Residence permit fees in France in 2026: taxes, stamp and exemptions

A French residence card now costs far more than before. The 2026 Finance Act raised almost every rate on 1 May 2026. Here are the official residence permit fees, permit by permit. A lawyer checks your situation in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

Residence permit fees: what changed on 1 May 2026

Article 128 of the Finance Act for 2026 of 19 February 2026 rewrote the taxes in the CESEDA, the French immigration code. The new amounts apply to permits issued since 1 May 2026. What counts is therefore the date of the decision, not the filing date.

Residence permit fees combine two elements in principle:

• A tax (article L.436-1 of the CESEDA): €300 on first issue, €200 on renewal.
• A stamp duty (article L.436-7): €50, against €25 before.

Residence permit fees therefore reach €350 for a first card and €250 for a renewal. The figures of €300 and €200 sometimes quoted cover the tax alone, without the stamp.

Residence permit fees, permit by permit

The table below uses the amounts from the service-public.gouv.fr pages, stamp included.

Permit	First issue	Renewal
Employee, temporary worker, talent	€350	€250
Private and family life	€350	€250
Ten-year resident card	€350	€250
EU long-term resident	€350, or €250 with a current permit	€250
Student (card issued in France)	€150	€100
Job search or business creation	€150	Not renewable
Family admitted through family reunification	€150	Depends on the permit obtained
Retiree, foreign national needing care, young person in child welfare	€50	Varies

The reduced rate of €150 combines a €100 tax and the €50 stamp. On renewal, that reduced rate falls to €100.

For a long-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit, you pay a tax when you validate it online. It is €100 for a student and €300 for an employee, according to service-public.gouv.fr.

Duplicates, travel documents for minors and temporary permits

Residence permit fees do not cover everything. Other documents have their own rates.

Document	Price since 1 May 2026
Duplicate of a lost or stolen card	Same tax as a first issue, plus the stamp
Travel document for a foreign minor (DCEM)	€50
Temporary residence authorisation (APS)	€100, with some exceptions
Naturalisation	€255 stamp

A duplicate therefore costs €350 in the general case. Losing a card comes at a high price. Our article on residence permit obligations explains the procedure.

For a status change, the official pages do not all apply the same rate. Some charge €250 to people who already hold a valid permit, others €350. Ask the prefecture for the exact amount before buying your stamps.

Regularisation and late filing: the penalties

Two visa fees sometimes come on top of the residence permit fees.

• The regularisation visa: €300 if you entered without a long-stay visa or live in France unlawfully. You pay €100 of it when filing, and those €100 are never refunded, even if you are refused.
• The late filing penalty: €180 if you file your renewal late, except in case of force majeure or with a valid visa.

A regularisation thus quickly costs €650: a €300 visa fee, then a €350 card. Our article on exceptional leave to remain details that procedure. To avoid the €180, file between four and two months before expiry, as our article on residence permit renewal explains.

Exemptions: who pays nothing, or less

For some people, residence permit fees fall to zero. Several categories escape the tax, the stamp, or both.

• Victims of domestic or family violence holding a protection order: free card.
• Victims of trafficking or pimping who file a complaint or testify: free card.
• Refugees, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection and stateless persons: free card, including renewal and duplicate.
• Family of a refugee: a €50 stamp for the first resident card.
• Young people in the care of child welfare services (ASE): €50 for the first application.
• Retirees and their spouses, foreign nationals needing medical care: a €50 stamp only.

The family of a subsidiary protection beneficiary, however, pays €350 according to service-public.gouv.fr. For victims of violence, our article on the residence permit for domestic violence details the conditions.

Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan nationals: what price?

Bilateral agreements do not remove the taxes. Article L.436-6 of the CESEDA extends them to permits provided by those agreements. Fees for Tunisian and Moroccan nationals therefore stay close to the general rules.

For Algerian nationals, the official page provides special cases. The first "employee" certificate issued on arrival remains free, while a status change costs €250. Our article on the Algerian residence certificate details those rules.

How to buy the tax stamp

Residence permit fees are paid with a tax stamp. That stamp now exists in electronic form only. Two channels remain:

1. Online, on timbres.impots.gouv.fr, section "titre pour étranger", by bank card.
2. At an equipped tobacconist, who gives you an electronic stamp.

The stamp comes as a PDF with a 2D code, or as a text message with a 16-digit number. Keep it safe. Beware of websites that resell stamps with extra charges: only the official site sells at the legal price.

In principle, the prefecture asks for the stamps when it hands over the card, not when you file. Only the €100 of the regularisation visa is due on filing. Consequently, do not buy your stamps too early.

Refund of an unused stamp

An electronic stamp remains usable for 12 months. If you do not use it, you may ask for a refund on timbres.impots.gouv.fr within 18 months of purchase. It must not have been used already.

The most common case is a refusal. Your stamps were then not used, and you can have them refunded. However, the €100 paid when filing a regularisation application is lost.

When to consult a lawyer

A lawyer checks which residence permit fees apply to your case and spots any exemption. They also help you avoid the €180 penalty through the right timing. If you are refused after paying, our article on residence permit refusal sets out the remedies.

An immigration lawyer answers within 20 minutes. The official rates also appear on the service-public resident card page.