France · Residency by investment
Talent — Economic Investor (Talent – Investisseur économique)
Open. This is the closest thing France has to an investor visa, but it is explicitly not a Golden Visa. Purely financial investments do not qualify. Job creation is a condition.
At EUR 300k with job creation, this is cheaper than a Portuguese Golden Visa fund and leads to citizenship in five years rather than ten. It demands real operating substance, and that is exactly why it has survived politically while Spain's and Portugal's routes were killed or gutted. The 30% shareholding threshold makes it workable for a family office deploying into a French operating business.
Qualifying routes
You need at least EUR 300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assets. The investment can be made personally, through a company you manage, or through a company in which you hold at least 30%. Qualifying forms include share capital contributions, reinvested profits and intra-group loans.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- €300k
- Total landed cost
- EUR 300k of genuine investment, plus a EUR 99 visa fee, a EUR 150–350 permit fee and a EUR 25 stamp duty per person from 1 May 2026, plus EUR 20–60k in legal, tax and corporate structuring costs.
- Route type
- Residency by investment
- Timeline
- 3–9 months (You can file consular applications up to 3 months before arrival. Ministry of the Economy pre-approval adds more time.)
- Physical presence
- Substantive. You are expected to be economically present in France.
- Family
- Your spouse and minor children get accompanying family status with work rights, matching the main applicant's 4-year permit
- Permanent residency
- A 10-year resident card becomes available after 5 years of continuous residence.
- Citizenship
- 5 years of habitual residence, plus B1 French, an assimilation interview and a civics test.
- Language test
- B1 French, plus an assimilation interview.
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- non-EU/EEA/Swiss national (Algerian nationals follow the separate Franco-Algerian agreement)invest at least EUR 300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assetsinvest personally, via a managed company, or via a company in which you hold at least 30%create or safeguard jobs within four years of the investmenta viable project plana clean criminal record, plus accommodation and resources
- Purely financial investments do not qualify. No bonds, no listed securities, no fund subscriptions, no residential property purchase. This is the distinction that disqualifies most Golden Visa buyers.
- Job creation or preservation within four years of the investment is a condition of the status, not an aspiration. Failure puts renewal at risk.
- Ministry of the Economy pre-approval is reported to apply since 2025. Confirm the current administrative pathway with counsel before committing capital, since this detail is not clearly stated on the official Business France page.
- French inheritance tax at up to 45% in the direct line applies to French tax residents on worldwide assets after a relatively short period of residence. For a family with EUR 50m+, this dwarfs every other consideration. It is the reason most UHNW families choose Portugal or Andorra over France.
- Exit tax under Article 167 bis is triggered on departure with securities above EUR 800k or a 50% shareholding, if French resident for 6 of the preceding 10 years.
- The permit runs for a maximum of four years and is renewable only if the conditions remain satisfied. The investment cannot be unwound early.