Moving to France - Registration Procedures

No residence permit is needed if staying in France for less than 3 months.

If staying for over three months, Community citizens over the age of eighteen must have a residence permit.

However, Community citizens may engage in a professional activity regardless of whether or not they have a residence permit.

Applications for residence permits must be made within three months of entering France at the prefecture, subprefecture, town hall or police station of the place of residence. For Paris, the application must be made at the Paris police headquarters.

Documents to be produced to obtain the residence permit, by all categories of applicants:

• Valid passport or national identity card
• Three recent identity photographs (front view of face, without hat, 3.5 x 4.5 cm).
• Recent proof of residence in France: rent receipt, gas or electricity bill or last housing tax notice.
• If you are lodging with someone: certificate of lodging dated and signed by the person concerned plus a photocopy of the latter’s identity card; rent receipt, gas or electricity bill or last housing tax notice in the name of the person with whom you are lodging.

EMPLOYEES

Specific documents to be produced to obtain the residence permit:

• Proof of employment: you must provide a declaration of employment (form to be obtained from the authorities) signed by the employer (if you are employed by a French company). The document states in particular the envisaged employment period.

The validity of the residence permit depends on the initial duration of the employment contract. For contracts lasting longer than three months but less than one year, the residence permits issued last for the same period as the employment contract.
For contracts lasting more than one year, the residence permits are issued for ten years, renewable by right for a further period of ten years.

NON-SALARIED WORKERS

Shopkeepers, craftsmen, industrialists, farmers, the liberal professions, etc.
Access to a number of non-salaried professions is regulated, for instance medical professions.
Therefore it is essential to check the rules governing each profession, in particular as regards degrees/diplomas and equivalence.

Specific documents to be produced to obtain the residence permit:

• Proof of employment: for non-salaried workers wishing to settle permanently in France, proof of employment can be provided by all kinds of means such as registration with the URSSAF, with the tax list for the liberal professions or the trade register, commercial lease, articles of association of a company, etc. For regulated professions with approved diplomas, a membership card of the relevant association.

Validity of permit: the residence permit is issued for a period of ten years initially, which can be renewed for the same length of time.

Family Members

Family members are: the spouse, children under 21 years of age or dependent children and dependent ascendants. As far as students are concerned, the concept of family member is confined to the spouse and dependent children.

They are entitled to enter French territory under the same conditions as the Community citizen they are joining (same residence permit and same duration). They must justify the family relationship (marriage certificate, birth certificate, family record book, etc.).

For further information, contact:

• The one-stop-office at the prefecture, subprefecture, town hall or police station;
• In Paris, the police headquarters.

REFERENCES:

The legal basis for freedom of movement in the European Community is, for salaried workers, Article 39 (former Article 48) and after of the EC Treaty, and for the self-employed, Article 43 (former Article 52) and after relating to freedom of movement, and also Article 50 (former Article 59) and after for freedom to provide services.

The decree incorporating these articles into French law is Decree 94-211 of 11 March 1994, amended by Decree 98-864 of 23 September 1998.

Directories of administration departments (addresses of departmental prefectures and subprefectures) from www.Service-Public.fr, the French Government’s website.

Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2007
Reproduction is authorised.