Can I come to France to create or takeover a business, and have a “non-salaried employee” status? What formalities need to be followed?
Yes, you can come to France to create or take over a business. To do so, you will need to present your application to the French authorities, proving that the economic activity will be profitable. If you live outside of France, you file the application with the consulate. If you live in France already (as for students at the end of their studies), you file your application with the government administrative offices. If your application is accepted, you can come to France and the government administrative offices will grant you a residence permit that allows you to undertake the business activity you applied for. This residence permit replaces the former “Foreign Business and Commercial Permit.” If you are the national of an OECD country (Australia, Canada, South Korea, United States, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey), the procedure has been simplified.
