Invitation to France: the attestation d’accueil and a visitor’s visa explained

An invitation to France is the attestation d’accueil, a town hall document letting a guest stay with the host for up to three months. French or EU nationals and permit holders can issue one: housing, income, a €30 stamp, a visit in person. The guest attaches the original to a visa C application and needs €32.50 a day at entry, not €65.

Most invitations are made by people who have moved to France and want their parents over for the summer or for a grandchild’s birth. The document helps the guest: it proves accommodation and lowers the funds threshold. It is also a commitment for the host, who signs an undertaking to cover the guest’s costs if their money runs out. Below are the steps, the timing, the mistakes and how an invitation differs from a hotel booking and an attestation d’hébergement.

Who needs an attestation d’accueil and who does not

According to service-public, the document is needed when a non-European foreigner comes to see you on a private or family visit of less than three months and stays in your home. The town hall must validate it before the visa application, or before the trip if the guest needs no visa. No attestation is needed if the guest has:

• a Schengen «de circulation» visa, a long-term multiple-entry visa;
• a visa D «carte de séjour à solliciter dans les 2 mois» or a «famille de Français» visa;
• a humanitarian trip, a cultural exchange, urgent medical treatment or a close relative’s funeral.

If the guest stays in a hotel or a rented flat, no attestation d’accueil is made: the booking is the proof. The invitation works only when the guest stays with you.

Who can invite and what is expected of them

A French, EU, Swiss, Andorran or Monegasque national can invite on their passport or ID card, and a foreigner on the original of their residence permit (titre de séjour). Whether a VLS-TS or a récépissé is accepted is up to the town hall, so check when you book. The application goes to the town hall where the guest will stay: if your parents spend the summer at your villa in Nice, you apply in Nice, not at your Paris address.

The town hall checks three things (F2191):

• The home is yours. A title deed or taxe foncière notice, or a lease with recent rent receipts, plus recent electricity, water or internet bills.
• There is room for the guest. Size, safety, sanitation and comfort, the «normal conditions». The law sets no single size standard; town halls set the figures. In Strasbourg it is 9 m² per resident plus 9 m² per guest and a separate bathroom.
• You can pay. The last three payslips, the latest tax notice or other proof of income. Strasbourg, for example, requires an average net income of at least €1,000 a month. If you live on capital, bring bank statements and your tax notice.

The key thing you sign is an undertaking: if the guest runs short, you cover their living costs up to the amount required at entry, for the length of the visa or three months from entry (Interior Ministry answer to the Senate, 2023).

How to apply at the town hall, step by step

1. A €30 stamp. Electronic on timbres.impots.gouv.fr, as a PDF with a 2D code or a text message with a 16-digit number, paid by CB, Visa or Mastercard; or a paper one from a tobacconist. Do not confuse it with a timbre amende, which pays fines. The tax is not refunded if the application is refused.
2. An appointment. Most town halls work by appointment; in Paris, Lyon and Marseille it is the district (arrondissement) town hall.
3. A visit in person. Form cerfa 10798 is handed out at the counter and filled in and signed on the spot; it is not validated without the host. You need the guest’s passport number, arrival and departure dates and the address.
4. One form per guest. The guest’s spouse and minor children go on the same form. Married parents need one attestation, an aunt a second.
5. A child travelling alone. Add a plain letter from the parents giving the length and purpose of the stay.

The whole invitation cannot be done online: you buy the stamp and, at some town halls, book the appointment on the internet, but the form is filled in only at the town hall. If the original is lost, you apply again with the documents and a new stamp.

Timing, home checks and refusal by the mayor

The attestation is not always issued on the spot. The town hall may look into the file further or check the home, and then gives you a récépissé de dépôt. The mayor may ask OFII agents to inspect the home. In Strasbourg a decision usually comes within two weeks; the law allows a month, and if the town hall is silent for more than a month, that is an implicit refusal (F2191).

The mayor refuses if:

• you did not provide the required documents;
• the guest cannot be housed in normal conditions;
• the details on the form are inaccurate;
• earlier invitations show the procedure being misused.

A refusal is appealed to the prefect (recours hiérarchique) within two months. If the prefect is silent for a month, that is a rejection. The administrative court is open only after the appeal to the prefect (service-public: types of appeal). The appeal period is longer than many trips, so it makes sense to apply early, six to eight weeks before the visa application.

The guest’s insurance and funds

• Insurance. Medical costs in France covered for at least €30,000. Either the guest or the host can take it out; the attestation records which.
• Funds per day. According to service-public: €32.50 with an attestation d’accueil, €65 with a hotel booking, €120 with neither. A town hall invitation in itself proves the host’s resources, so the guest’s threshold is halved.
• Passport. Issued within the last 10 years and valid for three months after departure.

Service-public gives no validity period for the attestation: the form carries the arrival and departure dates, and they must match the trip. If the dates move, ask the town hall whether a new application is needed. The guest needs medical insurance both for the visa and at the border; how healthcare works for residents is covered in the article on healthcare and insurance in France.

An invitation, a hotel booking or an attestation d’hébergement

An attestation d’hébergement is a different document, and service-public expressly says not to confuse the two (model letter). It is a statement that someone lives with you, used as proof of address, for instance at the prefecture when a newcomer is staying with friends. More on this in the articles on life after entering on a visa D and renting in France: an address for the prefecture.

In practice, close relatives of residence permit holders, such as parents and adult children, often get a visa with a free-form invitation letter, a copy of the permit, proof of kinship and the lease, without the town hall; different people in relocation chats have reported this since 2024, one citing a reply from the visa centre. But the official document for a private visit is the attestation d’accueil, and document lists change, so check with the visa centre before applying.

A visa C by invitation for Russian nationals

For Russians the invitation does not replace a visa: parents apply for a Schengen visa C and attach the original attestation. The fee is €90 plus €36 to the visa centre, and the decision takes 15 days, sometimes up to 45. Where to apply, timing and documents are in the article on French visas for Russian nationals.

One detail matters for the parents of people who have moved. Since November 2025, multiple-entry visas for people living in Russia go only to narrow groups, and one of them is close relatives of Russians legally resident in the EU: for one year, if three visas were obtained and lawfully used over the previous two years (more on the rules). So each trip is worth arranging carefully and within the visa dates: that history later earns a multiple-entry visa. If a guest is refused, how a Schengen refusal is appealed is covered in the article on French visa refusals.

Example: parents and an aunt in Paris for the summer

A family lives in Paris on a talent passport and rents a 120 m² flat in the 16th arrondissement. For 60 days in summer they invite the parents and an aunt from Moscow.

Documents for the 16th arrondissement town hall: the residence permit, the lease with rent receipts, an electricity bill, the tax notice and bank statements, and a floor plan with the area. April is a good time to apply, so the parents can file their visa applications in May. The main gain is not the €60 but that each guest needs to show €1,950 at the border instead of €3,900. If the stays are meant to be long, the family may want to discuss the visiteur visa: an invitation does not work for living in France for more than three months.

Common mistakes

• Confusing the attestation d’accueil with the attestation d’hébergement and attaching a sworn letter to a visa as a «town hall invitation».
• Applying at the town hall of your own address rather than where the guest will stay.
• Buying a timbre amende instead of a tax stamp.
• Sending the guest a copy or a scan: the original is needed for the visa and at the border.
• Putting the parents and the aunt on one form: a form covers only the guest, their spouse and minor children.
• Applying a week before the visa appointment: the town hall may take a month, and a refusal is followed by an appeal to the prefect.
• Using an invitation to move: it is for a visit of under three months; living in France needs a visa D, covered in the article on how to move to France.

If you want your parents to spend most of the year with you in France, an invitation only covers the first trips. Describe your situation and we will look free of charge at what suits your family: visitor visas or the parents’ own residence permit.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make an invitation to France for my parents?

The host buys a €30 stamp, books an appointment at the town hall where the parents will stay and fills in form cerfa 10798 in person with proof of housing and income. Married parents go on one form. The original attestation d’accueil is sent to the parents, who attach it to their visa C application.

How much does an invitation to France cost?

€30 per attestation d’accueil, paid by tax stamp: electronic on the tax website or paper from a tobacconist. The tax is not refunded even if the town hall refuses. The guest’s spouse and minor children are on the same attestation; other guests each need their own.

Can a foreigner with a residence permit invite relatives to France?

Yes. A foreigner shows the original residence permit at the town hall along with the same documents as a national: the right to the home, income and the undertaking to cover the guest’s costs. Whether a VLS-TS or a récépissé is accepted is up to the town hall, so check when booking.

How long does the town hall take to issue an attestation d’accueil?

Sometimes the same day, but the town hall may check the file or the home and then issues a récépissé. The law gives the mayor a month: if there is no answer after more than a month, that is an implicit refusal, which can be appealed to the prefect within two months.

Is an invitation required for a French visa?

No, if the guest stays in a hotel or a rental: a booking is enough, and the funds required are €65 a day. An attestation d’accueil is needed when the guest stays with you, and it lowers the threshold to €32.50 a day.

What is the difference between an attestation d’accueil and an attestation d’hébergement?

An attestation d’accueil is validated by the town hall for a guest staying up to three months, costs €30 and goes with a visa. An attestation d’hébergement is a sworn letter that someone lives with you; it proves an address, for instance at the prefecture, and does not replace a visa.

How long can I invite a guest to France for?

Up to three months: the attestation d’accueil is for a private visit of under 90 days, with arrival and departure dates on the form. Living in France for longer needs a visa D on one of the grounds; an invitation does not replace it.

Official sources

• service-public: attestation d’accueil — who, documents, stamp, refusal, appeal; service-public: entry conditions, funds and insurance
• service-public: attestation d’hébergement model; service-public: appeals to the prefect and compulsory pre-litigation appeals
• French Interior Ministry answer to the Senate on the attestation d’accueil, 2023; timbres.impots.gouv.fr — electronic tax stamp
• Strasbourg town hall: housing and income requirements, an example of local rules; CESEDA, Arts. L313-1–L313-8 and R313-6–R313-13