France long-stay visitor visa income: the law pins it to the minimum wage, so it moves every year

French law sets the visitor's income floor at the net minimum wage for a full year, so the amount changes whenever the minimum wage does: every 1 January, and in 2026 again on 1 June. The figure published is for one person, and each yearly renewal is measured against the figure in force at that time.

A pension that cleared the bar when a retiree first applied can fall below it a few renewals later, without anything about the pension changing. The visitor card lasts one year. Each year you renew, the prefecture checks your resources again, and the government's public-service site lists proof of income at the current annual figure among the documents for the card. A pension paid in another currency can also slip below it as exchange rates move.

What the law says, and what it leaves open

The code on foreigners' entry and residence says the visitor must live on their own resources, and that these must reach at least the net annual minimum wage. You also need health insurance for the whole stay, and you commit not to work in France.

The law gives no amount for a couple or a family. The public-service site states its figure for a person living alone and says nothing more, so how a household is measured is left to whoever assesses the file. The same site adds three points. Resources may be your own, such as pensions, rents or annuities, or a family member's, backed by bank statements or a guarantee from someone solvent. Family allowances are not counted. Your housing is weighed alongside the money.

Bank statements are among the accepted proofs, so savings can be shown. No official text read for this page says how a consulate or prefecture weighs savings against income, so treat any precise savings target a firm gives you as its own practice, not the law.

Separating state charges from service fees

Paid to the French state:

• The consular visa fee, set country by country, plus a tax when the visa is validated in France after arrival; both are in the government fee shown above.
• From the second year, a visitor residence card applied for in France, with its own tax.

Paid to firms:

• A visa or relocation service's fee, and any translation or insurance it arranges.

Before you pay a firm, ask:

1. Does my own income reach the current yearly figure, or will a family member's resources be documented as well?
2. Which of my income sources will the file rely on, and are any of them benefits that do not count?
3. If two of us are applying, how does the firm expect the household to be judged, given that no couple figure is published?
4. Is the state's tax on validation shown apart from the firm's fee?
5. Who prepares the renewal file each year, and at what price?

Holding a visa agency's quote or a relocation firm's service contract for this visa? Answer yes to the box's first question and it is read line by line against the published rules and the prices firms on file publish for this route. With nothing in writing yet, answer no and enter the yearly income you can show. The check compares a document or a figure with the published rules, and does not look at your application or advise on it; for advice on your own case, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer.

General information, not legal advice.