I prepare your full application and stay with you through your first year in France: arrival, renewal, tax. For retirees, remote workers and families, wherever you apply from.
Prepared by a licensed French lawyer (avocat, Paris Bar)Fixed price, agreed in writing
Free · 10 questions · your score and next step at the end
Answer honestly, not the way you would like your file to look. You get a score and the next step that fits it.
Based on CESEDA art. L426-20 and the documents consulates usually request. General information, not legal advice.
The online form takes an afternoon. Most refusals come from a file that doesn't add up, and the visa is only one step out of six.
Which visa, which dates, and how your money reads on paper.
France-Visas application and appointment booking.
Letter, financial proof, insurance and housing that all tell one story.
A mandatory appeal to a special commission before any court.
Your visa must be validated online after you arrive.
A renewal window before expiry, and French tax residence if France becomes home.
Your file is prepared by a licensed French lawyer (avocat at the Paris Bar), for one fixed price agreed in writing before we start. Every package includes the written appeal to the visa refusal commission if you are refused (an administrative review, not a court case).
Secure payment by card. By paying, you accept the terms, which form our fee agreement. Within 2 working days I confirm I am taking your matter; if I cannot, you are refunded in full. Prices per applicant. Each adult files their own application; couples and families receive a quote. Not included: consular fees, sworn translations, insurance premiums. Prices include 20% French VAT for clients resident in the EU; no VAT applies for clients resident outside the EU (CGI art. 259 B).
You build the file. I review every document and your letter before you submit, send a written list of fixes, and check once more after you correct them.
Ask for a File CheckTwenty minutes on your money, your story and your risks. Fully credited if you then choose a package.
Book a diagnostic callPeople who keep working remotely for a company abroad. Couples where one partner has the income. Savings rather than a pension. A previous refusal. A move with children, or with a timeline that cannot slip.
Not sure where you stand? The test above shows it in two minutes.
It is a long-stay visa for people who want to live in France for more than three months on their own money, without working in France: retirees, people living on savings or investments, and remote employees of a company abroad. How it compares:
It is valid for up to a year, then renewed from France as a visitor residence card.
The form is easy. What gets files refused is inconsistency: dates, amounts and plans that don't match across the form, the letter, the bank statements and the insurance. Missing housing and unclear plans to work are the other common reasons.
The law asks for three things: your own resources of at least the French net minimum wage over a year, health insurance for the whole stay, and a commitment not to work in France (CESEDA art. L426-20). The 2-minute Path Finder shows how your situation reads against them.
At least the net minimum wage (SMIC) over a year: about €1,480 a month, or €17,700 a year, since 1 June 2026. It is a floor, not a target. Pensions, rental and investment income and savings can all count, if they are in your name and on official statements.
In June 2026 the Interior Ministry answered this question for the first time (answer to written question no. 11730, JO 23 June 2026). In short:
What the answer leaves open:
Freelance work is not covered by the answer. So remote work is possible, but it is a complex question and the file, the tax and the social security side need to be set up together.
Normally not. A long-stay visa is applied for at the consulate serving the country where you legally live, before you travel.
Often not. A family-based status can suit you better and, unlike the visitor visa, can allow you to work. It is worth checking before you apply.
Consulates expect a credible housing plan: a deed, a lease, or a booking that matches your forms. Refusals for missing housing are common, and signing a lease from abroad is hard, so this is planned early.
Yes, each adult files their own application and the file must show resources for the whole household. Couples and families receive a written quote.
If France becomes your home, you may become a French tax resident (CGI art. 4 B). Spending more than half the year here is one of the tests. Tax treaties then decide where pensions and other income are taxed. This is covered in the Full Relocation package.
Years on a visitor card are years of legal residence. A long-term card or naturalisation can become possible later, each with its own conditions, including French language. If that is your goal, it shapes which status you choose today.
You can apply up to three months before you travel. Decisions usually take a few weeks, depending on the consulate and the season.
You cannot go straight to court. A long-stay visa refusal must first be appealed to a special commission within 30 days of notification (CESEDA art. D312-3, D312-4). Write to me as soon as you receive it.
No. The consulate decides, and no lawyer can promise a result. What you get is a file that says clearly and consistently what it needs to say, and if you are refused, the written appeal to the visa refusal commission (an administrative review, not a court case) is already included.
No. Everything is done remotely, in English or French, wherever you apply from.
You pay by card on a secure Stripe page. Before paying, you accept the terms (French version prevails, English translation alongside) and ask for work to start now; together with your payment record, they form our fee agreement, and you receive them by email. If you had a diagnostic call before, its price is credited.
Tell me where you apply from, when you want to move and which package interests you. I reply within two working days with the next steps and, if you want to go ahead, the payment link.
Or leave your details and I will write to you:
Daria Vorobyeva, Avocat au Barreau de Paris. Trained at Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas and Sciences Po, with years in international law firms in Paris.