Talent is a family of category-specific permits, separate from ordinary salaried-worker authorisation. Match your qualification, role and salary to the selected category.
Route overview
Salaried employment long-stay visa / work permit; Talent Passport for qualified categories
Typical timeline / duration: Category-dependent, up to four years. French Blue Card contracts under two years: contract plus three months, capped at two years.
Important notes
Select the actual Talent category; qualified employees, researchers, founders and artists do not all share one eligibility test.
The French-graduate qualified-employee branch requires a qualifying French master-level/equivalent diploma and a contract over three months paying at least €39,582 gross annually; innovative-company and intra-group branches have separate conditions.
French Blue Card requires at least three years of higher education or five years of comparable relevant experience; designated professions can use three years in the preceding seven. Contract minimum six months and gross annual pay at least €59,373.
For Talent stays under twelve months, the specified VLS-TS must be validated within three months of arrival; for stays of at least one year, the three-month entry visa leads to a separate online residence-card application.
The French Blue Card employer does not need the ordinary work authorisation. This exemption must not be treated as every foreign worker's rule.
Blue Card duration is contract-linked up to four years for contracts of at least two years; shorter contracts receive three extra months capped at two years.
These are verified category distinctions and current reference salaries, not evidence of a new August–October 2026 Talent reform.
Preparation checklist
Identify your exact Talent branch before negotiating the contract or preparing the visa file.
Collect the qualifications, experience or project documents required for that branch.
Check the relevant salary and contract duration with the employer or project sponsor.
Submit through the French mission responsible for your residence using its personalised document list.
Follow the visa's actual validation or residence-card instructions after arrival.