JOBSPUZZLE
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Working in France
For India passport holders · Checked 2026-08-15
Route with conditions
A French employer can hire you from India, but the employer must first get a government work permit for your exact job — usually by proving no candidate already in France could fill it — before you can apply for the visa.
What the employer must have
- Apply online for a work permit (autorisation de travail) before the worker's visa application; the decision takes up to 2 months and silence counts as refusal.
- Unless the job is on France's official shortage-occupation list (metiers en tension) or an exempt permit type applies, the employer must first advertise the job for 3 consecutive weeks and show no suitable candidate in France applied.
- Pay at least the legal minimum for the permit type; the multi-year 'Talent — qualified employee' card requires a gross annual salary of at least EUR 39,582 (reference amount set by arrete of 21 Aug 2025).
What you must do before you leave
- After the employer's work permit is approved, apply for a French long-stay work visa via the France-Visas portal / VFS for the French embassy in India.
- Check your passport's ECR/ECNR status: France is NOT one of India's 17 notified ECR countries, so no emigration clearance from the Protector of Emigrants is required even for ECR passport holders going to France for work.
- If you use a recruiting agent, prefer agents registered on the government eMigrate system and keep your own copy of the employment contract.
Things to watch
- France has no quota or lottery, but there is also no general low-skilled route: without a shortage-list job or a high salary, the labour-market test is a real barrier in practice.
- The 'Talent — qualified employee' card (EUR 39,582+) requires a master's-level degree obtained in France; the EU Blue Card variant requires a substantially higher salary (exact figure not verbatim-verified this session).
- france-visas.gouv.fr returned HTTP 403 to automated checks this session; the visa-application side is described from Service-Public pages.
- Never pay an agent for a 'guaranteed' French job offer or work permit: only the employer can file the work-permit application, and India's MEA lists over 3,000 illegal recruitment agents on eMigrate and warns about fake overseas job offers. A real French employer never charges you for the autorisation de travail.
What you may lawfully be charged
THE MOST A REGISTERED RECRUITING AGENT MAY LAWFULLY CHARGE YOU is ₹30,000 plus 18% GST — ₹35,400 in total, once. Not per year, not per document.
Rule 25(1), Emigration Rules under the Emigration Act 1983.
⚠️ Never pay anyone for a job offer or a visa on this route. Legitimate employers and licensed agents do not charge workers for jobs.
Official sources
This describes the immigration system, not your personal case, and not this specific vacancy.