How Can One Obtain a Spouse Visa in France?

If you are a French citizen or legal resident and you are married to a foreign non-EU national, you will be glad to know that you can bring your spouse to live with you in France. For this purpose, you must apply for a so-called private and family life visa, or, to simplify matters, for a French spouse visa, provided you meet certain requirements, of course. The article below focuses on these conditions, for you to know how to further proceed.

Proof of Marriage

Obviously, you cannot apply for a French spouse visa without proving your marital ties to your wife or husband. There are two ways to go about it:

• the easiest one, where you registered your marriage in France, and all you need to do is submit the marriage certificate to the Office for Immigration and Integration;
• the more complex one, where you got married in another country and you need to have your marriage license transcribed and registered with the local authorities, and then file it with the Immigration Office.

Even so, in the latter case, you do not need to worry, as things move quite fast from this point of view, and as soon as you have the paperwork ready, you can file it.

What documents do you need to prepare to get a spouse visa?

Here is a list of the papers to prepare when applying for the visa:

• the application forms you will find with the Immigration Office;
• the passport of your foreign spouse;
• your passport and valid residence permit or ID, depending on your status;
• your foreign wife's/husband's passport;
• 2 or 3 recent photos of your life partner;
• proof of marriage (the family booklet or the transcribed marriage certificate);
• proof of your valid address in France (recent utility bill, rental agreement, property title);
• additional proof of your relationship (photos, letters, etc.).

Specific Requirements to Meet if You Are a French Legal Resident

An important thing one needs to know if they are a legal resident is that they must have held that status for at least 18 months before reuniting with one's spouse. There are also situations where residency requirements are shorter; however, the 18-month timeframe applies in most cases.

Proof of Support

A particularity of the French spouse visa is that the French citizen or resident must also be able to support/sponsor the incoming party. This means appropriate housing and income. For the latter, you must have a stable (preferably, monthly) source of income of at least the minimum national wage, which is currently around EUR 1,400 per month after taxes.

How long does it take to obtain a spouse visa?

As mentioned earlier, the formalities for obtaining such a visa are not complex. As proof, French authorities issue this type of visa in a maximum of one and a half months. Following that, one must pay attention to one more thing: its validation, which can be completed online.

Is it worth obtaining such a visa?

Yes, as at first your spouse will be granted a 1-year residence permit, and then a 2-year multiannual residence card, followed by the permanent one after 3 years of living in France. The latter has a 10-year validity, which will also mark the possibility of applying for French citizenship. Just as important is the right to work in this country from the very beginning.

Are you planning to bring your foreign spouse to France? This guide offers you a picture of how to start and the documents to prepare to make the application as easy as possible. Also, if specific nationality conditions apply, specialized help is always preferred to meet all the authorities' requirements.