Eligibility conditions
Eligibility conditions for the Job Seeker/Setting up a business residence permit
This permit is aimed at foreign students (with student status or a talent passport-researcher) who want to stay in France after they complete their studies in order to:
- find a job;
- establish a professional experience;
- set up a business.
You need to have obtained a professional bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or PhD listed in the National Directory of Professional Qualifications (“Répertoire National des Certifications Professionnelles”). Your residence permit marked “student” must be valid when you make the appointment.
If you have not yet obtained your degree: you may apply for this permit provided you have a temporary validation statement.
If you are an Algerian national: there is a specific legal framework for obtaining a residence permit, which disqualifies you from applying for the Job Seeker/Setting up a business permit.
What rights does this residence permit give you?
This authorisation can be valid for up to 1 year and allows you to work full time. When this residence permit expires, students who have found a full-time job related to their degree subject, with a salary of at least 1.5 times the national minimum wage, can request a change of status to obtain a residence permit for employees or temporary workers.
Your residence permit is due to expire shortly
Your residence permit is due to expire shortly, and you have received a binding offer of work, a fixed-term contract or an open-ended employment contract:
You can apply to change your status to that of “employee”. For people with a residence permit marked "job seeker/setting up a business" (“APS Master”), since 1st March 2019, the status change no longer has to be requested within 15 days of starting your new job, but only when your previous residence permit expires. As long as the residence permit marked "job seeker/setting up a business” is valid, the permit holder is authorised to be employed in a job related to his or her studies, with a salary of at least 1.5 times the national minimum wage, without requesting an additional work permit.
Applying for a French residence permit from abroad:
If you leave France at the end of your studies, you may apply for a visa marked “job seeker/setting up a business” from the French consulate abroad within the 4-year period following your graduation. For more information: france-visas.gouv.fr .
Making an appointment and having the right documents
Make an appointment to apply for a residence permit marked “job seeker/setting up a business”
