"Job seeker/ new business creator" residence permit

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At the end of your studies and after obtaining a French higher education diploma, you can apply for a temporary "job seeker/ new business creator" residence permit (Carte de séjour "recherche d'emploi/ création d'entreprise") allowing you to look for a job or set up your own company in France. A certain level of study is required. Researchers who have completed their research may also apply. 

WHAT DOES THE "JOB SEEKER/ NEW BUSINESS CREATOR" RESIDENCE PERMIT ALLOW? 

The temporary "job seeker/ new business creator" residence permit (Carte de séjour temporaire "recherche d'emploi/ création d'entreprise") allows foreign students and researchers to stay in France at the end of their studies or research to complete their training with their first professional experience, or to set up their own company. 

The "job seeker/ new business creator" residence permit is valid for 12 months and is not renewable

The valid residence permit allows the holder to :

  1. Look for work and work legally during the validity of the residence permit
     
  2. Set up a company in a field that corresponds to their training or research. 

Until the signing of a definitive employment contract, whether temporary (CDD) or permanent (CDI), foreign students and researchers holding a "job seeker/new business creator" residence permit are authorised to work. 

WHO CAN APPLY FOR A "JOB SEEKER/ NEW BUSINESS CREATOR" RESIDENCE PERMIT ?

The temporary "job seeker/new business creator" residence permit is available :

  1. to students who have resided in France with a student residence permit (such as a VLS-TS or a residence permit mentioning "student") and who have obtained one of the following French higher education diplomas :

    - a Licence Professionelle (vocational degree),
    - a master's degree or
    equivalent (such as an engineering degree, a degree from an institute of political studies (IEP), the higher diploma in accounting and management, a veterinary diploma, etc...)
    - a Specialised Master's degree,
    - a Master of Sciences (MSc) accredited by the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles ;

     
  2. to researchers who have resided in France with a researcher talent passport residence permit (Carte de séjour “passeport talent – chercheur”) and have completed their research mission.

 

Good to know

Some students do not require a “job seeker/new business creator” residence card. This refers to :

  1. European students (citizens of European Union member states, the European Economic Area or Switzerland). They do not need a residence permit to work in France. 
     
  2. Algerian students. They are subject to other regulations
     
  3. students who are citizens of countries that have concluded migration flow agreements with France. They can continue to apply for a temporary residence permit (APS). This includes the following countries: Gabon, Benin, Tunisia, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, India. Consult the Ministry of the Interior website or contact the Campus France office in your home country for information specific to your situation.

 

Where and when apply ?

You can apply for your "job seeker/new business creator" temporary residence permit:
 

  1. either in France at the prefecture before your residence permit expires ; 
     
  2. or abroad at the French consulate in your country of residence, if you left France after obtaining your diploma, and within a maximum of 4 years after obtaining one of the diplomas mentioned above.

    If you meet the conditions for obtaining a "job seeker/new business creator" residence permit, you will be issued with a long-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit (VLS-TS), stating "job seeker/new business creator". You must validate it online within two months of your arrival in France. Once validated, your VLS-TS will have the same value as the residence permit issued in the prefecture to former students who have not left France. 

 

Which documents do I need to provide ?

Students who have just graduated

If you have just graduated and would like to stay in France to find work or to set up your business, you must take the following documents to the prefecture:

  • your passport
  • your birth cerificate
  • three photos
  • your valid "student" residence permit" (or "student - mobility programme")
  • your diploma awarded within the last year or justification proving that you passed
  • proof of health insurance
  • proof of your intention to set up a business related to your field of study (if relevant)
  • proof of address no more than 3 months old

Your residence permit will cost 75 euros. To cover this cost, you must purchase a tax stamp. 

Students who left France after graduating

If you left France after obtaining your diploma, you must take the following documents to the French consulate located in the country you are living:

  • your passport
  • your birth cerificate
  • three photos
  • your diploma obtained in the 4 years preceding your application
  • proof that you held a valid "student" residence permit" (or "student-mobility programme") at the time of your graduation
  • proof of health insurance
  • proof of your financial resources showing your capacity to provide for yourself
  • proof of your intention to set up a business related to your field of study (if relevant)
  • proof of address no more than 3 months old 

Your residence permit will cost 75 euros. To cover this cost, you must purchase a tax stamp. 

Researchers

If you have completed your research, you must take the following documents to the prefecture:

  • your passport
  • your birth cerificate
  • three photos
  • your valid "researcher-talent passport" residence permit (or "researcher-mobility programme")
  • confirmation of the completion of your research from the research organisation
  • proof of health insurance
  • proof of your intention to set up a business related to your field of research (if relevant)
  • proof of address no more than 3 months old

Your residence permit will cost 225 euros. To cover this cost, you must purchase a tax stamp. 

WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN MY "JOB SEEKER/ NEW BUSINESS CREATOR" RESIDENCE PERMIT EXPIRES ? 

If you have found a job or if you have created your company at the latest at the end of the 12-month validity period of your "job seeker/new business creator" residence permit, you must apply for a new residence permit to remain in France

Good to know
You are not obliged to wait until your "job seeker/new business creator" residence permit expires to change your status and apply for a new residence permit better adapted to your situation. You can do this as and when your situation changes. 

You have found a job

  • If you have a permanent (CDI) or fixed-term (CDD) employment contract with a salary equalling at least one and a half times the national minimum wage (approximately €2,281,82 gross/month in 2019), you can request either a temporary residence permit as an "employee" or "temporary worker" (the employment situation in France cannot be effective against you), or a multi-year researcher talent passport residence permit if you are part of a research project. 

    Good to know

    Your employment contract must be validated by the DIRECCTE (the Regional Department of Competition, Consumption, Work and Employment) in the case of an application for an "employee" or "temporary worker" residence permit . This is not necessary in the case of a "talent passport" residence permit. 
     
  • If you have an employment contract with a gross annual salary of more than €36,509.20, you can apply for a multi-year "talent passport" residence permit, stating either "qualified employee" or "innovative company". 

You have set up your own company

If you have set up a business or developed an activity on a self-employed basis that you can prove to be viable, you can apply for a temporary residence permit stating "entrepreneur/freelance", or a multi-year residence permit stating "talent passport - business creation"

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