The long-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit or the temporary Employee residence permit is intended for foreigners who wish to stay in France to exercise a salaried activity under an open-ended contract. The request for this residence permit can be made:
- When the foreigner resides abroad and wishes to come to France to exercise a salaried activity under an open-ended contract. In this case, the long-stay visa will be required;
- When the foreigner resides in France under cover of another residence permit and requests a change of status;
- When the foreigner resides in France in an irregular manner and fulfills the conditions of an exceptional admission to the stay by work.
Obtaining a residence permit is subject to the issuance of a work permit. The applicable procedure depends on the location of the applicant’s residence.
Foreigners residing outside France
An employer who wishes to hire a foreigner residing outside of France must apply for a work permit. If work authorization is issued, the foreigner will have to apply for an “employee” long-stay visa to the French consular authorities.
The employer must file a work authorization request with the service of the foreign workforce of the DIRECCTE (Regional direction of the companies, competition, consumption, work, and employment).
He must complete the work authorization request form and attach all the supporting documents requested.
The application is sent to the MOE (service of the foreign workers) that has the jurisdiction where the foreign employee is to work. To process the work authorization request, the DIRECCTE foreign labor service will take the following elements into account:
The employment market test: as part of the examination of the employment situation, it is mandatory that the employer has submitted a sufficiently detailed and explicit job offer with a concurrent public service organization of the placement (such as Pôle Emploi). The job offer must have been advertised through a suitable medium and for a sufficient duration (3 weeks).
Where the foreign applicant does not reside on the French territory, the MOE forwards (via the OFII) the application to the consulate of the country of residence of the foreign applicant; if the decision is positive, the foreign applicant will be issued with a visa to come and work in France.
The decision is taken by the prefect or by the delegation of the prefect by the director of the territorial unit of DIRECCTE. The administrative authority has a period of 2 months to make the decision. The decision is notified to the employer and abroad.
The work permit issued as part of a first request is valid for 1 year for the activity specified on the employment contract with the employer who submitted the request and in one or more geographic areas or for all of mainland France. In the event of a change of position within the same company or a change of employer, a new request for a work authorization must be made.
Medical Examination
The foreigner who has been granted a work permit must obtain a medical certificate from the OFII. The medical examination can be carried out in the country of origin if the OFII is established there or in France within the first 3 months of arrival in France.
Foreign employees with their targeted employment contract can exercise their professional activity as soon as they arrive in France, but their work authorization can be withdrawn if they have not had their medical certificate issued within 3 months.
> In the event of a negative decision
If the service has not replied by the end of the 2-month period, the request must be considered as rejected. If it is a written refusal, the decision must indicate the reasons for the rejection and the means and time limits for appeal.
- Administrative appeals
A free appeal can be filed with the administrative authority which made the decision (prefect or director of the territorial unit of DIRECCTE) within two months of notification of the decision or implied rejection. A hierarchical appeal to the Minister of the Interior can also be made within 2 months of notification of the decision or implied rejection.
- Litigation
An action for annulment can be filed with the administrative court. This appeal must be accompanied by the contested decision. It must be filed within 2 months of the notification of the decision or the implied rejection (if there has been no administrative appeal) or within 2 months of the rejection of the graceful or hierarchical appeal (that either implicit or explicit).
> In the event of a positive décision
If the work authorization is granted, the foreigner who resides outside of France can apply for a long-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit to the French consular authorities.
The period of validity of the long-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit is 1 year.
This visa must be validated within 3 months of arrival in France. The decree of February 13, 2019, has changed the terms of validation of the long-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit. This process is now carried out exclusively online.
Foreigners residing in France
The issuance of a temporary “employee” residence permit for a foreigner residing in France depends on the prior issuance of a work permit.
A foreigner residing in France who wishes to obtain a temporary “salaried” residence permit files an application for the first issue of a residence permit or a request to renew his residence permit 2 months before its expiration. His temporary residence permit application file includes a work authorization application filled out by the employer. The employer must complete the work authorization request form and attach all the supporting documents requested.
The prefecture forwards the request for work authorization for instruction to the service of foreign labor of the DIRECCTE and will make a decision concerning the issue of the temporary residence permit upon receipt of the decision of the DIRECCTE concerning the request for ‘Work Authorization.
To process the work authorization request, the DIRECCTE foreign labor service will take the following elements into account:
- The employment situation: as part of the examination of the employment situation, it is mandatory that the employer has submitted a sufficiently detailed and explicit job offer with a concurrent public service organization of the placement (such as Pôle Emploi). The job offer must have been advertised through a suitable medium and for a sufficient duration (3 weeks);
The decision is taken by the prefect or by the delegation of the prefect by the director of the territorial unit of DIRECCTE. The administrative authority has a period of 2 months to make the decision.
The decision is notified to the employer and abroad.
> In the event of a positive décision
The work permit issued as part of a first “employee” residence permit application is valid for 1 year for the activity indicated on the employment contract with the employer who submitted the application and in one or more areas geographic or for all of metropolitan France.
In the event of a change of position within the same company or a change of employer, a new request for a work authorization must be made. For foreigners who have already obtained a residence permit in France and who request a change of status and for foreigners who have obtained a residence permit as part of an exceptional admission to stay, the medical examination at the OFII has been abolished.
> In the event of a negative décision
If the immigration service has not replied by the end of the 2-month period, the request must be considered as rejected. If it is a written refusal, the decision must indicate the reasons for the rejection and the means and time limits for appeal.
- Administrative appeals
A free appeal can be filed with the administrative authority which made the decision (prefect or director of the territorial unit of DIRECCTE) within two months of notification of the decision or implied rejection.
A hierarchical appeal to the Minister of the Interior can also be made within 2 months of notification of the decision or implied rejection.
- Litigation
An action for annulment can be filed with the administrative court. This appeal must be accompanied by the contested decision.
It must be filed within 2 months of the notification of the decision or the implied rejection (if there has been no administrative appeal) or within 2 months of the rejection of the graceful or hierarchical appeal (that either implicit or explicit).
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