What private and family links can invoke a foreigner to be admitted to France?

Verified 05 May 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You can request a residence card for private and family life if you are in certain situations provided for by the regulations, in particular the spouse of a Frenchman, the parent of a French child, the beneficiary of family reunification.

If you are not in one of these situations provided for by the regulations for the issue of the private and family life card, you can request a residence permit from the prefecture, under certain conditions.

To file your application, you must read the procedure indicated on the website of your prefecture.

The application for a residence card is made as part of your family ties in France. For example, you can be:

  • Partner of civil partnerships of a Frenchman, a European or a foreigner in a legal situation
  • Parent of school-going child
  • Spouse of a legal foreigner
  • Foreigner who entered France as a minor and became an adult.

To make this request, you must in particular meet the following 3 conditions:

You will need to justify all of the following conditions:

  • Reality, seniority, intensity and stability of your personal and family ties in France (seniority of your presence and your life as a couple in France, children born of this union, etc.)
  • Conditions of existence in France
  • Insertion into the French business (taking into account your knowledge of the values of the Republic).

The nature of your ties to the family remaining in your country of origin is also examined.

Warning  

The prefecture may refuse to deliver you your residence card if you are in one of the following cases:

  • You have not complied with an obligation to leave the territory (OQTF)
  • You committed acts of forgery and used false documents
  • You committed crimes offenses bass or crimes (drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, procuring, working conditions or undignified accommodation, in particular)
  • You have committed acts of violence against elected officials, public officials or security officers.

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