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Visa to France for Short Term Visitors
The EU and the EEA
Schengen: Free Movement of Persons
Long Term Visa to France
Residence and Work Permit for Immigrants

Please refer to our page "Streetwise Travel in France" about short term visits up to 3 months.

Because I use the terms EU and EEA on this page, I shall briefly define them here. 

The European Union has 27 Member States: 

Belgium - founding member since 23 July 1952 France - founding member since 23 July 1952 Germany - founding member since 23 July 1952 Italy - founding member since 23 July 1952 Luxembourg - founding member since 23 July 1952 the Netherlands - founding member since 23 July 1952 Denmark since 1 January 1973 Ireland since 1 January 1973 United Kingdom since 1 January 1973 Greece since 1 January 1981 Portugal since 1 January 1986 Spain since 1 January 1986 (Former Eastern Germany after German reunification 3 October 1990) Austria since 1 January 1995 Finland since 1 January 1995 Sweden since 1 January 1995 Czech Republic since 1 May 2004 Cyprus (Greek part) since 1 May 2004 Estonia since 1 May 2004 Hungary since 1 May 2004 Latvia since 1 May 2004 Lithuania since 1 May 2004 Malta since 1 May 2004 Poland since 1 May 2004 Slovakia since 1 May 2004 Slovenia since 1 May 2004 Bulgaria since 1 January 2007 Romania since 1 January 2007

When you spot the first cypress, you know you've come to Provence

The European Economic Area was created by a treaty that extended EU Single Market legislation to:

• the EU Member States
• Iceland
• Liechtenstein
• Norway.

The Schengen Agreement lays down the conditions for free movement of persons. The Schengen zone covers:

The Service Public site has a good explanation of the rules. There is no border control within the zone, but personal identification must be carried. EEA nationals must carry either a national ID card or a passport not expired more than five years ago. As what concerns nationals of other countries, visas issued by Schengen Members are valid for the entire zone. Non-EEA nationals who live regularly in a Schengen Member State may travel for up to three months throughout the zone without visa, but they must carry a current residence permit issued by a Schengen Member and a current travel document (passport or similar). The family of an EEA national has the right to follow the EEA national upon who they depend throughout the EEA, regardless of their nationality. If a visa is required, it must be issued free of charge.

Schengen is the name of a village in the south east corner of Luxembourg, where the Luxembourgish, German and French borders meet. The agreement was signed aboard a boat on the Moselle river that is also the natural border between Luxembourg and Germany.

EEA and Swiss nationals do not need long term visas for moving to France. The notes about long term visa only apply to other nationals.

If you want to visit France for more than 3 months, you nearly always need a visa, issued by the French consultate upon which you depend in the country of your residence. www.france.diplomatie.fr, a government site, provides good guidance about the type of visa needed and how to get it. The site is interactive and takes your particular circumstances into account. In case of doubt, please contact the French consulate nearest to you. Note: That site appears to ignore the Schengen Agreement that provides for free movement of residents of the Schengen zone.

The delivery time for a visa is typically 2-3 months.

A non-EU/EEA/Swiss national moving to France with his or her EU/EEA/Swiss does not need a visa if he or she does not need a visa for short term visits to France. The non-EU/EEA/Swiss national applies for a residence permit (carte de séjour) directly at the prefecture once in France.

WORK PERMIT: EEA and Swiss nationals and their families do not need work permits to work in the EEA. As a temporary exception to this rule, nationals of Bulgaria and Romania must apply for work permits during a transitional period, and nationals of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia must apply for work permits during a transitional period that ends on the 1 July 2008. After the 1 July 2008, nationals of these 8 countries benefit from the same freedom to work in France as other EU nationals.

RESIDENCE PERMIT (Carte de séjour): EEA and Swiss nationals are not required to hold a residence permit (carte de séjour) in France, except for citizens of Bulgaria and Romania, and until the 1 July 2008 nationals of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia IF any form of economic activity is to be exercised. 

REGISTRATION: In cases where no residence permit is required, it is an obligation to register with the town hall (mairie) if you take up residence in France for more than 3 months.

VERY IMPORTANT: While awaiting the residence permit, you will be equipped with a récépissé, a temporary permit valid for 3 months. You must ask for a renewal if your residence permit has not been delivered before it expires. From the time you get the récépissé and until you get the residence permit, you are not allowed to travel outside France, or at least the Schengen zone. If you do and they find out, you may have to start all over from scratch. Only for emergency purposes, important business travel or humanitarian purposes (death or illness in family) will you be allowed to get a return visa at the préfecture, so that you can leave the French administrative paradise, return and continue the immigration procedure. This is to facilitate work for the préfecture if they need to contact you with questions or demands for more documents. While they spend 6 months or more to provide your paperwork, you are more or less imprisoned in France, just like in the former communist block, North Korea etc. If you still want to use the freedom you thought you had to travel freely during that period, your best hope is to negotiate diplomatically with the préfecture, although some prefectures do provide the return visas without asking for motives.

Switzerland and the EU have an agreement of free movement of workers of any of their nationalities and their families within their respective territories.

Non-EEA nationals, except the Swiss, and nationals of Member States subject to a transitional period (see above) who want to take up employment in France must follow the following steps, unless their country has an agreement with France or the EU stipulating otherwise: 

1. You must find an employer willing to hire you.
2. The employer must request a work permit from the local Direction Départementale du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Formation Professionnelle (DDTEFP).
3. The DDTEFP will evaluate if there is an obvious need for your skills in France. If there is, they will normally issue a work permit. Otherwise, they will ask the employment service ANPE if they have unemployed EEA nationals qualified for the job. If the job can be filled by an EEA national, a work permit will normally not be issued.
4. If they agree to issue a work permit, they will forward their approval to the ANAEM (formerly OMI), the administration responsible for foreigners.
5. If there are family members coming to France to live with the worker, a demand must be sent to the DDASS to join the family members to the file. If approved, they will forward the demande to the ANAEM.
6. The ANAEM will forward the file to the French consulate nearest you, so they can issue a visa.
7. Once you have your visa, you can move to France, where you will have to apply for a for a residence permit at the préfecture.
8. When the préfecture has treated your demand, you will be called in for a medical at the ANAEM.
9. Finally, you can collect your residence permit.

As an exception, nationals of Member States subject to a transitional period have free access to employment in certain sectors where there is a shortage of candidates, such as hotels and restaurants.

Note: A work permit issued under this procedure will normally be valid for a particular job and does not entitle you to change jobs in France. Your family will not be allowed to work. The above steps may vary with the exact type of visa. High-paid skilled workers, such as executives, follow a special fastpath procedure (for cadres de très haut niveau) that notably allows them to deal only with the ANAEM instead of all the administrations. Their employer should file their demand directly with the ANAEM. The family members of such executives may be entitled to work.

Non-EEA nationals, except the Swiss, and nationals of Member States subject to a transitional period who want to start a business or set up as self-employed in France must contact their local French consulate that will provide an application form. You must provide a business plan that will be evaluated before any permit or visa can be issued.

Non-EEA nationals, except the Swiss, and nationals of Member States subject to a transitional period must apply for a residence permit (carte de séjour) within three months of arrival in France. Those EEA and Swiss nationals who are not required to request a permit may still do so voluntarily. This is done either at the town hall (mairie) or the local préfecture. In Paris, it may also be done at the Préfecture de Police near the Notre Dame cathedral. Inquire first, as it depends on local arrangements.

Note for EEA nationals and their families: The residence permit is free of charge for family members of EEA nationals, regardless of the nationality of the family members. 

Cross-border workers working in France and living in another EEA Member State are no longer required to demand a residence permit if they return home regularly.

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