The rules for obtaining a work permit in France are reasonably straightforward, but not all foreign nationals require one and not even all Europeans get equal treatment. Here is an overview of the rules.

Not everyone needs a work permit, autorisation de travail, to be allowed employment in France. While all those who are entitled to unrestricted employment are from European countries, not all European nationals enjoy this status.

High-ranking foreign managers are increasingly an exception to the rule

Foreign nationals entitled to work in France without obtaining a permit fall into the following three categories:

• Citizens from the 14 European Union member states which, with France, made up the EU prior to its enlargement on 1 May 2004, but also two new member states, Cyprus and Malta.
• Nationals from member states of theEuropean Economic Area (EEA)
• Citizens of Switzerland

Although it is also no longer legally necessary for nationals from the above-listed countries to hold a carte de séjour, it can be a practical and reassuring proof of identity and status for employers — who will often ask for one.

Foreign nationals from any country other than those listed above must hold both a valid work permit and residence permit (in the form of a long-stay visa, visa de long séjour, to be allowed employment in France. Furthermore, both must be obtained before arriving in France.

As implied further above, this is also applicable, for an as yet undefined temporary period, to nationals of EU member-states which joined after 1 May 2004, with the exception of citizens of Cyprus and Malta.

Since May 1 2006 however, France has introduced what it calls a ‘progressive relaxation’ of working restrictions on the new states and has published a list of 62 activities in which it deems workers to be in short supply.

These sectors concerned are: construction, hospitality, agriculture, retail, machine-operating and hygiene.

Nationals of the eight new EU members concerned (the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia) must still obtain work permits for such jobs, but these can no longer be refused on the grounds of the national employment situation.

Those wishing to apply for such a permit must get a prospective employer to file the request if they are not in France, but may do so in person at the appropriate prefecture if they are already present.

Details concerning other professional activities will be published in due course, but little change can be expected ahead of France’s presidential elections, due in April 2007.

Most of the new EU member state nationals still need a work permit

Excluding these categories above, however, the work permit rule essentially requires the applicant to have obtained an offer of employment prior to arrival. The process of applying for the work permit is initiated by the French employer, who will subsequently provide the forms to be filled by the applicant. These are processed in France, usually at a local level.

The employer will have to justify that the applicant is more appropriate for the job than a French national or a national of any of the countries (above listed) which have a free right to work in France, or that there are no other candidates for the post. Once the application is cleared, the work permit and the accompanying long-stay visa are delivered by the French consular services in the applicant's home country.

If this may at first appear a Catch-22 situation, whereby it is impossible to find employment before first arriving in France, note that a visitor to France travelling on a tourist visa is entitled to look for a job offer.

However, neither the work permit nor the long-stay visa can be applied for from within France. In all cases, the applicant must return to their home country to do so. As always, there are exceptions to what is otherwise a rigid rule. These include measures to ease the employment of high-ranking management employees, and temporary work permits for students, au pairs and seasonal agricultural workers.

In all cases, check with your local French consulate about your specific situation.

_________________________

UPDATED September 2006

Copyright Expatica

Subject: Living in France, Survival Guide, work permits