Family reunification: is your income enough?
Enter the household size, filing date and average income: the threshold is computed month by month on the minimum wage actually in force.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Average monthly income threshold
€2,015.63
Income sufficient
| Average gross minimum wage over 12 months | €1,832.39 |
| Uplift for household size | +10 % |
| Your average income | €2,100 |
| Margin | €84 |
| Minimum floor area for the household | 44 m² |
| Stamps for 3 family member(s) | €450 |
| No answer means refusal on | 13 April 2027 |
Family benefits, RSA, ASPA, ASS, ATA and AER do not count. Each month uses the minimum wage in force on the 1st: an application covering months of 2025 has a lower threshold than today’s minimum wage. The mayor also checks the home is fit to live in.
Calculation and sourcesTo bring a spouse and minor children to France through family reunification (regroupement familial), a foreign resident who has lived lawfully in France for at least 18 months must show stable and sufficient income. The threshold is the average gross monthly minimum wage (Smic) over the 12 months before the application for a household of two or three people, plus one tenth for four or five and one fifth from six. Because the minimum wage went up on 1 January 2026 and again on 1 June 2026, the threshold depends on the filing date: for a couple with three children it is €1,997.69 for an application on 1 July 2026 and €2,033.56 for one on 15 January 2027. With an average income of €2,000, that household only just clears the first date but falls €33.56 short at the second: filing later does not always make it easier. Family benefits, RSA and other minimum benefits are left out; people receiving the AAH or ASI disability allowances are exempt from the income condition.
How the threshold is calculated
The rule comes from CESEDA (immigration code), articles L434-1 to L434-12 and articles R434-1 onwards, as set out on the official Service-Public.fr family-reunification page. The calculator takes the twelve calendar months before the month you file, gives each one the gross monthly minimum wage in force on its first day according to Insee’s minimum-wage series, averages them, then applies the household coefficient: 1 for two or three people, 1.1 for four or five, 1.2 from six. Your average income is compared with that figure and the gap is shown in euros.
| Filing date | 2 or 3 people | 4 or 5 people | 6 people or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 March 2026 | €1,805.34 | €1,985.87 | €2,166.41 |
| 1 July 2026 | €1,816.08 | €1,997.69 | €2,179.30 |
| 15 January 2027 | €1,848.69 | €2,033.56 | €2,218.43 |
| 15 June 2027 | €1,867.02 | €2,053.72 | €2,240.42 |
A couple with no children filing on 1 March 2026 must show €1,805.34 on average, since almost all of the previous twelve months were at the €1,801.80 minimum wage. From June 2027, every month in the period is at today’s rate and the thresholds match the figures printed on the official page.
What does not count, and the exemptions
Family benefits, the RSA (minimum income), the Aspa old-age allowance, the temporary waiting allowance (ATA), the specific solidarity allowance (ASS) and the AER are excluded. A spouse abroad only adds income that will continue after arrival. The condition is lifted for anyone on the AAH or ASI; tick the box in the calculator. It is also lifted for someone over 65, in France for 25 years and married for 10 years, who is bringing their spouse.
The other conditions
Income is only one test: lawful residence for 18 months on a permit of at least one year, a home that is large enough (floor-area calculator), and respect for the basic principles of family life in France. The family normally lives abroad and arrives together. The steps, from OFII (the French immigration and integration office) to the prefect, are on the family-reunification steps page. Another official page points out that the family of a French national, an EU citizen, a refugee or a talent-card holder follows a different procedure.