If you have a job, and need to relocate:
- You will need to apply for an ‘Employer Sponsored Visa’.
- This visa is valid for 90 days. Within this time frame you must enter France and apply for your residence permit (carte de sejour) — see the Registration section. Once you obtain the carte de sejour, you are able to exit and enter France as often as you want for the duration of the carte de sejour, usually one year.
- You will have one entry before you must register for your carte de sejour. Please see the section on “Registration” for more information.
- Citizens of the European Union, Switzerland, Andorra and Monaco are exempt from this visa.
For more information, you can contact the Immigration Office (Agence Nationale de l’Accueil des Etrangers et des Migrations – OFII), 44 Rue Bargue, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France; Phone: + (33-1) 53 69 53 70 or http://www.ofii.fr (website in English).
Before you apply, the following procedure must be followed:
1) The foreign worker must obtain a job offer from an employer in France.
2) The employer in France files an application for working papers at the Labor Department (Direction Régionale des Entreprises, de la Concurrence, de la Consommation, du Travail et de l’Emploi – D.I.R.E.C.C.T.E, http://direccte.gouv.fr) for the prospective employee. If the foreign worker is married, the employee must state so when applying so that visas can be authorized for accompanying family members.
3) When the file is approved, the OFII (Office National de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration) will send it to the appropriate French Consulate (Make sure your employer indicates which consulate is closest to your residence). The applicant will then be contacted by mail with instructions on obtaining the visa.
Once the above steps are completed, you will submit the following forms, usually IN PERSON to your local French consulate:
- Your original passport (which has to be valid for at least 90 days – make sure your passport has a blank page to affix the visa);
- 2 copies of your passport (identification page);
- 2 long stay application forms, completely and clearly filled out. Please print in black. Indicate your phone numbers and e-mail;
- 2 photographs. All photos must be recent, identical, passport size – 1,4″ x 1,7″ (3,5cm x 4,5cm) and showing face front, the forehead hairline, and ears on a white background, the face must take up 70-80% of the photograph;
- Processing fees, for long stay visa: payment by cash, credit card (Visa, Mastercard) or money-order made out to “Consulate General of France” or certified checks. No personal checks.
For spouses and dependent children:
** For your spouse (obliged to come in person)
- Her/his original passport (which has to be valid for at least 90 days – make sure her/his passport has a blank page to affix the visa);
- 2 copies of her/his passport (identification page);
- 5 photographs. All photos must be recent, identical, passport size – 1,4″ x 1,7″ (3,5cm x 4,5cm) and showing face front, the forehead hairline, and ears on a white background, the face must take up 70-80% of the photograph;
- 2 long stay application forms, completely and clearly filled out. Please print in black. Indicate your phone numbers and e-mail;
- A copy of your marriage certificate (original + one copy + one translation in French);
- Processing fees, for long stay visa: payment by cash, credit card (Visa, Mastercard) or money-order made out to “Consulate general of France” or certified checks. No personal checks.
** For your children (they do not have to come in person, but the following documents must be provided for each of them)
- Her/his original passport (which has to be valid for at least 90 days – make sure her/his passport has a blank page to affix the visa);
- 2 copies of her/his passport (identification page);
- 4 photographs. See photograph requirements above (please write her/his name on the back side);
- A copy of her/his birth certificate (original + one copy + one translation in French);
- Processing fees, for long stay visa: payment by cash, credit card (Visa, Mastercard) or money-order made out to “Consulate General of France” or certified checks. No personal checks.
- A release form for a minor child to travel “Demande d’un document de circulation pour étranger mineur” (DCEM) must be completed in capitals and in black ink.
