Arriving in France on a long-stay visa: the steps and deadlines for your type of visa

Information checked on 25 October 2026.

You are arriving in France on a long-stay visa: three steps matter more than the rest. Validate your VLS-TS online within 3 months on the ANEF website (€100 for a student, €300 at the standard rate since 1 May 2026), attend the OFII appointment if your visa requires it (family reunification, spouse of a French national, employee), then apply for the next permit between 4 and 2 months before your visa ends. Everything else (health insurance, CAF, bank) depends on the mention printed on your visa sticker.

This page is the starting point for France. To compare with other European countries, see our entry page on the steps after arriving in Europe on a long-stay visa.

Read the mention on your visa first

The sticker in your passport shows a type and a mention. There are two families of visas:

• the VLS-TS (visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour, a long-stay visa that serves as a residence permit): it acts as your residence permit for its duration, from 4 months to 1 year, provided it is validated online within 3 months of arrival;
• the visa marked « carte de séjour à solliciter » (residence card to be applied for): it is not a residence permit. You must apply for a card, in principle within 2 months of entering France. This applies, for example, to a « talent » visa of one year or more.

Algerians fall under a separate regime, the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968: there is no VLS-TS to validate, but a residence certificate (certificat de résidence) to apply for. A section further down covers them.

Steps common to every VLS-TS

Validation. It is done only on the website of the digital administration for foreigners in France (ANEF): administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr. Have ready your visa number, your date of entry (passport stamp), your address in France, an email address and a way to pay the fee: bank card, or an electronic tax stamp bought at a tobacconist's. Without validation within 3 months, you are staying irregularly and must apply for a new visa if you leave France. The step-by-step guide is in our article on validating your VLS-TS.

The fee. The 2026 finance act raised it on 1 May 2026: €300 at the standard rate (€200 before), €100 at the reduced rate (€50 before). Service-public gives €100 for a student and €300 for an employee or temporary worker. For other mentions, the amount shown at the time of payment is the one that applies.

OFII. Depending on the reason for your stay, the Office français de l'immigration et de l'intégration calls you for a medical examination, for an interview followed by signing the republican integration contract (CIR), or for both. The CIR concerns people who come to settle for the long term: employees, family reunification, spouses of French nationals and most « vie privée et familiale » (private and family life) permits. It does not concern students, visitors, talents, temporary workers, interns or Algerians. The process is explained in our article on the OFII appointment and the CIR.

The next permit. The VLS-TS cannot be extended: before it ends, you apply for a residence card on the ANEF. For most permits, the application is filed no earlier than 4 months and no later than 2 months before expiry (no later than 2 months before for an employee). If you are late, a €180 regularisation visa fee is added, except in cases of force majeure. Everything is in our guide to renewing your residence permit.

The table: your visa, your steps, your deadlines

Student: the lightest path

You validate the VLS-TS « étudiant » online for €100. There is no CIR to sign. Health insurance opens right away: you register on etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr, with no three-month residence condition, as our article on social security for international students explains. Once you have housing, you apply for housing aid on caf.fr: see housing benefit (APL) for international students.

For the next permit, you apply online between 4 and 2 months before the VLS-TS ends. You will need enrolment for the following year, resources of at least €877.50 per month (the amount in force since 1 August 2026) and proof of real and serious studies (attendance, results). The full list of start-of-year steps, from the CVEC to the carte Vitale, is in our guide to the first month of an international student in France.

Family reunification: medical examination and CIR

The spouse arrives with a VLS-TS that covers the first year without going to the préfecture. They validate it online within 3 months. Minor children enter with a « regroupement familial » visa and need no residence permit.

OFII then calls the family for the medical examination (it may have taken place in the home country if OFII has an office there) and for the CIR, signed by the spouse and children over 16. The medical certificate issued at the end of the examination counts twice: it is essential to obtain the residence card, and the CAF asks for it to pay family benefits for children born abroad.

Before the end of the first year, the spouse applies for a temporary « vie privée et familiale » residence card. A special case: for Moroccans and Tunisians, the card follows that of the person they joined (one year if that person has a one-year card, ten years if they have a resident card). The steps, from the airport to the CAF, are in our article on family reunification in France after arrival.

Spouse of a French national: one year to prepare the multi-year card

The VLS-TS « conjoint de Français » is generally valid for one year. You validate it online within 3 months. The CIR is signed at OFII: it is what later opens the way to the multi-year card.

After one year, you can apply for a 2-year multi-year card, if you still live together as a couple and if a marriage celebrated abroad has been transcribed in the civil registry in Nantes. Service-public gives €350 (€300 fee and €50 stamp duty). The 10-year resident card generally comes after 3 years of residence. The month-by-month detail is in our article on the steps for the spouse of a French national after arrival.

Employee and temporary worker

The VLS-TS « salarié » (permanent contract) and the VLS-TS « travailleur temporaire » (fixed-term contract) are validated online for €300. A medical certificate issued by OFII is required when the card is handed over. The employee signs the CIR; the temporary worker does not.

For health, you are covered by health insurance from the first hour of work: your employer declares the hiring, and you contact the CPAM where you live to complete your registration.

The renewal is filed no later than 2 months before the end. The employee can then obtain a 4-year multi-year card (€250 on renewal), provided that, since 1 January 2026, they prove French at level A2 and have passed the civic exam (examen civique). The temporary worker's card follows the length of the contract. Our article employee or talent visa: the steps on arrival details these steps.

Talent (formerly the passeport talent)

The « talent » card has replaced the passeport talent. For a stay of less than a year, the consulate issues a VLS-TS « talent », to be validated within 3 months. For a stay of one year or more, it issues a 3-month visa: you apply for the card online within 2 months of entry. The card costs €350 (€300 fee and €50 stamp duty). The CIR does not apply. The spouse and minor children can obtain a « talent (famille) » card through a simplified procedure, without going through family reunification.

Visitor

The VLS-TS « visiteur » is for people living on their own resources without working in France. No CIR. You need health insurance covering the whole stay and resources of at least €1,477.93 net per month for a single person, according to service-public. The next « visiteur » card is applied for between 4 and 2 months before the end and costs €250 on renewal.

Algerians: the residence certificate

For Algerians, the Franco-Algerian agreement replaces the general residence rules. There is no VLS-TS to validate: you apply for a residence certificate (certificat de résidence). Campus France Algérie states that the holder of a long-stay visa has two months after arrival to take this step. What service-public says, reason by reason:

• student: online application on the ANEF, €150 in tax stamps, resources of at least €877.50 per month;
• employee: application at the préfecture, first issue free of charge;
• spouse of a French national: online application, €350;
• family reunification: medical examination and CIR as in the general case, first issue free of charge;
• visitor: online application, first issue free of charge.

The renewal is filed within the 2 months before the certificate ends (4 to 2 months before for family reunification). The residence certificate for Algerians is not among the permits subject to the CIR.

Health, CAF, bank: what applies to everyone

Health insurance. Three situations. Students register online from arrival. Employees are covered from the first hour of work. Everyone else falls under universal health protection (PUMa), which in principle requires 3 months of stable residence in France. The social security code (article D160-2) exempts family members who join an insured person, but practice varies between CPAMs: ask yours as soon as you arrive.

The CAF. Once you are housed and legally resident, you apply online on caf.fr: housing aid, and family benefits for families. For a child born abroad who came through family reunification, the CAF asks for the OFII medical certificate.

The bank. A French account makes everything else easier (rent, CAF, salary). If you are refused, the Banque de France's right to an account procedure (droit au compte) obliges a designated bank to open a basic account for you. The documents needed and the most accessible banks are in our article on opening a bank account on arrival.

The calendar of the first months

What changes in 2026

• Fees: since 1 May 2026, VLS-TS validation costs €300 (€100 at the reduced rate), a first card €350 (€150 at the reduced rate), a renewal €250 (€100 at the reduced rate).
• Multi-year card and resident card: since 1 January 2026, under the law of 26 January 2024, you must pass the civic exam (40 questions, at least 32 correct answers) and prove your French, level A2 for the multi-year card, level B1 for the resident card.
• Students: the required resources were raised to €877.50 per month on 1 August 2026.

Comparing with Belgium? Our twin page explains how to arrive in Belgium on a D visa: registering with the municipality, residence card, health insurance fund.

Finding your compatriots

Your préfecture's processing times, the documents it asks for again, the CPAM that does or does not waive the three-month wait: the people who know these local realities went through them the year before. On Compatri, find your country's community in your city: in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille or the other cities of France. Senegalese in France, Cameroonians in France, Ivorians in France, Algerians in France and Moroccans in France each have their own page.

Official sources

• Service-public: long-stay visa (FR)
• Service-public: international student, long-stay visa or residence permit (FR)
• Service-public: family reunification (FR)
• Service-public: spouse of a French national (FR)
• Service-public: « vie privée et familiale » residence card (FR)
• Service-public: employee or temporary worker residence card (FR)
• Service-public: talent card (FR)
• Service-public: « visiteur » residence card (FR)
• Service-public: 1-year residence certificate for Algerians (FR)
• Service-public: republican integration contract (FR)
• Service-public: higher fees on residence permits from 1 May 2026 (FR)
• Service-public: health insurance for a foreigner settling in France (FR)
• Digital administration for foreigners in France (ANEF)
• Campus France Algérie: preparing your visa and your arrival (FR)