Residence Permits for PhD students & researchers

In order to be able to request a “Student” residence permit on ANEF, you must (valid for all départements in France):

• Be enrolled in a French higher education institution or be invited in the context of a Research Stay Agreement (“Convention de Séjour de Recherche” – CSR).
• Have housing in France.
• Have at least 615 euros per month in resources (apart from CAF Housing Assistance). For PhD students and researchers invited in the context of a research stay, a proof of funding for their research and a Research Stay Agreement must be produced when requesting a visa/residence permit.
• For non-Europeans except Algerians : respect the limit of 964h/year of incidental work. For Algerian PhD students, a work permit is required to work the equivalent of 50% of the annual working time in the branch or profession concerned.

Important: If you are a student and you have a doctoral contract with a salary paid by a public institution in France, you must change your “Student” status to a “Talent Chercheur” or “Scientist-Researcher” (for Algerians) status. You must also inform your Health Insurance Fund (CPAM) of the change. If your spouse also lives in France, his/her status may change along with yours.

Contrat d’engagement à respecter les principes de la République to be attached to the proof of address.

To be able to request a residence permit under the status “Talent Chercheur“, you must:

• Be remunerated in France in the context of your doctorate or research work;
• or be invited in the context of a Research Stay Agreement with a grant at least equal to the net salary of a doctoral contract (for reference, it is approximately €1848 net per month from 01/01/2026. Please note that this amount may change, so check with your host laboratory’s administration).
• Have a salary paid by a higher education and research institution or funding dedicated to your research at least equal to the net salary of a doctoral contract (for reference, it is approximately €1848 net per month from 01/01/2026. Please note that this amount may change, so check with your host laboratory’s administration) or remain employed by your university of origin during your research stay in France, provided your salary is maintained.
• Obtain a valid hosting agreement signed by your employer (or host) institution.

To be able to request a Certificate of Residence for Algerians (CRA) under the “Scientist-Researcher” status, you must:

• Be a PhD student or researcher of Algerian nationality.
• Be remunerated in France in the context of your doctorate or research work and have a valid Convention d’accueil (“Hosting Agreement”).
• or be invited in the context of a Research Stay Agreement with a grant at least equal to the net salary of a doctoral contract (for reference, it is approximately €1848 net per month from 01/01/2026. Please note that this amount may change, so check with your host laboratory’s administration).

To be able to request a “Family Talent Passport” status residence permit, you must:

• Be the spouse of a (non-EU) international researcher
• And the spouse of a PhD student or researcher has a Hosting agreement

As the spouse of a scientist of NON-EU nationality, to be able to request a Certificate of Residence for Algerians (CRA) with “Scientist’s Spouse” status, your spouse must:

• Be of Algerian nationality
• Be remunerated in France in the context of their doctorate or research and have a valid Hosting Agreement
• or be invited in the context of a Research Stay Agreement with a grant at least equal to a contractual PhD student’s net salary (for reference, it is approximately €1848 net per month from 01/01/2026. Please note that this amount may change, so check with your host laboratory’s administration).

To be able to request renewal of your “Researcher-Talent Passport” residence permit on the basis of your unemployment rights, you must:

• Be a NON-EU international researcher
• Have been employed in France with Talent Researcher status
• Have contributed to unemployment insurance
• Be looking for a job in France

This is a provisional document delivered by your Prefecture of residence when your residence permit request file is complete. It is usually valid for 3 months.

• Case of a first request: unless otherwise stated on the ADP, it doesn’t entitle you to Health Insurance or Housing Assistance, or to work (unless you have obtained a work permit or a Hosting agreement (“Convention d’accueil”)) or cross Schengen Area borders (if you leave the territory, you will have to request a “return” visa at the French Consulate before coming back to France).
• Case of a renewal: the ADP is only valid if accompanied by the previous residence permit (Residence Card or VLS-TS), even if it has expired. The ADP enables you to keep all the rights to which the previous residence permit entitled you for the ADP’s period of validity (Health Insurance, Housing Assistance, work on an “ancillary” basis, travel in and entry to the Schengen Area at whatever entry point).

All this information is clearly stated on the ADP.

If it is “favorable”, it is delivered while awaiting creation of your residence permit. Meanwhile, the certificate entitles you to Health Insurance, Housing Assistance and to work on an “ancillary” basis, and authorizes you to cross Schengen Area borders.

This is a residence card delivered by the Prefecture when your residence permit request has been accepted. It’s valid for 1 or more years (except for Algerian citizens for whom it is valid for 1 year, renewable). Its duration depends on your situation and level of studies.