Self-Employed Visa in France

A self-employed visa in France, also searched for as a France freelance visa, freelancer visa, entrepreneur visa or startup visa, is the long-stay visa and then the residence permit that let a non-EU national live in France and work for themselves. Its French name is the visa long séjour and carte de séjour « entrepreneur / profession libérale », for shopkeepers, craftspeople, consultants and members of the liberal professions. Founders of an innovative company or of a project backed by an investment use the talent card for project holders (carte talent – porteur de projet), which replaced several categories of the former passeport talent. A business visa in the usual sense is a short Schengen visa for meetings and does not allow anyone to settle and work in France. The categories were reorganised recently and may change again, so a lawyer confirms the conditions in force.

Who uses it

Freelancers and consultants with clients in France or abroad, people opening a shop, a restaurant or a trade business, independent professionals such as translators or designers, start-up founders, and people already in France on another permit who want to switch to self-employment.

How it works in France

• The project is described in a file: the activity, a business plan or client contracts, the expected income, qualifications and, for a regulated activity, the required licence or registration.
• From abroad, the long-stay visa is requested at the French consulate, and the viability of the activity and the income it should produce are assessed.
• After arrival the visa is validated online; later permits are requested from the préfecture through the ANEF online platform.
• The business is registered on the single online portal for business formalities, often under the micro-entrepreneur regime or as a company, with social contributions paid to the URSSAF.

What to watch for

• The activity has to be real and to earn enough to live on; at renewal, the authorities look at what the business actually earned.
• Regulated professions, for example in health, law, building or food, need a recognised diploma or an authorisation before starting.
• Working mainly for a single French client can look like disguised employment and lead to questions.
• Moving from a student or employee permit to self-employment is a change of status with its own file.

What a lawyer does

A lawyer compares the self-employed permit with the talent card and other options, reviews the business plan and the evidence of income, prepares the consular or prefecture file, and coordinates the registration of the company or sole trade (business set-up, business licence application) and the client contracts (contract review).

Questions and answers

Is there a freelance visa in France?

Not under that name. Freelancers use the entrepreneur / profession libérale visa and permit; people employed by a foreign company and working remotely, or founders, follow other routes.

How is it different from a work visa?

A work visa is for employees of a French employer, which first obtains a work authorisation; the self-employed permit is for people running their own activity.

Is there a startup visa in France?

Founders of an innovative project apply for the talent card for project holders, which has its own conditions, including recognition of the project by an approved body; the French Tech Visa label is linked to this talent route.

Can my family come with me?

Yes, under conditions: talent card holders have a simpler family procedure, while other permit holders usually go through family reunification.