France Long-Stay Visa 2026: VLS-TS, Family Reunification and Spouse Visa

Joining your spouse in France, or bringing your family over, is one of the most tightly regulated migration projects, and one of the most emotionally charged. The procedures exist, they succeed every year for many families, but they are demanding on documents and long on timelines. This guide walks through the two main family routes from Africa (the spouse-of-a-French-citizen visa and family reunification) then the step many people discover too late: validating the visa online after arrival. Official 2026 figures, with no false hopes and no needless discouragement.

If you are married to a French citizen, you apply yourself for the VLS-TS “vie privée et familiale” at the French consulate via france-visas.gouv.fr; for the spouse or child of a foreign resident, the resident starts family reunification with OFII.

Two very different logics: the spouse of a French citizen applies for the visa directly; for family reunification, it is the family member already in France who starts the procedure, and the visa only comes after the administration's approval.

The VLS-TS (long-stay visa serving as a residence permit) issued to the spouse of a French national acts as both entry visa and first one-year residence permit. It grants the right to work as soon as it is validated, with no separate work authorisation.

• a marriage recognised under French law: celebrated in France, or celebrated abroad and transcribed into the French civil registers;
• a spouse holding French nationality at the time of application;
• a genuine married life together (the consulate may request evidence and, in case of doubt, carry out checks).

Key point: there is no income requirement and no housing requirement for the spouse-of-a-French-citizen visa, unlike family reunification.

If your marriage was celebrated abroad, the visa application requires a marriage certificate transcribed by the French consular civil registry, a local marriage certificate is not enough. Transcription is requested from the competent French embassy or consulate, and the record is then entered in the registers of the Central Civil Registry in Nantes. It may involve an interview of the spouses, and timelines vary from one post to another. Plan ahead: it is often the transcription, not the visa, that stretches the calendar.

• passport and application form (filed via france-visas.gouv.fr, then the local service provider);
• a recent full copy of the transcribed marriage certificate (consulates generally require a copy issued within the last few months, check your consulate's checklist);
• proof of the spouse's French nationality (identity card or passport);
• evidence of married life together if the post requests it;
• compliant identity photos.

The long-stay visa for the spouse of a French citizen is free of charge: a full waiver of visa fees. Only possible service fees charged by the external provider (TLScontact, VFS, etc.) may remain payable depending on the country. Beware of any intermediary who charges for the “spouse visa” itself.

Visa processing time varies with the consulate and the season, and applications that require civil status checks can take several months. But the timeline couples actually live through is the sum: transcription + appointment booking + processing. In several French-speaking African countries, the whole thing is measured in months. That is not a sign of refusal: it is the normal rhythm of the procedure.

Family reunification in France requires the foreign resident to have lived there for at least 18 months (12 months for Algerians) with roughly €1,867 a month for 2 to 3 people; the prefect has 6 months to decide after filing with OFII.

Family reunification allows a non-European foreign national legally residing in France to bring over their adult spouse and minor children.

• Prior residence: having lived in France for at least 18 months under a residence permit valid for at least one year (12 months for Algerian nationals, governed by the 1968 Franco-Algerian agreement).
• Income: a monthly average over the last 12 months of at least roughly €1,867 for a family of 2 to 3 people, €2,054 for 4 to 5 people, and €2,240 for 6 or more (service-public.gouv.fr figures, 2026). Family benefits, the RSA and several other solidarity allowances (ASPA, ASS, AER) are excluded from the calculation. Recipients of the AAH or ASI disability benefits are exempt from the income condition.
• Housing: a minimum habitable surface depending on the geographic zone, for example 22 m² for 2 people in zone A bis/A, 24 m² in zones B1/B2, 28 m² in zone C, with additional square metres per extra person. Officers authorised by the mayor may inspect the accommodation.

1. In France first: the resident files the application with OFII (online or by registered post). The mayor checks income and housing, OFII completes the review, then the prefect decides. The prefect has 6 months from the filing of the complete application; silence beyond that counts as an implicit refusal, which can be challenged.
2. Then at the consulate: once approval is obtained, the spouse and children apply for their long-stay visas at the French consulate in their country, with civil status documents (sometimes subject to verification, which can add months).

The most common (and most costly) mistake is reversing the order: applying for a visa before the prefect's approval leads to near-certain refusal.

The prefect's legal deadline is 6 months, but the full journey (filing, housing inspection, decision, then visas with document verification) often runs beyond those 6 months, because the visa can only be requested after the decision. Make no irreversible commitments (tickets, moving, school enrolment) before approval AND visa issuance. Start preparing complete civil status documents now, with certified translations where needed: it is the best way to avoid losing extra months.

An explicit refusal must state its reasons, and an implicit refusal (6 months of silence) can also be challenged: an administrative appeal, then an appeal to the administrative court within the deadlines. If the refusal stems from an incomplete file, a new, complete application remains possible.

The last step, often discovered too late: the VLS-TS must be validated online within 3 months of arriving in France, on the official platform administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr (ANEF). Without validation, your stay becomes irregular after 3 months and you can no longer re-enter France without a new visa.

Validation involves paying a residence tax. Watch the 2026 amounts: since 1 May 2026 (2026 Finance Law), the standard rate rose from €200 to €300; a reduced rate applies notably to students (€100) and to family reunification. Payment is made with an electronic tax stamp, bought online or at a tobacconist.

1. Civil status documents first. Marriage transcription (route 1) or verifiable birth and marriage certificates (route 2): this is where months are won, or lost.
2. No intermediary can “guarantee” a visa. These procedures are free (spouse of a French citizen) or charged at official rates; anyone selling you an outcome is selling hot air, sometimes fraud.
3. Always check your consulate's official checklist: document lists vary by country. To place your case among visa types, see our visas page, for example from Algeria or from Morocco.

These procedures are long, but they are rights, framed by law. A genuine marriage, a complete file and perseverance remain your best assets.

• Visa applications and country pages, france-visas.gouv.fr
• Family reunification, conditions and amounts, service-public.gouv.fr (sheet F11166)
• Residence of the foreign spouse of a French citizen, service-public.gouv.fr (sheet F1764)
• OFII family reunification procedure, ofii.fr
• Tax increase as of 1 May 2026 (2026 Finance Law), service-public.gouv.fr (news of 22 April 2026)