Visitor residence permit: living in France on your own means
People living on savings, parents joining their children, religious ministers: the visitor card is for those who settle without a job.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Resources required for the visitor card
Margin over the minimum
€122
| Monthly minimum (net minimum wage) | €1,477.93 |
| Annual minimum | €17,735.19 |
| First-card stamps | €350 |
The temporary "visiteur" residence card lets a non-EU national live in France for more than 3 months without working. It rests on three conditions: enough resources for the whole stay, health insurance covering it, and a commitment not to carry out any paid or self-employed activity. The official minimum for a single person is €1,477.93 net a month, the net minimum wage (Smic net), or €17,735.19 over a year. The card lasts 1 year and is renewable; it costs €350 in tax stamps for the first card, after €300 to validate the long-stay visa, then €250 for each renewal, or €430 if filed late. Over five years a visitor therefore pays €1,400 in stamps. Family allowances do not count as resources; guarantees from solvent relatives and your housing are taken into account.
Who the visitor card is for
The visitor card fits one situation: settling in France for more than 3 months without any professional activity. The official page gives three typical profiles: a parent dependent on children lawfully settled in France, a PACS partner with less than a year of shared life, and a religious minister (priest, imam) coming to serve. It also suits people living on pensions or investment income. It does not concern EU citizens, who need no permit, or Algerians, who apply for a one-year visitor residence certificate. The permit is set out in section L426-20 of the CESEDA immigration code.
A retiree who has already lived in France on a resident card and draws a pension from a basic French scheme should often look at the retiree card instead: it lasts 10 years and costs only the €50 stamp duty, against a visitor card renewed every year.
The income threshold, figure by figure
The official visitor card page sets the minimum for a single person at €1,477.93 net a month over a year. That is the net monthly minimum wage, which the official minimum-wage page gives for full-time work since the increase of 1 June 2026. Your proof must cover €17,735.19 for the year: bank statements, pension certificates, guarantees from solvent people. Family allowances do not count, as they are paid for the children's upkeep; the housing you have is, however, part of the overall assessment.
| Net income per month | Gap with the minimum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| €1,200 | -€278 | below: show a guarantee or savings |
| €1,500 | +€22 | above the minimum |
| €2,400 | +€922 | above the minimum |
The page gives no scale for a couple or a family. If your spouse comes too, prepare proof of each person's resources and ask the prefecture how it assesses the household; the calculator does not invent a family threshold that no published text sets.
The other conditions
- Health insurance covering the entire stay, with a certificate.
- No professional activity in France, salaried or not, with a handwritten sworn statement.
- OFII medical certificate (from the French immigration and integration office), handed in when the card is issued.
- A signed commitment to respect the principles of the Republic, the contrat d’engagement listed among the documents for a first visitor card.
The prefecture may refuse the card if you ignored an order to leave France, used false documents, committed serious offences or used violence against elected officials or public servants.
Cost and timetable
The visitor card is at the standard rate of the 1 May 2026 schedule, set by sections L436-1 onwards of the CESEDA. In year one, the long-stay visa is validated online with a €300 tax; the first card then costs €350, including €50 of stamp duty, followed by €250 per renewal.
| Year | Step | Stamps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | VLS-TS validation | €300 |
| 2 | First visitor card | €350 |
| 3 to 5 | Yearly renewals | €750 |
| Total | €1,400 |
The renewal is filed online no earlier than 4 months and no later than 2 months before the card ends. For a card ending on 30 June 2027, the window runs from 28 February 2027 to 30 April 2027; after that, the €180 late fee brings the renewal to €430. An application filed on the last day and left unanswered counts as refused after 4 months, on 30 August 2027. No average prefecture time is published.
The file, document by document
You apply on ANEF, the online portal for foreign nationals in France, which issues a filing certificate at once. The file brings together your long-stay visa or current permit, a full copy of your birth certificate, your passport, proof of address under 6 months old, an e-photo code, proof of resources covering the year, the health insurance certificate and the sworn statement that you will not work. If someone else supports you financially, add their proof of income, their signed statement of support and their identity document. A married applicant from a country that allows polygamy also adds a sworn statement of non-polygamy in France. Documents in another language usually need a certified translation, so budget for it early, since translators can take several weeks at busy times of year.
If you are refused
A written refusal usually comes with an order to leave France (OQTF), which can be challenged at the administrative court within 48 hours, 15 days or 30 days depending on its type. An implicit refusal, arising from silence, leaves 2 months for an appeal to the prefect, to the minister or to the court; a lawyer is not compulsory. Keep the filing certificate and every message from the portal: they prove when you applied and what you sent, which is what any appeal will be built on.
After several years
The visitor card does not turn into a multi-year visitor card. It is renewed as long as income, health cover and the absence of work are proven. After five years of lawful, uninterrupted residence, the resident card for EU long-term residents becomes possible if your income reaches the minimum wage. This guide is information; only the prefecture decides.