France

Work permits/work visas

If an assignee is a non-EEA national, one cannot perform a salaried activity or professional mission in France without an authorisation.

The appropriate authorisation will depend on the job position, level of salary, seniority within the group, reporting line, management functions, etc.

The immigration reforms of 7 March 2016 and 2 November 2016 instituted a short-term authorisation exemption, valid for stays of up to 90 days, consecutive or not, over a period of 180 days, from work authorisations for persons performing audit work or providing expertise in one of a number of areas, including architecture, computer sciences, engineering, insurance, management, and finance. This exemption is valid for both intra-group secondments and service-provider activity, and thus does not apply to work that would be considered as salaried activity for the host entity.

There are several other types of authorisations, notably those for corporate officers and highly skilled individuals (now called the Talent Passport – European Blue Card), and several smaller categories for specific professions.

‘Work’ in France will trigger French social security liability, unless a treaty exemption applies, and the application of French labour law to a degree that will depend on the structure of the work.

If the assignee is an EEA or a Swiss national, they are exempt from a French work permit as well as from a residence permit (see below).

Residence permits

A residence permit or a procedure of registration of stay is also required for non-EEA nationals who plan to stay in France for more than three months. This residence permit is issued by the police authorities depending on the home address of the applicant for one or several years depending on the immigration status of the assignee. An online platform is now available for most categories of residence permits.