Updated October 2026
You are finishing your studies in France and you have a job offer or a business project? To stay and work, you must change your student status to a work or business residence permit. Here are the options and the rules in force in 2026, explained simply.
In short
- Apply in the 2 months before your student or job search permit ends.
- Your employer usually needs a work authorisation, requested online.
- With a master's and a job linked to your studies paid €2,800.53 a month, it is easier.
- Talent Passport: from €39,582 a year, and your family can join you more easily.
You have a job offer in France? Take the free eligibility test
The main permits after your studies
- Employee (salarié): for a permanent contract (CDI). A 1-year card, then a multi-year card of up to 4 years.
- Temporary worker (travailleur temporaire): for a fixed-term contract (CDD). A card valid for the length of your contract, up to 1 year.
- Talent Passport "qualified employee": a master's level diploma and at least €39,582 gross per year. A multi-year card of up to 4 years, without a work authorisation.
- EU Blue Card: a higher education diploma and at least €59,373 gross per year.
- Entrepreneur / profession libérale: to create or run your own company.
- Talent Passport "business creation": for a serious or innovative business project, under conditions.
€2,800.53gross per month: with a master's and a job linked to your studies, no job market check
€39,582gross per year: the minimum salary for the Talent Passport "qualified employee"
2 monthsbefore your permit ends: the period to apply
Is the job linked to your studies?
- The easiest case: you hold a master's degree or a licence professionnelle, the job is linked to your studies and it pays at least €2,800.53 gross per month. The job market is not checked.
- Other cases: a lower diploma, a job not linked to your studies, or a lower salary. The job market is checked: the job offer must usually have been published for 3 weeks without a suitable candidate.
- Shortage jobs: if the job is on the list of jobs in short supply for your region, the job market is not checked.
How to apply
- Work authorisation: your employer requests it online on ANEF. It is not needed for the Talent Passport.
- Change of status: you apply in the 2 months before your student or job search permit ends.
- While you wait: if your permit ends before the decision and your file was complete and on time, you receive an attestation that keeps your stay legal.
Documents usually requested: your passport, your current permit, your diploma, your employment contract or promise of employment, your recent payslips if you already work, and proof of address. Your employer also provides documents about the company.
Be careful: until your new permit is granted, you are still a student. Do not work more than 964 hours a year, or your change of status can be refused.
Your family
- Talent Passport: your spouse and children can come through a simplified procedure, and your spouse can work.
- Employee card: family reunification is possible after 18 months of legal stay, with stable resources and suitable housing. See our family reunification service.
How TSA helps you
- We check which permit fits your diploma, your job and your salary
- We help your employer with the work authorisation request
- We prepare your change of status file with you, in your language
- We help you plan your family's arrival
- In case of refusal or OQTF, our partner lawyers take over before the court
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Talk to us in your language
Our Paris team supports people from all over Asia, from the first visa to French nationality. We speak English, French, Tamil, Hindi, Sinhala and other Asian languages.
Official sources: Service-public.fr, working in France after your studies and Service-public.fr, job search permit and change of status (both checked 1 June 2026)
