Family Reunion in France (Regroupement Familial) (2026)

Which family reunion route applies to you?

French family immigration has three distinct routes, and the right one depends on your status. If you are a non-EU resident in France and want to bring your non-EU spouse and minor children from abroad, you use regroupement familial, processed through the OFII. If you are the foreign spouse of a French national, you use the famille de Francais route, which leads to a carte de sejour vie privee et familiale without the OFII regroupement procedure.

A non-EU family member of an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen living in France follows neither of those. They apply for a carte de sejour membre de famille d'un citoyen UE, which follows EU free-movement rules rather than the resources and housing checks. A parent coming for a visit of under 90 daysneeds none of these routes: an attestation d'accueil covers it, as the last section explains. Confirm the route that matches your situation on service-public.fr before you start.

What conditions must you meet?

The sponsor must have lived legally in France for at least 18 months before filing for regroupement familial. You also need a valid residence permit, stable and sufficient resources (ressources stables), and housing that is adequate in size and comfort for your family. The OFII verifies the resources and the housing before the Prefecture takes its decision. Exact thresholds depend on family size and region, so confirm them on service-public.fr.

The 18-month rule has no shortcut. A spouse who enters on a visiteur visa to wait it out cannot work, because that visa forbids any work. The regroupement route ends on a VLS-TS vie privée et familiale, which carries work rights from arrival. For a spouse who needs an income, that difference outweighs the months of waiting.

How do you apply step by step?

Regroupement familial runs from an OFII file to a VLS-TS vie privée et familiale, then to validation on ANEF and the integration contract. The sponsor files in France, and the family applies for its visas at the French consulate abroad once the Prefecture says yes.

1. Step 1: Confirm your route: regroupement familial, famille de Francais, or family of an EU citizen.
2. Step 2: Check the conditions: 18 months of prior legal residence, stable resources, and adequate housing.
3. Step 3: File the regroupement request with the OFII with proof of identity, residence, resources, and housing.
4. Step 4: The OFII verifies your resources and housing and forwards its opinion.
5. Step 5: The Prefecture decides, and your family requests the VLS-TS vie privée et familiale through France-Visas.
6. Step 6: Within three months of arrival, each adult validates on ANEF and signs the CIR with the OFII.

What happens after your family arrives in France?

Each adult family member validates their own VLS-TS vie privée et familiale online on ANEF within three months of arrival. Since 1 May 2026, the validation tax ranges from €100 to €300 depending on the visa category, payable by card only. The OFIIthen calls each adult to sign the contrat d'intégration républicaine (CIR), which is mandatory.

The VPF visa carries the right to work from arrival, so a spouse can sign a contract straight away. A visiteur visa, by contrast, forbids any work.

Children under 18 need no titre de séjour, so you pay no validation for them. Two early steps do need paperwork: mairie school enrolment and the CAFfamily-allowance file both ask for a justificatif de domicile. An energy or internet bill under 3 months old, in your own name, is the safest proof. A mobile phone bill is often refused, and a bill in a partner's name fails for the other adult.

How do you get and renew the permit?

Family members admitted through regroupement familial, and the foreign spouse of a French national, receive the carte de sejour vie privee et familiale after the visa year. You request it on ANEF. Under the loi de finances 2026, a first card costs €350 since 1 May 2026, up from €225: a €300 tax plus a €50 droit de timbre.

Renewal opens 4 months before expiry and closes 2 months before, according to Service-Public fiche N110. A renewal costs €250, and filing late adds a €180 taxe de régularisation. You provide updated proof of family ties, resources, and address. Since 1 January 2026, a multi-year card requires the civic exam and French at A2 level, and the 10-year carte de résident requires B1.

While ANEF processes a renewal, keep the récépissé or the attestation de prolongation. The ANEF attestation de dépôt is not a residence document, and the CAF, France Travail and landlords refuse it.

Sources: OFII, France-Visas, ANEF, service-public.fr (fiche N110, actualité A17599), loi de finances 2026 art. 128, as of October 2026. Resource and housing thresholds, fees, and conditions change, so verify the current rules for your route before applying.

How do you host a family visit under 90 days?

A relative visiting for up to 90 days uses a Schengen short stay, not regroupement familial. The visitor must show means of €120 a day without accommodation proof, or €65 a day with a hotel booking. An attestation d'accueil signed by you as host cuts that floor to €32.50 a day. These amounts are unchanged in 2026.

You request the attestation at your mairie with a €30 fiscal stamp, according to Service-Public fiche F2191. The mairie answers within one month, and silence counts as a refusal. Plan 6 to 12 weeks in total, because city appointments and posting the original abroad take time. The €30 is lost if the mairie refuses, and one form covers a spouse and minor children.

For an 8-week visit, the attestation lowers the amount your parent must show from €6,720 to €1,820. That is €4,900 less to prove for a €30 stamp. Start the mairie request at least three months before the planned flight.

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