Author Dmitrii Sheinkman Residence permit expert, tax adviser 2 October 2026 11 min read Message the author

Working in France in 2026: work authorisation, visa and finding a job

A Russian can work in France only with an authorisation, and the employer obtains it, not the employee. The route never changes: offer, work authorisation through ANEF, D visa, residence card. With pay of €59,373 gross a year or more, the EU Blue Card wins: no labour market test, up to four years at once, and the spouse may work.

French employment law has no separate rules for Russian or Belarusian nationals: the conditions are the same as for any non-EU foreigner. The difference lies in logistics: the visa is filed through a visa centre in Russia or at the consulate of the country where you live. And travelling on a tourist visa to “look for work on the spot” is pointless, because the authorisation is issued before entry.

Two routes for the same offer. The top row is the ordinary salarié card, the bottom row the EU Blue Card: above the threshold the employer saves on procedure and the family gains the right to work at once.

The work authorisation: the employer obtains it

The autorisation de travail is requested by the company or its representative, online only, through ANEF (entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr, checked 18 June 2026). The prefecture looks not at you but at the vacancy and the employer.

The labour market test. The vacancy must be advertised with France Travail for three consecutive weeks within the six months before the application, with no suitable candidate found.
When there is no test. If the occupation is on the shortage list (métiers en tension) for your region, or if you hold a French master’s degree and a contract in your field paying at least €2,800.53 gross a month.
Pay. No less than the SMIC and no less than the sector’s collective agreement rate.
The employer’s tax. For a first authorisation and a contract of 12 months or more: 55% of the monthly gross salary, or a flat €2,567.15 where pay is €4,667.54 a month or more.
Timing. Two months of silence means refusal.

The shortage list is the one set by the order of 21 May 2025; there is no newer version as at 2 October 2026. It is drawn up by region: in Île-de-France it includes, for example, IT development and systems engineers, production methods and quality control engineers, electricians and welders. Check your occupation code for your own region: a neighbouring region may not list it.

No authorisation is needed if you already hold a «talent» card, a vie privée et familiale card, a resident card or the job-search card issued after a French degree. Students may work without one for up to 964 hours a year.

The D visa and the salarié or travailleur temporaire card

Once the authorisation is approved, the worker applies for a VLS-TS long-stay visa marked salarié (permanent contract) or travailleur temporaire (fixed-term contract). How to file the visa from Russia, what the fees are and what to do after arrival is covered in the article on how to move to France; here is what sets the work card apart (service-public, checked 1 May 2026).

The first year. The VLS-TS is validated online within three months of arrival, with a €300 tax. A worker on a VLS-TS salarié signs the republican integration contract with OFII.
After that. The card lasts a year and is renewed for €250. After the first renewal, a worker on a permanent contract can get a four-year card, but only with A2 French and a passed civics exam.
Losing the job. If you receive France Travail benefits, a new one-year salarié card is issued.
Changing employer. A new job on a salarié card means a new work authorisation, again filed by the employer.

When the talent passport is the better choice

The «talent» card covers the same salaried work, but for qualified specialists and with a pay threshold. The employer requests no authorisation and pays no hiring tax, and the family comes at once. The 2026 thresholds (service-public, checked 1 June 2026, matching our overview of the French talent passport categories):

Salaried work in France: three cards for one offer, 2026
Point of comparison	Salarié	Talent – qualified employee	Talent – EU Blue Card
Pay, gross a year	at least the SMIC and the sector rate	from €39,582	from €59,373
Degree	not required by law	a French master’s; without it, only work at an innovative company	3 years of higher education or 5 years of experience
Work authorisation	yes, with a labour market test	no	no
Card term	1 year, then up to 4 years	the contract term, up to 4 years	the contract term, up to 4 years
Family	family reunification after 18 months	talent – famille at once, with the right to work	talent – famille at once, with the right to work
A2 French and the exam	for the four-year card	no	no

The main trap is the qualified employee route with a Russian degree: it requires a French master’s. With a Russian degree you are left with the EU Blue Card, or a job at a company with innovative status, where the threshold is also €39,582 and no French degree is needed. Doctors and pharmacists have their own «talent» category from €41,386.48 a year, covered below.

Example: a €60,000 gross offer and a family

A Moscow engineer with a Russian specialist degree and a wife receives a permanent offer from a Paris company of €60,000 gross a year. The qualified employee route is closed to him because of the degree, but the EU Blue Card works: the threshold is €59,373, a margin of only €627.

For the company. No labour market test, no three weeks of advertising and no hiring tax. On the same terms but on an ordinary salarié card at €50,000, the employer’s tax would be €2,291.67, 55% of €4,166.67 a month.
For the family. The wife applies for a «talent – famille» visa together with her husband, gets a card for the same term and can work as an employee or self-employed straight away. On a salarié card she would wait for family reunification: the husband first lives in France for 18 months and shows income of at least €1,867.02 a month for a family of two or three (service-public).
Fees for two. Two visas at €99 plus €36 to the visa centre and two first cards at €350: €970.
Language. Neither his card nor his wife’s requires French; B1 will be needed after five years for the resident card, and B2 for citizenship.

A practical tip: the threshold is measured against the gross salary in the contract, not against year-end bonuses. If the offer is close to €59,373, build a margin into the contract: the thresholds are revised by ministerial order.

Pay, the SMIC and taxes

Since 1 June 2026 the French minimum wage has been €12.31 an hour gross, or €1,867.02 gross and €1,477.93 net a month for a 35-hour week (service-public). No authorisation is issued below the SMIC or below the sector rate. Every talent passport threshold is also gross a year: compare it with the annual gross figure in the contract, not with take-home pay.

For people hired from abroad France has the impatriate regime: until the end of the eighth year after starting work, a relocation bonus or 30% of salary is exempt from income tax, provided you were not a French tax resident for the five years before the hire. The bonus has to be written into the contract before work starts. The conditions, payroll contributions and the tax scale are in the article on taxes in France.

Degrees, doctors and the French language

Unregulated professions. An IT specialist, engineer or finance professional does not have to validate a degree. An attestation de comparabilité from the ENIC-NARIC France centre explains it more clearly to an employer: €120, with an answer within four months of payment (service-public, page data as at April 2025).
Regulated professions. Lawyers, architects, medical professionals and a number of trades need a separate admission procedure through the relevant professional order or ministry, and an attestation alone is not enough.
Doctors. With a non-EU degree the route runs through the authorisation to practise procedure: competitive EVC exams, then about two years of hospital practice under the consolidation des compétences programme, and a commission decision. The rules were updated by Decree No. 2025-467, and the 2026 session was opened by the order of 12 June 2026. The «talent» card for doctors is issued only after admission to practice.
Language. The law does not require French for a work authorisation, but employers almost always do, except for international teams in IT, finance and research. The four-year salarié card requires A2 and the civics exam; the «talent» card does not.

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Where to look for work in France

The channels differ by who is being hired. France Travail is the public employment service: vacancies are posted there, including the ones an employer must advertise before hiring a foreigner. APEC serves cadres, meaning managers and graduate professionals. For international companies and start-ups the main platforms are LinkedIn and Welcome to the Jungle.

Look for employers who have hired foreigners before: they know the ANEF procedure and are not put off by the timelines.
Write your CV in French or English, matching the language of the vacancy, with salary expectations stated gross a year.
Raise the route early in negotiations: if you qualify for the Blue Card, it is cheaper and faster for the employer.
Without French, realistic options are in IT, engineering, research and international companies where the working language is English.

For Russians and for those already living in Spain or elsewhere in the EU

From Russia. The D visa is filed through one of the 18 VFS Global visa centres, the decision is taken by the Consulate General of France in Moscow, and a biometric passport is required. The filing procedure, apostilles and translations are covered in the article on how to move to France from Russia. EU sanctions do not get in the way of a salary account: the ban on accepting deposits of more than €100,000 from Russian nationals under Article 5b of Regulation 833/2014 does not apply to holders of a residence permit in an EU country (consolidated text as at 24 July 2026).

From Spain or another EU country. A residence permit from another country lets you visit France for 90 days in any 180, but not work there. There are two exceptions (service-public, checked 20 August 2026):

The EU Blue Card. If you have held one for at least a year in another EU country, or six months from the second move onwards, you enter France without a visa and apply for a French «talent» card within a month.
EU long-term residents. The status granted after five years in an EU country lets you enter without a long-stay visa and apply within three months for the French card that fits your situation, salarié included.

With an ordinary Spanish residence permit, digital nomad visa included, you need a French D visa, but you can file it at a French consulate in Spain without going back to Russia. How the two countries differ on the road to citizenship and on taxes is covered in the article Spain or France. If you are moving a team or a business to France rather than just yourself, the options are set out in the article on relocating a business and employees to France.

If you have an offer from or are negotiating with a French company, describe your situation — we will review free of charge which card fits you and what your family needs to prepare.

Frequently asked questions

How can a Russian get a job in France?

You need an offer from a French employer: the employer requests a work authorisation through ANEF, after which you apply for a D visa through a visa centre in Russia or the consulate of the country where you live. With pay of €59,373 gross a year or more, the EU Blue Card is the better route: no authorisation, a card for up to four years, and your spouse may work.

Do I need a visa to work in France?

Yes, nationals of Russia and other non-EU countries need a long-stay D visa: a VLS-TS salarié or travailleur temporaire for ordinary hiring, or a «talent» visa for qualified specialists. The consular fee is €99, and the visa centre service fee in Russia is €36. Only an EU Blue Card holder from another country or an EU long-term resident can come without a visa.

Can I work in France without speaking French?

The law requires no French for a work authorisation or a «talent» card, but the four-year salarié card requires A2 and the civics exam. In practice, jobs without French are realistic in IT, engineering, research and international companies where English is the working language.

How do I find a job in France?

The main channels are France Travail, APEC for cadres, and LinkedIn and Welcome to the Jungle for international companies and start-ups. Look for employers who have hired foreigners before and state your salary expectations gross a year: they decide whether you qualify for the EU Blue Card or need an ordinary work authorisation.

Can a Russian national work in France in 2026?

Yes. French law has no separate restrictions on hiring Russian nationals; the conditions are the same as for any non-EU foreigner. The D visa is filed through one of the 18 VFS Global visa centres, the decision is taken by the Consulate General in Moscow, and a biometric passport is required.

Can my wife work if I get a job in France?

If you hold a «talent» card, your wife gets a «talent – famille» card at the same time and can work straight away without a separate authorisation. If you hold an ordinary salarié card, the family comes through reunification: no earlier than 18 months after you start living in France, and with income of at least €1,867.02 a month for a family of two or three.

Can a student work in France?

Yes, a student card allows work without an authorisation for up to 964 hours a year. After a French degree you can get a job-search card, and if you are hired in your field at €2,800.53 gross a month or more, the employer does not need a labour market test.

What is the minimum wage in France in 2026?

Since 1 June 2026 the SMIC has been €12.31 an hour gross, €1,867.02 gross and €1,477.93 net a month for a 35-hour week. A work authorisation is not issued if the pay is below the SMIC or the sector’s collective agreement rate.

Official sources

Contents

The work authorisation: the employer obtains it
The D visa and the salarié or travailleur temporaire card
When the talent passport is the better choice
Example: a €60,000 gross offer and a family
Pay, the SMIC and taxes
Degrees, doctors and the French language
Where to look for work in France
For Russians and for those already living in Spain or elsewhere in the EU
Frequently asked questions
Official sources