# EU and non-EU(US) spouse length of stay in France for permanent residency



## pinerose (6 d ago)

Hello Everyone! Happy New Year. Your help is greatly appreciated.

My spouse is an EU (non-French) citizen, and I am a non-EU (US) citizen. We are interested in planning for permanent residency in France. 

How many months out of a year and how for many years do we need to stay in France for the carte de séjour in order to qualify for permanent residency? 

How would this work if we move around to different regions in France?

Thanks so much for your support!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Basically, you will need to reside in France on a series of cartes de séjour (residence permits) until you are eligible for a "carte de resident" which is the official recognition of "permanent residence."

You start out on a long-stay visa that is renewable - usually as someone working in France or as a retiree on a pension. That will get you your first carte de séjour and after a couple renewals on a single year basis, you'll be eligible for a multi-year card. After a few years of that, you then become eligible for a "carte de resident" which is valid for 10 years. (There are a few additional requirements for that - including demonstrating that you speak French to a certain level and have "integrated" into French society to a certain degree.) Then, when the initial carte de resident comes up for renewal, you become eligible for a carte de resident as a "permanent resident." 

This page from Service Public gives you the basic files on permanent residence in France: 7 résultat(s) pour : « carte de résident permanent » | Service-public.fr


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