Working in France,
permit by permit.

Salary floor

EUR 39,582 a year (2025 figure)This is the reference average gross annual salary set by the Arrêté of 21 August 2025, and the same figure applies to each of the three parcours of this card. Service-Public was still publishing it on the page verified 1 June 2026, but the figure is fixed by arrêté and moves with it: confirm the amount in force on the date you apply.

Qualification

Three parcours lead to this card and they do not share a test. The salarié qualifié parcours requires a qualification obtained in France — awarded there, not merely equivalent to one awarded there — at master level or above, or a niveau 1 qualification labelled by the Conférence des grandes écoles and awarded by a nationally accredited institution, plus a contract of more than three months. The entreprise innovante parcours requires a job with a young innovative company or a company recognised as innovative by the economy ministry, in duties directly tied to its R&D project. The salarié en mission parcours requires three months' seniority in a group that is posting you to its French entity. All three require the same gross annual pay floor.

Card validity

The same length as the employment contract, up to a maximum of four years

Filing window

Within two months of entering France on a long-stay visa, or between four and two months before an existing permit expires

Stamp duty and tax on the card

€350 in total: €50 stamp duty plus a €300 tax, paid in tax stamps

Employer costs

None of the usual ones. This card exempts the employer from applying for a work authorisation and from the tax on employing a foreign national

Consular visa fee

Charged by the consulate and not published on the procedure page

7 steps · 5 possible outcomes · 2 official sources

Salary floor

EUR 59,373 a year (2025 figure)The condition is stated as at least 1.5 times the reference average gross annual salary, and Service-Public prints the product of that on the page verified 1 June 2026. The reference figure itself is set by the Arrêté of 21 August 2025, so both the multiplier and the base are worth re-checking on the date you apply.

Qualification

A diploma attesting at least three years of higher education, OR five years of professional experience at a level comparable to a higher-education qualification and relevant to the sector or occupation you will work in. That experience requirement drops to three years acquired within the seven years before the application for the occupations fixed by an arrêté of the minister responsible for immigration. A contract of at least six months is also required.

Card validity

For a contract of two years or more, the length of the contract capped at four years; for a shorter contract, its length plus three months, capped at two years

Silence from the préfecture

90 days with no answer is an implicit refusal — 30 days if you already hold an EU Blue Card from another member state

Stamp duty and tax on the card

€350 in total: €50 stamp duty plus a €300 tax, paid in tax stamps

Employer costs

No work authorisation to obtain, and the employer is exempt from the tax on employing a foreign national

6 steps · 4 possible outcomes · 2 official sources

Salary floor

EUR 1,867.02 a month (2026 figure)Pay may not fall below the SMIC, France's statutory minimum wage, or below the rate in the company's collective agreement where that is higher — and in many sectors it is. This gross monthly figure is the SMIC as printed on the page verified 18 June 2026; it is revised at least once a year, so treat it as a floor to re-check rather than a target.

Qualification

No qualification level is set. What is tested is the job: it must either appear on the shortage list for its region, or have been advertised for three consecutive weeks within the six months before the application with no suitable candidate coming forward.

Prior advertising of the vacancy

Three consecutive weeks within the six months before the application, unless the job is on the shortage list

Silence on the work authorisation

Two months with no answer is an implicit refusal, challengeable within two months

Validating the long-stay visa

€300, on top of the consular visa fee

Stamp duty and tax on the card

€350 in total: a €300 tax plus €50 stamp duty

Employer tax at first admission

For a contract of 12 months or more, 55% of the gross monthly salary, capped at €2,567.15 where the salary is €4,667.54 or above; €74, €210 or €300 for a contract of 3 to 12 months, by pay band

7 steps · 4 possible outcomes · 3 official sources