This year, I've seen many expats coming to me, wanting to register a business while under a long-stay visitor visa. And I've had to break the bad news to them - They were likely to wait another year before starting their business project!
In this article, we are going to see:
- Why the visitor visa is the worst visa for freelancers.
- The option to switch from a visitor to a business visa.
- What are the real business visas for France.
- How to decide which visa is best.
Whenever I will mention the visitor visa in this article - I mean the long-stay visitor visa, i.e. 1 year renewable from France.
1 - Why the visitor Visa is the worst for freelancers
I see many relocation companies pushing the visitor visa because it's “easier to get”. And once you are in France, you will struggle as a visitor, to open a bank account, set up your French health cover (expect 6 to 8 months)... Hence the relocation company selling you more admin services!
The visitor visa is the worst for freelancers because it doesn't allow you to create a business in France. You are not supposed to:
- Work for yourself with a business based abroad.
- And you're not supposed to work as a remote employee of a foreign business.
- When we mention visitors, think life of leisure, enjoying life and not working.
France considers three rules to decide where you are based and where you should pay taxes. By taxes, I mean income tax to Impôt and social charges to URSSAF.
Those 3 questions are:
- Where do you live or where is your main home? The tax office also refers to the 180-day rules when it’s unclear. Big clue… If you have a long-stay visa you are here for 1 year… i.e. a tax resident.
- Where do you work from? I.e where do you sit to work from? Not where your customers are based or where your employer is based.
- And where is your personal interest? For instance, are your kids attending French schools or does your spouse have a French work contract?
If you say France to most of these questions, you and your business should be based in France - with the right visa enabling you to officially work. Quick reminder: France doesn’t have a digital nomad visa!
2 - Switching from a visitor visa to a business visa
You might have been told that you could “easily switch” from a visitor to a business visa later on.
Yes, you can switch from a visitor to a business visa BUT there are two important points: 1) Impact on Timescale 2) It’s tricky…
2.1 - Let’s talk about the timescale issue first
You need to renew your visitor visa at least once in France before you can switch. We are therefore talking more about 15 months down the line, as the Prefecture won’t want to give you a brand new visa, once you've just renewed your visitor visa this month…
Let's say you arrive in France in January 2025. Two months before your visa expiry date in January 2026, you renew your long-stay visitor visa. You then leave a few months, then go back to switch to a business visa.
Just know that for the Prefecture - you are NOT a priority! And many prefectures are not used to this switching process. They may start by saying that it’s impossible (This happened for 2 couples who got in touch with me this month). And, as the Prefecture struggles with this unfamiliar process, you will go down the bottom of the pile of paperwork.
It's going to take quite a few months before the Prefecture gives you a new business visa. This means that it will impact your timescale to create a business.
2.2 - Explaining why you want to change can be tricky
When switching to a profession liberale visa, you’ll need to prepare a full business plan, financial plan and supporting documents. And let me just say that it's going to be tricky to explain that you've been freelancing or that you've been working remotely. If you do, you are admitting that you lied while applying for a visitor visa, and they could reject both your business and visitor visa.
It has to be a brand new project or relaunching an activity you had in your home country - before you moved to France. With your visitor visa, talking about working freelancing, while you were supposed to be a visitor will trigger massive issues from the perfecture, and they might even cancel the renewal of your business or your visitor visa.
The visitor visa is for someone unsure about working again, training remotely for new skills or researching their future life in France, wanting to make sure they like the French lifestyle. Watch out. I said, research and not DO!
If you come to France looking for potential partners or assess the market, that’s fine. But you won't be able to issue quotes or invoices to anyone. For instance, for someone looking for the ideal property, with some restoration work and in the long term maybe creating a gite-retreat business, a visitor visa is fine. But not if the gite is ready in 2-3 months after you arrive in France. I have the example of a couple who moved with a visitor visa and were unable to take bookings while the gites were ready, as they could not get their business visa - very stressful!
3 - What are the real business visas for France
You may ask “OK Valerie - What are the real business visas?”. My advice is to not fall into the “it will be easier trap”.If you are ready to freelance look straight away into the business visa because you will save yourself some time.
Yes, you will have to spend two to three months working on a business and financial plan. And it might take 4 to 6 months to get here with a business visa. But this will be faster than having to wait 15 to 18 months to switch your visitor visa to a business visa.
The 2 business visas you are looking at are:
- Visa profession libérale or Carte de séjour Entrepreneur Profession Libérale. This is a 1-year visa, renewable from France with NO investment required. It can be for an existing activity that you are moving to France or a brand new activity (without experience). It’s fine for first-time freelancers, as long as you can show that you will generate the minimum wage SMIC in France or have savings.
- Visa Talent which is 1 to 4-year visa renewable from France. It requires a Master’s degree/ Licence Professionnelle AND 30,000€ investment in a French bank in France. You also need to generate the SMIC.
Yes, you will need more time to prepare than for a visitor visa but you’ll be able to work straight away.
Your dossier will actually be the same if you go for a visitor visa and switch in a year. Except that, not all prefectures have online processes with Demarches Simplifiees. Which means the paper dossier being lost or not passed onto the right person. And some prefectures don't know the process to follow.
I've also heard some relocation companies and an insurance broker say that it was easier to go for the visitor visa because it takes months to create a business. That is just false!!
Once you have your business visa and your land in France. It's more a question of settling down, giving yourself two to three weeks to settle down in your new property, but because we have the business visa and a French address, we can just go ahead and register as soon as you land. You don’t need a French social security number to create a business (except for artists) - this is another lie!
4 - How to decide which visa is best
I hope that it didn’t sound too much of a rant… But I came across this issue so often this year, that I wanted to warn you.
Here’s my last piece of advice for choosing the right visa.
- Try to project yourself in France in 8 to 10 months time.
- What do you see yourself doing?
- Will you need extra income to live on?
- Is your current network likely to come back to you for support and contracting work?
- Does your new life in France Involve work or freelancing?
If the answer is "maybe", then take some time to look into this a bit further before you start your visa application. You can take my free Let's Freelance in France Challenge to help you decide whether freelancing is an option.
This self-paced challenge includes 5 short videos to help you find or refine your potential business idea, visualise yourself in France, check rules that may impact your project and make a decision.
After this 5-day challenge you will know whether you fancy having a go at freelancing/creating a business. You will then know for sure which visa is the best for your personal situation - visitor or business.
