Employee residence permit: from job offer to a four-year card
The employee card comes in two stages: the employer obtains the work authorisation, then you apply for the visa and the card.
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Cost of a hire: employee and employer
Tax due from the employer
€1,430
| Employee stamps over 2 years | €650 |
| Total for the arrival | €2,080 |
A non-EU national who comes to France as an employee receives a "salarié" card on a permanent contract (CDI) and a "travailleur temporaire" (temporary worker) card on a fixed-term contract (CDD). Either way, the employer must first obtain a work authorisation, requested online. From abroad, the employee then applies for a long-stay visa that serves as a residence permit (VLS-TS), validates it within three months of arrival by paying €300, and files the card application at the latest two months before the visa ends. The first card costs €350 in tax stamps (timbres fiscaux), the renewal €250, or €430 if filed late. Over three years, an employee's arrival comes to €900 in stamps. The employer, for its part, pays a tax: for a technician on a CDI at €2,600 gross a month, €1,430.00. At renewal, an employee still in the job who has A2-level French and has passed the civic exam receives a four-year multi-year card.
The two employee cards
The official page draws a clear line between the two situations. On a CDI, the "salarié" card; on a CDD, the "travailleur temporaire" card. The shared conditions come down to three points: being a foreign national who wants to work as an employee, holding a work authorisation, and, for a first admission, a VLS-TS bearing the same purpose. The prefecture may refuse the card if an order to leave France (OQTF) was ignored, or in cases of forged documents, serious offences or violence against public officials. The rules come from the official employee and temporary worker card page (in French) and sections L421-1 to L421-4 of the CESEDA immigration code.
Step 1: the work authorisation, on the employer's side
Nothing starts without it. The employer applies through the online service, whether the future employee is in France or abroad. As a rule, the job must first have been advertised for three consecutive weeks with the public employment service, unless it is a shortage occupation or the hire is a recent master's graduate paid more than one and a half times the minimum wage. Pay cannot be below the minimum wage (Smic) or the collective-agreement minimum. The criteria are set out on the page on how work authorisations are granted; our work authorisation page goes through them one by one.
Step 2: visa, validation, card
Once the authorisation is granted, the administration informs the employer, who informs the employee. The employee applies for a VLS-TS at the consulate. On arrival they can start work straight away, but must validate the visa online within three months and pay €300. The card application then goes to the prefecture where they live, at the latest two months before the VLS-TS ends. Someone already in France on another permit changes status instead: the employer requests the work authorisation, then the employee files the card application before the current permit ends.
What the card costs, and who pays
The employee pays the tax stamps; the employer pays the employer tax. Together they make up the full cost of a hire, which the mini calculator at the top of this page adds up for you.
| Step | Paid by | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| VLS-TS validation (year 1) | employee | €300 |
| First card (year 2) | employee | €350 |
| Renewal (year 3) | employee | €250 |
| Employer tax, CDI at €2,600 a month | employer | €1,430.00 |
| Employer tax, CDD under a year at the same pay | employer | €210 |
The stamp amounts follow the fee increase of 1 May 2026. The employer tax is described on the work authorisation page: 55 % of monthly pay for a contract of a year or more, capped at €2,567.15.
Documents for the file
At the end of the VLS-TS, if you still hold the job the visa was issued for, the file contains proof of nationality, proof of address under six months old, the expiring visa, three photos or the e-photo code, the work authorisation for the post, an extract of the employer's payroll declaration (DSN) or an activity certificate covering the last twelve months, and the signed commitment to respect the principles of the Republic. Proof of stamp payment and the OFII medical certificate are handed in later, when you collect the card.
Deadlines that matter
For a card expiring on 14 September 2027, the renewal window opens on 14 May 2027 and closes on 14 July 2027. Filing later costs €430 instead of €250. As for the answer, no prefecture publishes an average processing time. What the official page does say is that no answer after 4 months counts as an implicit refusal: for an application filed on 1 June 2027, the implicit refusal would arise on 1 October 2027, opening two months for an appeal to the prefect, the minister or the administrative court.
Renewal and the multi-year card
When the one-year card ends, there are three cases. You are still in the job: the prefecture issues a four-year multi-year card, provided you meet the integration condition (attendance at the integration-contract courses, French at level A2, civic exam passed for a first multi-year card). You have changed jobs: you need the new employer's work authorisation. You are unemployed and receiving benefits: you get a new one-year temporary card. The multi-year card page works out when you can apply.
If you earn more
Above €39,582 gross a year with a French master's, the skilled-employee talent card spares the employer both the work authorisation and the tax, and lasts up to four years from the first issue. At €59,373, the EU Blue Card gives the same exemption with a foreign degree. The talent passport calculator compares your salary with each threshold.
Information, not legal advice: only the prefecture assesses your file. Algerian nationals fall under the Franco-Algerian agreement and follow other rules.