France · Residency by investment
Talent — Economic Investor (Talent – Investisseur économique)
Open. The closest thing France has to an investor visa, but it is explicitly not a Golden Visa: purely financial investments do not qualify and 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 rather than ten years — but it demands real operating substance, which is exactly why it survives 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
At least EUR 300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assets, 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 EUR 99 visa, EUR 150–350 permit fee and EUR 25 stamp duty per person from 1 May 2026, plus EUR 20–60k in legal, tax and corporate structuring
- Timeline
- 3–9 months — consular applications up to 3 months before arrival; Ministry of the Economy pre-approval adds time
- Physical presence
- substantive — you are expected to be economically present in France
- Family
- spouse and minor children obtain accompanying family status with work rights, matching the main applicant's 4-year permit
- Permanent residency
- 10-year resident card after 5 years of continuous residence
- Citizenship
- 5 years of habitual residence; B1 French, assimilation interview and civics test
- Language test
- B1 French plus 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 investmentviable project planclean criminal record, 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 jeopardises renewal.
- Ministry of the Economy pre-approval is reported to apply since 2025 — confirm the current administrative pathway with counsel before committing capital, as 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 residence — for a family with EUR 50m+ this dwarfs every other consideration and 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 is a maximum of four years and renewable only if the conditions remain satisfied — the investment cannot be unwound early.