Am I entitled to a multi-year residency permit?
The procedure must be carried out at the prefecture of your place of residency. But you must be aware that it represents a hard struggle for foreigners because they may wait hours and hours at the prefecture.
And history repeats itself every year. As soon as you receive the resident permit, you must submit a new application to renew it the following year under specific terms. Usually the residence permit is temporary and is issued for a maximum period of one year.
Sometimes a resident permit can last longer than a year but it cannot exceed a period of four years when you are a student, a scientific, an employee on assignment, a highly-qualified or seasonal employee. Moreover, there is a European permit called the EU blue card that can last for three years maximum.
After staying in France for five years, foreigners can submit their application for a long-time resident permit which is valid for 10 years and is renewed automatically.
The Act of November 20, 2007 created a resident permit card which may be asked when the long-time resident permit expires and is issued for an indefinite period. Moreover, the current reform act on immigration law put in place a multi-year resident permit which may be delivered after a 1-year permit renewed during two to four years.
In addition, the Act of May 7, 2016, which entered into force on November 1, 2016, created the multi-year card, which has an average duration of four years (Articles L.313-17 et seq. CESEDA ).
There are several categories of multi-year cards, including:
1/ The general multi-annual card: it is issued at the time of renewal of a first temporary residence permit of one year or a long-stay visa:
– Change of status for qualified students: students who are engaged in a change of status procedure are eligible to this card if they hold a diploma at least equivalent to a master’s degree. The minimum wage required is 1,5 times the SMIC ;
– Temporary worker residence permit: a foreigner who fulfills the conditions for the renewal of his residence permit will be able to see his card renewed for a period equal to either the remaining term of the initial contract of employment or his new contract of employment (R.313-37 of the CESEDA)
– Worker residence card.
2/ The ” passport and talents” card, which is issued as the first residence permit for highly qualified foreigners wishing to settle in France.
