For founders
France is a great home for founders looking to start ambitious companies. If you are a tech entrepreneur, we hope our accelerated visa scheme helps you feel welcome.
Step 1.
To be eligible for the French Tech Visa for Founders, you must first have:
- Financial resources or a gross annual salary amounting to the French minimum wage (€20,147.40 as of august 1, 2022).
- one of these 3 conditions:
- official admission to one of the partner incubators, gas pedals, or other French Tech visa partners, through their own regular selection processes (see list below).
- admission to an incubator or accelerator supported by one of the 13 French Tech Capitals
- obtaining support from an actor in the French Tech ecosystem (research organizations, laboratories, qualified personalities, companies, etc.).
Contact directly one of Partner incubators or Accelerators (option 1 of conditions above)
- 104factory – Paris
- Airbus BizLab – Toulouse
- APUI – Lille-Douai
- Arts et Métiers Accélération – Paris
- Bond’Innov – Paris
- BoostInLyon – Lyon
- Centrale Supelec – Saclay
- Creative Valley – Paris
- Ekito – Toulouse (closed)
- ESSEC Ventures – Paris
- Eurasanté – Lille
- EuraTechnologies – Lille
- Founders Program Station F – Paris
- French Tech Rennes Saint-Malo – Rennes
- Genopole – Paris
- Héméra – Bordeaux
- Imagination Machine – Nantes
- Impulse Partners – Paris
- IMT Atlantique – Rennes, Brest and Nantes
- Incoplex – Paris
- IncubAlliance – Saclay
- Incubateur HEC – Paris
- Incubateur Paca-Est – French Riviera
- iPEPS-ICM – Paris
- La CEEI Synergie – Metz
- La Paillasse – Paris
- Le Tarmac – Grenoble
- Le Village by CA – everywhere
- Montpellier BIC – Montpellier
- Naver – Paris
- NUMA Montpellier & Toulouse
- OuiCrea – Paris
- PFactory – Marseille
- Paris&Co – Paris
- Plaine Images – Lille
- Savoie Technolac – Grenoble
- Schoolab – Paris
- SEMIA – Metz
- ShakeUp Factory – Paris
- Starburst – Paris
- Technowest – Bordeaux
- Techstars – Paris
- The Camp – Le Village by CAAP – Aix en Provence
- The Connected Camp – Toulouse
- Ubisoft – Paris
- Unitec – Bordeaux
- Usine IO – Paris
- Willa by Paris Pionnières – Paris
- X-UP – Saclay
Step 2.
After checking the eligibility criteria, you can directly fill out this online form (in French only) to request a certificate certifying the innovative nature of their company. Keep it carefully, you will need it for the third step.
Note: Remember that French Tech Visas are fast-track procedures designed exclusively for companies in this special category. The evaluation process is purely qualitative. We may look at the startup-related track record of its founders, references, whether or not the company is venture backed, and/or simply assess the nature of the project.
Step 3.
With this letter, you are now ready to apply for your long-stay visa and residence permit.
The procedure depends on whether or not you already live in France (see below). In either case, you will need to provide several documents as part of your application.
If you live outside France:
Step 3a – At the Embassy or Consulate closest to your official residence, apply for a long-stay visa no earlier than 3 months before the date of your arrival in France. This visa, granted at the consulate and attached to your passport, grants you entry.
Find the relevant diplomatic or consular authority closest to where you live
Step 3b – Once in France, you will present your long-stay visa at your local préfecture (French government administrative office) which will then issue your residence permit allowing you to live and work in France for 4 years, renewable.
Find the relevant Préfecture (based on where you will live in France).
If you already live in France under a different type of residence permit:
Simply apply at the Préfecture in your place of residence for a change of status. This procedure will convert your previous residence permit into a “Passeport Talent” residence permit, allowing you to live and work in France for 4 years.
Tip: You must apply for the change of status two months before the previous residence permit expires. You must meet the same eligibility criteria for the “passeport talent” (talent passport) as founders applying from outside France.
