Country guide · France

Getting a job in France, 2026

The grander sounding permit has the higher bar: France's Talent card for a qualified employee asks €39,582 a year, the EU Blue Card asks €59,373, and both let a spouse work from day one, which an ordinary salarié card does not for 18 months. Every threshold is a multiple of the SMIC or of a reference average salary, so they all moved on 1 January. And since 1 January 2026 a first multi-year card also needs A2 French and 32 correct answers out of 40 on a new civic exam, which most skilled workers turn out to be exempt from.

Country guidePublished 20 September 2026·Every figure checked 20 September 2026·19 min read
€39,582
Salary floor for the Talent card as a qualified employee, 2026
service-public.gouv.fr, 1 Jun 2026
€59,373
EU Blue Card floor, 1.5 times the reference average gross salary
service-public.gouv.fr, 1 Jun 2026
32 of 40
Civic exam pass mark, now a condition of a first multi-year card
service-public.gouv.fr, 10 Feb 2026
18 months
Wait for family reunification on a salarié card. On a Talent card, none
service-public.gouv.fr, 1 Jun 2026
Section 01

The Talent card, the Blue Card, and the salary floors

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France sets almost every immigration salary floor as a multiple of something that moves on 1 January, so a threshold you read last year is the wrong number now. Here is what each route actually costs you in gross salary in 2026, and which one gives your family the right to work.

The two anchors everything hangs off

Two reference figures drive the whole system. The first is the SMIC, the statutory minimum wage. From 1 January 2026 it is €12.31 gross an hour, €1,867.02 gross a month on the legal 35 hour week, and the government publishes the matching net as €1,477.93. service-public.gouv.fr, SMIC, updated 1 June 2026

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Section 02

Getting in, staying in, and bringing your family

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Section 03

Pay, the 35 hour week, licences and the French CV

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