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European resident: how to look for work in France?

Verified 05 January 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Yeah. Yeah. If you are European resident or resident in Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, you are allowed to come to France to look for work as a job seeker. You must apply to Pôle emploi and can receive unemployment benefits, subject to conditions. Your situation differs depending on the country you come from, and whether or not you receive benefits from it.

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You are a French national

You can stay and look for a job freely in France. You must have a valid passport or national identity card.

You are a national of another EU country, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland

You can settle and search for a job freely in France. You do not have to hold a residence permit. However, if you request it, the prefecture can issue you a residence permit "European Union national".

You must submit your card application to the prefecture or sub-prefecture of your home, within 2 months before the end date of your VLS-TS. Find out more on your prefecture's website.

Who shall I contact

If your file is complete, you will receive a receipt awaiting the response of the prefecture.

You are a third-country national who has worked in the UK or in an EU country other than Denmark

You must request a residence permit with the prefecture of your place of residence, within 3 months of your arrival in France.

You must submit your card application to the prefecture or sub-prefecture of your home, within 2 months before the end date of your VLS-TS. Find out more on your prefecture's website.

Who shall I contact

If your file is complete, you will receive a receipt awaiting the response of the prefecture.

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You are receiving unemployment benefits from your previous country of residence

You can come to France to look for a job for a period of 3 months, renewable once, under conditions.

If you wish to stay in France for more than 3 months, you must request an extension of the authorization from the national employment service of the country in which you lost your job. Your request must be made as soon as possible, before the end of the 1re three-month period. The authorization may be extended from 3 to 6 months.

You must:

  • Provide proof of the steps you have taken during the first 3 months to company a job in France (for example answers to your job searches or job interviews, proof of spontaneous applications or participation in job fairs...)
  • Demonstrate that you have a better chance of finding a job if you extend your stay in France (e.g. benefit from the support of Pôle emploi, respond to job offers from local newspapers or specialized sites, participate in capacity-building training in France.....)
  • Provide information about your employment opportunities within a short time (for example, if you have a sought-after professional qualification or have a promise of employment)

It is the unemployment institution of the country you have just left that continues to pay you your benefits. Pôle emploi keeps track of your job search in France.

Hand over to Pôle emploi the U2 portable document, which will have been previously issued to you by the unemployment institution of the country you have just left.

This document attests to the precise duration of the retention of your rights to unemployment benefits (3 months, within the limits of acquired rights, this period possibly being extended up to 6 months, at the decision of the Member States).

If you do not comply with the job search control, Pôle emploi may be required to provide you with a U3 portable document

This document mentions certain facts that may affect your entitlement to unemployment benefits (for example, refusal to respond to a job offer).

These facts, if they are found, are transmitted to the institution which pays your allowances (the institution of the country you have just left), which may take any action (for example, suspension of payment of the allowance).

Please note

the rules are different for Unemployment compensation in Europe: cross-border workersfrontier workers.

You do not receive unemployment benefits from your previous country of residence

You must request the portable document U1 from the competent institution of your former European State of Employment.

This form summarizes the periods of insurance or employment completed in the territory of a Member State of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland.

It allows these periods to be taken into account in order to assert your unemployment rights in France. Pôle emploi takes into account the periods of work completed abroad indicated on this form, if you find but lose a new job in France.

The amount of your allowance paid by Pôle emploi is based solely on the remuneration received during your period of employment in France.

Remuneration received for an activity carried out in your European country of origin is therefore not taken into account for the calculation of the amount of the allowance in France.

To enter and look for a job in France, you must also inform yourself, before you leave, about the maintenance of your rights to health insurance in France. If your rights are maintained, you will obtain, from your previous insurance fund, a certificate of entitlement to health insurance benefits (European Health Insurance Card or certificate in lieu or portable document S1).

In the absence of a period of retention of your rights provided for by your previous country of affiliation, contact the primary health insurance fund of your place of residence in France. It will examine your rights to Universal Health Insurance Protection (PUMA), based on the criterion of stable and regular residence in France.

Warning  

if you are inactive, the benefit of Puma is not automatic. It will depend on your situation with regard to the right of residence.

Please note

the rules are different for frontier workers.

As soon as you arrive in France, you must register as a job seeker.

You can enjoy the same rights as French nationals:

  • Access to employment
  • Employment Services Help
  • Financial assistance to help you find work

Sign up for Pôle emploi

Warning  

if you are a national of a non-european country, you cannot register in Pôle emploi only with your residence permit issued by France.

You can consult the job offers on the Pôle emploi website:

Search a job offer on Pôle emploi

You can also consult the database of job vacancies on the Eures website:

Looking for a job in Europe

If you were receiving unemployment benefits in another European country, you can continue to receive them in France.

Before leaving for France, however, you must meet the following 2 conditions:

  • Be registered for at least 4 weeks as a job seeker with the employment service of the country where you lost your job (exceptions are possible)
  • Requesting a U2 portable document (maintenance of entitlement to unemployment benefits) with the body paying your unemployment benefits.

With this document, you can register as a job seeker with the Pôle emploi agency on which your residence in France depends.

You have to do it within 7 days that follow the date of your cessation of registration as a jobseeker in the country you left.

Your allowances may be maintained for 3 months (possible extension to a maximum of 6 months), within the limits of the rights open to you in the European country concerned.

To do this, you must meet the following 2 conditions:

  • Be fully unemployed (not partial or intermittent)
  • Be entitled to unemployment benefits in the country where you lost your job.

Warning  

in order to retain your rights to unemployment benefit in France, you must renew your rights, before they're over. You must ask the National Employment Service of the country in which you lost your job. Find out before you leave for France.

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region

  • Pôle emploi for jobseekers - 3949

    By telephone 

    39,49

    • To update your situation, report a change of situation, inform you of a payment: automated service 7 days a week, 24 hours a day - Free service + call price
    • To be put in contact with an advisor to register, to inform you, to modify an appointment: service accessible at the times set by each Pôle emploi agency - Free service + call price

    From the foreigner: + 33 1 77 86 39 49

    By E-mail

    Access via the contact form

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