JOBS SEEKER VISA FRANCE
How can I obtain a French work visa?
Obtaining a work visa is a necessary step in preparing for your stay in France, where you will be working. Here is all the information you need to obtain a work visa for France, including details on the different types of visas, work authorization, insurance, the paperwork needed, and how to apply.
Which visa should I apply for to work in France?
Your visa should be in line with your work contract, whether it’s long-term or short-term:
- You must apply for a short-stay visa if your work trip lasts less (or exactly) 90 days in a 180-day (six months) period in total.
- You must apply for a long-stay visa if you stay longer, between three months and one year maximum. This is a Type D or a “national” visa. Your long-stay work visa should be registered within three months after you arrive in France. After one year, you will have to apply for a residence permit (called “titre de séjour”) to stay in France.
Specific cases:
- If you are:
- Assigned by your employer to a company based in France
- Employed by a group of companies based abroad for a mission in France, or attending a training in the French buildings of this group.
You will have to apply for a visa according to the duration of your contract with this company in France. If you apply for a long-stay visa, you will be written as a “travailleur temporaries” (temporary worker).
2. If you are:
- A trainee
You must apply for a long-stay visa with the mention “Stagiaire ICT”, and register it within three months after you arrive in France.
- An executive with a managerial mission or a senior expertise
You apply for a three-year long-stay visa with the mention “salarié détaché ICT”. Within two months of your arrival in France, you will have to ask at the prefecture for a pluriannual residence permit.
For these two last cases, your family (wife, husband, children under 18) can join you. Members of your family are allowed to apply for a residence permit of the same duration as yours. This allows them to work.
Which visa should I apply for if I wish to work as a seasonal worker in France?
- You need a work visa in order to work as a seasonal employee in France. For six of the twelve months, you will be permitted to work in France.
- You must include the phrase “travailleur saisonnier” (seasonal worker) in your application for a long-stay visa.
- It is necessary to have a work authorization if you have many French employers. Within two months of your arrival in France, you will then need to get a residence permit from the prefecture. This is a residency permit for multiple years.
- Every year you work for your employer, they will need to give you a new work permission.
Which other documents do I need to get a work visa for France?
The following documents are required for a work visa application:
- Your visa application form, dated and signed, and the France-Visas receipt
- Two recently taken passport photographs
- Your passport, delivered less than 10 years ago and with a minimum of two free pages. It has to be valid for at least three months after you leave the Schengen Area. In the case of a long-stay trip, it can be valid for three months after your visa expires.
- If your country of residency is different from your citizenship, you have to submit legal proof of residency in this country (residence permit…)
- Proof of your visa insurance.
A work authorization: what is it?
A document that permits a foreign national to work as an employee in France is called a work authorization.
A work permission from DIRECCTE (Direction Régionale des Enterprises, de la Concurrence, de la Consummation, du Travail et de l’Emploi) is required in order for a company to recruit a foreign national to obtain a work visa. The visa application must provide this authorization.
However, if your mission is related to sports, culture, the arts, or science, business tourism (summit or convention), film and video production and broadcasting, music production, visiting professorships or lecturers, or services to the employer while they are in France, your employer does not need authorization.
How do I apply for a work visa?
- You fill out the form online on France-Visas.
- You receive a receipt from France-Visas, proving you sent your form. You have to print it.
- You have then to book an appointment to submit your application. Depending on the country you apply from, this appointment will be at the French consulate or at an organization approved by France to collect visa application forms (VFS Global, TLS, Capago).
- During this appointment, you will give all the documents to support your application. You pay the fees at that time.
- An appointment will be fixed for you to take your passport back.
- You can follow the process of your application online.
When should I apply for a French work visa?
Your application has to be sent no more than 6 months before your departure.
How much does a work visa for France cost?
The work visa for France costs €99. You have to pay in the local currency, during your appointment to register your visa application form.
If your visa application is denied, there will be no refund for this amount.
Do I need insurance to apply for a work visa?
If you apply for a short-stay visa, you need medical insurance to cover any medical fees or hospitalization and in case of repatriation or death. AXA offers a range of insurance policies tailored to the needs of people traveling and staying in the Schengen Area.
Two of these choices ought to meet your requirements if you apply for a long-stay visa that lasts up to six months: Essential insurance and basic Schengen insurance.
Although we make every effort to present the most current and correct information, the French embassy in your country may alter the visa requirements at any time based on the specifics of the case. We are unable to accept accountability for these changes as a result. To learn the precise rules at the time of your visa application, please get in touch with the consulate.