How to move to France in 2026: routes, the D visa, documents and money

The only way to move to France from Russia is a long-stay D visa tied to a specific ground: a job, your own business, passive income, study or family. France has no digital nomad visa. The route is the same for everyone: choose your ground, gather Russian documents with an apostille and translation, apply for the visa through France-Visas and a VFS Global visa centre, validate the visa online within three months of arrival, then switch to a residence card. After five years the resident card and citizenship open up. Below are the steps in order, the amounts for 2026 and the mistakes that cost people months.

Choosing a ground to match your profile

The ground shapes everything else: which documents to gather, how much money to show, whether you can work and whether you will need French a year later. So start by being honest with yourself about what you will actually do in France. The full list of grounds and the ladder of statuses are in our article on French residence permits — linked in the section on permanent residence; here we only match grounds to situations.

I work remotely

France has no digital nomad visa. The official France-Visas portal sorts long-stay visas by purpose — private stay, employment, self-employment, talent, study, family — and remote work is not among them. It is worth knowing this before you spend money on preparation.

When applying for a visiteur visa and card, you give a written undertaking not to carry on any professional activity in France, and France-Visas words this broadly: “no professional activity during the stay”. There is, however, a clarification for remote work for a foreign company. In an answer to a question from an MP, published in the Journal officiel on 23 June 2026, the French Ministry of the Interior stated that a foreigner who lives in France, works remotely for a foreign employer, is paid and pays taxes in another country is considered inactive and should apply specifically for the visiteur card. This is the ministry’s position, not a legal rule, and it covers work for a foreign employer, not for clients in France.

If you are a freelancer, work for clients in France or want to build a business here, there are two lawful routes. The first is to set up your activity as a business and get the talent passport for founders: you need €30,000 for the project and personal means at the level of the annual SMIC. The second is the entrepreneur / profession libérale card for freelancers and sole traders: there is no €30,000 threshold, but the activity must be viable and bring in at least €1,867.02 a month, the card is issued for a year, and the multi-year card will require A2 French and the civic exam. If your budget allows, the first route is the better deal: a card for up to four years from the outset and no exams on the first rung.

Entrepreneur

The main route is the talent passport in the porteur de projet category. The conditions for 2026: at least a master’s degree or five years of professional experience, a real project, funding of at least €30,000 and personal means of at least a year’s gross SMIC — €22,404.20. For an innovative project recognised by the Ministry of the Economy there is no €30,000 threshold. For a direct investment the threshold is €300,000 in a company’s fixed assets. A detailed guide with the business plan and timescales is in our article the French talent passport for entrepreneurs.

Professional with a job offer

If a French company is ready to hire you, first check whether you qualify for the talent passport. The carte bleue européenne requires a degree after three years of higher education or five years of experience, a contract of at least six months and a salary of at least €59,373 gross a year. Salarié qualifié requires at least €39,582 gross a year, but only with a French degree at master’s level or above; a Russian degree does not qualify. The same €39,582 threshold applies to work at an innovative company, and there a French degree is not needed. All categories and thresholds are collected in our overview French talent passport: every category.

If your salary is below the thresholds, the standard salarié card remains. The employer applies for its work authorisation, the first card is annual, and the multi-year card will require A2 and the civic exam.

Passive income

The visiteur card is for people who live on a pension, rental income, dividends or savings and do not intend to work. A single person needs at least €1,477.93 net a month for the year ahead, or €17,735.19 — the net SMIC from 1 June 2026. Pensions, property income and guarantees from creditworthy relatives count; family benefits do not. You also need health insurance for the whole stay. Documents and refusals for visiteur are covered in a separate article: the French visiteur visa.

Study

A student visa requires enrolment and at least €877.50 a month. Russian citizens do not apply for it directly through France-Visas but through the “Études en France” procedure when pre-enrolling at a university. Study carries a bonus for citizenship: after a degree from a French university earned over two years of study, you can apply for naturalisation after two years of residence instead of five.

Family

The spouse of a French citizen is issued a VLS-TS visa with no further conditions, provided the marriage is not a sham and has not been annulled. If a foreign relative lives in France, they bring the family over through family reunification: they must have lived in France for at least 18 months and show income — on average €1,867.02 gross a month over the last 12 months for a family of two or three — and suitable housing. The spouse and minor children of a talent passport holder receive a talent-famille card at the same time as the holder, without going through reunification.

The D visa: where Russian citizens apply

A stay of more than three months requires a long-stay D visa. It is valid for three months to a year and lets you travel in the Schengen area for up to 90 days. It is obtained in two stages: an online application form, then submitting documents and biometrics at a visa centre.

Who accepts the file and who decides

• The application form is filled in on the official France-Visas portal. Its assistant-visa tool gives you the document list and the fee for your purpose of stay and nationality.
• Files are accepted by 18 VFS Global centres across Russia, by appointment only. Centres in Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Kazan, Novosibirsk and Rostov-on-Don are open five days a week; those in Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Perm, Samara, Saratov, Ufa and Vladivostok three days a week.
• The decision is taken only by the Consulate General of France in Moscow. The visa centre does not assess documents.
• Which categories are currently accepted is shown in the VFS Global booking module: France-Visas refers you to it directly, because appointments are not open for every visa type at the same time.

How to apply

1. Check your passport. Since 14 April 2025 France has not recognised ordinary non-biometric Russian passports, except those of children under 15. The passport must have been issued less than 10 years ago, remain valid for three months after the visa ends and have two blank pages.
2. Fill in the France-Visas application and get the document list for your purpose of stay.
3. Book an appointment at a VFS Global centre. You can apply for a long-stay visa no earlier than three months before departure.
4. Pay the fees: the consular fee for a D visa is €99, the VFS Global service fee is €36 per file, in roubles. The consular fee is not refunded even if you are refused; the service fee is refunded only if you withdraw before giving biometrics.
5. Submit documents and biometrics in person. If you gave biometrics within the last 59 months, the file can be submitted by your spouse, children, parents or a representative with a notarised power of attorney.
6. Wait for the decision. If the consulate has not replied within two months, that counts as an implicit refusal. A refusal can be appealed to the CRRV commission within 30 days, in writing and in French.

Which visa you actually need

There are three kinds of D visa, and the kind determines what you do after arrival.

• VLS-TS — a visa that itself serves as a residence permit for 4 to 12 months. It is issued to, among others, students, employees on a permanent contract, spouses of French citizens and visitors who are relocating. It must be validated online within three months of arrival.
• A visa marked “carte de séjour à solliciter dans les 2 mois suivant l’arrivée” — with this one you apply for a card within two months of arrival. This happens, for example, with the talent passport, and a multi-year card may then be issued straight away.
• VLS-T — a temporary visa for people who definitely will not extend their stay. When it ends you have to leave; you cannot extend your status from inside the country.

Documents from Russia: apostille, translation, criminal record

The exact document list comes from assistant-visa on France-Visas: it depends on your purpose of stay and may change. But the rules for preparing Russian paperwork are the same for every ground.

Apostille

Russia and France are both parties to the Hague Convention, so Russian documents do not need consular legalisation. According to the French Foreign Ministry table, updated on 11 September 2026, the apostille is placed on Russian civil registry certificates, court decisions, notarial acts and administrative documents such as diplomas and criminal record certificates. Legalisation is required only for papers relating to commercial and customs operations. The apostille is issued by Russian authorities, so it is done in Russia, and it is the apostilled document that then gets translated.

Translation

Every document in Russian is submitted with a French translation. In France, official translations are done by a traducteur agréé près la cour d’appel — a sworn translator on the list of a court of appeal or the Court of Cassation. You can find one through the Court of Cassation’s online service; abroad, the French consulate can point you to a list.

For a visa applied for in Russia there is an important detail. The consulate in Moscow does not translate or certify translations itself, and it has no accredited translators. It does accept a translation made in Russia and certified by a notary. But for authorities in France — the prefecture, OFII, the naturalisation service — the embassy advises checking in advance whether they will accept a Russian translation or require a sworn translator at a French court of appeal. The practical solution: have documents you will need after arrival translated by a traducteur agréé from the start.

Criminal record certificate

A certificate of no criminal record is definitely required in two cases. For a first talent passport card as a business founder — a certificate from your country of citizenship or an equivalent document. For citizenship — the original certificate from the countries where you have lived, if you have lived in France for less than 10 years. For other visas, assistant-visa tells you whether it is on the list. Like other Russian documents, the certificate is submitted with an apostille and translation.

What to gather in advance

• Birth and marriage certificates, children’s birth certificates — with an apostille and translation.
• Diplomas and proof of experience — for the talent passport, the carte bleue and the entrepreneur card.
• A criminal record certificate with an apostille — for the talent passport and for future citizenship.
• Bank statements, pension statements and proof of rental income — for visiteur, with a translation.
• A biometric international passport valid for at least three months beyond the visa.

Money for the move

The money for a move has three parts: government fees, the funds you have to show for your ground, and your first housing costs. The fees are the same for everyone, and they went up on 1 May 2026.

The tax on VLS-TS validation and the tax included in the first card are one and the same tax on the first issue of a residence permit, €300; the plastic card adds €50 stamp duty, hence €350. Taxes and fees in France are paid with an electronic tax stamp, the timbre fiscal, bought online or at an approved retailer. Translations and apostilles are paid separately at the provider’s rates.

Example for one person on visiteur: €99 for the visa, €36 to the visa centre and €300 on validation — €435 in the first year. After that comes the visiteur card: €350 on first issue and €250 for each renewal; service-public.gouv.fr does not specify whether the first card after a VLS-TS counts as a first issue or a renewal. On top of this come €17,735.19 in the bank or in proven income for the year, and insurance for the whole stay.

How much to show for your ground

• Visiteur: from €1,477.93 net a month per person, €17,735.19 a year. The threshold is linked to the SMIC and rose after the minimum wage increase on 1 June 2026.
• Talent passport for founders: €30,000 in the project plus personal means from €22,404.20 a year.
• Entrepreneur / profession libérale card: business income from €1,867.02 a month.
• Student: from €877.50 a month.
• Family reunification: the sponsor needs an average of €1,867.02 gross a month over the last 12 months for a family of two or three.

Housing

For a visiteur visa you need proof of accommodation, and for the card an address document no more than six months old. For a long-term let, the landlord may ask for proof of status and income, and for a guarantor. So a convenient approach is to book housing for the first few weeks and look for a long-term rental once in France. How to put together a rental file that gets accepted is covered below, in the section on the first months.

After arrival: the first months

The first three months decide whether your move is lawful. Here is what to do, and in what order.

Validating the VLS-TS within three months

If you hold a VLS-TS visa, you must validate it on the ANEF portal within three months of arrival and pay the tax: €300, or €100 for students and certain other statuses. Validation makes your stay lawful and lets you leave the Schengen area and come back. The procedure is fully online; you do not need to go to the prefecture.

OFII and the integration contract

OFII is the French Office for Immigration and Integration. After validation it may call you in for a medical examination and to sign the contrat d’intégration républicaine, or CIR. This contract is signed by, among others, employees on a VLS-TS salarié, holders of the card for commercial and craft activities, and family members on a vie privée et familiale card. Talent passport holders and their families, visitors and students do not sign a CIR.

The CIR runs for a year. It includes a compulsory civic course — four sessions totalling 24 hours — and a language course of up to 600 hours if your test shows a level below A2. Since 1 January 2026 the course has been directly linked to the exams: the first multi-year card requires A2 and the civic exam, the resident card B1 and the exam.

Health insurance: private cover and PUMa

For the visa and the first visiteur card you need health insurance for the whole stay, so private cover is arranged while you are still in Russia. After that the state PUMa system takes over. The condition is stable, lawful residence in France. If you work, you are enrolled as soon as your application is approved. If you do not work, entitlement starts after three months of living in France and is kept as long as you live in the country for at least six months a year. You apply using form S1106 at the health insurance fund for where you live.

Banking

You will need a French account for rent, salary and paying taxes. A bank may refuse to open an account, and 15 days of silence counts as a refusal. In that case the droit au compte applies: on the strength of the refusal letter, the Banque de France designates a bank that must open an account with basic services for you free of charge. The right applies to people resident in France.

Long-term renting: the file, garant and Visale

• The file. The law limits the documents a landlord may request from a tenant and a guarantor: proof of identity, proof of status and proof of income. Asking for extra papers can cost the landlord a fine of up to €3,000. The state service DossierFacile is a convenient place to assemble your documents.
• Garant. Landlords usually ask for a guarantor — someone with income who pays if you stop paying. If the guarantor lives abroad, their documents must be in French or translated, with amounts converted into euros.
• Visale. A free state rent guarantee from Action Logement. Almost anyone under 30 can get it: students, employees, the unemployed. Over 30, it is mainly for private-sector employees: within six months of being hired or with a salary of up to €1,710 net a month. In the Île-de-France region the rent cap, including charges, is €1,940 a month. You must request Visale before signing the lease.

Switching to a card

A VLS-TS visa is valid for no more than a year. You apply for a card online in ANEF no earlier than four months and no later than two months before it expires. The first card costs €350, renewal €250, and a late application incurs an extra charge.

Timeline: 6 months before and after arrival

All the preparation fits into roughly six months before arrival and six months after. The diagram shows the key steps; the list below gives them in more detail.

1. 6 months before entry. Choose your ground and check that you meet the thresholds. Start learning French if your ground leads to the exam. Order certificates and a criminal record certificate, get them apostilled, order translations.
2. 4 to 3 months before. For the talent passport, prepare the project and proof of funding, or get a contract from the employer. Check your passport: biometric, with plenty of validity left.
3. 3 months before. Fill in the France-Visas application, book with VFS Global, submit documents and biometrics, pay €99 and €36.
4. Before departure. Private insurance for the whole stay, housing for the first weeks, bank statements and proof of funds in your bag.
5. First weeks. Validate the VLS-TS in ANEF without leaving it to the third month. Apply for a bank account, start looking for a long-term rental, request Visale if you qualify.
6. Months 1–3. Attend the OFII medical and sign the CIR if called. If you work, apply for PUMa straight away.
7. After 3 months. If you do not work, apply for PUMa.
8. 4 to 2 months before the visa expires. Apply for a card in ANEF and pay €350 when it is issued.

Common mistakes

• Coming on visiteur and working for clients in France. The Interior Ministry’s position of 23 June 2026 covers only remote work for a foreign employer with salary and taxes in another country. Working for French companies breaches the undertaking you sign yourself, and the card conditions are checked again at renewal.
• Getting a VLS-T instead of a VLS-TS. A temporary visa cannot be converted into a card inside the country. Check the visa type in the application and on the visa sticker.
• Missing the three-month validation window. Without validation your stay is unlawful, and you cannot re-enter the Schengen area on that visa.
• Turning up at the visa centre with an old passport. France has not recognised non-biometric passports since 14 April 2025; the exception is passports of children under 15.
• Counting on salarié qualifié with a Russian degree. This route requires a French degree at master’s level or above. With a Russian degree, look at the carte bleue européenne or work at an innovative company.
• Having translations done only by a Russian notary. That works for the visa, but the prefecture or the naturalisation service may ask for a translation by a traducteur agréé, and the documents will have to be translated again.
• Signing a lease and then requesting Visale. The guarantee can only be arranged before the lease is signed.
• Applying for a card in the last month of the visa. The window is four to two months before expiry; otherwise a late fee is added to the charge.
• Putting off French. For most grounds the multi-year card requires A2, the resident card B1 and citizenship B2. The talent exemption only applies to the multi-year card, and visitors have no multi-year card at all: B1 and the exam await both at the resident card stage.
• Counting student years towards the five years for permanent residence. The student card is not on the list of statuses that count towards the five years for the EU long-term resident card. A French degree does, however, shorten the path to citizenship.

The path to permanent residence and citizenship

After five years of lawful, continuous residence you can get a 10-year EU long-term resident card. These five years include time on a VLS-TS and on the visiteur, salarié, entrepreneur, vie privée et familiale and talent passport cards, except the salarié en mission route (intra-group transfer) and the families of such employees. Absences of up to six consecutive months are allowed, and no more than 10 months over the whole period. Since 1 January 2026 the resident card has required B1 French and the civic exam. Every rung of the ladder is covered in our article French residence permit.

You can apply for citizenship after five years of residence, or after two if you have spent two years studying at a French university and earned a degree. Since 1 January 2026 you need B2 French, spoken and written, proven by a TCF or TEF no more than two years old, the civic exam and an interview at the prefecture. The fee is €255, and a decision takes up to 18 months. France allows dual citizenship. More in our article French citizenship. If you are still choosing a country, compare timescales and requirements in Spain or France.

For those with a business, money for a project or a high salary, the shortest path from Russia to a French passport is the talent passport: a card for up to four years from the outset, a family with the right to work, no exams on the first rung, and every year counting towards the five for citizenship. If you are not sure whether you meet the thresholds or which ground to choose, describe your situation — we will review it free of charge and tell you where to start.

Frequently asked questions

How do I move to France from Russia?

You need a long-stay D visa for a specific ground: the talent passport, employment, your own business, visiteur, study or family. The application form is filled in on France-Visas, documents are submitted at one of 18 VFS Global centres, and the decision is taken by the Consulate General of France in Moscow. After arrival, the VLS-TS visa is validated online within three months, and then you switch to a card.

What do I need to move to France?

A ground and proof that you meet its conditions, a biometric international passport, Russian documents with an apostille and French translation, insurance and an address for the first weeks. The talent passport and citizenship require a criminal record certificate. The exact list for your purpose of stay comes from assistant-visa on France-Visas.

How much does it cost to move to France?

Government fees for 2026: D visa €99, VFS Global service fee €36, VLS-TS validation €300 (€100 for students), first card €350, renewal €250. On top of that come the funds required for your ground: for visiteur from €17,735.19 a year, for the founder’s talent passport €30,000 in the project and from €22,404.20 in personal means.

Can I move to France on a digital nomad visa?

No, France has no such visa. If you work remotely for a foreign employer, are paid and pay taxes in another country, the French Ministry of the Interior, in its answer to an MP of 23 June 2026, pointed to the visiteur card. Freelancers and entrepreneurs can use the talent passport for business founders or the entrepreneur / profession libérale card with business income from €1,867.02 a month.

Where do Russian citizens apply for a French D visa?

At VFS Global centres: there are 18, including in Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar, Kaliningrad and Rostov-on-Don. Applications are by appointment only, and non-biometric passports are not accepted, except those of children under 15. Students apply through the “Études en France” procedure.

How do I move to Paris from Russia?

The rules are the same as for the rest of France: a D visa for your ground, VLS-TS validation, then a card. The difference is housing: for the Visale guarantee in the Île-de-France region, the rent cap is €1,940 a month including charges.

How many years after moving can I get French citizenship?

After five years of residence, or after two if you have studied for two years at a French university and earned a degree. From 2026 you need B2 French and the civic exam, and the fee is €255. France does not require you to give up Russian citizenship.

Official sources

• France-Visas: types of long-stay visa
• France-Visas: applying in Russia, VFS Global centres and fees
• France-Visas: FAQ, consular fee
• France-Visas: after arriving in France
• French Embassy in Russia: document translations
• French Foreign Ministry: legalisation and apostille table
• Service-public: long-stay visa
• Service-public: visiteur card
• National Assembly: Interior Ministry answer on remote work and the visiteur card, JO of 23 June 2026
• Service-public: SMIC
• Service-public: talent card
• Service-public: entrepreneur / profession libérale card
• Service-public: residence permit fees from 1 May 2026
• Service-public: sworn translators
• Service-public: republican integration contract
• Service-public: PUMa health cover
• Service-public: right to a bank account
• Service-public: documents for renting
• Service-public: Visale guarantee
• Service-public: EU long-term resident card
• Service-public: naturalisation
• Service-public: language requirement for citizenship
• Ameli: universal health cover PUMa