France
Paris · Western Europe
A large EU and Schengen member with a well-organised visa portal and a family of "talent" routes for qualified workers, founders and researchers. Its long-stay visitor visa is widely misunderstood: it expressly prohibits working in France, including remotely.
- European Union
- Schengen Area
- Eurozone
- G7
- Capital
- Paris
- Currency
- EUR €
- Language
- French
- Population
- 68.4M
- Long-stay routes
- 3
- Route to permanent residence
- Yes
- Unemployment
- 7.4%
- Drives on the
- Right
Euro
2024 estimate
Soonest, 5 years
2025, indicative
+33
Entry and short stays
What your passport allows before any long-stay permission is involved.
Reading your passport selection…
Can I live here?
Every long-stay route this country publishes, checked against what you tell us. The checking happens in your browser.
About you
Stored in this browser only. Never sent anywhere.
Before tax, in the currency you earn.
Reading your answers…
Nothing here is an approval, and nothing here is advice. Only the authority deciding your application can tell you the answer, and it will weigh things this tool does not model.
Long-stay routes
Stored as structured records, so the same data drives the checks above, the comparison view and the checklists.
Talent passport
EmploymentA family of multi-year residence permits covering qualified employees, founders, investors, researchers and artists. Each category has its own test, and the permit covers family from the outset.
- Income needed
- €43,243 a year
- Leads to settlement
- After 5 years
Long-stay visitor visa
Retirement and passive incomeA one-year renewable permission for people who can support themselves and who undertake in writing not to work in France. That undertaking is the point of the route and it covers remote work too.
- Income needed
- €1,802 a month
- Leads to settlement
- After 5 years
EU, EEA and Swiss free movement
Freedom of movementNo visa or permit, and no registration formality — France does not require EU citizens to hold a residence document, though one can be requested.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- After 5 years
Cost of living
An estimate you can shape. It is not survey data and it is not a quote.
| Category | Monthly range |
|---|---|
| Housing | €700 – €1,400 |
| Food | €300 – €480 |
| Utilities | €120 – €230 |
| Internet | €25 – €45 |
| Transport | €50 – €130 |
| Healthcare | €40 – €130 |
| Everything else | €200 – €450 |
| Total | €1,435 – €2,865 |
| Suggested monthly buffer | €3,438 |
Modelled from a baseline for one adult and scaled, not sampled from households. Figures are shown as ranges because that is the honest shape of the data.
Worth knowing. Modelled estimate. Childcare and healthcare are heavily subsidised for residents in the system, which pulls the lower bounds down.
Housing
No restriction on foreign nationals buying property. Purchase costs including notary fees typically add 7 to 8 per cent on an existing property.
What landlords usually ask for
- A French guarantor, or the state-backed Visale guarantee instead
- Proof of income, commonly three times the rent
- French bank account
- A dossier of supporting documents — competition for good apartments is intense
SeLoger (opens in a new tab)Leboncoin (opens in a new tab)
Worth knowing. Unfurnished leases run three years by default; furnished leases one year.
Healthcare
A statutory health insurance system that reimburses most of the cost of care, topped up by a complementary insurance (mutuelle) that nearly everyone holds. Widely regarded as one of the strongest systems anywhere.
- If you live there
- After three months of stable residence you can join the universal scheme (PUMa). Private cover is needed to bridge the gap before then.
- If you are visiting
- EU, EEA and Swiss visitors use the European Health Insurance Card; others pay and claim back through travel insurance.
Tax
- Tax residency threshold
- 183 days
- Taxes worldwide income
- Yes, for residents
- Income tax range
- 11% – 45%
- VAT or sales tax
- 20%
Residency follows from having your home or principal place of stay in France, your main professional activity there, or your centre of economic interests there — any one of them suffices.
Remote workers. France has no remote-worker visa, and the long-stay visitor route expressly forbids working. Working remotely from France generally requires a talent or self-employment permit.
Social insurance. Social contributions are high on both the employer and employee side. Social charges (CSG/CRDS) apply to most income including investment income.
Capital gains. A flat tax on investment income and gains is the default, with an option for progressive rates. Property gains taper with holding period.
Special regimes
Inbound assignee regime (régime des impatriés)
Partial exemption from income tax on the assignment premium and some foreign income for qualifying new arrivals, for several years.
Worth knowing. Orientation only. France taxes by household, which changes effective rates substantially for families.
Work and the labour market
Conditions in the labour market, which is a different claim from how many jobs are open right now. This product does not pretend to know the second from static data.
- Unemployment
- 7.4%
- Youth unemployment
- 18%
- Average earnings
- €3,100 / mo
- Minimum wage
- €1,802 / mo
Worth knowing. The minimum wage figure is the gross monthly SMIC, which is revised at least annually.
Sectors
- Aerospace and defencegrowingConcentrated around Toulouse and Bordeaux.
- TechnologygrowingSubstantial startup ecosystem in Paris, supported by the French Tech visa within the talent passport.
- Health and caregrowingPersistent shortages, with qualification recognition the main barrier.
Cities
A country-wide average hides a lot. Where we have city data, use it instead.
Paris
The centre of French economic and administrative life, with excellent transit and very small apartments by international standards.
One adult, monthly: €2,100 – €3,200
Lyon
The second economic centre, with a strong life sciences and software base and housing costs well below Paris.
One adult, monthly: €1,600 – €2,400
Sources
Every claim on this page traces to one of these. If something here matters to a decision you are making, read it there.
Authorities for France
- France-Visas — the official French visa portal (opens in a new tab)Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères · Foreign ministry
- Administration numérique pour les étrangers en France (ANEF) — residence permits (opens in a new tab)Ministère de l’Intérieur · National immigration authority