Family Reunification in France 2026: Rules and Process

We at “Vibe South of France” went through the family reunification procedure using the service-public cards (as of 1 June 2026) and the Constitutional Council decision, and checked it all on 19 October 2026. Below: who can apply, what income and how many square metres of housing you need, how the application runs and what the family receives. If you have a question about your own case, you can ask it in the “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram.

In brief, as of October 2026

• Who applies. A foreign national who has lived in France lawfully for at least 18 months and holds a permit valid for at least a year. The passeport talent (talent card), retraité (retiree card) and saisonnier (seasonal worker card) permits are excluded; Algerian nationals have their own period, 12 months.
• Who can come. A spouse aged 18 or over in a lawful marriage, and children under 18. Parents are not part of the procedure.
• Income. On average over 12 months, at least the gross SMIC: €1,867.02 a month for a family of 2-3 people.
• Housing. From 22 to 28 m² for a couple without children (you and your spouse) or for two people, depending on the zone; 10 m² more for each further person.
• Cost. €150 is the amount service-public gives for the family (whether per person or for all together the card does not say); +€300 if the family member entered without a long-stay visa.
• Timing. The mairie answers within 2 months, the prefect within 6 months of the complete file being filed.

Who can apply

The first condition is length of residence. You must have lived in France lawfully for at least 18 months: “Vous devez également résider depuis 18 mois au moins en France” (service-public, F11166). Time on a card is not the only thing that counts: the 18 months include time on a long-stay visa, an APS (autorisation provisoire de séjour), a récépissé (a receipt for an application) and an asylum seeker’s attestation. The 24-month rule from the immigration law adopted in December 2023 does not apply (more on that below).

The second condition is the permit you hold on the day of the application. These qualify:

• a temporary card valid for at least a year;
• a multi-year card;
• a 10-year resident card;
• a récépissé renewing one of these permits.

Some permits do not qualify. The service-public news item of 27 August 2024 clarifies that the permit must be valid for a year or more and must not be marked “passeport talent” (talent card), “retraité” (retiree card) or “saisonnier” (seasonal worker card). If you hold a talent card, your family comes under its own procedure, described separately below.

Algerian nationals need only one year of residence and a certificat de résidence valid for at least a year: they have their own arrangements.

Who can be brought

• A spouse aged 18 or over, to whom you are lawfully married.
• Children under 18.

Parents and other ascendants are outside the procedure: “La procédure de regroupement familial ne s’applique pas à vos ascendants”. A second wife in a polygamous marriage cannot be brought. Parents can come under another status, for example visiteur, if they have enough means of their own; the figures and conditions are in our guide to the titre de séjour.

Civil status records (marriage certificate, children’s birth certificates) go into the file as a separate block. How translation and the apostille work for documents from CIS countries is covered in the guide Apostille, sworn translation and diploma for France.

How much you need to earn

What counts is your average income over the 12 months before you apply, measured against the gross SMIC (the statutory minimum wage). After the SMIC rise under the order of 22 May 2026, its monthly amount on service-public is €1,867.02. Thresholds by family size (card F11166, checked on 1 June 2026). The card gives the family size in the words “la taille de votre famille”: “2 ou 3 personnes”, “4 ou 5 personnes”, “6 personnes ou plus”. Whether the applicant counts towards that number, the income section does not say, so the table repeats its wording and not our reading. If your case is on the border between thresholds (three and four people, five and six), check with the service-public simulator or at the prefecture.

Not counted as income: family allowances, RSA, ASPA, ATA, ASS and AER. If you receive AAH or ASI, there is no income condition at all.

The thresholds are tied to the SMIC, so every time it rises, the figures in the table rise with it. Check them against the service-public card before you apply. For what €1,867.02 gross comes to after contributions and how it compares with the average salary, see the guide Salaries in France. If your income is not yet enough and you are looking for work, see the guide Working in France.

What kind of housing you need

The home must reach a minimum floor area, which depends on the zone of your commune. Here the card counts people directly: the minimum is set “pour un couple sans enfant ou 2 personnes”, that is, for a couple without children (you and your spouse) or for two people in all. For two it is 22 m² in zones A bis and A, 24 m² in zones B1 and B2, 28 m² in zone C. For each further family member add 10 m², up to eight people in all, then 5 m² each. The table works this out for sizes from two to six people (rows 3 to 6 are our arithmetic on the service-public rule, with the number of people counted including you):

The zone of your commune is shown by the simulator “Connaître la zone de sa commune” on the reunification page. The mairie checks the home, and specially authorised officers may come to see the flat. Renting or buying, and which documents a tenant is asked for - see the guide Renting in France.

How the application runs

Before starting, you can run the simulator “Vérifier si vous pouvez bénéficier du regroupement familial” on the service-public page. After that the steps are these.

1. Filing with OFII. The application goes in online through the service “Demande de regroupement familial”, or by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (form cerfa 11436*05). Pick one route: sending both online and on paper only slows the examination down.
2. Documents. Service-public divides the file into five parts: the residence permit, civil status records, a covering letter, proof of income and proof of housing.
3. The mairie. It checks income and housing and gives its opinion within two months. If the mairie says nothing, the opinion counts as favourable.
4. The prefect. The prefect decides within 6 months of the complete file being filed with OFII. An explicit refusal must give reasons. If there is no reply after 6 months, that is a tacit refusal, and it can be appealed.
5. Visas. After a positive decision the family receives visas and must enter France within 3 months.
6. Arrival. The family has a medical check-up at OFII; in some countries it is done before departure.

Allow some slack: the prefect’s six months run from the filing of the complete file, and after the visas are issued there are only three months to enter. It is better to buy tickets once the visas are in hand.

What it costs

Tax stamps (timbres fiscaux) are bought on the tax authority’s website or at a tabac. How many stamps your family needs, ask the prefecture before paying. In the rates we covered in the guide OFII: visa validation, family reunification is among the grounds for the reduced rate of the validation tax; for the exact amount in your case, see that guide and the page of the service itself.

What the family receives

The spouse enters on a VLS-TS visa and validates it online within the first three months: how that is done is described in the guide OFII: visa validation, and the types of visa themselves are in the guide Visas for France. After a year in France the spouse must request a “vie privée et familiale” card for one year.

Children under 18 enter on a visa marked “regroupement familial” and do not need a residence permit.

The republican integration contract (CIR). It is signed by the spouse and by children over 16.

French and the exam. There is no language condition at the start: the reunification page lists no test before entry. Later, to exchange the one-year card for a multi-year one, French at A2 or above and a passed civic exam are needed, unless you are over 65 (service-public F2209, 1 May 2026). For the route “VLS-TS -> multi-year card” card F2209 states no language condition. Which levels and exams are needed for a residence permit and citizenship is in the guide French for a residence permit and citizenship, and the kinds of card and the cost of renewal are in the guide Titre de séjour.

The procedure above describes “other countries” in service-public’s terms, and that includes the former Soviet republics. For nationals of Morocco, Tunisia and several African countries the family member receives the same permit as the applicant, and for Algerians the first certificat de résidence is free.

Other routes for a family

The spouse of a French citizen. Reunification is not needed. If the spouse arrived on a VLS-TS, the multi-year “vie privée et familiale” card is requested in the second year. If you entered on a short-stay visa, you need a marriage in France and 6 months of living together, and the card is then issued for a year. The fee is €350 (€50 stamp duty and €300 tax), and the application is filed online no earlier than 4 and no later than 2 months before the visa or permit ends.

A talent holder. There is no reunification procedure for them. The “famille accompagnante” is the spouse and minor children, who receive a long-stay visa at a French consulate. The spouse receives a “talent-famille” card for the remaining term of your talent card. It costs €350 (€50 + €300) and carries the right to work. A child needs a card from the age of 18, or from 16 if they want to work.

A family already in France. As an exception, reunification is possible on the spot, but only if the marriage was concluded in France.

The immigration law adopted in December 2023: what was struck down and does not apply

These tightenings do not apply. On 25 January 2024 the Constitutional Council (decision 2023-863 DC) struck down articles 3, 4 and 5 of the immigration law, which introduced new conditions for reunification. The ground was procedural: those articles had no link to the original bill. The Council did not rule on whether the measures themselves were constitutional, and they never took effect.

Not in force (as in the final text the National Assembly adopted on 19 December 2023, text no. 220):

• 24 months of residence in France instead of 18;
• a minimum age of 21 for spouses;
• health insurance;
• basic French before entry;
• a mayor’s silence counting as a negative opinion.

In force, according to service-public as of 1 June 2026: 18 months of residence in France; a spouse need only be 18; a mayor’s silence after two months counts as a favourable opinion; the card names no language test before entry.

Temporary protection and reunification

We found no official text on family reunification for holders of temporary protection. The F299 card on family does not cover reunification. The ordinary procedure requires a permit valid for at least a year, and the APS is not one of those permits, although time on an APS does count towards the 18 months. We won’t say flatly that it is not possible: for your own situation, ask the prefecture. The protection itself is set out in the guide Temporary protection in France.

What we have in the chat

We have no chat data on family reunification, and we won’t invent “prefecture experience”. But the community has over 700 members, and someone may well have been through the chain “mairie - prefecture - visas” in their own département. Ask: a first-hand account complements the reference material, it does not replace it.

If you are gathering documents for reunification, or only working out whether you can apply, ask in our chat how it went for others in the south of France.

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

See Also

• Moving to the South of France: paperwork step by step
• Titre de séjour: residence permit in France
• OFII: validating a VLS-TS visa
• A visa for France: Schengen, type D and VLS-TS
• Renting in France
• Working in France
• Salaries in France: SMIC, net pay, regional averages
• French for a residence permit and citizenship: levels and exam
• Temporary protection in France
• Apostille, sworn translation and diploma for France
• Marriage, PACS and divorce in France for foreigners 2026