Can I get French residency just by investing a fixed amount of money?

No. Every Talent Passport track — including the investment track — requires active management, job creation or preservation, or genuine professional activity. There's no purely passive investment route.

What's the minimum investment for the "talent-project leader — economic investment" track?

€300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assets in France, invested personally or through a company where you hold at least 30% of the capital, plus a job creation/preservation commitment.

Is the Talent Passport a path to permanent residency?

It's a renewable multi-year card (up to 4 years); like other French residence titles it can lead toward permanent residence and citizenship over time, subject to the usual duration and integration requirements — it does not grant them immediately.

Does France have a golden visa? No — here's what it has instead

Plain-language guide · France · general information

Short answer

No. France has never operated a scheme that trades a fixed passive investment for a residence permit, the way Portugal, Greece, Malta, or Spain (before its 2025 repeal) do or did. There is no application category called "golden visa" on France's official portal, service-public.gouv.fr.

What actually exists: the Talent Passport

France's closest equivalent is the multi-year "carte de séjour pluriannuelle — passeport talent," a residence card covering several distinct professional profiles: qualified employees, employees of innovative companies, researchers, and project leaders. The category relevant to investors is the "talent-project leader — economic investment" track. To qualify, an applicant must invest personally — or through a company they manage or own at least 30% of — at least €300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assets in France, and commit to creating or safeguarding jobs tied to that investment.

For a full comparison with other countries' programmes, see immicor's France investor-residency deep dive.

Why this isn't a golden visa

The €300,000 threshold is not a cheque you write and wait — it requires an active, verifiable investment plan and a job-creation or job-preservation commitment, and it produces a renewable multi-year card, not automatic long-term residency. There's no route to residency based purely on holding assets or making a bank deposit.

Other Talent Passport tracks worth knowing about

Qualified employee (minimum salary €39,582/year), EU Blue Card (minimum salary roughly €59,373/year), researcher, and company creator (minimum €30,000 investment plus a genuine business plan) — none of these are investment-only routes either; all require active professional or business activity in France.

The company-creation track only needs €30,000 (versus €300,000 for the investment track), but it requires a real, viable business plan reviewed by French authorities — not a shell company set up purely to obtain the card.

Common questions

Can I get French residency just by investing a fixed amount of money?: No. Every Talent Passport track — including the investment track — requires active management, job creation or preservation, or genuine professional activity. There's no purely passive investment route.
What's the minimum investment for the "talent-project leader — economic investment" track?: €300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assets in France, invested personally or through a company where you hold at least 30% of the capital, plus a job creation/preservation commitment.
Is the Talent Passport a path to permanent residency?: It's a renewable multi-year card (up to 4 years); like other French residence titles it can lead toward permanent residence and citizenship over time, subject to the usual duration and integration requirements — it does not grant them immediately.

Not sure which Talent Passport track fits your profile? Tell the assistant whether you're investing, employed, or starting a company, for a plain-language walkthrough.

This guide is general information about France's Talent Passport and is not immigration advice. Confirm current thresholds with service-public.gouv.fr or an appropriately licensed French immigration lawyer.