Countries
France · founder programme
With or without a startup idea. If you have a project we build the file around it; if you do not, we match you to a French Tech company that needs your profile, then build the residence case around that match.
Why founders choose France
There is no investment floor on this route. You show one annual French minimum wage in savings, and the state looks at what you are building and whether you are the person who can build it. The French Tech Visa is officially the Talent, Porteur de Projet residence permit, the card that replaced the Passeport Talent label in June 2025.
French Tech companies are actively looking for co-founders, advisors and technical leads. We match experienced operators to a project that needs them, then build the residence case around that match. You do not need to arrive with an idea, you need a track record we can package.
You show €22,404.20 in personal savings and nothing else. The innovative-project route has no investment requirement at all.
Your spouse applies for a Talent, Famille permit, the paired family permit, with open work rights from day one. No separate sponsor, no employer tie.
France counts 5 years of residence towards naturalisation and did not extend it. Portugal moved to 10 years on 19 May 2026, 7 for EU and CPLP nationals.
The first application asks for the project and your means, not a registered French company. The structure follows the plan.
Talent project-holder applicants are exempt from the A2 French requirement that most other multi-year permits have carried since 1 January 2026. Naturalisation later has its own language rules.
You do not have to live in France full-time, and the permit does not by itself make you a French tax resident. You can keep a business or a life elsewhere.
Not only for founders
Most agencies split this market into separate funnels: a founder page, a co-founder page, a talent page. We do not, because the permit does not. The French Talent, Porteur de Projet route admits anyone DRIEETS recognises as useful to an innovative French project, and that is wider than the word founder suggests.
The textbook case. You arrive with an innovative project and we build the DRIEETS file around it.
Product leads, data and ML engineers, CTOs, researchers and growth operators, joining an existing French Tech startup as a key hire or advisor.
Entrepreneurs who want to advise or co-found but do not yet have a company in mind. We match you to an existing French Tech project.
Our team package files for up to three co-founders on a single shared business case.
The work split
The DRIEETS file alone runs 40 to 60 pages once the business plan, the projections, the founder CVs, the market analysis and the supporting letters are bound together. Almost none of that is yours to write.
Every claim in the file is backed by a document, and that is what DRIEETS is checking. Doing it yourself is not impossible. Doing it well, on the first attempt, while running your existing job or company, is.
The part most applicants get wrong
DRIEETS Île-de-France assesses every innovative-project application in the country, no matter where in France your project will be based. It has worked that way since 2021, and it is what most applicants get wrong: they build a regional file, it goes to Paris, and it comes back.
A business plan, a pitch deck, a market analysis and a financial model that explain the problem, the product, the customer and how it gets built.
Product architecture, research, workflow, intellectual property, market method or defensible expertise. Something more than a competent company idea.
Customers, investment, partnerships, skills, jobs or ecosystem contribution, tied to a realistic French operating plan.
Route A is a recognition letter from a French Tech accredited incubator. Route B is two letters from recognised people in the ecosystem: an established founder, a VC, a public innovation body, a major accelerator. The official file treats both as optional attachments, but a project with no credible backing is the file that comes back. We pick the route that fits your profile, not the one that is easier for us.
Discuss which route fits youA file built for Paris is the whole difference between a favourable opinion and a re-file.
When founders call us
A first call should end with a clear verdict on fit and a list of the evidence you are missing.
A refusal is the single most common reason founders end up calling us, and a re-file on the right route is a normal piece of work. If any of those describes you, book a 30-minute consultation: we map the route, confirm eligibility and quote the timeline before you commit to anything.
Discuss your founder evidenceHow it works
Plan 3 to 4 months from start to visa approval. Dossier quality is the single biggest variable.
A 30-minute call to map the best Talent track, the timeline and the documents. We flag risks early and confirm eligibility, or start the matching if you do not have a project yet.
We prepare the startup business plan and all documents for you, your co-founders and your family: 40 to 60 pages.
We secure backing or recognition from an accredited French incubator or a public body, then file the dossier with DRIEETS and manage every exchange to the favourable opinion.
You apply in your country, receive a 12-month visa and move to France. Your family can join from day one.
You validate the visa and convert it into a 4-year Talent card for the whole family, with biometrics at the prefecture. We help with the housing search, the tax registration and the appointments. The prefecture decides issuance and term.
Each stage produces the evidence the next one needs. DRIEETS, the consulate and the prefecture each make their own decision on their own clock.
Service pricing
The service covers founder strategy, the project evidence and the whole application chain. The team package files for up to three co-founders on a single shared business case. Government fees, family scope and incubator participation stay visible rather than buried in one number.
€9,900
Your own innovative project, or one we match you to. We write the pitch deck, secure the incubator endorsement and DRIEETS recognition, and run the visa file end to end.
Check my case for free€25,000
The same scope applied to up to three founders. One shared business case, three personal dossiers.
Check my case for freeSeparately from anything you pay us, you show savings of €22,404.20 for the main applicant and €12,000 to €15,000 per accompanying family member on a bank statement. That is money you prove, not money you pay, and it is rechecked at filing. Financial-means evidence, translations, company formation and exceptional third-party services are separate unless the signed proposal includes them.
Payment: 50% at the start and 50% before filing. The signed proposal controls the final schedule.
France, Spain or Portugal
The best route is not the one with the loudest headline. It is the one whose required evidence matches the founder, the company and the operating plan you already have.
A service-level orientation, not a legal eligibility decision. Route rules, fees and nationality periods are rechecked for the individual founder.
Beyond the permit
The card is the mechanism. This is what you actually move into.
Universal public coverage (PUMA) and a health system consistently ranked among the best in the world.
Public universities and grandes écoles at a fraction of US and UK tuition, plus leading international schools.
French Tech, BPI France funding and the research tax credit for innovative companies.
High-speed rail, major international airports and visa-free travel across the 29-country Schengen Area.
World-renowned food and culture, climate from the Alps to the Mediterranean, and strong family and worker protections.
Run a relocation agency or a startup incubator? Refer clients, or offer the French Tech Visa under your own brand, through the Relovisa partner program.
Evidence, not decoration
Residence, work, founder, family and private-client cases across more than 30 nationalities.
Historical share of completed cases approved. Open, withdrawn and incomplete cases are not included.
Immigration consultants, lawyers and tax advisers across the jurisdictions we handle, with 10+ years of experience each.
Business plan, projections, founder CVs, market analysis and supporting letters, bound as one dossier.
Every figure has a claims-ledger record with its definition and source.
People behind your case
Every case is led and coordinated by Relovisa. We bring in the immigration consultants, lawyers, payroll and tax specialists the route needs, while Relovisa remains your single point of contact.
One coordinated case team, built around the route you actually need.
Leads strategy for founder, business and non-standard cases, connecting the route with the client's business, family and long-term plan.
Leads client and partner operations so case teams, local specialists and next steps stay coordinated from assessment to completion.
Supports UK immigration and Talent Visa case management where licensed legal input is required.
Supports German work immigration cases across process planning, local requirements and case coordination.
Supports Portuguese residence matters that require legal review, representation or procedural escalation.
Supports Portugal D2, D3, D7 and D8 cases, including clients with different income structures.
Supports global mobility for self-employed, founder and highly skilled cases through Portugal D8, D2 and D3 routes.
Supports highly qualified professionals and procedural cases involving residence delays and AIMA proceedings.
Advises on international tax structures and non-standard cross-border situations across Europe, Asia and the United States.
Supports clients whose move intersects with crypto assets, international business and tax planning.
Local coverage for routes and services that require authorised in-country specialists.
France founder questions
The public rules matter, but the decision still turns on the project, the founder evidence and how the file is built.
The French Tech Visa is officially the Talent, Porteur de Projet residence permit, formerly Passeport Talent. It is a 4-year French residence permit for entrepreneurs, founders, advisors and senior professionals who want to build or join an innovative startup in France. With Relovisa you do not need to bring your own idea: we match you to an innovative project if needed. It gives EU residence, work rights for the whole family and a 5-year route to applying for French citizenship.
Yes. We match founders and senior specialists to French Tech companies that are actively looking for a co-founder, advisor or technical lead, then build the residence case around that match. You do not need to arrive with an idea, you need a track record we can package. What we will not do is invent a project that exists only on paper to obtain residence: DRIEETS sees through those and the file fails.
Three things: an innovative project recognised in France, credible ecosystem backing, and annual financial means equal to one full-time annual SMIC, €22,404.20. Government fees are €449 per applicant. Every figure is rechecked at filing. For the full step-by-step breakdown, documents, routes, banking rules and the language exemption, read the complete French Tech Visa guide. Read the complete French Tech Visa guide
You show €22,404.20 in savings for the main applicant, one annual SMIC as of 1 June 2026, plus €12,000 to €15,000 per accompanying family member. Government fees are €449 per applicant: €350 for the card and €99 for the visa. No investment is required. This route is judged on innovation, not capital. Every figure is rechecked at filing.
Not on the innovative-project route. You show personal means of €22,404.20 and the innovative character of the project, with no investment floor. There is a second version of the same Talent card for straightforward business creation, and that one does require a master's degree or five years of comparable experience plus at least €30,000 of project financing. We tell you at the consultation which one your case belongs on, because it changes what you have to prove.
The official service quotes as little as 2 days for a straightforward file and around 2 months for one that is complex or incomplete. In our own cases a clean, well-evidenced dossier has typically cleared DRIEETS in about 2 to 3 weeks. After that: 2 to 4 weeks at the consulate for the 12-month visa, then 2 to 6 months at the prefecture for the 4-year card. End to end, plan 3 to 4 months. Dossier quality is the single biggest variable.
Because DRIEETS Île-de-France is the central evaluator for every innovative-project file in France, whatever region your project will operate in. That centralisation was set in 2021. A file written for a regional office goes to Paris and comes back.
Not at the first application step on this route. The project still needs a credible French operating plan, and the right company or self-employed structure becomes important for activity, tax and renewal.
Yes. A qualifying French employment contract goes through the Talent employee route instead, with the employer, salary threshold and contract carrying the case rather than a project file. See the France Talent employee route
Yes, and from day one. Your spouse applies for a Talent, Famille permit with full work rights, no separate sponsor and no employer tie, and your children under 18 get residence cards. Adult children can join if they are financially dependent or in full-time study. Each family member still has their own documents and their own decision.
No. The Talent card does not impose a minimum stay, so you can keep a business or a life elsewhere. Two things do depend on where you actually spend your time: French tax residency, and later naturalisation. Plan both deliberately.
Possibly. A French residence permit does not by itself make you a French tax resident. French law looks at three things: whether France is your main place of stay, where the 183-day figure is one way of measuring that rather than a safe harbour on its own; whether your main professional activity is in France; and whether France is the centre of your economic interests. If none applies, you stay tax-resident elsewhere. Get personal cross-border advice before you move money or restructure.
No. Talent project-holder applicants are exempt from the A2 requirement, even though A2 has applied to first multi-year cards since 1 January 2026. All documents and the DRIEETS submission can be done in English. Naturalisation is a different matter: since 1 January 2026 it needs B2 French and a civics exam, so start the language early if a passport is the goal.
After 5 years of legal residence you can apply for French citizenship or a 10-year resident card. Meeting the residence period is a condition, not an automatic grant, and since 1 January 2026 naturalisation also requires B2 French and a civics exam.
Three reasons. Evidence: France judges an innovation-led project and your founder record rather than an investment or a local company. Time: France kept its 5-year naturalisation clock while Portugal moved to 10 years on 19 May 2026, with 7 years for EU and CPLP nationals. And presence: France also asks for no minimum stay, so you can keep a business or a life elsewhere. Spain Startup or Portugal D2 can still be cleaner when the business is genuinely anchored there.
French companies can access research and innovation incentives, mainly the research tax credit (CIR), when their activity meets the current rules. The older JEI profits exemption no longer applies to companies created from 2024, so treat any page still advertising it with caution. These are company tax questions rather than visa benefits, and a French tax adviser should confirm them for your structure.
Approval depends on three separate decisions: DRIEETS on the project, the consulate on you, and the prefecture on the card. See our completed-case success rate and the methodology behind it, but no one can predict an individual result. See our completed-case success rate
Bring your CV, a project summary if you have one, your company history, portfolio evidence, the French activity you have in mind and your family plan. The first consultation tests fit and names the evidence gap. If you have no project, bring the CV and we start from the matching side.
Start with your track record
Bring the founder record and the project, or just the founder record. We will map the evidence, the missing pieces and the cleaner alternative if France is not the right fit.
Check my case for freeFree written check first · €40 live session, credited to your package.
You leave with a route, a document list and a realistic timeline for your own case.
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