Renewing your residence permit in France: when to apply and what to do if you are late

Information checked on 25 October 2026.

For most residence permits (student, private and family life, talent, visitor), the renewal application is filed online on the ANEF no earlier than 4 months and no later than 2 months before expiry; for an employee, no later than 2 months before. A complete application filed on time gives you an extension of examination certificate (attestation de prolongation d'instruction), which keeps your rights until the decision. If you are late, you pay a €180 regularisation visa fee on top of the fee; if your permit has expired without an application, you are staying irregularly and risk an order to leave French territory (OQTF).

This article belongs to our central page on the steps after arriving in France according to your visa, itself part of our guide to the steps after arriving in Europe on a long-stay visa.

The filing window: between 4 and 2 months before the end

The rule is the same for almost every permit: not too early, not too late. Example: your card expires on 15 September 2027. You can file from 15 May 2027, and you must have done so by 15 July 2027 at the latest. Write these two dates in your calendar the day you receive the card.

The case of a validated VLS-TS. The long-stay visa that serves as a residence permit cannot be extended. Before it ends, you apply for your first residence card, with the same 4-to-2-month window. If your VLS-TS was not validated within 3 months of arrival, sort that out first: our article on validating your VLS-TS explains what to do.

Where to file. Most applications go through the digital administration for foreigners in France (ANEF): administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr. For some work permits, service-public refers you to your préfecture's website for the exact procedure: check it from the fourth month before expiry.

What to provide depending on the permit

Student

Service-public lists the conditions for renewal:

• an enrolment certificate (or pre-enrolment) for the following year;
• resources of at least €877.50 per month, the amount in force since 1 August 2026;
• proof of the real and serious nature of your studies: attendance, results, diplomas, any change of programme;
• the signed commitment to respect the principles of the Republic.

Cost: €100 for a one-year card, €150 (€100 fee and €50 stamp duty) for a multi-year card, which can cover the remaining length of the programme. Repeating a year does not in itself call the seriousness of your studies into question. Finishing your studies and starting work? Moving from one permit to the other follows other rules, detailed in our article on changing status from student to employee.

Employee and temporary worker

The application is filed no later than 2 months before the card ends. Cost: €250 (€200 fee and €50 stamp duty). If you still hold the same job, service-public asks in particular for:

• the current residence permit, passport, proof of address less than 6 months old, photos;
• the work authorisation for the position;
• the employer's nominative social declaration or a certificate of activity covering the last 12 months;
• for a first multi-year card: the French level A2 certificate and the certificate of passing the civic exam (examen civique);
• when the card is handed over: proof of payment and the OFII medical certificate.

Lost your job? If you receive benefits from France Travail, you can obtain a new one-year « salarié » card, with your former employer's certificate and the France Travail situation notice. Changed jobs? You need the work authorisation issued to the new employer. The temporary worker's card follows the length of the contract.

Private and family life (spouse of a French national, family reunification)

The application is made online, between 4 and 2 months before the end. For the spouse of a French national, the 2-year multi-year card requires that you still live together as a couple, that your spouse has kept French nationality and that a marriage celebrated abroad has been transcribed in the civil registry in Nantes. Service-public gives €350 (€300 fee and €50 stamp duty). For a family that came through family reunification, the renewal falls under the reduced rate (€100 since 1 May 2026). The first steps of these two paths are in our articles on the spouse of a French national after arrival and family reunification in France.

After filing: three documents not to confuse

The extension certificate is issued only if the application is complete and filed within the deadline. That is the main reason not to wait until the last day: a missing document can break the continuity of your rights (salary, CAF, health insurance).

For several permits, service-public states that an application left unanswered for 4 months counts as an implicit refusal. You can then appeal within 2 months: to the prefect, to the Minister of the Interior, or before the administrative court.

If you are late or your permit has expired

You file after the window, but before expiry. The application is still possible. Service-public then provides for a €180 regularisation visa fee, on top of the fee, except in cases of force majeure or if you present a valid visa. The most concrete risk: without filing within the deadline, you are not entitled to the extension of examination certificate, and your rights may be interrupted between the end of the card and the decision.

Your permit expired without you applying for renewal. You are staying irregularly. Service-public explicitly lists this case among those that allow the prefect to issue an order to leave French territory (OQTF): not having applied to renew your permit and having stayed in France after it expired. File your application without delay, explain the lateness, and get help from an association supporting foreigners or a lawyer. Compatri is not a legal service and cannot advise you on an individual case.

Before travelling outside France while your application is being examined, check with your préfecture that the document you hold allows you to return to the Schengen area.

Multi-year card and resident card: the conditions since 1 January 2026

The law of 26 January 2024 « to control immigration, improve integration » links access to long-term permits to language and a civic exam. Since 1 January 2026:

• a first multi-year card requires French at level A2 and passing the civic exam;
• a first resident card (10 years) requires French at level B1 and passing the civic exam;
• the civic exam has 40 multiple-choice questions; you need at least 32 correct answers (80%).

For employees, service-public mentions an exemption from age 65. For those who signed the republican integration contract (employees, spouses of French nationals, family reunification), the prefect also checks attendance at the prescribed training. A CIR terminated for failure to comply rules out the multi-year card and limits the one-year card to three renewals. The whole OFII path is explained in our article on the OFII appointment and the republican integration contract.

Durations to know: 4 years for the « salarié » multi-year card, 2 years for the spouse of a French national, the remaining length of the programme for a student.

Algerians: the residence certificate

Algerians fall under the Franco-Algerian agreement. According to service-public, renewal of the one-year residence certificate is requested within the 2 months before it ends (4 to 2 months before for family reunification). It generally costs €250 (€200 fee and €50 stamp duty), €100 for family reunification. Filing late leads to the same €180 regularisation visa fee. The spouse of a French national can apply, within the 2 months before the end, for a 10-year residence certificate, after one year of marriage and if the couple actually lives together.

The summary table

Living in Belgium rather than France? It works differently there, with the municipality at the centre: see how to renew your student A card in Belgium.

Finding your compatriots

Every préfecture has its own processing times, hard-to-get appointments and documents it asks for again. The people who know them are the compatriots who renewed their card last year in the same city. On Compatri, your country's community in your city brings these members together: in Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille or the other cities of France. See also the pages for Senegalese in France, Cameroonians in France, Algerians in France or Tunisians in France.

Official sources

• Service-public: international student, long-stay visa or residence permit (FR)
• Service-public: employee or temporary worker residence card (FR)
• Service-public: « vie privée et familiale » residence card (FR)
• Service-public: spouse of a French national (FR)
• Service-public: « visiteur » residence card (FR)
• Service-public: talent card (FR)
• Service-public: residence card application certificate (FR)
• Service-public: order to leave French territory (OQTF) (FR)
• Service-public: republican integration contract (FR)
• Service-public: higher fees on residence permits from 1 May 2026 (FR)
• Service-public: 1-year residence certificate for Algerians (FR)
• Digital administration for foreigners in France (ANEF)