France

France never sold residency, so it had nothing to abolish when Spain and Portugal cut theirs. The closest route is the Talent, Economic Investor permit, which requires at least EUR 300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assets. That investment must be made personally, through a company you manage, or through a company in which you hold at least 30%. This is explicitly not a golden visa. Purely financial investments, such as bonds, listed securities, fund subscriptions or residential property, do not qualify. Creating or preserving jobs within four years is a condition of keeping the status, not an aspiration. That job-creation and substance requirement is exactly why the route survived politically while Spain's and Portugal's were killed.

France naturalises after five years of habitual residence, reduced to two years for graduates of French higher education, with no investment requirement. That is now faster than a Portuguese Golden Visa's ten-year clock. The barriers are real. You must reach B1 French in both oral and written form, pass an assimilation interview, and show knowledge of French history, culture and society. This is not an A2 test. For a family genuinely willing to live in France and learn the language, the Talent permit plus five years is a credible G7-passport route.

Only on real estate. The IFI applies to net French and worldwide property above EUR 1.3m at 0.5% to 1.5%, but there is no tax at all on securities, cash or business assets. That makes France quietly well-structured for a family whose wealth sits in a securities portfolio rather than property. The impatriate regime narrows it further by excluding foreign real estate from the IFI base for the first five years of residence.

The impatriate regime under Article 155 B CGI exempts the impatriation bonus. It also exempts the portion of pay for duties performed abroad, subject to caps, and exempts half of certain foreign passive income where the paying state has an administrative-assistance treaty with France. Duties taken up in 2026 shelter income through 31 December 2034. Here is the trap. The income exemptions run eight years, but the IFI exclusion on foreign real estate runs only five. A family with a large foreign property portfolio walks straight into full French IFI in year six, often while still believing it is inside the regime. You also must not have been French tax resident in the five complete calendar years before taking up duties. Miss that condition, and the regime is permanently lost.

Yes. French tax residents are taxed on worldwide income. The top income rate is 45%, plus the 3–4% exceptional contribution on high earners above EUR 250k/500k, and there is a minimum 20% effective floor for very high earners. Investment income is taxed at the 30% flat tax, known as the PFU, though social levies rose in 2026, pushing the effective rate above the familiar 30%. France also applies CFC rules under Articles 209 B and 123 bis. This is comprehensive, expensive tax residency. It is not a light-touch arrangement.

Yes, and this is one of the route's best features. On both the Talent permit and the Talent: Economic Investor permit, a spouse and minor children receive accompanying famille status, with full work rights. It matches the main applicant's permit duration. That is unusually generous by European standards, where accompanying spouses are often restricted. The impatriate tax regime works differently. It applies individually, so a spouse must qualify on their own employment to benefit.

Under Article 167 bis CGI, moving your tax residence out of France triggers a deemed sale of unrealised gains if you hold a securities portfolio above EUR 800,000, or at least 50% of a company's profits, and you were a French resident for at least six of the ten preceding years. The effective rate runs roughly 30–31.4% after the 2026 social-levy increase. That means a EUR 10m latent gain implies a notional charge over EUR 3m. Payment deferral is automatic for moves within the EU/EEA and to states with a recovery convention. The charge disappears after two years of continued holding below about EUR 2.57m, or five years at or above that level. A move to the UAE, Monaco or most of Asia is different. It may require a guarantee and actual payment. This is why France needs to be modeled as a decade-long commitment, not a five-year stop.

It is the sleeper issue, and far more punitive than Portugal or Spain. French inheritance tax reaches 45% in the direct line after only a EUR 100k per-child allowance. Between unrelated persons it reaches 60%. France also taxes worldwide assets on residents who have been resident for six of the last ten years. Neither the Talent permit nor the impatriate regime shelters you from it. For a family with EUR 50m or more, this dwarfs every other consideration. It is the main reason many UHNW families choose Portugal or Andorra over France, despite France's securities-friendly wealth tax.