How do you get a work permit in France in 2026?

For many salaried hires, the employer files the work authorisation online before you start. Service-Public pages describe category-specific evidence: contract, salary thresholds where listed, and identity of the foreign worker. Renewal of a time-limited work authorisation is also an employer task, commonly in the second month before expiry, and is done online.

Some titres already include the right to work (for example many cartes de résident). In those cases the employer verifies the card rather than opening a full new labour file. Mixing those situations is how people wait for a permit they do not need, or start work on a visitor-style card that forbids employment.

If you still need to travel, a favourable work and stay decision can lead to a long-stay visa at the consulate, then VLS-TS validation after arrival where that visa type applies. Other workers already in France change status or renew through ANEF or the préfecture route named for their card.

You generally cannot keep working after a titre expires unless you hold a récépissé or attestation de prolongation that expressly continues work rights. File renewals early. Language at work is a separate career ceiling: French for work.