Arriving in France: your paperwork calendar

Apply for your Visale visa before signing

You apply on visale.fr, yourself, before signing the lease. First check in the guide if you are eligible.

Don't pay anything to reserve a place

The landlord is not allowed to ask for money to reserve the place: no amount can be required before the lease is signed.

Check the type and length of your lease

Unfurnished lease: minimum 3 years if the landlord is a private individual, 6 years if it's a legal entity (company, association). A shorter duration, of at least 1 year, is possible if the landlord plans to take back the accommodation for family or professional reasons: the reason must be stated in the lease. Furnished lease: minimum 1 year, or 9 months if you are a student; the 9-month lease ends at its term, without renewal. Mobility lease: from 1 to 10 months, non-renewable.

If you are allocated a Crous accommodation

Confirm your Crous accommodation

For: Studies

You have 5 days to confirm by paying a €70 reservation fee, deducted from your first rent.

Prepare the money for your move-in

When signing the lease, the landlord or agency can receive the rent, the security deposit, and agency fees. The security deposit is limited to 1 month's rent excluding service charges for an unfurnished lease and 2 months for a furnished lease.

Do the entry condition report

It describes the condition of the accommodation and is done when you are given the keys.

Have the condition report corrected if needed

You can ask the landlord to modify the entry condition report within 10 calendar days after its date, for any element concerning the accommodation.

Give your home insurance certificate

You must give it to the landlord when you get the keys, then once a year if they ask for it. Otherwise, they can terminate the lease, or take out insurance for you, which you will have to reimburse.

APL: conditions for some foreign students

For: Studies

Since 1 July 2026, if you are a student from a country outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland, with a long-stay visa or a residence permit issued for studies, you can get APL only in one of the following 3 cases: you receive a grant based on social criteria (bourse sur critères sociaux), you have a professional activity, or you have an apprenticeship contract (contrat d'apprentissage) or a professionalisation contract (contrat de professionnalisation).

Apply for APL as soon as you move in

Housing benefits are due from the first day of the calendar month following the month when the conditions are met. If you already met them before the month you apply, the benefit is due from the first day of the month you submit your application.

If you are not European, or if you are European without a European Health Insurance Card (CEAM)

Register with French public health insurance

For: Studies

As soon as you arrive in France, and once you have your enrolment certificate from your institution, register on the dedicated website (etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr).

Open your rights to French public health insurance

For: Work · Family · Other

The steps depend on your situation. Start with the guide.

Choose your declared primary doctor

From age 16, you choose a declared primary doctor and fill out the declaration with them to send to your health insurance fund.

If you have a student VLS-TS or a student residence permit card

Student work: the annual limit

For: Studies

You can work up to 964 hours per year, which is 60% of the legal annual working time, without a work permit. The count starts when your card is issued or your VLS-TS is validated. For Algerian students, the rules are different: they are in the guide.

If you have a non-European driving licence

Drive with your licence during your studies

For: Studies

You don't need to exchange your licence: you can drive with your non-European licence as long as your student residence permit is valid, under conditions detailed in the guide.

If you have a non-European driving licence

Apply to exchange your licence

For: Work · Family · Other

Only driving licences from countries listed by the official simulator can be exchanged for a French licence. With a VLS-TS, the exchange must be requested less than 1 year after the online validation of the visa. With a first residence permit, less than 1 year after the permit is issued. This deadline does not restart when renewing the permit or changing status. The rules are different for European citizens, beneficiaries of international protection, and British licences issued before 2021: check the official page.

Take the category B (car) driving test in France

If you are a national of Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco or a European Economic Area (EEA) state, you must have had your personal or professional ties in France for at least 6 months. Otherwise, you must have lived in France for at least 6 months and have a valid residence permit.

If you have a student VLS-TS or a student residence permit card

Sign an apprenticeship contract

For: Studies

You must have been in France for more than 1 year. This condition is not required if you are enrolled in a course leading to a master's degree or a level I diploma recognised by the Conférence des grandes écoles: in this case, ignore the calculated date.

Update your carte Vitale

Once a year and whenever your situation changes, at the health insurance fund terminals or in most pharmacies.

Apply to renew your residence permit

For: Studies

Apply no earlier than 4 months and no later than 2 months before your residence document (visa, VLS-TS or permit) expires.

Prepare to renew your residence permit

For: Work · Family · Other

The deadline to submit your application depends on your permit. Check it with your prefecture well before the expiry date.

Prepare a recent proof of address

For: Studies

For the student renewal application, the proof of address must be less than 6 months old.

Think about the multi-year permit

For: Studies

After 1 year in France with a VLS-TS or temporary student residence permit card, you can get a multi-year student residence permit, valid for 2 to 4 years.

If the prefecture does not reply to your application for a student residence permit card

No answer after 90 days

For: Studies

If the prefect does not reply within 90 days from the submission of your complete application, it is an implicit refusal. Appeals are then possible within 2 months from this refusal.

If you travel outside the Schengen area while your residence permit application is being processed

Travel while your application is being processed

If your passport and your residence permit are both valid, you can return to France with them. If you only have an application receipt for a residence permit card (attestation de dépôt de demande de carte de séjour), you must request a return visa (visa de retour) from the French consulate in the country where you are staying to be able to return. For a renewal, the certificate of extension of processing (attestation de prolongation d'instruction) allows you to return, together with your valid passport and your expired residence permit, or your expired long-stay visa (unless it bears the words « Dispense temporaire de carte de séjour » (temporary exemption from a residence permit card)). For a first application, this certificate does not allow you to return.

If you move

Declare your new address

With a residence permit card valid for more than 1 year, you must declare a move within 3 months, by a free online procedure on ANEF.

If you leave your accommodation

Give notice and get your security deposit back

Unfurnished lease: 3 months' notice, or 1 month in special cases. Furnished lease: 1 month's notice. If the exit condition report is correct, the security deposit must be returned within a maximum of 1 month after the keys are handed back.

If you find a job

Your employer declares your hiring

For: Studies

With a student VLS-TS or a student residence permit card, hiring can only take place after a nominative declaration by the employer to the prefecture, at least 2 working days before the start date of the job.