Moving a family to France
Paris · 14 sources · Verified Aug 2026
Start here
Does your household clear €17,735 a year?
Long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS visiteur). Published by the authority that applies it.
Threshold from Service-Public.fr (DILA, Prime Minister's office), Carte de sejour temporaire visiteur, checked 2026-08-26. It is the published test, not a decision on your case.
What year one costs
2 adults, 2 children · USD
Your children
Children aged 3 to 16 living in France are subject to compulsory instruction whatever their nationality. For primary school you enrol at the mairie first, which issues a certificat d'inscription naming the school, then at the school itself with proof of the compulsory vaccinations. A child of 6 or over arriving from abroad is assessed on French, on other languages taught and on schooling already completed, and that assessment decides the class.
Worth knowing
State schools teach in French, and France also runs state-funded sections internationales inside ordinary public schools. At the 2025 rentree the education ministry's list records 188 sections across the Paris, Versailles and Creteil academies, 71 of them British, American or Australian. Public examples in Paris include Lycee international Honore de Balzac, Lycee Maurice Ravel, Lycee Camille See and Cite scolaire Montaigne.
International schooling runs €25,000 to €41,400 per child per year.
What goes wrong
Families who need English-language state schooling as a guarantee rather than a lottery, and families whose income sits below the net annual SMIC. The visitor route bars you from working in France, so it cannot be topped up with local earnings.
Who to call
We are paid hereKeep this current
The cost desk letter
When a number a family relies on changes
A short note when a visa fee, an income threshold or a school fee we track moves, plus each new edition of the Cost Index. No selling, unsubscribe anytime.
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Sources
Changed since? Tell us and we recheck it.
- American School of Paris, tuition and fees checked August 26, 2026
- Direction generale des finances publiques, Les conventions internationales checked August 26, 2026
- France-Visas (Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres), Frais de visa checked August 26, 2026
- International School of Paris, school fees checked August 26, 2026
- Ministere de l'education nationale (DREIC), Sections internationales open dataset checked August 26, 2026
- Observatoire des Loyers de l'Agglomeration Parisienne (OLAP), Donnees de l'annee 2025 checked August 26, 2026
- Service-Public.fr (DILA, Prime Minister's office), Carte de sejour temporaire visiteur checked August 26, 2026
- Service-Public.fr (DILA, Prime Minister's office), Comment determiner son domicile fiscal? checked August 26, 2026
- Service-Public.fr (DILA, Prime Minister's office), Depot de garantie dans un bail d'habitation checked August 26, 2026
- Service-Public.fr (DILA, Prime Minister's office), Ecole primaire pour un eleve venant de l'etranger checked August 26, 2026
- Service-Public.fr (DILA, Prime Minister's office), Frais d'agence immobiliere a la location d'un logement d'habitation checked August 26, 2026
- Service-Public.fr (DILA, Prime Minister's office), Qu'est-ce que la protection universelle maladie (Puma)? checked August 26, 2026
- Service-Public.fr (DILA, Prime Minister's office), Ramener un chien ou un chat de l'etranger checked August 26, 2026
- Service-Public.fr (DILA, Prime Minister's office), Titres de sejour: augmentation du montant des taxes checked August 26, 2026