France

France pairs world ranked public universities with some of the lowest tuition fees in the developed world for international students, and gives graduates a full year to turn a French degree into a job. The catch is French itself: admissions, administration and most workplaces run in French, and the funds and paperwork tests are applied strictly.

France is one of the world’s top study destinations and one of Europe’s largest economies, and for students it is genuinely open. If your country runs the Etudes en France procedure, and that list covers Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana and many more countries across Asia and Africa, you apply for admission and prepare your visa through one official platform, pay public university fees that are a fraction of UK or US prices, work part time while you study, and stay on for a year after graduating to find a job at your level.

The work routes are real but salary gated. The EU Blue Card needs pay of at least EUR 59,373 a year. The Talent card for qualified employees needs EUR 39,582 a year and, on its main track, a master’s level diploma obtained in France, which is exactly why the study route matters so much in France: a French degree unlocks doors that

Admissions status, 22 October 2026: Campus France Pakistan’s 2026-2027 application campaign is open now and closes on 18 November 2026. The application fee is PKR 30,000. University results arrive by 30 April 2027, with the final programme choice due by 31 May 2027, and the first-year Bachelor (DAP) window runs to 15 December 2026. Pakistan is an Etudes en France country, so if you are applying from Pakistan this is your live window: build your file on the platform now instead of waiting for the deadline.

Quick facts: France at a glance

• Student proof of funds: EUR 877.50 per month, set at 47 percent of the gross monthly minimum wage, for student visa applications filed from 1 August 2026. That is about EUR 10,530 for a 12 month year. The old EUR 615 figure you will still see in older guides is out of date.
• Public tuition for non-EU students (2026-2027): EUR 2,902 a year for a Bachelor’s (licence), EUR 3,950 a year for a Master’s, EUR 398 a year for a Doctorate, under the differentiated fees system. Many students are exempt or receive waivers, explained below.
• Students can work: up to 964 hours a year, about 20 hours a week, at no less than the minimum wage.
• After graduation: the job search and business creation card (known as the APS) lasts 1 year and is not renewable. On it you may work as an employee, with no separate work permit, in a job linked to your studies and paid above EUR 2,800.53 gross per month.
• Minimum wage (SMIC): EUR 12.31 gross per hour and EUR 1,867.02 gross per month from 1 June 2026.
• Skilled work thresholds: EU Blue Card EUR 59,373 gross a year; Talent card, qualified employee EUR 39,582 gross a year.
• Settlement: the EU long term residence card is available after 5 years of legal residence and requires French at B1 level. Years spent on a student title count at half rate towards that card.

Why France: in plain terms

Public tuition that undercuts almost everyone

Even after the differentiated fees introduced for non-EU students, a year at a French public university costs EUR 2,902 at Bachelor’s level or EUR 3,950 at Master’s level. A doctorate costs EUR 398 a year. Compare that with the United Kingdom, the United States or Australia and the gap is enormous, and France adds a free rent guarantee scheme for students, subsidised student housing and restaurants, and free registration with the public health system for non-EU students under 28.

One structured door for admissions

The Etudes en France platform handles applications for students from 75 countries and territories, including Pakistan and most of NVConsult’s audience. You build one file, Campus France checks it and interviews you, and the same file supports your visa application. It is paperwork heavy, but it is a single, published, predictable process rather than a different maze for every university.

Study connects properly to work

Students may work 964 hours a year. Graduates get a one year post-study card, and the switches out of it are salary based and free of the labour market test once you clear the relevant pay level. A French master’s also unlocks the Talent card for qualified employees at EUR 39,582 a year, well below the Blue Card threshold. Few countries join the study and work pieces together this deliberately.

A big, diversified economy

France hires across aerospace, technology, pharmaceuticals, energy, finance, luxury goods, tourism and research, and its research institutions run a dedicated Talent track for researchers with a hosting agreement. Paris is the centre of gravity, but Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Grenoble are real job markets at lower cost.

Settlement is defined from the start

Five years of legal residence leads to the EU long term residence card, valid for 10 years. Talent card holders can bring their spouse and children under a simplified family procedure. There are no points lotteries and no caps on the main student and Talent routes.

What it costs to live (indicative)

Item (per month unless stated)	Paris	Lyon
1 bedroom flat, city centre	EUR 1,387	EUR 797
1 bedroom flat, outside centre	EUR 1,078	EUR 601
Basic utilities, 85 m2 flat	EUR 221	EUR 237
Monthly public transport pass	EUR 91	EUR 74
Groceries, one person cooking at home (estimate)	EUR 250 to 350	EUR 250 to 350

Most students start in a Crous student residence, a room in a shared flat, or a small studio outside the centre. Paris rents vary sharply by district and move quickly. Outside Paris, the same budget goes much further: Lyon’s centre costs little more than half of Paris’s.

Warning: never pay rent or deposits to unverified private adverts, and never pay for a flat you have not seen through a landlord or agency you cannot verify. Housing scams target newcomers, and a cheap central flat offered in exchange for an advance transfer is a standard fraud pattern.

Figures are indicative only, from Numbeo city data checked in October 2026 (Paris data updated 21 October 2026, Lyon data updated 20 October 2026). Treat them as planning figures, not quotes.

Routes in: your realistic options

Study in France: the main door

This is France’s most open route, and the one this page treats in most depth. You must be over 18, be accepted by a French higher education institution, and show the funds described below. How you apply for admission depends on your country.

The Etudes en France procedure. If you live in one of the 75 countries and territories covered by the procedure, which include Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, China, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, you apply through the official Etudes en France platform run with Campus France. You create one online file covering your course choices, your documents and your motivation, Campus France reviews the file and interviews you, and once you are accepted, the same procedure feeds your visa application on France-Visas. A procedure fee applies and is set per country. The student visa fee itself is EUR 50 for applicants from Etudes en France countries, against EUR 99 elsewhere. For a first year Bachelor’s (the DAP, demande d’admission préalable), applications generally run from early October to mid December for the following academic year; other levels and the exact calendar for your country are published by your local Campus France office, so check them before you plan around a date. Doctoral enrolment is not handled by the platform: for a PhD you contact the doctoral school directly.

Tuition: the differentiated fees. Students from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland who enrol at a public institution under the Ministry of Higher Education pay differentiated fees. For 2026-2027 they are EUR 2,902 a year for a Bachelor’s (licence), EUR 3,950 a year for a Master’s, and EUR 398 a year for a Doctorate. Doctoral programmes are not subject to differentiated fees, which is why the doctorate rate matches the standard rate. Students who pay the EU rate instead include EU, EEA and Swiss nationals, residents of Quebec, holders of a long term resident card or a resident card marked private and family life, students attached to a French tax household for more than two years, refugees and holders of subsidiary protection and their children, and students in preparatory classes (CPGE) who are also enrolled in a Bachelor’s. French government scholarship holders are fully exempt, and institutions may grant full or partial waivers on request based on your individual situation; a decree of 19 May 2026 changed the waiver rules, with protection for students already waivered for 2025-2026 or 2026-2027 until the end of their current degree cycle at the same institution. On top of tuition, every student in initial training pays the student and campus life contribution (CVEC), EUR 105 for 2026-2027; scholarship holders are exempt but must still complete the online step to obtain their certificate. Private institutions and business schools set their own fees, and France-Visas notes that some charge over EUR 10,000 a year.

Proof of funds. For applications filed from 1 August 2026, a student visa applicant must show resources of at least EUR 877.50 per month of study, about EUR 10,530 for a full year. The rule, set by decree in June 2026, fixes the amount at 47 percent of the gross monthly minimum wage (SMIC), so it moves when the minimum wage moves. You can evidence it through your own funds, a scholarship, or a sponsor who formally undertakes to support you. One exception exists: students who have passed the entrance examination of an institution that has signed a convention with the State are not subject to this resources condition. Older guides quote EUR 615 per month; that figure was replaced in 2026, and a file built on it will fail.

The visa and arrival. For a course of more than 3 months you receive a long stay visa that acts as a residence permit (VLS-TS) marked student, valid for 4 months to 1 year. You validate it online within 3 months of arrival, register free of charge with the French social security system (compulsory for non-European students under 28, via the student health insurance site), and renew your status for each further year of study. For your visa file you need an address, which can be a provisional address covering your first 3 months if you have not yet secured housing.

Work rights while studying. A student title lets you work as an employee for up to 964 hours a year, which is 60 percent of the normal annual working time and works out at roughly 20 hours a week. Your pay cannot be below the SMIC, EUR 12.31 gross per hour from 1 June 2026, and your employer must declare your hiring to the prefecture. France-Visas itself warns that part time work is a top up only: it cannot cover the whole cost of your stay, and the funds test at visa stage assumes it does not have to. Separately, the student title gives you access to the VISALE scheme, a free rent guarantee run for students, which solves the guarantor problem that blocks many newcomers from renting.

Who it fits: students who can fund a recognised degree in France, especially a Master’s, and who want the post-study year and the Talent card that a French degree unlocks.

Key requirement: admission through Etudes en France (or the applicable route for your country), proof of funds of at least EUR 877.50 per month, and payment of the differentiated tuition and the CVEC unless you are exempt or waivered.

Honest limitation: most Bachelor’s teaching is in French and each university sets its own language requirements; English taught programmes exist but are concentrated at Master’s level and in fee charging schools. The funds test is applied strictly, and unexplained lump sums in a bank account are a classic refusal reason.

After graduation: the job search card (APS)

France’s post-study route is the residence card or VLS-TS marked job search or business creation (recherche d’emploi, création d’entreprise), which replaced the old APS label in everyday use. It is for graduates of a French institution who hold a professional Bachelor’s (licence professionnelle), a diploma at least equivalent to a Master’s, a Mastère Spécialisé, or a Master of Science labelled by the Conférence des grandes écoles. Researchers who have completed their research under a hosting agreement can also qualify.

The card lasts 1 year and cannot be renewed. If you are still in France, you apply at the prefecture in the 2 months before your student card expires, and your diploma must have been obtained within the last 12 months; the card costs EUR 150 in France. If you left France after graduating, you can still apply from abroad within a maximum of 4 years of obtaining your diploma.

During that year you may work as an employee and your employer does not need a work authorisation, but only under two conditions: the job must be linked to your studies or research, and it must pay more than EUR 2,800.53 gross per month (1.5 times the SMIC). The student cap of 964 hours does not apply. When you land the right job, the exits are clean and the labour market test does not apply to you: a job linked to your training paid at least EUR 2,800.53 a month leads to the standard employee (salarié) card; pay of at least EUR 39,582 a year leads to the Talent card for qualified employees; at least EUR 41,386.48 a year leads to the Talent card for medical and pharmacy professions; and at least EUR 59,373 a year leads to the Talent EU Blue Card. If you create a business instead, you move to the entrepreneur card or the Talent project leader card below.

Who it fits: graduates of a French Master’s level programme who can target jobs at or above EUR 2,800.53 gross a month in their field.

Key requirement: a qualifying French diploma, an application made on time (before your student card expires, or within 4 years if you apply from abroad).

Honest limitation: the year does not renew, and work below the pay threshold or outside your field is not covered by the card’s work authorisation exemption. Treat the year as a countdown with a salary target, not as a grace period.

EU Blue Card (Talent card, European Blue Card)

France issues the EU Blue Card as one of its Talent cards. You need a diploma showing at least 3 years of higher education, or 5 years of professional experience of a comparable level relevant to the job; for certain professions fixed by ministerial order, 3 years of experience gained within the last 7 years is accepted instead. You need an employment contract of at least 6 months, and gross annual pay of at least 1.5 times the official reference average salary, which is EUR 59,373 for current applications.

The card follows your contract: a contract of 2 years or more gives a card for the contract length up to 4 years; a shorter contract gives the contract length plus 3 months, capped at 2 years. Your employer does not need a work authorisation and is exempt from the foreigner employment tax, and there is no labour market test. If you already hold an EU Blue Card from another EU country and have lived there at least 1 year (6 months for a second move), you can apply in France within a month of entering. Your spouse and minor children can join you under the simplified Talent family procedure.

Who it fits: senior specialists and managers with a genuine French offer at or above EUR 59,373 a year, especially in technology, engineering, finance and research driven industries.

Key requirement: a contract of at least 6 months at or above EUR 59,373 gross a year, backed by a degree of at least 3 years or the experience alternative.

Honest limitation: the threshold is roughly three times the minimum wage and well above the French median salary. Most ordinary offers do not clear it, and there is no reduced threshold for shortage occupations in France.

Talent card: qualified employee, innovative company, assignment, researcher

The Talent family is France’s skilled worker system, and its most useful card for NVConsult readers is the qualified employee card. It has three tracks, all with the same salary floor of EUR 39,582 gross a year:

• Qualified employee: you obtained a diploma in France at least equivalent to a Master’s (or a level 1 diploma labelled by the Conférence des grandes écoles), and you have an employment contract of more than 3 months paying at least EUR 39,582 a year. This is the card the study route is designed to feed.
• Employee of an innovative company: you are recruited by a young innovative company or a company recognised as innovative by the Ministry of the Economy, in a role directly linked to its research and development project, on a contract paying at least EUR 39,582 a year. No French diploma is required on this track.
• Employee on assignment: you are transferred within a group, with at least 3 months of seniority in the group, a French employment contract, and pay of at least EUR 39,582 a year.

Talent cards run for the length of the contract up to 4 years. The employer needs no work authorisation and pays no foreigner employment tax. A Talent card costs EUR 350 (EUR 50 stamp duty plus EUR 300 tax).

Researchers have their own Talent card. You need a degree at least equivalent to a Master’s, a research or university teaching post, and a hosting agreement (convention d’accueil) signed with an approved public or private research or higher education body; a minimum gross remuneration threshold of EUR 2,200 applies under the hosting agreement rules. The card is issued for up to 4 years, and researchers who finish their work in France can move onto the job search card described above.

Who it fits: graduates of French Master’s programmes, researchers with a hosting institution, and specialists hired by innovative companies or transferred by a multinational group.

Key requirement: on the main track, a French Master’s level diploma plus a contract above EUR 39,582 a year; on the researcher track, a signed hosting agreement.

Honest limitation: the headline qualified employee track is closed if your diploma is not French. Foreign graduates without a French degree must use the Blue Card, the innovative company track if it fits, the standard employee route, or study in France first.

The standard employee route (salarié)

This is the general work permit, and it belongs to the employer, not to you. Before you can start, your French employer applies online for a work authorisation for you. The administration checks the job, the employer and the pay. Pay cannot be below the SMIC (EUR 12.31 gross per hour, EUR 1,867.02 gross per month from 1 June 2026) or below the higher minimum set by the sector’s collective agreement, and the employer must be up to date with its social declarations.

The decisive test is the employment situation. In the general case the job must either appear on the official regional shortage list (the métiers en tension list, set by ministerial order), or the vacancy must have been published for 3 consecutive weeks within the 6 months before the application with the public employment service, with no suitable candidate found. If the authorisation is granted, you apply for your visa and then receive the salarié residence card, valid 1 year and renewable; fixed term contracts lead to the temporary worker card instead. A new authorisation is needed when you change employer or job.

Who it fits: workers with a committed French employer, in a shortage occupation or a role the employer can show it could not fill locally.

Key requirement: an employer willing to run the online work authorisation process and wait for the decision, plus a job that passes the employment situation test.

Honest limitation: most ordinary jobs fail the test or the timeline. Employers who have never hired from abroad often drop out mid process, and you cannot sponsor yourself. Anyone selling you a French work permit without a real employer and a real job is selling a scam.

Entrepreneurs and investors (Talent project leader)

France’s Talent card for project leaders covers three profiles. Company creation: a degree at least equivalent to a Master’s or 5 years of comparable professional experience, a real and serious business project in France, funding of at least EUR 30,000 invested in the project (your own money or borrowed money both count), and personal resources of at least the full time annual SMIC, EUR 22,404.20. If you apply from abroad, the Ministry of the Economy first gives an opinion on whether your project is real and serious. Innovative project: your project is recognised as innovative by the Ministry of the Economy, and you show resources of at least the SMIC; no fixed investment figure applies on this track. Direct economic investment: you invest at least EUR 300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assets in France, personally or through a company you direct or in which you hold at least 30 percent, and you create or safeguard jobs, or commit to doing so.

A related card covers company directors: the Talent corporate officer card is for the legal representative of a company established in France, with at least 3 months of seniority as an employee or officer in the same group, and pay of at least 3 times the SMIC, EUR 67,212.60 a year. Project leader and corporate officer cards run for up to 4 years, cost EUR 350, and carry the simplified Talent family procedure for your spouse and children. Below the Talent level, a standard entrepreneur and self employed card also exists; it turns on showing that your activity is economically viable and earns you a proper living, and it does not carry the Talent advantages.

Who it fits: founders with real funding and a defensible project, investors committing serious capital, and executives posted to run a French company.

Key requirement: EUR 30,000 of project funding plus SMIC level personal resources for company creation, or EUR 300,000 for the investor track, with the ministry’s opinion obtained before you apply from abroad.

Honest limitation: a paper project fails. The ministry tests whether the business is real and serious, the money must actually be committed, and ordinary freelancing for foreign clients does not meet this test.

Your journey, step by step

1. Fix your route and your language plan first. Decide honestly which door you are using: study, the post-study bridge into Talent, the Blue Card, the employer led employee route, or a founder route. Then be honest about French. If your plan needs a French taught degree or a French workplace, your language level is part of the application, not an afterthought.
2. For students: apply through Etudes en France. Build your file on the platform if your country is covered, watch the calendar (the first year Bachelor’s window generally runs from early October to mid December, and your country’s deadlines rule), pass the Campus France interview, and line up your proof of funds at EUR 877.50 per month and your first address. Private school and doctoral applicants follow their institution’s own process.
3. For workers: the offer and the employer come first. Every work route starts with a French employer or institution: a contract at the right salary for the Talent and Blue Card routes, a work authorisation filed online by the employer for the employee route, a hosting agreement for researchers. Do not travel to France on a visitor visa expecting to convert it; the applications run from your country of residence.
4. Get the visa, then validate on arrival. Students receive the VLS-TS and validate it online within 3 months, register with social security, and pay the CVEC before enrolment. Talent and employee route arrivals validate their visa or apply for their card within the deadline on their documents, then collect the card from the prefecture and pay the tax (EUR 350 for a Talent card, EUR 150 for the job search card).
5. Build towards year five. Renew on time, keep your residence continuous, and use the switches built into the system: student to job search card to salarié or Talent, Blue Card or Talent renewals, and French study or work throughout. After 5 years of legal residence you can apply for the EU long term residence card, which is valid for 10 years; you will need French at B1 level and to meet the integration conditions, and remember that years on a student title count at half rate towards this card.

Who this is NOT for

• Anyone planning to fund their studies from part time work. Students may work 964 hours a year, and France-Visas states plainly that this cannot cover the cost of a stay. The visa funds test of EUR 877.50 per month exists precisely because of this. If the money is not there before you apply, the route is not there either.
• Anyone relying on old figures. The EUR 615 per month student funds rule and the old EU Blue Card threshold of EUR 53,836.50 that older guides still quote are both out of date. Files built on them fail against the current EUR 877.50 and EUR 59,373 figures.
• Anyone expecting a work route below the salary gates. Below EUR 39,582 a year there is no Talent card, and below EUR 59,373 there is no Blue Card. Below those levels the only employee door is the employer led authorisation with its labour market test, and most ordinary jobs do not pass it.
• Anyone planning to arrive as a tourist and sort it out later. A visitor stay gives no right to work and does not convert into a work or study permit. Every route on this page is applied for from your country of residence, in that order.
• Anyone unwilling to learn French. Applications, prefectures, landlords and most employers operate in French. English taught Master’s programmes and international companies exist, but they are a narrow slice of the country, and long term residence requires B1 French in any case.
• Anyone who has been promised a guaranteed visa, admission or job for a fee. French visas and permits are decided by French authorities and institutions, never by agents. Guaranteed outcome offers aimed at newcomers are a well known scam pattern.

Frequently asked questions

Q: How much does it cost a non-EU student to study at a French public university in 2026-2027?

A: Under the differentiated fees, EUR 2,902 a year for a Bachelor’s, EUR 3,950 a year for a Master’s and EUR 398 a year for a Doctorate, plus the CVEC contribution of EUR 105 a year. You may pay less: several categories are exempt and pay the EU rate instead, including long term residents, refugees and protection holders, students attached to a French tax household for over two years and scholarship holders, and universities can grant waivers on request. Private institutions and business schools set their own fees, in some cases over EUR 10,000 a year.

Q: How much money do I need to show for a French student visa?

A: For applications filed from 1 August 2026, at least EUR 877.50 per month of study, about EUR 10,530 for a 12 month year. The amount is fixed at 47 percent of the gross monthly minimum wage by a decree of June 2026, replacing the old EUR 615 figure. Funds can be your own, a scholarship, or a sponsor’s formal undertaking. Students who passed the entrance examination of an institution that has signed a convention with the State are exempt from this resources condition.

Q: Can I work while I study in France?

A: Yes, up to 964 hours a year as an employee, which is 60 percent of the normal annual working time and roughly 20 hours a week alongside full time study. Your pay must be at least the minimum wage, EUR 12.31 gross per hour from 1 June 2026. Treat the income as a top up: it is not enough to live on, and the visa funds test assumes you have real resources behind you.

Q: What can I do after I graduate in France?

A: Apply for the job search and business creation card before your student card expires (or from abroad within 4 years of graduating). It lasts 1 year and is not renewable. On it you can work for any employer without a work authorisation, in a job linked to your studies and paid above EUR 2,800.53 gross per month. From there you switch to the salarié card at that pay level, to the Talent qualified employee card at EUR 39,582 a year, or to the EU Blue Card at EUR 59,373 a year, in each case without the labour market test.

Q: My degree is not French and I have no offer at EUR 59,373. What work routes do I actually have?

A: Realistically, three. First, the standard employee route: a French employer applies online for your work authorisation, and the job must be on the regional shortage list (métiers en tension) or have been advertised for 3 weeks with no suitable candidate found. Second, the innovative company track of the Talent card at EUR 39,582 a year, which does not require a French diploma. Third, the study route itself: a French Master’s converts into the job search card and then the Talent qualified employee card, which is why so many skilled workers enter France as students first.

Q: How long does it take to get long term residence in France?

A: The EU long term residence card opens after 5 years of legal and continuous residence, with stable and sufficient resources, health insurance, and French at B1 level plus the civic integration requirements. It is valid for 10 years and renewable, and the first issue costs EUR 350 (EUR 250 if you already hold a residence title). One catch for students: years spent on a student title count at half rate towards this card, so a two year Master’s followed by work does not put you as close to year five as it first appears.

Your next step

France is a realistic destination if you can fund a degree and use the post-study year properly, if your salary offer clears the Talent or Blue Card thresholds, or if a French employer will run the authorisation process for a shortage role. The expensive mistakes are building a visa file on the old EUR 615 funds figure, and paying an agent for a guaranteed admission or a work permit that no agent can issue. Both are avoidable with an honest check at the start.

NVConsult provides education and application guidance, not legal advice. No visa, job or outcome is guaranteed. Decisions rest solely with embassies, authorities and employers.

Sources

Official sources used for the legal figures in this pack:

• Campus France (French Ministry of Higher Education agency), tuition fees in France: differentiated fees for 2026-2027 (Bachelor’s EUR 2,902, Master’s EUR 3,950, Doctoral EUR 398), EU rate comparison, exemptions, institutional waivers and Decree No. 2026-385 of 19 May 2026
• Service-public.gouv.fr, student residence card page (fiche F2231, updated 1 August 2026): student resources of at least EUR 877.50 per month, with the exemption for students admitted by entrance examination to an institution holding a convention with the State
• Décret n° 2026-526 du 22 juin 2026 (Légifrance), amending article R. 422-2 of the CESEDA: student resources set at 47 percent of the gross monthly SMIC for applications filed from 1 August 2026. Confirmed in application by the Campus France student visa guidance and the service-public student page above.
• France-Visas (official visa portal), student page: countries covered by the Etudes en France procedure (including Pakistan), student visa fees of EUR 50 for procedure countries and EUR 99 for others, VLS-TS handling, student work of 964 hours a year, private school fees above EUR 10,000 a year in some cases, free social security registration for non-European students under 28
• Campus France, Etudes en France procedure and student visa guidance (campusfrance.org): the procedure covers 75 countries and territories including Pakistan, manages enrolment up to the visa request, and the VLS-TS student visa (4 months to 1 year, validation within 3 months, 964 hours of work a year, access to the VISALE rent guarantee).
• Service-public.gouv.fr, foreign student enrolment page: the Etudes en France country set and the DAP timing for first year Bachelor’s applicants (generally early October to mid December).
• Etudiant.gouv.fr (Ministry of Higher Education), CVEC pages: the student and campus life contribution is EUR 105 for 2026-2027, with exemption for scholarship holders and protected persons
• Service-public.gouv.fr, Talent card page (fiche F16922): qualified employee, innovative company and assignment tracks at EUR 39,582 a year; EU Blue Card; researcher card; project leader cards; corporate officer card (at least 3 times the SMIC, EUR 67,212.60 a year); Talent card cost of EUR 350; simplified Talent family procedure
• Service-public.gouv.fr, job search and business creation card page (fiche F17319): 1 year validity, no renewal, qualifying French diplomas, application in the 2 months before the student card expires with a diploma obtained within the last 12 months, or from abroad within 4 years of the diploma; work allowed in a job linked to the studies and paid above EUR 2,800.53 gross per month, with no work authorisation and no 964 hour cap; cost EUR 150 in France
• Service-public.gouv.fr, work authorisation for a foreign employee (fiche F2728): the employer applies online; in the general case the job must be on the métiers en tension list or have been published for 3 consecutive weeks within the 6 months before the application with no valid candidate; pay at least the SMIC or the higher collective agreement minimum; employer up to date with social declarations
• Service-public.gouv.fr, SMIC amounts: from 1 June 2026, EUR 12.31 gross per hour, EUR 1,867.02 gross per month, EUR 22,404.20 gross per year (from 1 January 2026: EUR 12.02 per hour and EUR 1,823.03 per month).
• Service-public.gouv.fr, EU long term residence card page (fiche F17359) and French language requirements page (fiche F34501): 5 years of legal residence, stable and sufficient resources, health insurance, B1 French and the civic examination for a first resident card, card valid 10 years, cost EUR 350 on first issue or EUR 250 if the applicant already holds a residence title

Market sources used only for the indicative cost of living table: Numbeo, prices by city for Paris and Lyon (rents, utilities, transport passes), checked October 2026.

Last verified: 22 October 2026

Location

Map location for France.

Open larger map