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Pathway

France Au Pair Visa

France Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

If you are a young adult from outside the EU, France's au pair route may let you live with an unrelated host family of a different nationality while learning French. You receive room, food, and pocket money in exchange for limited childcare and household help under a written agreement.

Who can apply
Non-EU/EEA/Swiss applicants aged 18 to 30
Requirements
Signed au pair agreement and language or education evidence
Limits
Light family tasks only; not a general employment visa

Summary

France’s au-pair visa is a temporary cultural and language route for young people living with a host family. It allows a limited stay with a host family, light family tasks, and French learning, but it is not a general work visa or permanent-residence route.

The applicant must be 18 to 30 and have basic French knowledge, completed secondary education, or professional qualifications. The official host-family agreement must be signed before departure because it is part of the visa file.

Agree the placement terms before the visa application
  1. Confirm the applicant and host Check age and an unrelated host family of a different nationality.
  2. Sign the official agreement Record the tasks, schedule, housing, food, pocket money, insurance, and language-learning arrangements.
  3. Prepare the visa file before travel Add the accepted French, schooling, or qualification evidence and follow France-Visas instructions.

The educational evidence alternatives do not replace the written placement agreement. The stay is a cultural and language program.

Could this pathway work for you?

Eligibility

EEA means the EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

The applicant generally must:

The agreement must set out the living arrangement and both sides' obligations. Current official guidance requires it to include:

The precise visa checklist also depends on nationality and country of residence. Identity, housing, insurance, family-status, and public-order documents may be required.

What This Route Allows

The route allows the au pair to live with the named host family, carry out the agreed limited childcare and household tasks, and attend language or cultural study. The long-stay visa serves as a residence permit after the required arrival validation.

The initial agreement can last no more than one year. A new agreement of up to one year can support renewal, for a maximum total stay of two years.

What This Route Is Not

This is not ordinary paid employment or a domestic-worker visa. The au pair cannot take unrelated side work outside the tasks listed in the host-family agreement.

It is not a general path for living with relatives, working full time as a nanny, or moving to France permanently. A host family cannot replace the written terms with an informal promise, and the cultural and language purpose must remain real.

Next Steps

  1. Confirm that the applicant will be between 18 and 30 on the relevant filing date and is not using EU free-movement rights.
  2. Find an unrelated host family of a different nationality and discuss tasks, schedule, room, food, pocket money, insurance, and French classes.
  3. Complete and sign the current official au pair agreement before departure.
  4. Gather proof of basic French, completed secondary schooling, or professional qualifications.
  5. Use the France-Visas assistant to obtain the exact checklist for the applicant's nationality and country of residence.
  6. Apply for the long-stay au pair visa and do not perform au pair work on a tourist status.
  7. Validate the VLS-TS within the official deadline after arrival and keep a copy of the agreement.
  8. If extending beyond one year, sign a new compliant agreement and apply before the existing permission expires.

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Sources