How to move to France in 2026: every legal route

Your basis decides whether you need a visa, whether you can work, and whether the route leads to citizenship. Below are six legal routes from the official service-public pages, as of October 2026: who each suits, what you have to prove and what is allowed in France. Detailed guides are linked in each section.

France for Russian citizens in 2026: what you need to know

Russian citizens can move to France in 2026: to live here longer than 3 months you need a long-stay D visa (fee €99), its papers are taken by 18 VFS Global visa centres, by appointment (service fee €36 per file), and the Consulate General of France in Moscow decides (France-Visas, copies of 27 July and 17 September 2026). The procedure in six steps (each has its own page):

1. Visa. A short-stay visa (type C) allows up to 90 days in any 180 and you can’t live on it. To live here longer than 3 months you need a long-stay visa, type D, most often a VLS-TS: you validate it on ANEF (the online portal for foreigners) within 3 months of arriving, and since 1 May 2026 the tax is €300, or €100 at the reduced rate (service-public, A18881, 12 May 2026). Details: visa for France and validating your VLS-TS.
2. Visa documents. There is no single list: France-Visas shows the one for your purpose. For type D your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after the visa ends, have 2 blank pages and have been issued less than 10 years ago. Since 14 April 2025 France has not recognised non-biometric Russian international passports, except those of children under 15. The section “Documents for a French visa” on the page visa for France goes through it; translation and apostille are in the guide Apostille, sworn translation and diploma for France 2026.
3. French consulates in Russia. Moscow: 45 Bolshaya Yakimanka. Saint Petersburg: 12 Nevsky Prospect. Yekaterinburg: 6 Boris Yeltsin Street, office 194 (from the official pages, 26 October 2026). You take the papers to VFS Global, and the consulate in Moscow decides. More in the section “French embassy and consulates: where to turn” on the page visa for France.
4. Card (titre de séjour). The cost of the card since 1 May 2026: a first issue is €350 (a stamp duty, timbre fiscal) and a renewal €250; at the reduced rate €150 and €100. This is a different payment from the €300 tax on validating a VLS-TS in step 1: the tax is paid for the visa, the stamp for the card. To live here without working on a visiteur card you need at least €1,477.93 net a month and health insurance (service-public, A18881 and F302, 12 May 2026 and 1 June 2026). All the cards are in one table in the guide types of residence permit, and the filing procedure is in Titre de séjour.
5. Bank account. Your salary is paid into an account in your name, and CAF (the family allowance fund) pays only into an account in one of the 36 SEPA-zone countries. Opening an account is free; if a bank refuses, it must give you a written refusal free of charge, and with it the Banque de France designates another bank within 1 working day (service-public, F2413, 22 May 2026). Documents and procedure: a bank account in France.
6. Taxes and health cover. You become a tax resident if at least one of three conditions is met: your home or main place of stay, your main job, or the centre of your economic interests is in France; the “183 days” is one way of meeting the first condition (F62, 1 January 2026). PUMa (universal health cover) opens straight away if you work, and after 3 months of living in France if you don’t (F34308, 13 May 2026). Details are in the guides taxes in France and sécu and Carte Vitale.

Route 1. Study

If you live in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan or Georgia, you enter a university through the mandatory Campus France “Études en France” procedure: the university application and the visa go through one platform. Kazakhstan and Belarus are not on that procedure’s list: from there you ask for the student visa through France-Visas (Campus France; F2231). A first year of a bachelor’s with a foreign school diploma goes through DAP, on the same platform in those countries; a master’s goes through “Études en France”.

Tuition at public universities for the 2026-2027 academic year: €178 a year for a bachelor’s, €255 for a master’s, €398 for a doctorate (service-public, A17481, 21 August 2026).

Students from outside the EU pay differentiated fees: €2,902 for a bachelor’s year and €3,950 for a master’s year; doctoral students are not affected. The waivers a university grants itself are capped from 2026-2027: no more than 30% of the students who pay differentiated fees. Anyone who was waived in 2025-2026 keeps the waiver until the end of the cycle at the same university (etudiant.gouv.fr).

Proof of funds for a student visa and for renewing a student permit is at least €877.50 a month from 1 August 2026; before that it was €615. The condition doesn’t apply to those admitted by competitive entry to a university that has signed an agreement with the state (F2231; French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28 July 2026). A student may work up to 964 hours a year without a separate work permit (F2728). Details: Studying in France.

The student route, step by step

1. Apply to a university. From Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, through “Études en France”; from Kazakhstan and Belarus, through DAP, Mon Master or straight to the university. For a first year of a bachelor’s through DAP for 2027/2028, applications run from 1 October to 15 December 2026 (Campus France, 28 September 2026). The procedure country by country is in the guide Studying in France.
2. Student visa. Proof of funds and the documents are on the page visa for France.
3. Validate the VLS-TS online on ANEF once you arrive, at the reduced student rate: validating your VLS-TS.
4. Housing. A CROUS hall of residence or a private let, where the free Visale guarantee can stand in for a French guarantor: renting without a French guarantor.
5. Bank and health cover. First a bank account, then health insurance: students get a temporary number and a temporary attestation straight away on etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr (sécu and Carte Vitale).
6. APL for a room or a flat: apply in the month you move in (CAF and APL).
7. Renew your student card online on ANEF, in good time: Titre de séjour.

The main trap. APL is never paid backdated: the month you apply in goes unpaid, and the entitlement starts the following month. So apply in the month you move in, not “once I’ve sorted everything else out” (service-public, F12006).

Route 2. Work

The work permit (autorisation de travail) is requested by the employer, and only online. The post must be on the list of shortage occupations (métiers en tension), or the vacancy must have been advertised for three weeks through the employment services, such as France Travail, with no suitable candidate found (F2728, checked 18 June 2026).

Highly qualified specialists get the talent card. For “salarié qualifié” you need a contract of more than 3 months with a salary from €39,582 gross a year and a French degree of master’s level or above; the card lasts as long as the contract, up to 4 years. For an employee of an innovative company and for an employee seconded within a group of companies, service-public gives the same salary threshold. The EU Blue Card starts at €59,373 gross a year, with a contract of at least 6 months and a degree after 3 years of university or 5 years of experience (F16922, 1 June 2026). How to look for work, including without the language: Working in France.

The work route, step by step

1. Work permit or talent card. The employer requests the autorisation de travail online. If your profession is regulated (doctor, nurse, lawyer), sort out the recognition of your diploma first. Guides: working in France and recognition of your diploma.
2. D visa at the consulate of the country where you live: visa for France.
3. Validate the VLS-TS on ANEF once you arrive: validating your VLS-TS.
4. Health cover from your first day at work. People in work apply to the CPAM straight away, and the waiting period doesn’t apply to them: sécu and Carte Vitale.
5. An account for your salary, and housing: bank account, renting without a French guarantor. The whole first month as a list is in the checklist your first 30 days.
6. Renewal. A salarié card is renewed at the préfecture, not on ANEF: apply no later than 2 months before the card expires (F15898). A multi-year card requires French at a set level: French for a residence permit; how to file: Titre de séjour.

The main trap. A salarié card covers only the job the autorisation de travail was issued for. Change employer, and the new employer requests a new autorisation online: one is needed for every new employment contract (F2728).

Route 3. Visiteur: living on your own means

The visiteur card is issued for 1 year to people who live in France on their own means: rentiers and pensioners. You need resources of at least €1,477.93 net a month for one person (€17,735.19 a year) and health insurance for the whole stay. With this card you can’t work in France, whether as an employee or as an auto-entrepreneur: at the application you sign an undertaking not to work (F302, 1 June 2026).

For your own business, including a micro-enterprise, there is another card, “entrepreneur/profession libérale”: income from the activity must be at least €1,867.02 a month (F35795, 1 June 2026).

The visiteur route, step by step

1. Resources and insurance. Before you apply, check your resources against the threshold above and take out health insurance for the whole stay: it is a condition of the card. The cards side by side: types of residence permit.
2. D visa at the consulate of the country where you live: visa for France.
3. Validate the VLS-TS once you arrive: validating your VLS-TS.
4. Housing and a bank account: renting a home, bank account.
5. PUMa. Without a job, French health cover doesn’t open at once but after a waiting period; until then the policy you took out for the whole stay covers you (sécu and Carte Vitale).
6. Renewal online on ANEF, no earlier than 4 and no later than 2 months before the document expires (F302): Titre de séjour.

The main trap. Visiteur means an undertaking not to work, neither as an employee nor as an auto-entrepreneur. If you are counting on a side job or a business of your own, you need a different card (routes 2 and 6).

Route 4. Family and marriage

Conjoint de Français is for spouses of French citizens (the vie privée et familiale permit). Family reunification (regroupement familial) is for the families of legal residents. Marriage to a French citizen opens citizenship by declaration after 4 years of marriage; 5 years if, after the wedding, you lived in France without a break for less than 3 years and your spouse was not on the consular register of French nationals abroad (F2726, 1 May 2026).

The family reunification route, step by step

1. Conditions. Before you apply, check how long you have lived legally in France, your income and the floor area of your home: family reunification.
2. Application to OFII, online or by registered letter with proof of receipt (form cerfa 11436*05).
3. Town hall and prefect. The town hall gives its opinion, and the prefect decides within 6 months of the complete file being lodged with OFII. Silence from the prefect means a refusal, and you can appeal against it (F11166).
4. Visas. The family gets its visas at the consulate and enters France on them: visa for France.
5. After arrival the husband or wife validates the VLS-TS online (validating your VLS-TS), and the family has its OFII medical check.
6. Children and benefits: school and nursery, CAF and APL.

The spouse of a French citizen doesn’t need reunification: they have their own vie privée et familiale card, and the procedure is in the same guide, family reunification. Getting married or entering a PACS in France is covered in the guide marriage, PACS and divorce.

The main trap. Pick one way of applying. Sending the application both online and on paper only slows things down.

Route 5. Asylum and temporary protection

Ukrainians displaced from Ukraine on or after 24 February 2022 can get temporary protection. Council decision 2026/1912 of 30 July 2026 extended it to 4 March 2028, and the new period applies from 5 March 2027. The APS issued under it gives the right to work (F299, F2728). More in the guide for Ukrainians in France.

Asylum (refugee status or subsidiary protection) is decided by OFPRA; it is a separate procedure, not a way to “move for the sake of moving”. Details are in the guide Asylum and refugee status.

The temporary protection route, step by step

1. Request the APS at the préfecture where you live, by appointment or online, whichever your préfecture asks for. New applicants confirm that they are in order with their military obligations to Ukraine. How the préfectures of the South handle it is in the guide temporary protection.
2. Health cover. PUMa and free CSS apply from your arrival; the préfecture usually passes your details to the CPAM itself (ameli): sécu and Carte Vitale.
3. OFII and ADA. After your first APS you can ask OFII for the ADA allowance, if you have accepted the reception conditions and your income is below the RSA level.
4. Bank, housing, CAF: bank account, HLM social housing, CAF and APL.
5. Children go to school under the general rules: school and nursery.
6. Renew the APS in the window your préfecture sets. The first APS and the first renewal are free; from the second renewal there is a €100 stamp duty (since 1 May 2026, A18881).
7. Change of status. At renewal the préfecture considers whether it can issue a residence card instead (salarié, talent, étudiant and others): types of residence permit.

The main trap. If you leave for Ukraine for a long time, tell the préfecture: you are taken off the register, and on your return the protection is granted afresh, this time with the military-obligations condition.

Route 6. Business

The talent card has categories for company founders. “Porteur de projet” - setting up a company: a master’s-level degree or 5 years of experience, resources of at least the SMIC (€22,404.20 gross a year) and project funding from €30,000. “Investissement économique” - an investment of €300,000 or more in fixed assets in France (F16922, 1 June 2026). For a micro-entrepreneur and a liberal profession there is the separate “entrepreneur/profession libérale” card (see above).

The business route, step by step

1. The card. “Entrepreneur/profession libérale” is for a business of your own or a micro-enterprise; talent is for a company founder or an investor. The cards side by side: types of residence permit.
2. D visa at the consulate of the country where you live: visa for France.
3. Register the micro-enterprise online on the guichet des formalités, free in most cases: micro-entreprise in France.
4. ACRE. The relief isn’t granted automatically: apply to Urssaf no later than 60 days after you start trading (F11677).
5. Bank and taxes: bank account, taxes in France.
6. Renewal of the entrepreneur card is at the préfecture, not on ANEF; the filing deadlines are in the guide Titre de séjour.

The main trap. Registration with the guichet unique is listed among the conditions for the entrepreneur card, but the service-public page doesn’t say in what order to get the card and register the business (F35795). Ask your département’s préfecture before you apply, not after a refusal.

With a child: the route step by step

A child follows the parents’ route; once you are here, school, health cover and CAF join the common steps.

1. The child’s visa follows the parents’ basis. Under family reunification, children enter on a visa marked “regroupement familial”: family reunification.
2. Town hall first, then the school head. School is compulsory in France for every child aged 3 to 16, whatever their nationality (F1864). First you register at the town hall (mairie), then with the school head, bringing the town hall’s certificate and a vaccination record: school and nursery.
3. No French yet. At primary school the child is assessed first and placed in a normal class or in UPE2A; for collège and lycée the assessment goes through CASNAV.
4. Vaccinations. Show the vaccination records to a doctor in France before you see the school head: the official pages don’t explain how vaccinations given under your national schedule are counted.
5. Health cover. A family member joining an insured person applies to the CPAM with no waiting period. For the permanent number you need a multilingual birth certificate or a sworn translation: sécu and Carte Vitale, apostille and sworn translation.
6. CAF. Family allowances and help with crèche and childminder costs come with their own conditions for foreigners: CAF and APL.

The main trap. Town halls ask for more documents than the law requires. Montpellier, for instance, does not accept an attestation d’hébergement from a third party, nor leases and rent receipts from private individuals. If you are staying with friends, find out your town hall’s list before you go.

For pensioners: the route step by step

The retraité card is not for newcomers: it is for people who used to live in France on a resident card, now live abroad and receive a French basic pension (F2710). For a pensioner without that history, visiteur (route 3) is the closer fit: that is our own conclusion from the conditions of the two cards, so confirm it with the préfecture.

1. Visiteur card. Resources at the route 3 threshold, health insurance for the whole stay, no right to work: types of residence permit.
2. D visa and validation: visa for France, validating your VLS-TS.
3. Your pension from home. A French pension doesn’t count years worked in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus or Kazakhstan. The pension for those years is awarded by that country under its own rules, and some countries don’t pay it to people who live outside them: pension in France.
4. A bank account for spending here: bank account.
5. PUMa. Without a job, after a waiting period; until then your own policy covers you: sécu and Carte Vitale.
6. Renew the visiteur card on ANEF, in the window given under route 3: Titre de séjour.

The main trap. Don’t count on a French top-up to a small pension in your first years. A foreigner from outside the EEA and Switzerland is entitled to the ASPA, among other conditions, after 10 years in a row on a residence permit that allows work (F16871), and the visiteur card does not allow work.

If you are an EU citizen

For a citizen of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, neither a visa nor a titre de séjour is needed: for up to 3 months a passport or ID card is enough, and for longer you need work, study or sufficient means with health insurance; a refusal is possible, because this freedom is “not completely free” (F13512, F2651). A residence card is optional for a European and free, and you apply for it through ANEF. PUMa health cover: with a job, immediately once the application is accepted; without one, after 3 months (F34308). You become a tax resident under any one of four criteria, for example if you live here 183 days or more in a year or your family is in France (F62). Do not forget your home country either: Germans, Italians and Spaniards have formalities of their own to complete at home when they leave (Abmeldung, AIRE, registration with the consulate). The United Kingdom is not on the list. All the steps, non-EU family and the figures are on the page moving to France as an EU citizen.

Common steps for everyone

Whatever the route, the logic is the same:

1. Visa. The short-stay Schengen visa (type C) allows no more than 90 days in any 180 and you can’t settle on it; the fee is €90 for adults and €45 for children aged 6 to 11 (European Commission). To live here longer than 3 months you need a long-stay visa (type D), most often a VLS-TS for 4 to 12 months, which itself serves as a residence permit. You apply at the consulate of the country where you live, no earlier than 3 months before you leave (F16162).
2. Validate the VLS-TS online on the ANEF website (administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr) within 3 months of arrival. The tax on validation since 1 May 2026 is €300, or €100 at the reduced rate (students, seasonal workers, family reunification, the “job search or setting up a business” card and others). More: validating your VLS-TS.
3. Paperwork on the ground: titre de séjour, health insurance (sécu), a bank, housing. Step by step: Your first 30 days and Titre de séjour.

Mandatory payments

The rest - sworn translations of documents (the order with the apostille is in the guide Apostille, sworn translation and diploma for France 2026), a first rental with a deposit, health insurance - is up to you. Check amounts on service-public.gouv.fr and france-visas.gouv.fr: here they are given as in the editions of October 2026.

How this ties in with citizenship

Naturalisation by decree comes after 5 years of living in France; 2 years if you earned a French university degree after 2 years of study there, have rendered (or can render) France important services, or have followed an exceptional path of integration (F2213, 16 July 2026). Citizenship by marriage is under route 4. Since 1 January 2026 French at B2 or above is required for citizenship, and for naturalisation by decree a civics exam as well. All the conditions are in the guide to French citizenship.

Which route suits you is a good question for our chat: someone there may have gone through it recently.

The “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram - moving and life in the South of France

See also:

• Visa for France
• Working in France as a Russian-speaker
• Life in France: pros, cons, honest reviews
• Moving: paperwork step by step