You’ve successfully received your business visa and moved to France. You've settled down, but you are now wondering if you’ve missed an important piece of the jigsaw, which could backfire when renewing your business visa.
In this article, I'm sharing 10 must-do things to successfully renew your business visa - Visa profession liberale or visa talent.
I thought it was time to write on this topic, as I recently came across expats who've been in France for 6 to 7 months with a via profession liberale or visa talent and for whom:
- No business has been registered.
- Yet sometimes they are already trading, with or without invoicing (a big no-no in France).
- No declarations have been made to URSSAF.
- No health cover has been set up.
I’m not judging here, as sometimes you don’t know what is compulsory or when it has to be done. You might have expected help from your accountant, relocation company or lawyer and no news. But knowing that you submit your visa renewal 3 months before your visa expiry date, this leaves them in a very stressful situation.
Here are 10 Must-do things for your 1st year in France, for a successful business visa renewal. Download my free checklist with these 10 must-do items so you can tick them along.
1 - Find a long-term address
That's your priority #1. If you’ve booked an Airbnb or a gite for 3 months. Get help from an agency to find a place you're okay to stay for at least 6 months.
- TIP 1 - You want to avoid moving several times, as this will mess up your business and health cover setup. Choose this place as a stepping stone. Maybe to look for somewhere to buy or to test an area for 6 months.
- TIP 2 - Get a utility bill in your name or a rent receipt called quittance de loyer.
2 - Open a personal bank account
This one is tricky, and can only happen once you have a long-term rental contract - Quittance or utility bill. For some of you, it might even have to wait until you've registered your business.
Go for a traditional brick-and-mortar bank such as Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, CIC, or Credit Mutuel. Online banks such as N26, Revolut, Bourso Bank or Nickel won’t want to hear from you until you have a standard bank account (proof of safety and residency check for them). You can then use an online bank for your business.
3 - Validate your visa within 3 months of landing in France
Remember to validate your visa online with OFII - Office Francais de L’Immigration et de l’Intégration for visa Profession Liberale . You will then be invited for an OFII Visit.
Do this sooner rather than later, as there tends to be delays for the OFII visit. You aim to get your OFII visit within your first 3 months in France, for which you will get a convocation for a medical visit by email. Chase them if you have no news after 6-8 weeks (call/email). Find your local OFII agency here.
This visit is very important for your visa renewal, as you will need to show proof that you attended the meeting.
For Visa Talent, you will have to register and validate your long-stay visa online within 90 days. You’ll get a sticker note with a QR code in your passport (with your visa), telling you what to do with OFII. You will:
- Get an attestation that it has been submitted called "récepissé".
- Resubmit many documents from your visa application + business registration papers/ proof of address.
- Be approved and then be asked to collect your carte de sejour when it’s ready (it could be months).
- This will be slow..
4 - Register your business
A business visa allows you to move to France, but it’s not a business licence. You've been granted a visa for France as an entrepreneur: visa Profession Liberale or Visa Talent. But you then need to create the business once in France.
Make sure you register the business relatively quickly to start invoicing and building your official administrative trail in France.
Think about the address that you will use. You’ll receive very important postal letters within the first 3-4 months. And you want to access them. We can’t update the business until your health cover is set up. You may have to wait until you have a more permanent address if you have an Airbnb, or look into setting up a PO box.
5 - Start your French lessons
For a visa Profession Libérale, you will take an A1 French test for your OFII meeting. This is beginner’s French. If you fail the test, you will have to take 100 hours of French lessons. They used to give you access to free French lessons, but it looks like this is slowly stopping, so you might have to take your own lessons. 1-to-1 or look at Alliance Française.
By the time you renew your visa, Profession Libérale, you will have to have passed:
- French A1 beginner level until 31st December 2025.
- From 2026, it will be an A2 level - advanced beginner French.
- You will need to have your DELF Certificate for the visa renewal.
What is the impact of this?
- If you only pass A1 French Beginner, you’ll get a 1-year visa renewal.
- If you pass the A2 Advanced Beginner level, you’ll be able to ask for a multi-year renewal called pluriannuel lasting 4 years! Now this is what I call motivation to learn French!! Fewer yearly meetings to the prefecture for a visa renewal.
- … Provided you meet the over visa renewal criteria: business set up, health cover setup, up to date with your taxes, and generating enough income (at least SMIC).
Sign up for French lessons now and keep at it. Make sure you take a French DELF test before your visa renewal appointment.
Keep up to date with this section, as it tends to be where immigration laws are tightening up. It’s likely to be part of the debate for the next election in 2027.
6 - Open a dedicated bank account for your business
I strongly recommend keeping your personal income separate from your business income. Create a bank account dedicated to your new French business. You can still use Wise or PayPal to get paid, but make sure you transfer money regularly to the business account. Use your French account to pay your business taxes.
7 - Create your business online accounts
Create your business online accounts with URSSAF, Impots, and CPAM. Warning - it will be slow, as you have to wait for your postal mail. The most important account is URSSAF, as this is where you'll pay your social charges. This will also trigger your health cover set-up.
All of these are covered in detail in Manage Your Micro Entrepreneur with tours and how-to videos.
I wouldn’t underestimate the work that needs to be done here. Put the effort in the first 3 months, and then it will get easier. Expect another learning curve after 6-8 months, with your income tax declaration, becoming VAT registered or updating your business.
8 - Follow through with your health cover
This is a slow process too, which usually takes 3 to 4 months. Make a note after three to four months to chase your local CPAM office if you haven't heard from them. Book a meeting with them and bring your paperwork to fix things.
9 - Complete your business declarations
Micro entrepreneurs handle monthly or quarterly turnover declarations. Do them diligently and pay your taxes on time. This will be a major proof of being self-sufficient in France when renewing your Visa.
Keep up with your business admin. Design your first French invoice, create a logbook called livre des recettes. Have a dedicated bank account in France for your business. These are covered in detail in Manage Your Micro Entrepreneur.
Make sure your money goes through your business account, then pay yourself at the end of each month. Make a bank transfer to your personal account every month. If asked for a bank statement, you’ll show that you’ve been committed to the French ecosystem.
10 - File your personal income tax / Impot sur le revenu
Finally, many expats get confused between business taxes and personal taxes. As an entrepreneur, you are paying social charges that go towards your health and a state pension, and you might also pay the income tax at source “impot liberatoire” as a micro entrepreneur.
However, you still have to file your personal taxes. Once a year in May, we declare to the government how much income we've earned from our business, rental income or pension. Make sure you file your income tax in France.
If you land in France in 2025, your first declaration will be in May 2026 for the income earned between 1/1/25 to 31/12/25. Get in touch with an accountant to handle this income tax declaration. If you missed the deadline, it can be fixed. Send me an email and I'll introduce you to an accountant.
Some people advise you to get your TIN or numéro fiscal, which is your personal fiscal number from the tax office. But this can be quite tricky when you haven’t earned anything, because they struggle to create one without any income.
Which documents to prepare for a business visa renewal
3 months before your visa expiration date, gather your dossier with your:
- Official business papers (INSEE, KBIS)
- URSSAF affiliation letter
- Health cover attestation - attestation de couverture santé
- Poofs of business income with your turnover declarations
- Bank statements as a supporting document
- French DELF B1/B2 Attestation.
I usually also recommend digging out your initial business plan and writing a cover letter to state where you stand. What have you achieved so far?
For extra help on learning how to manage your French business, I'm inviting you to look into Manage Your Micro entrepreneur.
