing and the French exam. Each family member pays their own fees.

French language: what changed in 2026

Since 1 January 2026 you will not get far in France without French. The first multi-year card needs a basic level, the second of six on the European scale. The 10-year resident card needs the threshold level, the third. Citizenship needs the advanced level, the fourth, spoken and written, plus a civic exam of 40 questions with an 80% pass mark.

The talent card does not depend on language at entry, but on the way to a passport you will still have to speak French. Start learning in the first year: French grammar changes more slowly than the rules for migrants.

Family: who can move with you

Talent card holders are lucky: the spouse and minor children get a talent family card at the same time. Everyone else goes through family reunification: first 18 months of legal life in France, then proof of income and housing size, and only then inviting the family. Income is compared with the minimum wage and housing with the family size, so a studio for four will not pass.

A visitor can apply together with a spouse if income and savings cover both. For a student or an entrepreneur on a one-year card bringing the family is usually hardest.

Taxes after moving to France

The French tax office does not wait for day 183. You are resident if your family or main home is in France, your main work is there or your centre of economic interests is. One criterion is enough, so a foreigner with a residence permit usually becomes resident in the very first year. A non-resident pays tax only on French income.

• Income tax runs from 0% to 45% on a scale with the family quotient: household income is divided into shares, and a couple with children pays noticeably less than a single person.
• Investment income is taxed at 31.4% including social charges.
• Workers recruited from abroad benefit from a special regime for 8 years.

Since 8 August 2023 Russia has suspended most articles of its tax treaty with France, and France reciprocally does not apply them either. Rates and worked examples are on taxes in France, and how to count days in tax residency and the 183-day rule.

From residence to the resident card and a French passport

After 5 years of continuous legal residence you can get the 10-year EU long-term resident card. You need steady income at least at the minimum wage, insurance and compliance with absence rules: no more than 6 months in a row and no more than 10 months over the 5 years. The resident card already gives the right to work, so a former visitor can enter the job market with it.

Citizenship by naturalisation also takes 5 years, not 10 as with the neighbours now. Graduates of two years at a French university need 2 years, and spouses of French citizens 4 years of marriage by declaration. Since 1 May 2026 the fee is about $290 instead of the former $65. France allows dual citizenship, so there is no need to give up a Russian passport, but a Russian citizen must notify the Russian interior ministry of a second citizenship within 60 days. More on French citizenship.

French residency for Russian and Ukrainian citizens

The law does not divide applicants by nationality: the terms are the same for a Russian, a Ukrainian and a Kazakh. You apply at the French consulate in the country where you legally live, not necessarily in your country of citizenship. If you live, say, in Serbia or the UAE, you apply there.

Documents from Russia and post-Soviet countries need an apostille and a sworn translation into French. Ukrainian citizens in France, as across the EU, hold temporary protection until 4 March 2027, and the move to an ordinary permit is best prepared early.

How to get French residency: a step-by-step plan

1. Choose the ground. Capital and pension - visitor status, a contract or degree - the talent card, an innovative project - the start-up visa, a conventional business - the entrepreneur card.
2. Arrange housing and insurance. The consulate wants an address in France and a policy for the whole visa term.
3. Gather documents with translations. Certificates with apostilles and sworn translations into French, statements for 6-12 months.
4. Fill in the form on the government visa portal and book the consulate or visa centre where you live.
5. Give biometrics and receive the long-stay visa. For most statuses it serves as the residence permit for the first year.
6. Validate the visa online within 3 months of arrival and pay the tax.
7. Apply for the next card through the online portal 4 to 2 months before the current one expires.

The renewal window is narrow, and missing it is costly: an extra fee and a gap in legal residence that later surfaces when years to the resident card and the passport are counted. And the first one-year card is swapped for a multi-year one only with confirmed basic French.

Documents for French residency

• a passport valid for the whole visa term, and photos;
• the form and proof of payment on the visa portal;
• proof of income and savings: statements for 6-12 months, a pension, leases, dividends, and for the talent card a contract or proof of investment;
• health insurance for the whole stay;
• proof of housing in France;
• a police certificate if the consulate asks for it;
• a written undertaking not to work, for visitors.

France, Spain or Portugal: where residency is easier

On the threshold for living on your own means France is dearer than Portugal but cheaper than Spain. On time to a passport it now beats both: 5 years against 10.

The price of the short road to a passport is language: French at the fourth level of six and a civic exam. For those ready to learn it, France in 2026 is the fastest passport among the big countries of Southern Europe.

Where to live in France with a residence permit

• Paris - the most jobs, international schools and the highest rent.
• Nice - the Riviera, a mild climate and a large Russian-speaking community.
• Lyon - the second economic centre, cheaper than Paris and with strong universities.
• Bordeaux - a calm city near the ocean, popular with families.
• Marseille - the sea and the most affordable prices among the big cities of the south.

A general overview of the country is on France.

Where applications most often go wrong

• Someone else's income for a visitor. The consulate does not count transfers from relatives or sponsor letters: you must live on your own resources.
• Remote work on visitor status. Working from France for a foreign company is also professional activity, and it surfaces at renewal.
• The wrong talent card category. Evidence for an employee does not fit an investor, and vice versa.
• A missed renewal window. Apply 4 to 2 months before the card expires.
• Postponing French. Without the language the multi-year card is not issued after the first one-year card.
• Insurance with exclusions. The policy must cover hospital, outpatient care and repatriation without exclusions for existing conditions.
• A salary below the threshold at renewal. Thresholds rise every year with the minimum wage.

How we help

Murblz specialists match the ground to your income, work and family, check documents before filing and follow the case from the visa portal form to the multi-year card.

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