Expatriates and their families settle in France through one of two main routes: the VLS-TS visitor visa, for households living on their own resources, and the Talent passport, a multi-year card of up to 4 years for investors, founders and senior employees. Once the file is complete, decisions are counted in weeks. We design the route, prepare the file and align it with schools and the move; the consulate decides. Figures on this page are as of 2026.
As in every Al Qantara Institute engagement, one senior interlocutor answers for the whole file. We take on a limited number of families each year, so we can give each file close attention. Here is how a residency mandate runs, and the regulatory ground we cover for you underneath it.
We read your family's position, income structure, work intentions, schooling and horizon, and recommend one route in writing, with the reasoning, before any form is filled.
We handle the certified translations, attestations, bank documentation, ordering and format, so the file is built to consulate standard, then reviewed once more before it is lodged.
Appointments, biometrics, follow-ups and first renewals, tracked from Dubai and Paris so no step waits on an unanswered message.
Visa dates, school offers and the move itself are sequenced in a single calendar, the same discipline that runs our 360° family relocation engagements.
The long-stay visitor visa is the route for families who live on their own resources and take no salaried work in France. It suits households funded from abroad: dividends, rents, a portfolio, or a business kept at home.
Consulates look for steady, documented income of roughly the French net minimum wage per adult, about €1,450 per month as of January 2026, indexed each year. Regular income from abroad, dividends, rents or a business at home, weighs more than a single large balance.
A private policy must cover every member of the household for the full length of the stay, without interruption. We have the cover reviewed against consulate practice before the file is lodged.
You provide proof of accommodation, whether a home you own, a lease in your name, or a documented commitment of housing. Where the home search is still open, we sequence this requirement with the property work.
Each adult signs a commitment to take no salaried employment in France. Managing your interests abroad remains possible; the undertaking concerns the French labour market only.
The visa converts to a renewable visitor residence card at your préfecture, and every lawful year counts towards permanent residence. For families who later want working rights, we plan a change of status rather than a restart.
It is France's multi-year residence card for economic profiles. One application covers the household, the card runs up to 4 years, and renewals happen in France, without returning to the consulate.
For a direct economic investment of €300,000 in France, as of 2026, made personally or through a company you control, with a commitment to create or preserve jobs.
For founders bringing a real, viable project and an investment from €30,000, as of 2026, together with a graduate degree or 5 years of comparable professional experience.
For executives and specialists recruited by an entity established in France, on a graduate degree and a salary above a threshold set against the French minimum wage.
Yes. When one parent holds a Talent passport, the spouse receives a Talent (famille) card of the same duration with full access to the French labour market, no separate work permit required. It is the clearest practical difference from the visitor route, where each adult undertakes not to hold salaried employment.
Residency unfolds over several years rather than in a single step. The route you enter on sets the pace at which the family reaches permanence, and it should be chosen with that endpoint in mind.
Visitor cards renew each year at the préfecture; Talent cards run up to 4 years at a time. What renewals examine is stability: residence, resources and health cover.
After 5 years of lawful, stable residence, the family may apply for the carte de résident, valid 10 years and renewable. As of 2026 it requires French at level B1.
Naturalisation opens after 5 years of residence. The wait falls to 2 years for applicants who earned a degree from a French higher-education institution, under conditions. As of 2026 the language standard is B2.
Children's schooling and household taxation run on this same calendar. Our Schools & Education and Wealth & Tax Advisory practices are sequenced against it from the first week of an engagement.
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A few weeks once the file is lodged, depending on the consulate and the season. Most of the real timeline sits in preparation: we build the file to consulate standard first, so the decision window stays short and predictable.
Yes. France places no nationality or residency condition on owning property, and many families buy while holding a visitor card. Financing and structure are covered by our Property & Installation practice.
Yes. Years spent lawfully in France on a visitor card count towards the 5 years of residence required for the 10-year carte de résident, provided residence and resources remain stable.
Yes. Children resident in France attend public, private or international schools regardless of the parents' route. We sequence enrolment dates with the visa calendar so a school place is never put at risk.
Not at the start: neither the visitor nor the Talent application tests language. As of 2026, the 10-year resident card requires French at level B1 and naturalisation at level B2, which is a reason to begin the language early and calmly.
Yes, and it is the normal course: long-stay visas are filed at the French consulate in your country of residence. Our Dubai and Paris teams prepare everything remotely; most families travel only for the biometrics appointment.
Not in the sense the term usually implies. France grants no residency in exchange for buying property or making a passive investment. Families settle through the long-stay visitor visa or the four-year Talent passport, and active investors through a dedicated talent route that turns on real economic activity rather than a purchase. We prepare and orchestrate the application. The consulate decides.
No. Ownership carries no right to reside, and residency runs on a separate track: a long-stay visitor visa or the Talent passport. Many families buy first and settle the residence question in parallel, on one calendar we hold for them.
Tell us about your family's project. A senior advisor will reply within one business day, in confidence and without obligation.
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