Foreigner in France: multi-year residence card - ICT posted employee

Verified 01 June 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If you're a foreigner, no European and come to France (as an executive or expert) for a mission in a company of the group that employs you, you can apply for a residence card ICT posted employee. The card is valid for a maximum of 3 years. If the duration of stay is more than 3 months and a maximum of 1 year, a long-stay visa worth a residence permit (VL-TS) mention ICT posted employee What are the conditions and procedures to benefit from this card? We're taking a look at the regulations.

What applies to you ?

Veuillez patienter pendant le chargement de la page

The multi-annual residence card ICT posted employee allows to stay in France to carry out a mission of more than 1 year during a intra-group temporary transfer (Intra corporate transfer).

You are concerned if you complete the whole the following conditions:

  • You are foreigner (except European or Algerian)
  • You have a long-stay visa or a VLS-TS ICT posted employee
  • You come to France for hold a senior management position or provide expertise
  • You have a employment contract with the company that employs you abroad
  • You have a seniority of at least 6 months in the group that employs you.

Warning  

Other rules apply if you are Algerian. If you are European, you do not need a residence permit.

The approach differs according to your place of residence :

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

You live abroad

You must submit your application to the french consular authorities in your country of residence.

You live in France

You must apply for a card within 2 months before the end date of your visa (or residence permit) with the prefecture (or sub-prefecture) of your home. Find out more on the prefecture's website.

Who shall I contact

If your file is complete, you will receive a receipt pending the response of the prefecture.

  • Long-stay visa or valid residence permit
  • Passport (pages concerning civil status, validity dates, entry stamps and visas)
    • Or consular certificate with photo
    • Or photo ID card
    • Or consular card with photo
    • Or certificate of nationality of less than 6 months with photo
  • Form cerfa no. 15619 and documents requested in this form
  • Current employment contract concluded with the company that employs you outside France or any equivalent document in local law
  • Proof of your seniority for at least 6 months in the group of companies: employer certificate and payslips
  • Proof of resources greater than or equal to €1,867.02 gross per month
  • Proof that the company that employs you and the one in which your mission is carried out belong to the same group of companies
  • Diplomas corresponding to executive or expert functions
  • If the profession is regulated : proof that you meet these conditions
  • If you are a model: copy of the model agency license
  • If you are engaged in a live performance activity: live performance entrepreneur license
  • If you are engaged in an occasional live performance activity: copy of the prior statement of intervention to the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs
  • If necessary: mandate (if you use an agent to carry out your procedures)

Warning  

The prefecture may refuse to deliver you your residence card if you have not complied with an obligation to leave the country (OQTF) or if you have committed any of the following acts:

  • Forgery and use of false documents
  • Misdemeanors severe or crimes (drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, procuring, working conditions or undignified accommodation, among others)
  • Violence against elected officials, public officials or security agents.

The prefecture refuses to deliver you the ICT seconded employee residence card in one of the following cases:

  • Mission to an establishment or company that has been set up primarily to facilitate the entry of spare foreigners
  • Conviction of your employer or host company for fraud or misrepresentation in order to obtain a foreigner's work permit
  • Maximum duration of 3 years of stay is reached.

The prefecture may refuse to issue you the ICT seconded employee residence card in one of the following cases:

  • Penalty for illegal work by the employer or company hosting you
  • Conviction for hiring foreigners without a work permit from the employer or the company hosting you
  • Failure of the employer or the host company to comply with legal obligations in terms of social security, taxation or labor rights or working conditions.

Acceptance or refusal to issue the residence card

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Your request is accepted

If your request is accepted, you are summoned to the prefecture for the issuance of the title.

Your request is denied

If the prefect has notified you of the refusal

The prefect's decision is yours notified by reasoned letter (explicit decision). Except in exceptional cases, this refusal shall be accompanied by a obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) determining the country to which you will be returned.

You can form a litigation before the administrative court (within 48 hours, 15 days or 30 days depending on the type of OQTF).

No response from the prefect on your request

If the prefecture has not replied after 90 days, this is an implicit refusal.

You can then train within 2 months of this refusal:

Warning  

If your receipt is coming to an end and you do not have a response from the prefecture, it is possible that the processing time will be extended. In this case, you can get the renewal of your receipt. Find out more on the website of your prefecture.

Handing over the card

The card is given to you by the prefecture or sub-prefecture of your home (upon your arrival in France on presentation of your visa if you have applied abroad).

You have to pay €350 (tax of €300 + stamp duty of €50) by tax stamps.

The card is issued for a duration equal to that of the mission (3 years maximum), from which the duration of the stay made with a long-stay visa or a VLS-TS is removed. For example: 2 years maximum after 1 year of VLS-TS.

The ICT multi-annual residence card is not not renewable.

After a period of stay of 6 months cumulated outside the'European Union, a new card may be issued to you if you come to make a new temporary intra-group posting in France.

Your family can benefit from the simplified procedure accompanying family :

The " accompanying family » includes the person you are married to and your minor children. The simplified procedure allows them to come to France for the duration of your stay, without doing the family reunification procedure.

They have to get a long-stay visa at the French consulate of their country of residence.

This procedure is applicable even if your family arrives in France after you or if you get married after your arrival in France.

If your family members are already in France with long-stay visas, your spouse must apply for a residence card at the prefecture of his place of residence. Your minor children are exempt from residence cards until they reach the age of majority.

Documents to be provided
  • Long-stay visa or valid residence permit
  • Passport (pages concerning civil status, validity dates, entry stamps and visas)
    • Or consular certificate with photo
    • Or photo ID card
    • Or consular card with photo
    • Or certificate of nationality of less than 6 months with photo
  • Proof of address less than 6 months old
  • Residence card of your spouse or parent (or identity card)
  • Marriage certificate extract bearing the most recent mention or birth certificate extracts of children with filiation (documents corresponding to the situation at the time of application)
  • 3 photos
    • If the request is made on the internet: indicate the code of the e-photo (provided by the photographer or the authorized booth on the photo board)
    • If you don't have an e-photo yet, you can locate a digital photo and signature service.
Where to turn?

Who shall I contact

Warning  

It is not possible to carry out the procedures in some sub-prefectures. Find out more on the website of your prefecture.

Your spouse and adult children receive a multi-year residence card ICT seconded employee (family).

The duration of this card is equal to the remaining validity period of your stay. It gives the right to the exercise of any professional activity.