Dubai office · Business Bay
France residency from Dubai starts with one meeting in Business Bay. France IDEA helps UAE residents of any nationality apply for the French investor card: a residence permit for you and your family, based on a direct investment of at least €300,000 in a French operating company. Your first step is a free preliminary eligibility assessment (informal, no commitment).
The short answer
If you live in the UAE, you can apply for French residency without leaving Dubai until the visa stage. The route for investors is the multi-year “talent” card for an economic investment, often called the France golden visa or France investor visa. Here is what it involves, using the official French sources listed at the end of this page.
A qualifying direct economic investment with employment commitments, in a French operating company. Not a passive property purchase.
The residence card lasts up to 4 years and is renewable subject to continued eligibility.
From onboarding to your residence card. *Subject to individual eligibility and decisions by the competent French authorities.
Your spouse and dependent children can come with you. Your spouse may work in France.
Talent cards are exempt from the integration contract, so the France investor visa has no language test.
There is no obligation to live in France full-time to keep the card.
Who it is for
Most of the people we meet in our Dubai office already run a business or manage family wealth from the UAE. They want a second base in Europe: a right to live in France, schools for their children and access to the Schengen area, without giving up what they have built in Dubai.
The France investor visa fits that profile because it is built around a real investment, not a place of residence. You apply from the UAE, your family is included and, once the card is issued, you decide how much time you spend in France.
Who can apply for France residency from Dubai? Applicants of any nationality, subject to individual eligibility and the usual compliance checks. What matters is where you live: the long-stay visa is requested in your country of residence, so if your home is in the UAE, your file goes through the French consular services there.
Before you start, check three things. First, can you show where your €300,000 comes from, with bank records that trace it? Second, is the investment money you can leave in a company for at least 5 years? Third, who in your family will apply with you? If the answers are clear, you are ready for a first meeting about France residency from Dubai, in Business Bay, by phone or on WhatsApp.
If you don’t plan to invest, other routes may fit better, such as the long-stay visitor route for people living on their own income, or the talent card for skilled professionals and founders. Our guide to residency in France compares the six main routes.
The investment
French law sets the investor conditions in article L.421-16 of the CESEDA, the code on the entry and residence of foreign nationals, and the amount in article R.421-35. In short, you invest at least €300,000 in tangible or intangible fixed assets in France, either personally or through a company you run or in which you hold at least 30% of the capital, and you create or safeguard jobs, or commit to doing so within 4 years.
At France IDEA, the €300,000 goes into an operating French company that we have reviewed for economic substance and compliance, and it stays invested for at least 5 years. ODIOT, the Paris silversmith founded in 1690, is one example of the kind of heritage company we work with.
Real, operating French companies; businesses that need expansion, restructuring or relaunch capital; a hospitality operating project through its company structure.
Buying a hotel room or residential property is not the France IDEA route. Passive real estate and companies without real economic activity are excluded.
Investment risk. Terms depend on each project. You can lose part or all of your capital, and you may not be able to sell your stake when you want to (liquidity risk). The final investor documents govern each opportunity. Review them with your own legal and tax adviser before you sign.
The process
You start in our Dubai office and only need to travel to France at the end. Overall, allow 2 to 5 months* from onboarding to your residence card.
We review your profile and objectives in Dubai to confirm your eligibility and choose the right structure.
Your funds go into escrow with a Paris law firm, in a lawyer-regulated CARPA account.
Identity (KYC), anti-money-laundering (AML) and source-of-funds checks by banking and legal professionals.
Your long-stay (Type D) visa application is filed with the French consular services in the UAE.
Only after your residency is approved do the funds leave escrow and go into the French company.
In France, you apply for your multi-year talent card, valid for up to 4 years and renewable subject to continued eligibility.
*Subject to individual eligibility and decisions by the competent French authorities. KPMG Avocats has reviewed the legal and technical aspects of the programme.
The long term
The France golden visa card is renewable subject to continued eligibility. If you later decide to settle in France, the years you actually live there start to count.
Living mainly in Dubai is compatible with keeping your France golden visa card, but not with these later applications, so plan early if citizenship matters to you. Our permanent residence and citizenship page explains the conditions.
Documents
Most files are built around the documents below. We give you a personal checklist after the first meeting.
Your passport, with copies of the identity pages and previous Schengen visas, and proof that you live in the UAE.
Bank statements and records that trace the money from its origin to the investment.
The investment documents, the business plan and your commitment to create or safeguard jobs in France.
Police certificates for the countries where you have lived.
Marriage and birth certificates for your spouse and children.
Health cover for your stay and proof of an address in France.
Costs
The investment itself is at least €300,000. On top of that come the official fees and your own advisers. Service-Public lists €350 in tax stamps for a first talent card (€300 tax and €50 stamp duty). The long-stay visa fee is set by France-Visas and depends on where you apply.
Translations, legal fees and any adviser fees are separate. We go through each item at the first meeting, so that you can plan the full budget for France residency from Dubai before you transfer any funds to escrow. For France residency from Dubai there is no fee to France IDEA for the first meeting: it is a free preliminary eligibility assessment (informal, no commitment).
Your family
Your spouse applies for a “talent (famille)” card, which is separate from ordinary family reunification. Under article L.421-22 of the CESEDA, the family card runs for the time left on your own card, so if your family joins you later, their card ends when yours does. Your spouse can work in France on this card, as an employee or self-employed.
Children under 18 do not need a residence permit. For travel, you can request a document de circulation pour étranger mineur (DCEM), which helps them return to France and the Schengen area. Our guide to the talent family permit explains each step.
Practical points
A flat or villa in France can be your home there, but it does not count as the investment for the France investor visa.
Keep a bank record of every transfer from its origin in the UAE or elsewhere to the escrow account. Gaps are hard to explain later.
The long-stay visa is only the start. Once in France, you apply online for your multi-year card within the deadline Service-Public gives.
Citizenship generally needs 5 years of actual habitual residence in France. If it matters to you, plan your time in France early.
Renewal follows the same logic as the first card: you file in France, before your card expires, and show that your investment and the other conditions are still in place. For France residency from Dubai, we track these dates for you, so your file stays complete whether you are in Business Bay or in Paris.
Where each step happens
Most of the work happens before you travel. This table shows where each phase of the France golden visa process takes place for a client based in the UAE.
| Phase | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Onboarding | We review your profile, your goals and your family’s situation, and confirm whether the investor route fits. | Our Dubai office, by phone or on WhatsApp |
| 2. Escrow | Your funds go into a lawyer-regulated CARPA escrow account in Paris. | Bank transfer from wherever your funds are |
| 3. Compliance | Identity, anti-money-laundering and source-of-funds checks. | Remote, with documents gathered in Dubai |
| 4. Long-stay visa | Your Type D visa application is filed. | French consular services in the UAE |
| 5. Investment | After approval, the funds leave escrow and go into the French company. | Paris, handled for you |
| 6. Residence card | You apply for your multi-year talent card, valid for up to 4 years. | France, after you arrive |
Our team
France IDEA was founded by Charlie Maggi, a French entrepreneur with international business experience in China and the United States, who also founded The Open World. Charlie is based in Dubai, so the people you meet in Business Bay are the people who run your file.
Sara Chaouch leads application processing and client documentation, and supports clients and partners in French and Arabic. Roopa Narayanan coordinates marketing, partner onboarding and compliance documentation. Sonal Goritiyal develops the India market and coordinates relationships with local partners and prospective clients. You can read more about the team on our About page.
We are advisers, not the decision-maker. Every decision on your visa, your residence card and any later naturalisation application is taken by the competent French authorities. What we control is the quality and completeness of your file.
Why France
For many families in the UAE, France residency from Dubai is about a second base rather than a move. A French residence card gives the right to live in France with your family, to work and run a business there, and a long-term option in the European Union if your plans change.
Schooling is often the starting point. France has state schools, private and international schools, and well-known higher-education institutions such as HEC, ESSEC, Sciences Po and Sorbonne University. Healthcare is another: France has a universal system with public and private hospitals across the country.
The investment side matters too. With the France investor visa, your €300,000 goes into a real operating company rather than a passive property purchase, and France’s national investment plan, France 2030, sets the priorities that many of the companies we work with share. As with any company investment, there are capital-loss and liquidity risks, and the final investor documents govern each opportunity.
Questions
Yes. If you live in the UAE, you apply for the long-stay visa through the French consular services there, because the application is made in your country of residence. Your nationality does not matter for the investor route.
At least €300,000, as a qualifying direct economic investment with employment commitments. Buying a flat, a villa or a hotel room in France does not qualify.
Allow 2 to 5 months* from onboarding to your residence card. *Subject to individual eligibility and decisions by the competent French authorities.
No. The France golden visa does not require you to live in France full-time, so you can keep your life in Dubai. The time you actually spend living in France only matters later, if you want a 10-year resident card or French citizenship.
Not for the France investor visa: talent cards are exempt from the republican integration contract, so there is no French-language test. Later applications are different. Since 1 January 2026, a first resident card generally needs French at B1 and naturalisation B2, subject to applicable exemptions.
Yes. Your spouse and dependent children can join you. Your spouse receives a "talent (famille)" card that allows them to work in France.
Visit us
Book a free preliminary eligibility assessment (informal, no commitment) at our Business Bay office, by phone or on WhatsApp.
Sources
Checked on 3 November 2026. Rules change, so we confirm every condition against the official text when we prepare your file.