Clarisse Delaitre: [00:00:00] The application for the French Tech Visa for investors is handled on a really privileged, 1:1 basis. You are not lost in the sea. In fact, the French tech mission will review the profile of the investor, the investment history of the investor, and the French tech sends an official acceptance letter stating that the investor is qualified for this program

Salman Siddiqui: [00:00:27] Welcome to the Investment Immigration podcast by you Uglobal.com, with weekly in-depth interviews with the world's leading investment immigration professionals.

Welcome to another episode of the Investment Immigration podcast brought to you by Uglobal.com. I'm your host, Salman Siddiqui. In this episode we are going to focus on France. Now, France offers this thing called the French Tech Visa, also popularly known as the Talent Passport. Now, what is this all about? A lot of people think that this is just focused on maybe skilled workers, but actually, it has separate categories for investors, startup founders, and entrepreneurs. So, in this episode, we're going to focus on this part, and to help us understand the opportunities that are here, I have a very special guest who is also going to tell us how this can lead to permanent residency or maybe, who knows, citizenship in France as well. So, to help us unpack all of this, I have a special guest all the way from France. Her name is Clarisse Delaitre. She's an immigration and employment attorney in the law firm Majorelle Avocats. She's based in France. So welcome to the show.

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:01:47] Thank you, Salman. Thank you for this nice introduction. Very happy to be here.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:01:51] Great. So, Clarisse, let's start with an overview of the French Tech Visa for investors. If you could tell us about it, give us a little background and its significance in the French tech ecosystem.

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:02:04] Yes, sure. As you may know, companies everywhere are trying to invest in recruiting the best talents all over the world and to launch great startups. And France has clearly understood the stakes. The country has therefore implemented an active policy to attract talents with French tech. French tech supports the growth of startups by relaying various initiatives of the entrepreneurs, and Passport talents is indeed one of the programs created in 2017, which has the most success right now. It's a way to say that France remains open, welcoming, and ambitious to foreign investors and founders, the golden route for investors and founders to settle in France. And just to highlight that the French tech, in fact, is an official label, which is awarded by French authorities to clusters recognized for their startup ecosystems. And it's also a common brand that can be used by innovative companies in France.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:03:03] You've given a nice overview of the entire program, but this is a temporary residence permit, right? This is not, you know, something like a permanent residency that you get immediately.

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:03:14] Exactly. However, it has many advantages, and one of them is the duration of this talent passport. Contrary to other long-term visas, the duration is of four years. So, it's a really great advantage, and it's renewable. So, it's a golden route. And the best step to settle in France for a long period of time.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:03:32] What other benefits would you say that investors can expect from this visa?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:03:37] The duration is four years renewable. It allows family to come with them very easily, spouse and children included. So contrary to the other procedures in France, the other ones are really long and complex. To make the family come here. The main applicant can bring the family. So, it's really great. And the spouse, for instance, has a right not only to stay and live in France, but also to work. So, it's two advantages. One, you have the right to work in France, there is no English language proficiency necessary, so you don't have to prove having a B1 or C1 level. You have the right to travel in and out of France for four years and to visit the other Schengen states, for instance, for a period of six months per year. And you can seek permanent residence and or citizenship after five years. So, it's really great.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:04:29] So, moving on, let's also now talk about the financial requirements that are necessary for investors to qualify for this visa. So, if you talk about, you know, the direct investment that one would have to make to qualify for this visa, what is the investment threshold there? Yes, sure.

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:04:44] So to be eligible for the French Tech Visa for investors. So, it's really specific French Tech Visa for investors, you must first be investing at least €300,000 in fixed, tangible, or intangible assets. That's exactly the definition set by the law. You must either be investing directly or via a company in which you have at least 30% shareholding. Another way is to own at least 10% of the company in which you are investing. So, there are several options. And, of course, you have to create or engage in protecting job creations in France.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:05:21] Right. And let's talk about also the application process for the French Tech Visa for investors. And in that, I want you to explain, if possible, like how does one bring the direct investment of €300,000 to the country? Do they have to first set up a French bank account if they want to acquire shares in? Do they first have to set up a company there? How does this whole process work?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:05:46] Yes, it's true that if you have an investment project, you will need to bring your own funds and show a certificate of deposit of the funds in a personal or business account in a credit institution of the European Union. So, this step is quite important, and it's sometimes difficult for a foreigner to obtain a credit account. In France, we know the banks that are more open for investors than others with an international section, and we work closely with them. Of course, it's quite confidential, so I cannot say that. But being supported by the French tech is really improving the process and opens the doors. The application for the French Tech Visa for investors is handled on a really privileged, 1:1 basis. You are not lost in the sea. In fact, the French tech mission will review the profile of the investor, the investment history of the investor, and the French tech sends an official acceptance letter stating that the investor is qualified for this program. So, it's an individual application, very specific and some stages that maybe I can briefly explain. The investor has to provide a brief description of the project of the investment project in France with some details, such as the general goal, the estimated investment amounts, and the targeted sectors. You will have to provide a lot of documents, such as, of course, your investment track record, the copy of the bank statement showing the funds, a letter of undertaking, and the company's registration certificate. So, you have a lot of documentation to provide and really a business plan to build. This is very important. And after that, yes, you can apply directly to the long stay visa to be able to travel and to come to France.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:07:32] Right. And about this application procedure, you can do that online, right? Or do you have to first come to the country and be here in person if you could explain that bit?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:07:43] Yes, sure. The first step is to prepare the visa application from your home country on a website: France visa.com, the official and only one website that allows you to apply for a visa for France. So, you have two choices of course: a long-term visa with this specific mention for the Passport Talent French tech investor, and then it issues the list of documentation to collect and to provide. After that, you will be able to book an appointment with the Consulate of the French Embassy to give the original documentation and to give your photos to take your biometric data. And after that, the visa, if there is no issue, is granted, and you can travel to France arrive, and after that you will be able to request the residence permits in France on a specific website for foreigners. And you will go to the so-called prefecture in France. It's an administration body in charge of delivering residence card.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:08:44] Right. And how much time do you think usually it takes? Is it like a year-long process? Is it like a month-long process?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:08:52] We usually advise to take 2 or 3 months if all papers are already there. So, it can be a little bit longer. If you start from the beginning, creating the business plan, finding a bank in France, and so on, it can be longer, but the visa application in itself can be quite quick.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:09:08] Say, for example, somebody is a first-time investor. You know, they don't have a history of investments, but they have the money to make a direct investment of €300,000. Would it be more difficult for them to qualify because they don't have that history? And what do they do then?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:09:23] It will not be more difficult, as I said, as it is a case-by-case analysis, it's really the seriousness of the project. The French tech and the government will assess and review. And of course, if the candidate is serious, as would with professional experiences that are serious, it's not a problem at all.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:09:42] If you could also explain to us the role of the French Tech mission, which plays in evaluating investor applications. So, what are they looking for in an application? That's what I want to understand from you. Is it a particular kind of sector that they would have to invest in? Like, for example, a company that is working on AI or something like that that will dazzle them, you know, or it could be something simple. What exactly are they looking for there?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:10:07] French Tech Mission is part of the French tech and there is no official list of sectors of activities that are more attractive than others. The French Tech Mission does not refuse a file because the company wants to invest in the industry instead of the green sector. So, they really assess the global file, and they their aim is to help and to advise step by step and to sometimes to ask for new documentation, additional documentation if the file has not been well drafted or well processed.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:10:41] Moving on, let's also talk about the French Tech Visa for startup founders. A lot of our listeners are entrepreneurs, so they would like to know how this works and what are the prerequisites for that. Is it very different from the investors if you could explain that a little?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:10:58] The procedure, in general, is quite similar. The fact to apply for a long-term visas to come to France and to obtain the residence card. This process is the same. What is different, of course, is the prerequisites. Startup founders may be granted the Talent Passport if they provide evidence, for instance, of an innovative business project they want to develop in France. They also have to obtain recognition of the project by a public sector body, and they have to show sufficient annual financial means which correspond to the statutory national minimum wage in France. To give you a precise number, it's currently €20,966. So, it's really precise. And all these conditions can be found in the French legislation.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:11:43] So from what I can understand from you, it seems like there's a lot of bureaucratic red tape involved in terms of getting recognitions and approvals. So, in this whole process, how much time does it usually take, do you think, like, you know, a file can be stuck there for months?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:12:01] It can take a little bit more time than the first French tech criteria. Because you have first to seek the support of the French tech ecosystem. So you have to contact directly the partner incubators and accelerators. So, there are maybe 30 of them. Some are very famous, such as Station F, but also some are part of the most famous French universities. So, you have to contact them, and it takes some time. So maybe the project needs maybe six months to one year to be finalized.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:12:33] But once that is done, then I'm assuming it's a very streamlined process.

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:12:38] Yes, exactly. And of course, as you have the support of the French tech ecosystem, the implementation in France is facilitating access to banks, to access social security system, and so on. You will have thousands of people working with you to accelerate the project. The goal of this French Tech Visa is really to accelerate the business once the company has been created in France. It's quite complex at the beginning, but once you obtain good support, you can launch your activity quite quickly, and you can hopefully be very successful.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:13:10] Also, I want to understand from you, you said something earlier about job creation when we were talking about the tech visa for investors. So, do we have something similar for the startup founders? Do they also have to create some jobs, or is it something for the investors only?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:13:26] It's only for the investors. This criteria is not set by the law for the French Tech Visa for founders. But of course, as a founder, you have to prove that you have a rigorous business plan, very solid, with a clear vision of the competitive market of what you are going to do in the next years, very basically. So you don't have exactly to say, well, we create ten jobs in the next two years, but it's part of the general overview of the case.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:13:55] Let's talk a little bit more about this job creation for investors. How many jobs do they have to create through the investment? Is there a set number there and do they have to maintain that during the period of their temporary residence permit that they get?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:14:09] The criteria is quite widely draft in the French legislation, so there are no minimum jobs to be created, no thresholds or things like that. So, it's really a statement that the investor is making to the French administration saying, my perspective, my ambition is to create three jobs the first year, ten, the next 120, the third one. Of course, the French government cannot force you to do that. So, it's part of the business plan.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:14:37] Talking about the business plan now, say, for example, you know, everybody comes with great intentions. Are they going to launch a very successful business and all of that? But, you know, things don't necessarily go ideally, and sometimes they don't make money, and the business is not doing that well. So, what happens in that case? Because many of our listeners would want to know, do they immediately lose their visa if the business is not going well? Do they get some grace period? If you could just explain a little bit about that.

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:15:03] Once the visa and the residence card have been granted, the French government cannot take them back if the business is not as successful as expected. Talent Passport is valid for four years, but at the end of this first period of four years, if you wish to stay in France longer and renew this residence card for another period of four years, of course, you will need to show that you still meet the conditions set by the law to obtain the renewal. The timeline is of four years. At the end of the four years, you will need again to prove the seriousness of the project. If you do not meet the conditions again, you will need to change your status and apply for another residence card in France if possible.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:15:48] Right now, let's also talk about, for example, what happens after four years. The route to permanent residency. So, let's talk about that. Is it automatic? Like, after four years, you can immediately qualify for permanent residency, or do you have to wait a certain number of years? And can this lead to citizenship in France?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:16:09] Yes, it can lead to citizenship. As I said previously, you can try to seek permanent residency or citizenship after five years in France. Each route is very different, and it's an individual case-by-case analysis. So, I cannot give you a global assessment. More generally speaking, it is the quickest way to obtain a long-term residence permit and or citizenship. Of course, citizenship is an individual application, so it's really an independent procedure rather than an immigration one. You have to apply for citizenship to ask the French government to grant citizenship for several reasons. And you have to show your motivation to be a French citizen. So, to explain why you wish to become a French citizen, to show that you know the French culture very well, the French history, the French economic system, and, of course, the French language. There is a minimum level of French who have to be able to obtain citizenship. And it's not automatic. It's not because you have applied for it and you think you meet all the criteria that the French government will automatically say, yes, they have a discretionary right to grant or to refuse the citizenship.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:17:21] We are coming close to the end of our show. But before I let you go; I would like to hear some success stories of your clients. You could share an example of someone who came on a tech visa for investors or a startup founder, and you could give their motivation and how they're doing now.

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:17:37] Yes, of course. As a French lawyer, I can give you the name of my client because it is confidential, but I can say that you can find on the Internet very successful stories of startups and founders. In France, for instance, one of the first companies that benefited from French tech support is called Wish Upon. Maybe you know them. It's a universal shopping wish list application that allows you to create a wish list, for instance. And they do a great interview with a French tech to explain how easy it was to obtain the French Tech Visa with the support of Station F, the world's largest startup incubator in Paris. So, they are very, very famous. This incubator opened in the center of Paris. It's huge, and it's entirely dedicated to young tech entrepreneurs that want to invest in the French tech ecosystem.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:18:29] Right. And are they coming with their whole families, or do they come individually first? How does that work? And if you could also share some trends about the countries from non-EU places that they are coming to? Are they coming mostly from China? These days or are they coming from the U.S.? A lot of our listeners would be interested to know about that.

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:18:46] It's a very good question. In fact, the French government issued the official statistics for immigration some weeks ago, and so we know that last year the nationalities that obtained long term visas for France where Indians, Moroccans, Algerians, Turkish, Chinese, Russians, Tunisian, and of course, Americans and British. Just a highlight about that. Since Brexit, British nationals are considered an Indian as are the Chinese people. So, they have to follow exactly the same rules as non-EU residents. So, it's really a new logic for my clients because they were used to come to France very easily, and now they have to follow the full procedures that we were talking about. Sometimes they are coming with the family. A lot of them are quite young, young startuppers, and they are used to travel a lot. So sometimes they already have a family, sometimes not. But yeah, maybe half of the files are involving the family.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:19:48] That's interesting. All right, so we are coming to the end of our show. I'll give you another 30 seconds to make your pitch for the French Tech Visa. Why do you think people should consider this, given the fact that there are a lot of other options in Europe for tech talent? Everybody wants their tech talent from all over the world, so why should they come to France?

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:20:11] As you may have seen in the newspapers, the French government is currently working on a new immigration bill. This new immigration bill is part of the general politics of France to attract talent, more generally speaking, from all over the world, to invest in France to develop great ecosystems or innovative companies. So, if you wish to apply for a long-term visa for France, the French tech route is definitively the golden route for you and your family.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:20:40] Thank you so much, Clarisse, for taking the time to be part of our show. It was very informative, and we got to learn so much from you. Thank you.

Clarisse Delaitre: [00:20:47] Thank you so much, Salman.

Salman Siddiqui: [00:20:48] And in the end, I will just give a shout-out to our listeners that please stay tuned. We'll be bringing you more guests from all around the world to talk about investment and immigration options. So, thank you.

You've been listening to the Investment Immigration podcast by you Uglobal.com. Join us again soon for more in-depth conversations exploring investment immigration opportunities from around the world.

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