Moving to Paris from the UK: visas and the 90-day trap
Moving · 8 min read · Reviewed
The rule that catches British people out is simple and unforgiving: you may spend 90 days in any rolling 180-day period in the Schengen area, and those days are shared across all 29 countries. Thirty days in France plus thirty in Spain plus thirty in Italy is ninety, not thirty.
It used to be loosely policed. Since the EU Entry/Exit System came into operation in April 2026, entries and exits are recorded biometrically at the border and counted automatically, so the informal tolerance that some people relied on has gone.
If you want to live in Paris, you need a long-stay visa applied for from the UK before you travel. This guide sets out which one, and what else has to happen. It is orientation rather than advice — check the French consulate and service-public.fr for your own circumstances.
Which visa, for which situation
France distinguishes between a stay of up to a year and an intention to settle, and between working and not working. The four routes below cover almost every British arrival.
The long-stay routes that matter
- VLS-TS salarié — the employee long-stay visa, valid a year and renewable, requiring a French employment contract. This is the standard route for a job move and it doubles as a residence permit once validated online after arrival.
- VLS-TS visiteur — for living in France without working, on proven means. Retirees and the financially independent. You sign an undertaking not to work.
- VLS-T — a temporary long-stay visa for 90 to 180 days a year, renewable annually. Useful for a second home or extended stays, and it does not lead to residency.
- Talent passport — a multi-year permit for qualifying skilled workers, founders, researchers and artists. Harder to get and considerably better once you have it, because it runs up to four years and covers your family.
- Student visa — its own route, with the right to work limited hours.
A VLS-TS must be validated online within three months of arriving in France. Missing that step invalidates your residence right even though the visa itself is in your passport — it is the single most common administrative mistake British arrivals make.
ETIAS, and what it is not
ETIAS is the EU's pre-travel registration for visa-exempt visitors, expected to start in late 2026, costing around €20 and valid for three years. It applies to British citizens travelling to the Schengen area as visitors.
It is not a visa and it does not give you any right to live in France. If you plan to move here, ETIAS is irrelevant to you — you need one of the long-stay routes above. The two get conflated constantly in press coverage and they are entirely different things.
The dossier, and why flats are the hard part
French landlords assess applicants on a dossier — a pack of documents — and they are considerably more demanding than a British referencing check. Expect to prove income of around three times the rent, provide three recent payslips, your last tax assessment, your employment contract and identity documents, all of them in French.
The obstacle for a new arrival is that you have none of this French paperwork yet. The standard solutions are a garant — a guarantor resident in France who commits to cover unpaid rent — or Visale, the free state-backed guarantee scheme which exists precisely to substitute for one and which a great many landlords accept.
Apply for Visale before you start looking. It takes days rather than minutes, and having the certificate in your dossier moves you ahead of applicants who do not.
What a Paris rental dossier needs
- Passport and, once you have it, your validated VLS-TS or residence permit
- Employment contract and your three most recent payslips
- Your most recent avis d'imposition (tax assessment) once you have one
- A Visale guarantee certificate, or a French guarantor with their own full dossier
- Proof of your current address
- Deposit — capped at one month's rent unfurnished, two months furnished
What else has to happen
Healthcare comes through PUMA, the universal cover scheme, once you have been resident and stable for three months. Until then you need private cover, and you should not skip it. Apply for your carte Vitale as soon as you are eligible because the process is slow.
A French bank account is needed for essentially everything, including the rent, and opening one needs proof of address — which needs the flat, which needs the dossier. A digital bank with a French IBAN is the usual way out of the loop.
And the French tax year is the calendar year, with a declaration due in spring. If you arrive part-way through a year you will still file, and if you keep UK income the double taxation treaty determines where it is taxed. That is worth an accountant in your first year.
Common questions
How long can a British citizen stay in France without a visa?
Ninety days in any rolling 180-day period, shared across the whole Schengen area rather than per country. Since the EU Entry/Exit System started operating in April 2026 this is counted automatically from biometric records at the border, so overstaying is now detected reliably.
Can I move to Paris and look for work?
Not on a visitor entry. The employee long-stay visa requires a French employment contract before you apply, so the job comes first. The talent passport routes have their own criteria. You can visit for up to 90 days in 180, but that is a visit, not a right to take up work.
Do I need a guarantor to rent in Paris?
In practice, usually yes, and a new arrival rarely has one. Visale is the free state-backed guarantee scheme designed for exactly this situation and is widely accepted — apply for it before you start viewing rather than after a landlord asks.
Is ETIAS a visa?
No. It is a pre-travel registration for short visits, expected from late 2026 at around €20, and it confers no right to live or work in France. Anyone moving to Paris needs a long-stay visa instead, applied for from the UK before travelling.