Looking for an investment-based route? France doesn't run one here — its routes require a job offer, a broader skilled-worker profile, or proof you can support yourself without working. See other countries' guides
Working in France: do you qualify?
An EU country with dedicated tracks for skilled employees and for people living on independent means.
When rules change mid-way, the date your application is filed is what often decides which rules apply to you. Where are you right now?
Two ways in, and France checks them differently
An employer, a government nomination or an approved body puts its name behind the application.
- EU Blue Card
- Talent Passport - Skilled Worker
You qualify on your own record — skills, points or capital — with no sponsor standing behind you.
- VLS-TS "Visiteur"€17,735.19
The conditions behind the routes above
Your degree, work experience or occupation has to clear a bar set for that specific route.
An employer, a government nomination, or an approved endorsing body has to stand behind the route.
Pick a route, see the real commitment
Every official figure below is what Immimaps has verified for that route against France's official programme rules — not a marketing minimum. Service fees are what independent firms publish for the route, shown only once five or more are on file.
A European Union-wide status for highly qualified employees, sponsored by a French employer, that also carries mobility rights to work in other EU member states.
The EU/EEA/Swiss citizen sponsor must meet one of three conditions: exercising a professional activity in France; having sufficient resources for themselves and their family not to become a burden on the social-assistance system, plus health insurance; or being enrolled as a principal student (or in vocational training) with health insurance and sufficient resources — in which case only the sponsor's spouse and dependent direct descendants, not ascendants, are automatically entitled family members (Art. L.233-1, L.233-2).
Up to €300,000 placed as capital, exposed until the residency conditions are met.
Required for every grant and renewal since 17 July 2024: the same personal-freedom, gender-equality and secularism commitment ("contrat d'engagement au respect des principes de la République") required across every French residence-card document (Art. L.412-7 to L.412-10).
Required for first-time applicants under 65 requesting the pluriannuelle card (A2) or the 10-year resident card (B1) — not the initial 1-year temporary card. In force since 1 January 2026 (Loi 2024-42, implementing Décret n° 2025-647). Scoped to a first-ever request for that card type: per service-public.gouv.fr's guidance on proving French-language knowledge, the requirement applies to a "1re demande," so a renewal of a card already held on the same basis is not automatically caught by it. Applicants over 65 are exempt.
French diploma, official language certification, or other proof of effective mastery, "favourably appraised" under the governing circular. No fixed CEFR level (A2/B1/B2) is required for the AES application itself — stated affirmatively, not merely absent from what could be found. Assessed as a matter of course under the L.435-1 discretionary route; not stated as an explicit filing condition for the L.435-4 shortage-occupation route itself. (The A2/B1/B2 levels described in the pathway notes apply only to later stages — the pluriannuelle card, the carte de résident, and naturalisation.)
A financial threshold applies, shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
€1,867.02 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
France's own skilled-worker route, covering a broader range of qualifying professionals than the Blue Card.
For people who will not work in France and can show they can support themselves from other income.
What each route costs, stage by stage
Added up from the official figures on file for each route — split into money spent for good, money locked and returned later, and money shown but never transferred. Not a modelled estimate.
EU Blue Card▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: €449, paid to the government for the initial application.
France Carte de Séjour "Membre de la Famille d'un Citoyen de l'Union"▾
At application
Decision — reported: 6 months.- Spent for good€300 fee — spent, not held.
Government fees not on file for this route.
France Carte de Séjour Pluriannuelle "Talent – Porteur de Projet" — Créateur d'Entreprise Track▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: €350 – €449, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you€22,404.20 shown as proof of means every year — nothing is transferred.
3 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: €22,404.20 + €30,000 / €300,000 / €22,404.20 (shown).
France Carte de Séjour Temporaire "Vie Privée et Familiale — Étranger Malade" (Titre de Séjour pour Soins)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 4 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: €50, paid to the government for the initial application.
France Carte de Séjour Temporaire "Vie Privée et Familiale" (VPF)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 4 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: €150 – €350, paid to the government for the initial application.
France — Admission Exceptionnelle au Séjour (AES)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 4 months.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: €650, paid to the government for the initial application.
France — Certificat de Résidence pour Algériens (Accord franco-algérien du 27 décembre 1968)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 4 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: €50 – €350, paid to the government for the initial application.
France — Regroupement Familial (Family Reunification)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 6 months.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: €514, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you€1,867.02 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
Talent Passport - Skilled Worker▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: €449, paid to the government for the initial application.
VLS-TS "Visiteur"▾
At application
- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: €399, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you€17,735.19 shown as proof of means every year — nothing is transferred.
The order EU Blue Card follows
- 2026-06-01France's minimum wage (the SMIC), which the Visiteur visa's self-sufficiency income test tracks, was revalued mid-year by decree — an out-of-cycle increase triggered automatically when inflation crossed a set threshold, rather than the usual once-a-year adjustment. source
Strategy Path takes your occupation, your situation and whether you have an employer, and lays the route out step by step — cost, milestone and wait on each leg.
Upload it and Immimaps checks it against what France's official programme actually requires, and reads the contract clause by clause. Free, no account.
Check my documentEvery official figure on this page is checked against France's official immigration sources. Service fees are what independent firms publish for a route — not an official figure, and never any one firm's price. Immimaps does not publish success rates, approval odds or any probability score — here or anywhere else.
Don’t take a life-changing move on someone else’s word.
Immimaps is not an agency and takes no placement fees. We show the real figures on every route, show the working, and tell you what it actually costs.
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