1° For non EU-Citizens

Non EU-Citizens need to fulfil basic conditions to enter in France, They must have a visa to cover their stay and must possess a valid passport. In addition, they need to prove that they have an accommodation in France or a place to stay, that they have the financial resources to live in France, and that they possess insurance that covers the costs of an eventual repatriation.

With the Hortefeux Law of 20 November 2007, stricter conditions for the entry and residence of foreigners have been implemented. This law enables compiling statistics based on ethnicity, and establishes a contract, called the contrat d’accueil et d’intégration (contract of acceptance and integration, which obliges migrants to learn and to respect the Republic’s laws and values and for them to be tested on their ability to speak and comprehend the French language.

Non-EU citizens may be granted a residence permit of one year under very strict conditions mainly for the following motives:

They are students, interns, scientists, or workers;

They have family members who reside in France (partner, children, parents, and so on);

Controls have become more frequent and are conducted more thoroughly; first of all, they must demonstrate that they have entered France in a regular manner. Such a resident permit may be renewable, dependent on attendant circumstances.

A resident permit may be renewed, dependent on a situation as it arises.

Also, those persons who have lived in France in irregularity for a minimum of seven (7) years and can successfully demonstrate that their relationship to France is closer than their relationship to their country of origin may obtain a one-year resident permit.

All the resident permits mentioned above grant the right to work, with the exception of students and interns.

If a person is gravely ill, HIV-positive, for example, he or she may be granted a residence permit of one year, which may be renewable, dependent on the person’s country of origin. This permit also grants the right to work.

A person may seek political asylum; however, this procedure involves a lot of time, often two to three years whenever there is an appeal against a negative decision. The conditions for granting refugee status are becoming stricter as well. These persons may obtain temporary residency permits during the approval procedure, but without the authorisation to work.

2. EU-Citizens

EU citizens enjoy the right t to enter and to stay in France with the possession of a valid passport or an valid identify card (ID); however, the nationals of the last two countries to join the EU need a residence permit in order to work in France or to sojourn or stay for a period that exceeds three months.