No, France does not have a golden visa. Unlike Portugal, Greece or the UAE, no French program grants a residence permit in exchange for buying property or making a passive investment. There is no provision anywhere in French immigration law (the CESEDA) or on official government portals for a residency-by-real-estate scheme, at any price point. What does exist are three distinct legal pathways for non-EU nationals who are not entering as workers, students or family members: the long-stay visitor visa, based on income rather than investment; the Talent Passport for business creators, starting at €30,000; and the Talent Passport for economic investors, France's closest analogue to a golden visa, starting at €300,000 in business assets. None of the three accepts residential property as the qualifying asset.
Why the confusion exists
The confusion is understandable. Portugal, Greece, Spain (before 2025) and Malta have all, at various points, granted residency simply for buying a home above a set price, and these programs are widely marketed as golden visas. France is one of the world's most sought-after relocation destinations for the same families shopping those programs, so it is a natural next question to ask. Property listings and some relocation intermediaries occasionally blur the line further by implying that a French purchase can double as an immigration strategy. It cannot. The distinction matters because it changes the entire planning timeline, and conflating the two often costs families months once they discover, mid-purchase, that the property will not do what they assumed it would.
The three real paths to French residency
Residency in France for non-EU nationals who are not entering as workers, students or through family reunification runs through three separate channels. Each has its own logic, its own threshold, and its own trade-offs.
1. The long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS Visiteur)
The VLS-TS Visiteur is France's income-based, no-investment route. It requires proof of sufficient passive or independent income, currently at least €1,477.93 net per month for a single applicant (€17,735.19 per year), a figure pegged to the French minimum wage (SMIC) and revised each time the SMIC rises, most recently on June 1, 2026. The visa carries no right to work in France, must be renewed annually, and requires the applicant to formally commit not to work during their stay.
Property ownership can support this application, as evidence of stable accommodation or financial standing, but it is never the legal basis for the permit itself. A family who owns a multi-million-euro property in France still needs to demonstrate qualifying income to hold this visa; the property alone changes nothing.
2. Talent Passport, business creator (Créateur d'entreprise)
The Créateur d'entreprise category requires a minimum investment of €30,000 in a genuine business project, together with either a Master's-equivalent degree (bac+5) or five years of comparable professional experience, a credible and viable business plan, and personal resources broadly equivalent to the annual SMIC (€22,404.20 as of June 2026). The permit runs up to four years, is renewable, and after five years of continuous residence opens the door to a ten-year resident card.
3. Talent Passport, economic investor (Investisseur économique)
The Investisseur économique category is the closest France comes to a golden visa, and it is still fundamentally different from one. It requires a minimum direct investment of €300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assets in France, combined with a commitment to create or preserve jobs within four years of the investment. French law does not fix an exact headcount for this commitment; each file is assessed case by case. The permit runs a maximum of four years, renewable, contingent on continuing to meet the investment and job conditions. Business France, the French state's official investment promotion agency, lists exactly these two Talent Passport investment categories, business creator and economic investor, and neither includes a property-purchase option anywhere on its official investor-visa pages.
France's only investment-linked residency route is a business-capital route, not a property-purchase threshold. Portugal and Greece have historically built their golden visas around a real estate minimum; France has built its Talent Passport around business capital and job creation. That single design choice is why comparable capital plays two different roles: from €400,000 it can buy a Golden Visa property in Greece, while in France a €300,000 investment under the Talent Passport builds a company, not a home.
France vs Portugal vs Greece vs UAE
Families comparing France to other relocation destinations are usually holding one of three references in mind: Portugal's Golden Visa, Greece's Golden Visa, or the UAE's own AED 2,000,000 real estate residency route. In our advisory practice, UAE-based families are the ones who ask this exact question most often, precisely because the UAE's own Golden Visa, a genuine real estate route, sets their expectation for what France should offer. The table below sets out where the four programs actually stand as of July 2026.
Golden visa comparison, as of July 2026
| Country | Program name | Real estate route allowed? | Minimum threshold | Path to citizenship |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | No golden visa; VLS-TS Visiteur or Talent Passport | No | €30,000 (business creator) to €300,000 (economic investor); visitor visa needs ≈€17,735/year in income | Not investment-linked; standard naturalization rules apply after qualifying residence |
| Portugal | Golden Visa (ARI) | No, removed October 2023 | €500,000, investment fund route, now dominant | Residence-permit renewal track; citizenship governed by separate nationality law |
| Greece | Golden Visa (investor residence permit) | Yes, still the dominant route | €400,000 to €800,000 by zone; €250,000 for heritage or conversion properties | Renewable 5-year residence permit; citizenship governed by separate naturalization process |
| UAE | UAE Golden Visa | Yes | AED 2,000,000 (about USD 545,000) | Residency only; the program does not itself confer citizenship |
Thresholds and program rules as of July 2026. Portugal's real estate and capital-transfer routes were eliminated for new applicants in October 2023, while Greece and the UAE continue to run real estate-based residency programs alongside their other investment routes.
The practical takeaway is that France simply is not competing in the same category. Where Portugal, Greece and the UAE let a property purchase itself carry the immigration file, France requires the file to be built around income, a genuine business, or a qualifying investment, with property playing a supporting role at best. Families who arrive expecting a France golden visa usually leave the conversation with a clearer, if different, plan: which of the three real pathways actually matches their profile, and how property, schools and tax structuring fit around it rather than in place of it.
How Al Qantara Institute structures this
At Al Qantara Institute, every French residency mandate starts with the same question: which of the three genuine pathways, visitor visa, business creator, or economic investor, actually fits this family's profile, income structure and long-term plan. We do not sell a golden visa that does not exist. We build the real file: the income documentation for a Visiteur application, the business plan and capital structure for a Créateur d'entreprise file, or the investment and job-creation plan for an Investisseur économique file, sequenced against property, schools and tax planning so the family arrives in France once, correctly.
Engagements run from €10,000 and are led by a single senior interlocutor across our Paris and Dubai offices, from the first residency strategy conversation through to the keys of a settled household. Where a file needs regulated professionals, specialist tax counsel or a notaire for a property closing, we bring them in and coordinate them; the strategy and the accountability stay with one point of contact.
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Book a private consultationFrequently asked questions
Does France have a golden visa?
No. France has never operated a golden visa or a citizenship/residency-by-investment scheme tied to real estate, unlike Portugal, Greece or the UAE. There is no provision in French immigration law (the CESEDA) or on official government portals granting a residence permit purely for buying property, at any price. Residency for non-EU nationals outside the standard worker, student or family channels runs through the VLS-TS Visiteur visa or the Talent Passport, neither of which accepts property as the qualifying asset.
Can I get residency in France if I buy a property?
Not on its own. Property ownership in France can support a separate visa application, for example as evidence of accommodation or financial stability within a VLS-TS Visiteur or Talent Passport file, but it is never, by itself, a legal basis for a residence permit. This differs sharply from Portugal's former real estate route or Greece's current property thresholds of €400,000 to €800,000.
What is the minimum investment for French residency?
It depends on the pathway. The Talent Passport Créateur d'entreprise route starts at €30,000 invested in an operating business project. The Talent Passport Investisseur économique route, France's closest analogue to a golden visa, requires at least €300,000 in tangible or intangible business assets, plus a commitment to create or preserve jobs within four years. Neither figure applies to residential real estate.
Is the French long-stay visitor visa an investment visa?
No. The VLS-TS Visiteur visa is income-based, not investment-based. It requires proof of sufficient passive or independent income (currently at least €1,477.93 net per month, or €17,735.19 per year, for a single applicant, pegged to the French minimum wage), and it carries no right to work in France. It must be renewed annually.
Why do UAE-based families ask about a France golden visa?
Many families comparing relocation destinations already know Portugal's and Greece's property-linked Golden Visa programs, or the UAE's own AED 2,000,000 real estate route, and assume France offers an equivalent. It does not. Families based in the UAE are among those who ask us this exact question most often, which is why we start every French residency mandate by clarifying which of the three genuine pathways actually fits the family's profile.