What is the talent passport, and what changed?
The talent passport, passeport talent, is the family of multi-year residence permits that France issues to people whose work or project it wants to attract. Since the immigration law of 26 January 2024 and its implementing decree, the cards are called talent cards, and the three situations that concern a founder have been grouped under one name: talent-porteur de projet, the card of the project holder (article L421-16 of the French immigration code, Code de l’entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d’asile, checked October 2026). The name passeport talent survives in everyday use and in the visa that precedes the card.
Why founders look for it
Two features explain the demand. The card is issued for up to four years, where the ordinary entrepreneur card lasts one year (articles L421-16 and L421-5). And it carries the right to work: holding a residence card confers the right to exercise a professional activity in France (article L414-10), so no separate work authorisation is needed, and the card expressly allows the commercial activity linked to the project that justified it.
Who needs it
Citizens of the European Union, of the European Economic Area and of Switzerland do not. Any other national who intends to stay in France for more than three months needs a long-stay visa and then a residence document (articles L411-1 and L312-2). A founder who runs a French company from abroad needs neither: the question of the permit arises on the day the founder moves, as explained in the guide to starting a business in France.
Which talent card fits a founder?
Article L421-16 opens three doors, and article L421-19 a fourth for executives sent by their group. Below the thresholds, the one-year entrepreneur card remains.
| Situation | Card | Duration | Legal basis, checked October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| You create a company in France with a real and serious project, holding a master’s degree or five years of comparable experience | Talent-porteur de projet, case one | Up to four years | Article L421-16, 1°; articles R421-33-1 and R421-33-2 |
| Your project is innovative and recognised as such by a public body | Talent-porteur de projet, case two | Up to four years | Article L421-16, 2°; article R421-34-2 |
| You make a direct economic investment in France | Talent-porteur de projet, case three | Up to four years | Article L421-16, 3°; articles R421-35 and R421-36 |
| Your group sends you to be the legal representative of its French company, above a salary threshold | Talent (group executive) | Up to four years | Article L421-19 |
| Your activity is viable and supports you, but the thresholds above are out of reach | Entrepreneur / profession libérale (temporary card) | One year | Article L421-5; article R421-9 |
The group executive
A person who takes the function of legal representative of a company or establishment in France, while being an employee or officer of another company of the same group, receives the talent card for up to four years, subject to a salary threshold fixed by decree (article L421-19). The official guide, checked October 2026, sets that threshold at three times the gross annual minimum wage and asks for at least three months of seniority in the group. The card allows the commercial activity that justified it.
The fallback card
A founder whose project does not reach the talent thresholds can still obtain the temporary card entrepreneur / profession libérale, valid for one year, for a self-employed activity that is economically viable and provides sufficient means of living (article L421-5). Before applying, the founder asks the service in charge of foreign labour for an opinion on the economic viability of the activity (article R421-9). The card is renewable; it does not carry the four-year horizon of the talent card.
What must you prove for the porteur de projet card?
Each case of article L421-16 has its own proof. The amounts come from the implementing decree, in force on Légifrance in October 2026.
Case one: creating a company
- Your profile. A diploma equivalent to the master’s degree, or professional experience of at least five years at a comparable level (article L421-16, 1°).
- The project. A real and serious economic project, and the creation of a company in France. In practice the file carries a business plan, the draft statuts or the registration documents, and the proof of how the company will be financed.
- The financing. Financing of the business project of at least 30,000 euros (article R421-33-2).
- Your resources. Resources sufficient for you and your family, at least equal to the gross annual minimum wage for full-time work (article R421-33-1). The official guide, checked June 2026, gives the figure of the year, a little above 22,000 euros.
Case two: an innovative project
The project must be recognised as innovative by a public body (article L421-16, 2°); the recognition is a document issued by that body, not an opinion of the applicant. The resources condition is the same as in case one: at least the gross annual minimum wage (article R421-34-2).
Case three: a direct investment
The applicant invests personally, or through a company they run or in which they hold at least 30 percent of the capital, and meets two cumulative conditions: creating or safeguarding jobs in France within four years of the investment, or committing to do so, and investing at least 300,000 euros in tangible or intangible assets in France (article R421-35). The card is withdrawn if the investment has not started within a year of its issue, or if the funds come from unlawful activities (article R421-36), and the family cards fall with it (article R421-37-5).
How long does the card last, and what does it allow?
The duration of the talent-porteur de projet card is set according to the reasons for the stay and the project, within a limit of four years (article R421-13). A founder who presents a three-year plan may receive a three-year card. The card allows the commercial activity linked to the project (article L421-16); a regulated profession also requires the conditions of that profession (article R421-15-1).
During the card
A holder who stops the commercial, industrial or craft activity for good must inform the prefecture of their place of residence (article R421-14). The card does not expire for that reason alone, but the next renewal will.
Renewal, and after five years
The card is renewed on proof that the holder still meets the conditions of its issue (article L433-1). After five years of lawful and uninterrupted residence in France, with stable resources and health insurance, the holder may apply for the ten-year resident card marked résident de longue durée-UE (article L426-17).
Where and how do you apply?
The route depends on where you are when you apply.
From abroad
A first residence card is issued only to a person who holds the long-stay visa (article L412-1). The founder therefore applies at the French consulate of the country of residence for a long-stay visa marked passeport talent, valid for up to one year (article L312-2). For the talent cards, the decision is taken by the consular authority, and the card itself is handed over by the prefect of the département where the founder settles, on presentation of the passport with the visa (article R421-11). The application is made online, on the France-Visas platform, before the consular appointment.
From France
A founder already in France under another status, for instance as a student, an employee or a visitor, can ask for the talent card as a change of status, without the long-stay visa condition, provided the conditions of the new card are met (article L433-6). The application is made online through the ANEF, the platform of the ministry of the interior, according to the official guide checked June 2026. The guide also lists the tax and stamp duty payable when the card is delivered.
What about your family?
The spouse, if aged at least eighteen, and the children of the couple who entered France as minors receive a multi-year card marked talent (famille), for the remaining period of validity of the holder’s card (article L421-22). The family card carries the same right to work as any residence card (article L414-10). It is renewed as of right for four years once its holder has lived in France for at least five years. The family card of an investor falls if the investor’s card is withdrawn (article R421-37-5).
Which comes first, the company or the card?
On paper, the company. Case one of article L421-16 speaks of a founder who creates a company in France, and the consulate asks for the proof: statuts, deposit of the capital, often the registration itself. All of this can be done from abroad, as the guide to company registration in France explains. The card follows the project, not the other way round.
Two traps are worth naming. A visitor visa does not allow a professional activity, so a founder who arrives as a visitor to set up the company cannot start trading before the change of status. And a company in formation binds its founders personally until registration (article L210-6 of the Commercial Code): a lease or a hire signed before the card is issued sits on the founder, whatever the visa says.
Concord prepares the file and follows it until the card is issued, from the choice of the right card to the prefecture, and sets up the company behind it. The two files are one project; they are prepared together.