Country-wide policy
Almost Every First Card Starts at a Consulate, and the List of Exceptions Is Twenty Items Long
Article L. 412-1 of the CESEDA makes the first issue of a temporary or multi-year card conditional on producing the long-stay visa of article L. 411-1 - so the ordinary route into France is a consulate abroad, not a préfecture. The visa itself may not last more than a year, and article L. 312-2 lets it carry the rights of a temporary or multi-year card, which is what makes a single document serve as both entry title and residence permit for the first year. The exceptions are many and they are listed rather than reasoned: article L. 412-2 exempts twelve categories outright, including the private and family life cards, the cards issued on exceptional admission under articles L. 435-1 to L. 435-3, the European Blue Card issued on intra-Union mobility and the talent family card; article L. 412-3 lets the administration grant three more without the visa, including the student card. Several individual articles say the same thing in their own text - article L. 423-2 for a marriage celebrated in France, article L. 423-7 for the parent of a French child, article L. 425-9 for a seriously ill foreigner. And article L. 412-4 closes the loop: where a consulate has issued the long-stay visa matching a talent card, the préfet issues the corresponding card.
Topics it changes
- Residency on passive income
- Residency as a retiree
- Residency through work
- Residency through investment
- Residency as a student
- Residency through ancestry
- Residency through marriage
What it requires
- A long-stay visa obtained from a French consulate before a first temporary or multi-year card
At a glance
- The rule
- A first temporary or multi-year card requires the long-stay visa
CESEDA article L. 412-1, itself subject to France's international engagements.
- How long the visa lasts
- No more than one year
CESEDA articles L. 312-2 and L. 411-3.
- What it can do on its own
- Carry the rights attached to a temporary card or to a multi-year card for the first year
CESEDA article L. 312-2, second paragraph, and article L. 411-1 2°.
- Exempt outright
- Twelve categories, including the private and family life cards and the cards issued on exceptional admission
CESEDA article L. 412-2, 1° to 12°.
- Exempt at the administration's discretion
- The student card, the stagiaire card and the student mobility card
CESEDA article L. 412-3.
- Spouse of a French national
- The visa is issued as of right
CESEDA article L. 312-3, refusable only for fraud, annulment of the marriage or a threat to public order.
- Talent cards applied for from abroad
- Decided by the consular authority, and the card is handed over by the préfet
CESEDA articles L. 412-4 and R. 421-11, which also provides a six-month provisional authorisation permitting work in the meantime.
What the law says
«Sous réserve des engagements internationaux de la France et des exceptions prévues aux articles L. 412-2 et L. 412-3, la première délivrance d'une carte de séjour temporaire ou d'une carte de séjour pluriannuelle est subordonnée à la production par l'étranger du visa de long séjour mentionné aux 1° ou 2° de l'article L. 411-1.»The rule in one sentence, with its two exception articles named inside it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Tout étranger souhaitant entrer en France en vue d'y séjourner pour une durée supérieure à trois mois doit solliciter auprès des autorités diplomatiques et consulaires françaises un visa de long séjour dont la durée de validité ne peut être supérieure à un an.»The long-stay visa and its one-year ceiling. Everything longer than three months starts here.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Ce visa peut autoriser un séjour de plus de trois mois à caractère familial, en qualité de visiteur, d'étudiant, de stagiaire ou au titre d'une activité professionnelle, et plus généralement tout type de séjour d'une durée supérieure à trois mois conférant à son titulaire les droits attachés à une carte de séjour temporaire ou à la carte de séjour pluriannuelle prévue aux articles L. 421-9, L. 421-11 et L. 421-13-1 à L. 421-24.»What makes the visa do the work of a card for the first year, and the list of talent cards whose rights it can carry.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Par dérogation à l'article L. 412-1 l'étranger est exempté de la production du visa de long séjour mentionné au même article pour la première délivrance des cartes de séjour suivantes : 1° La carte de séjour temporaire portant la mention " stagiaire mobile ICT " prévue à l'article L. 421-31 ;»The opening of the exemption list. The quotation takes the chapeau and the first item; eleven more follow in the article.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Par dérogation à l'article L. 412-1 l'autorité administrative peut, sans que soit exigée la production du visa de long séjour mentionné au même article, accorder les cartes de séjour suivantes : 1° La carte de séjour temporaire portant la mention " étudiant " prévue à l'article L. 422-1 ; 2° La carte de séjour temporaire portant la mention " stagiaire " prévue à l'article L. 426-23 ; 3° La carte de séjour pluriannuelle portant la mention " étudiant-programme de mobilité " prévue à l'article L. 422-6.»The discretionary exemptions, which are three and are all about study or training.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«le préfet délivre la carte de séjour pluriannuelle correspondante.»What happens on arrival when the consulate has already decided: the préfet issues the matching card.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Lorsque l'étranger qui sollicite la délivrance de la carte de séjour pluriannuelle portant la mention " talent ", " talent-salarié qualifié ", " passeport talent-carte bleue européenne ", " talent-profession médicale et de la pharmacie ", " passeport talent-chercheur ", " passeport talent-chercheur-programme de mobilité ", " talent- porteur de projet " ou " passeport talent (famille) " prévue aux articles L. 421-9, L. 421-11, L. 421-13-1 à L. 421-21, L. 421-22 et L. 421-23 réside hors de France, la décision de délivrance du titre de séjour sollicitée est prise par l'autorité diplomatique et consulaire. La carte de séjour est remise à l'étranger par le préfet du département où l'étranger a établi sa résidence en France ou, à Paris, par le préfet de police, sur présentation de son passeport revêtu d'un visa de long séjour portant la mention " passeport talent ". Dans l'attente de la délivrance du titre, le préfet délivre une autorisation provisoire de séjour ouvrant le droit à l'exercice d'une activité professionnelle d'une durée maximale de six mois.»For the talent cards, the decision itself is consular, and a six-month provisional authorisation permitting work covers the gap before the card arrives.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The practical consequence is that being in France lawfully on a short stay rarely converts into a residence card: the ordinary path is to leave and apply. The exceptions in articles L. 412-2 and L. 412-3 are the whole of the alternative, and most of them are about family, illness or study rather than about work.