If you stay less than 12 months in France, the French consulate gave you a long-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit called Visa Long Séjour valant Titre de Séjour (VLS-TS) valid between 4 and 12 months.
As soon as you arrive and within 3 months, you must make your visa validated on the website:
https://administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr
On the website, select: "Validate your VLS-TS long stay visa"
You will need:
- a valid email address,
- information on your visa,
- to communicate your date of arrival in France,
- your postal address in France,
- a credit card to pay online the tax for issuing a residence permit.
After entering the information and paying the fee, you will confirm the registration of your visa and receive a validation certificate in PDF format.
This certificate must be saved, printed and kept for the duration of the stay in France.
You have to keep the certificate in your passport, which is accessible in your personal space created during the online validation.
The procedure is the same for your spouse if she/he accompanies you in France .
If you plan to extend your stay in France after the expiry of your VLS-TS, you will have to apply for the renewal of your residence permit between 2 and 4 months before your VLS-TS expires.