A residence permit in France is called a carte de séjour.

To obtain one, you must apply to your local préfecture, the capital city for a département, the French administrative region responsible for local administration of policing, laws and regulations. (For example, this is also where driving licences are processed.) The service that delivers residence permits is called le service des étrangers.

In the provinces, the préfecture will be situated in the administrative capital of your département. If you live in a rural area, you can often process your application to the préfecture through the local town hall, mairie.

In Paris, you must apply to the préfecture de police de Paris.

EU Nationals and citizens of the EEA and Switzerland

Until recently, European Union nationals were entitled to stay in France for a period of up to three months before being required to apply for a residence permit. But following a modification to French law in November, 2003, residence permits are no longer a legal requirement for nationals from the 14 states which, with France, made up the European Union prior to May 1, 2004, nor for two new member states, Cyprus and Malta.

Also exempt are nationals from Switzerland and the European Economic Area (EEA) member states (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway).

However, while citizens from these countries are free to live and work in France without holding a carte de séjour, it is still a requirement for nationals of eight other 10 new EU member states. These are: the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Since May 1 2006 however, France has introduced what it calls a 'progressive relaxation' of working restrictions and has published a list of 62 activities in which it deems workers to be in short supply. Nationals of the eight countries must still obtain work permits, but these can no longer be refused on the grounds of the national employment situation.

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