The French Tech Visa is the second route to the « talent — porteur de projet » permit: the same four-year card, for you and your family, with one condition only — that your project be recognised as innovative by the Ministry of the Economy. It is the door almost nobody shows to founders.
Articles L. 421-16, 2°, R. 421-34-1 and R. 421-34-2 of the French Immigration Code (CESEDA) · Updated to the decree of 13 June 2025
When a foreign entrepreneur asks about moving to France, they have almost always been told the same thing: « you need €30,000 and a master's degree ». That is true of one route out of three. The French Tech Visa rests on a different idea: the State does not ask you to prove that you have money; it asks you to prove that your project is innovative, and it accepts that the ecosystem — incubators, laboratories, investors — says so on your behalf.
Master's-level degree or five years' comparable experience. €30,000 of funding, documented and deposited in France. Personal resources at least equal to the annual gross minimum wage. Opinion issued through the DRIEETS.
No degree condition. No funding threshold. Personal resources at least equal to the annual gross minimum wage. Recognition issued by the Ministry of the Economy (DGE). Same four-year permit, same rights for the family.
« Innovative » is not deeptech only. The authorities accept any project that brings to market a product, service or process that is new or significantly improved: technological innovation, but equally innovation in use, process, organisation, business model or social impact. A marketplace that reshapes a supply chain is innovative; a restaurant franchise is not.
You have been selected by an incubator or accelerator listed under the French Tech network. The structure certifies your selection itself; this is the fast lane.
The route stays open with letters of support from ecosystem players: a research body, a laboratory, a recognised specialist in your field, a partner company, an investor. Two strong, detailed letters carry the weight of a label.
« I don't have an incubator » is not a dead end. It is the sentence we hear most often, and it stops founders who are, on the merits, perfectly eligible. The firm works with a specialist in securing incubation in France and introduces you free of charge; you contract directly with them and the firm receives no commission. Our own role stays legal: confirming that the structure you join is properly listed, reviewing the incubation agreement before you sign, and aligning your selection with the innovation file submitted to the Ministry. Nobody can guarantee admission: that decision belongs to the incubator.
So what about the money? The only figure that matters is your personal resources, at least equal to the French annual gross minimum wage. These are living resources, not capital to lock away: the money does not have to be deposited, it has to exist. Several co-founders may carry the same project, provided each holds a management position in the company; each files a separate application.
This is the single greatest source of confusion around the scheme, and the reason files lose six months.
It does not issue the innovation certificate.
Strengthens a file when the company already exists; never mandatory; issues neither certificate nor permit.
The only player that decides on innovation. Processing is handled by DRIEETS Île-de-France.
They do not reassess innovation, but keep their own discretion on public order and general conditions of stay.
Free support with your relocation. No role whatsoever in the decision.
A specialised investor on the cap table, support from an innovation structure, a filed patent, software or trademark, or a Bpifrance qualification if the company already exists in France.
Replicating in France a service that already exists in France is not innovation, however well you execute it. You must identify precisely what your product brings that the French market does not have.
A three-line note from an entrepreneur friend carries nothing. A letter that describes the technology, situates the market and commits its author to a collaboration carries weight.
The innovation certificate and the « real and serious project » opinion are two distinct procedures with two different files. Filing the wrong one means starting over.
An AI venture carried by someone with no technical background, team or co-founder makes for a fragile file. No degree is required — the founder's credibility is.
A French Tech file is rarely refused because a document is missing. It is refused because the story is not credible. Our work begins by making your project legible to someone who does not know your industry.