If an applicant resides outside of France, the French diplomatic authorities at their place of residence are competent. The application for a long-term visa marked "Passeport Talent" can be initiated online. Upon arrival in France, this visa allows the exercise of professional activities. Once in France, the foreign talent must go to the platform dedicated to residence permit applications "Passeport talent" in order to finalize the application process for a residence permit. Since May 25, 2021, an applicant may directly apply to France Talent Passport at: administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr. Once the application has been validated by the Prefecture via the platform, the foreign talent receives a certificate of favorable decision which will be considered as a residence permit while waiting for the appointment at the Prefecture to collect the residence permit. The Prefecture determines the duration of the "Passeport talent" residence permit. Between the submission of the application and the issuance of the residence permit, the foreign talent can consult the status of their application on their online account, respond to any requests to complete their file and find out about the decisions made. The "talent passport" is intended, among others, for qualified employees of innovative companies, researchers, business start-ups and innovative economic projects wishing to invest in France. It is a multi-annual residence permit that can be valid for up to 4 years. It does not require a work permit. The spouse and children can benefit from the "family talent passport" residence permit to stay and work in France. By “new business”, you can refer to several options, for example, either the Passeport Talent for “créateurs d’entreprise” or for “carrier of an innovative economic project recognized by a public body”. To carry out a commercial, craft or industrial activity in France, you must have a residence permit that allows you to do so. Foreign managers who are EU, EEA or Swiss nationals can carry out their activity in the same way as a French national, without any other formality. British citizens must now also apply for a residence permit upon arrival after January 1, 2021. For foreign managers from outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland who wish to set up a business in France, a specific residence permit exists: the "Passeport talent mention Créateur d'entreprise" residence permit. A shareholding in a French company can be considered as a creation project if it leads to a takeover of the company, taking into account the specifics of the project. Other projects involving participation in an existing company are covered by the temporary residence permit marked "entrepreneur/liberal profession". To be eligible, the business creator must have a diploma corresponding to at least the level of a master's degree or its equivalent, or proof of at least 5 years of professional experience at a comparable level; the existence of a real and serious project to create a business in France, which must be economically viable; an investment of at least 30,000 euros in the business project; sufficient means of existence with resources corresponding to the minimum wage, i.e., 19,074 euros as of October 1, 2021. The "Passeport talent - Créateur d'entreprise" residence permit allows the holder to carry out the business activity for which the permit was issued. Many foreigners have chosen to create their start-up in France to enable them to carry out their professional activity via the multi-year residence permit. To obtain the Talent Passport, the founders of international start-ups must justify the existence of an innovative economic project that they wish to develop in France. The competent body to recognize the innovative character of a company is the Ministry of Economy. There are several other requirements that a company must meet which are then jointly evaluated by the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Economy. In addition, the founders of start-ups must obtain recognition of this project by a public body. Finally, they must justify sufficient means of existence with resources corresponding to the minimum growth wage, i.e., 18,654.96 euros as of January 1, 2021. It should be noted that the supporting documents must be accompanied, if necessary, by translation into French by a translator-interpreter sworn before the Courts of Appeal. To obtain this residence permit, they can also take advantage of the French Tech Visa for Founders procedure, by being selected by a partner incubator. The list of these partners can be consulted at the following address: lafrenchtech.com.
