Family & Spouse Visas in France
Sponsoring a partner, children, or parents
France separates two very different situations. Family reunification, regroupement familial, allows a settled foreign resident to bring a spouse and minor children after a qualifying period of residence and subject to housing and income conditions. The spouse of a French citizen follows a distinct and considerably lighter route, as do the family members of passeport talent holders, who accompany the sponsor from the outset.
| Reunification route | Regroupement familial, requiring a qualifying period of prior residence source |
| Spouse of a French citizen | Vie privee et familiale card, renewable, with a route to a long card source |
| Talent family | Passeport talent famille, aligned with the sponsor's card and permitting work |
| Conditions | Stable and sufficient resources and accommodation of adequate size |
Regroupement familial
A foreign national holding a valid residence document and having resided in France for a qualifying period may request that a spouse and minor children join them. The request is examined by the prefecture and the immigration office, which verify accommodation that meets published size and comfort norms and resources that are stable and sufficient by reference to the minimum wage.
The procedure is documentary and slow. Housing inspections and resource verification are conducted before any consular step abroad, and incomplete civil status documents — particularly untranslated or unlegalised marriage and birth certificates — are the most common cause of delay.
The spouse of a French citizen
- A foreign spouse of a French national is generally issued a vie privee et familiale card, which permits work without a separate authorisation.
- Entry ordinarily requires a long-stay visa obtained as the spouse of a French national, and marriages celebrated abroad must be transcribed into the French civil register before that visa can be issued.
- After several years of marriage and continued community of life, a longer card and, separately, a nationality declaration route become available.
- The relationship is examined for genuineness, and prefectures interview couples where documentation is thin.
PACS is not marriage
The pacte civil de solidarite, PACS, is a registered partnership that carries real tax and inheritance consequences in France but does not carry the immigration rights of marriage. A PACS with a French citizen is treated as evidence of personal ties rather than as an automatic entitlement, and the residence outcome depends on demonstrating the duration and reality of the relationship.
Couples planning the move around a PACS should understand that it strengthens a private and family life application without guaranteeing it, whereas marriage places the spouse in a defined category.
Family of passeport talent holders
The passeport talent famille card is the exception to the waiting logic: the spouse and minor children travel with the main holder rather than after a qualifying period, and the spouse's card permits employment. For couples where both partners intend to work, this is materially better than the standard reunification path.
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Official sources
Checked against these pages in September 2026. Fees and processing times change without notice — confirm before you act.