Bonjour! Do you want to come to work and live in France? If you are a non-EU citizen, you will need to have a French work visa to live this experience. It can sometimes be confusing to know which visa matches your situation. Let’s see the 8 different work visas available and also their main criteria and advantages. The 8 main different work visas available in France we listed here are:
- Talent Passport Visa
- Skilled Employee Visa
- Expatriate Assignment Visa
- Employee Visa
- Temporary Worker Visa
- Intra Company Transfer Visa
- Entrepreneur Visa
- Seasonal Worker Visa
Other visas allow working but with another main motive such as the French spouse visa, the unemployment-company creation visa, the student visa, and the working holiday visa. The 2 last visas authorize to work a maximum of 964 hours per year – which means 60% of a full-time position. So let’s start, which are the 8 French work visas to come work and live in France?
Before everything, we recommend you to access the French official website.
Talent Passport Visa
The Talent passport visa actually includes 10 different categories based on your specifics skills, type of your employment and/or your income level. I will focus now on the three Talent Passport visa types that do not take into account specific skills or types of employment: the EU Blue Card, the Skilled employee visa and the Expatriate assignment visa. First, the EU Blue Card visa (called visa Carte Bleue Européenne in French). This is a visa for the top-level income talents that do not fall under the other specific skills and profiles (such as researcher, renowned artists, champions, there is a whole list…).
The four main advantages of the EU Blue Card visa are: No work authorisation from the DIRECCTE is required (the local division of the French Ministry of Labour). You get a four-year residence permit passed the initial one-year permit (or long-stay visa). Your spouse and children have access to the facilitated visa request to join you in France. After 18 months working in France under an EU Blue Card, you can move to another EU member state under certain conditions.
To apply for an EU Blue Card visa, you these are the main criteria you should meet: Hold a higher education degree (minimum 3 years) OR five years of professional experience in a specific field. You should also receive a gross annual salary (before bonuses) of a minimum of 1,5 times the referential average gross reference salary: which means a total of € 53.836,50 in 2023 (as an FYI, it has remained the same since 2016). You should also have a one-year work contract minimum.
Skilled Empoyee Visa
The 2nd Talent Passport visa type is the Skilled Employee Visa (called visa salarié qualifié in French). This visa is a bit similar to the previous one with a slightly lower income threshold.
The three main advantages of this French work visa are: No work authorisation from the DIRECCTE is required (the local division of the French Ministry of Labour). You get a four-year residence permit passed the initial one-year permit (or long-stay visa). Your spouse and children have access to the facilitated visa request to join you in France.
The main criteria to apply for a skilled visa are: Hold a French diploma. Licence Professionnelle or Masters. Receive a gross annual salary (before bonuses) of a minimum of: € 37.310 in 2023. Have a minimum three-month work contract or more.
Expatriate Assignment Visa
The last Talent Passport visa for today’s review is the Expatriate Assignment Visa (called visa Salarié en mission in French). The Expatriate assignment visa has been created for employees already employed by a company abroad that wish to be transferred to France for a limited duration (up to 4 years).
The three main advantages of the Expatriate Assignment Visa are: No work authorisation from the DIRECCTE. You have a French work contract and depend of the French Labour law (so you have the French vacations for example). Your spouse and children have access to the facilitated visa request to join you in France.
To get this employment visa you should: Have an executive role or bring a specific Expertise, hold a work contract with the French entity. Have more than 3 months of seniority in the company before the transfer to France. Receive a gross annual salary (before bonuses) of a minimum of 1,8 times the French minimum salary (€ 33.578,93 in 2023).
If you don’t have a French work contract, the seconded – Intra Company Transfer visa detailed further below may match your situation.
Employee Visa
The Employee visa (visa salarié) is the most delivered French work visa. Compared with the previous Talent-Passport Visas, you will need to get an authorization to work from the Labour Ministry (from the DIRECCTE). This means that your employer will need to sponsor your visa and prove that a French or EU citizen cannot perform the job (unless it is a job with many vacancies) and your employer should also pay a tax.
The two main advantages are: You get a four-year residence permit passed the initial one-year permit (or long-stay visa). Your spouse and children can request a visa to come together with you to France, (only if it is requested at the same time as you. Otherwise, the reunion family visa will apply after a minimum of 18 months in France! So, make sure you think it through before submitting your application).
The main criteria to apply for the employee visa are: Having a permanent work contract (called Contrat à Durée Indéterminée: CDI in French). As mentioned before our employer needs to request work authorisation from the DIRECCTE. This should be done before you arrive in France (or a change of status request if you are already in France).
A special note for French Masters diploma graduates: If you have found a job that is linked to your studies and are paid a minimum of 1.5 times the French minimum salary the employer will not need to prove that they couldn’t recruit a French or EU citizen. In 2023, it means a salary of € 2.331,88 monthly gross salary before bonus.
Temporary Worker Visa
Temporary Worker visa (called visa Travailleur temporaire in French). This visa has been created for workers with a temporary work contract (called CDD in French or Contrat à Durée Déterminée). The same as for the Employee visa: Your spouse can request a visa to come together with you to France, (only if requested at the same time as you. Otherwise, the reunion family visa will apply after a minimum of 18 months in France, often much longer! I insist on this since this impacts many families).
The main criteria to apply for this French work visa are: Having a temporary work contract. Your employer needs to request work authorization from the DIRECCTE. The first long-stay visa will last 12 months if your work contract is longer than 3 months. The renewal will match the remaining time on your temporary contract or the new temporary contract you may have.
Intra Company Transfer Visa
The Intra Company Transfer Visa (called visa Salarié détaché in French). The Intra-Company Transfer or ICT visa has been created for employees already employed by a company abroad that wish to be transferred to their French entity for a limited duration (up to 3 years).
The two main advantages are: No work authorisation is required. Your spouse and children have access to the facilitated visa request to join you in France.
The main criteria to apply for an ICT visa are: Having an executive role or bringing specific expertise. Holding a work contract with the foreign entity (not with the French entity). Having 6-month seniority or more in the company before the transfer to France. Receive a gross annual salary (before bonuses) of a minimum French minimum salary. The first long-stay visa will last 12 months if your work contract is longer than 3 months. The permit renewal duration will match the remaining time of your international assignment.
Entrepreneur Visa
The Entrepreneur Visa (visa Entrepreneur Profession Libérale). If you are an entrepreneur or plan to start your business in France, the visa Entrepreneur Profession Liberale is the perfect French work visa for you!
The two main advantages are: No work authorisation from the DIRECCTE is required. You get a four-year residence permit passed the initial one-year permit (or long-stay visa) when you prove that you continue to meet the conditions for eligibility for the Entrepreneur visa.
The main criteria to apply for an Entrepreneur Profession Liberale visa are: Register your company with the appropriate business social contribution centre. Prove that your business is economically viable. The company must justify enough revenue to pay the foreign entrepreneur the French minimum wage at least.
Seasonal Worker Visa
The Seasonal worker visa (visa Travailleur saisonnier). This visa is specifically for seasonal workers that keep their main residence outside of France and come to France to work for up to six consecutive months in France.
The main advantage: You can request a three-year residence permit passed the initial one-year permit (or long-stay visa).
The main criteria to apply for a Seasonal worker visa are: Your employer needs to request work authorization from the DIRECCTE. You should work for a maximum consecutive duration of 6-month out of 12 months. You should have a seasonal work contract for a minimum of three months. And also keep the main residence outside France.
I hope this summary clarifies your options in terms of work visas to come to France. Make sure you check the full information from the French consulate website since this is a simplified summary to help you select the visa type matching your situation. If you got the information you needed, please like the video and subscribe to the channel for more expat dedicated information.
