Which residence permits allow you to become a micro-entrepreneur?

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens

You can register without a residence permit; a residence card is optional. After three months in France, your right to stay depends on conditions, and working, including as a self-employed person, meets them.

British citizens who lived in France before 1 January 2021 and hold the residence card of the Withdrawal Agreement keep the rights they had as EU citizens. British citizens who settled later follow the rules for non-EU nationals.

Our guide for EU citizens

Permits that allow a micro-enterprise

• « Entrepreneur / profession libérale »: the card made for it. Issued for one year at most, then you can ask for a 4-year card. Your activity must be economically viable; for a liberal activity, or a business you continue, you must also show income of at least €1,867.02 a month (2026 figure).
• « Vie privée et familiale »: it allows you to work, without separating employed and self-employed work, so a micro-enterprise is possible. One exception: the card given to the spouse of someone with EU long-term resident status in another EU country does not allow work during its first year.
• « Carte de résident » (10 years), including for refugees: it allows you to work.
• « Résident de longue durée – UE »: it allows employed and self-employed work.
• Subsidiary protection (« protection subsidiaire »): your card allows work « comme salarié ou non-salarié ».
• « Talent » (formerly « passeport talent »): « porteur de projet » allows only the business project the card was given for; « profession artistique et culturelle » allows employed and self-employed artistic work; « salarié qualifié » allows employed work only. For the other talent categories, ask the prefecture.
• « Recherche d'emploi ou création d'entreprise » (for example after a French master's degree): it lets you create a business linked to your studies, for one year, not renewable. Once your business is created, apply for an « entrepreneur / profession libérale » or « talent – porteur de projet » card. This card is not open to Algerian students.
• Temporary protection (people from Ukraine): the APS allows a professional activity.

Our guide for people from Ukraine

Permits that do not allow it

• « Salarié », « travailleur temporaire », « travailleur saisonnier »: they allow work as an employee for an employer, not self-employment.
• « Étudiant »: a student residence permit does not allow you to be an auto-entrepreneur. Students from the EU, the EEA and Switzerland are not concerned.
• « Visiteur »: no professional activity at all (Algerians: see below).
• Asylum seekers: no work during the first six months, then only salaried work with an authorisation requested by an employer.
• No permit, or a tourist visa: you are not allowed to register a micro-enterprise. Working on someone else's account, for example a rented delivery account, is not a solution: the government says it can be illegal work (« travail dissimulé »), punished by up to 3 years in prison and a €45,000 fine. You and the account holder both take serious legal risks.

Receipts, ANEF certificates and APS

• Renewal receipt (« récépissé de renouvellement »): it extends the rights of your previous card. If that card allowed self-employment, you can keep working.
• First application: a paper receipt or an ANEF certificate allows work only for some cards. It does not allow work while you wait for a first « entrepreneur / profession libérale » or « étudiant » card. For a first « talent » card, the ANEF certificate that extends the processing of your application does allow work.
• ANEF online certificates: the « attestation de dépôt » does not allow work; the certificate that extends a renewal allows it if your previous card did.
• APS (« autorisation provisoire de séjour »): it depends on its type. Read what is written on it.

Algerian nationals: the 1968 agreement

For Algerian nationals, the Franco-Algerian agreement of 27 December 1968 replaces the general rules, except for procedure. It gives them freedom of establishment to work as a trader or in an independent profession.

• « Certificat de résidence » for a non-salaried activity (trader, craftsperson, industrialist, liberal profession): issued for one year, with the registration of your business in the national register of businesses (RNE).
• « Certificat de résidence » « visiteur »: it allows a non-salaried professional activity that is not subject to special regulation.
• 10-year « certificat de résidence »: it allows you to work.
• Student certificate: no micro-enterprise.
• Moroccan nationals: their agreement with France only covers the « salarié » card, so the general rules apply to self-employment. Tunisian nationals: the Franco-Tunisian agreement governs your right of residence; for self-employment, ask your prefecture which card applies.

What the administration asks for

• You must be at least 18, or an emancipated minor (« mineur émancipé ») aged 16 or more.
• A valid identity document: passport, national identity card or residence permit.
• An address in France for your business.
• A sworn statement of no criminal conviction and of parentage (« déclaration sur l'honneur de non-condamnation et attestation de filiation »).
• For a regulated activity (many building and craft trades, hairdressing…), your diploma or proof of experience. For a craft trade, a foreign diploma can be recognised by the Chamber of Trades and Crafts (CMA).

Health cover, tax number and bank account

• Health: anyone who works in France has their health costs covered from the first hour of work.
• Social security number: the official registration website asks for one. If you do not have one yet, say so in our form and we will tell you what to do next.
• Tax number: if you have never received a letter from the French tax office, contact your local Centre des Finances Publiques with your civil status, your address and a copy of your identity document.
• Bank: if you live in France and a bank refuses to open an account for you, use the « droit au compte »: the Banque de France chooses a bank that must open one, whatever your nationality.

Bank account: the rules

Frequently asked questions