Bringing your family to France – family reunification and other routes

According to Service-Public, you can sponsor your family if you are a non-EU national who has lived in France legally for at least 18 months with a qualifying residence document. You can bring:

• your spouse, aged at least 18 and legally married to you;
• your children under 18 at the date of application, including children from a previous relationship if the other parent has died or you have parental authority.

Family members normally have to be living abroad when you apply. Bringing family members who are already in France is only possible in limited cases.

You must show stable and sufficient resources, averaged over the 12 months before the application, linked to the monthly gross minimum wage (SMIC). Service-Public gives these averages in 2026:

• 2 or 3 people: at least the monthly gross SMIC, on average €1,867.02;
• 4 or 5 people: on average €2,053.72;
• 6 people or more: on average €2,240.42.

Certain benefits, such as family allowances and the active solidarity income (RSA), are not counted.

The home must be considered normal for a comparable family in the same region, and meet minimum surface areas. In zones A bis and A, which include Paris and its surroundings, the minimum is 22 m² for a household of two, plus 10 m² per additional person up to eight people, and 5 m² per person beyond that. Zones B1 and B2 start at 24 m² and zone C at 28 m². The mayor's office checks the housing, sometimes with a visit.

1. File the application with OFII, either online on ANEF or by registered post, using the official form with your supporting documents: residence permit, civil status records, proof of resources and housing documents.
2. Town hall check: the mayor verifies resources and housing, normally within two months.
3. Prefect's decision: the prefect of your department decides and must notify you within six months of a complete application.
4. Visas: once approved, OFII passes the decision to the French consulate. Your spouse applies for a long-stay visa that serves as a residence permit (VLS-TS); children receive a visa marked for family reunification. Family members must enter France within three months of the visa being issued.
5. After arrival: family members attend an OFII medical examination, the spouse validates the VLS-TS online within three months, and the spouse and children aged 16 or over sign the republican integration contract (CIR).

Family members receive the same type of residence document as you, either a temporary card or a ten-year resident card. The private and family life card, which spouses of French citizens and many family members receive, allows its holder to work without the employer having to request a work authorisation.

• Talent card holders: your spouse and minor children can receive a talent-family card through a simplified procedure, without the residence, income and housing checks. See talent card.
• Spouses of French citizens: they apply for a long-stay visa as the spouse of a French national, and then for a private and family life card, generally after showing an effective shared life.
• Family members of EU, EEA or Swiss citizens: non-EU family members apply for a free card as family member of an EU citizen within three months of entering France. See EU citizens in France.