Visiting
Without a visa, New Zealand citizens can stay up to 180 days: 90 under the Schengen rules, then 90 more in mainland France under a bilateral agreement applied since 1947. The French stay must come after the Schengen one, and you must tell the border officer when you enter France. The embassy page on this does not cover work.
- The visitor visa suits a stay without work. You must show resources, accommodation and health cover, and commit in writing not to work in France.
- We found no official page that says whether remote work for a New Zealand employer counts as work in France, so ask the embassy before relying on it.
More detail
If you are 18 to 30, a 12-month working holiday visa also exists. It is not a long-term route.
Sources: Service-Public.fr (French government information service), France-Visas (official French visa portal), Embassy of France in New Zealand, New Zealand Embassy in Paris (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade). Checked 15 October 2026.
Staying a year or longer
France has no visa made for remote work. The route written for freelancers is the long-stay visa marked "entrepreneur/profession libérale". The activity must be your main one, registered, economically viable and matched to your qualifications or experience. It must be able to produce more than €1,900 a month (about NZ$3,800), the gross monthly minimum wage.
- The first freelancer card lasts up to one year and costs €350 in tax stamps. After it, a four-year card is possible if you still meet the conditions, reach A2 French and pass a civic exam.
- The salaried route needs a work authorisation that your employer requests online before you travel. For the EU Blue Card, plan for a gross salary of more than €60,000 a year.
- The visitor card does not allow work in France. For a single person, plan for resources of more than €18,000 a year (about NZ$35,900), or more than €1,500 a month (about NZ$3,000).
More detail
These income figures follow the French minimum wage (Smic), which changes at least once a year. The requirements for 2027 need reconfirming, so check the current figure when you apply.
Neither route is approved for you, and visa permission and tax are separate questions.
Sources: Service-Public.fr (French government information service), France-Visas (official French visa portal), European Central Bank. Checked 15 October 2026.
Documents, fees and timing
France-Visas sets the document list for your situation through its visa wizard. A new freelance activity needs Urssaf registration, evidence that it can pay more than €1,900 a month, any licence for a regulated profession, and an OFII medical certificate. For the visitor card, the prefecture later asks for resources, health insurance, a handwritten statement that you will not work in France, a birth certificate and proof of address. The embassy in New Zealand says the wizard also shows the fee.
- For a long stay, apply on France-Visas and lodge the file where it assigns you.
- Service-Public says to apply no more than 3 months before you leave, and the embassy in New Zealand says up to six months, so check when you book.
More detail
Silence from the authorities for 2 months counts as a refusal.
Civil documents must come with a certified French translation.
If you are issued a VLS-TS, you must validate it online within 3 months of arrival, and pay a tax. For the liberal-profession visa, Service-Public says to request a card within 2 months of arrival, and one France-Visas page gives 15 days. Confirm which deadline applies to the visa you are issued.
We found no official processing times, so they are unknown.
Sources: Service-Public.fr (French government information service), France-Visas (official French visa portal), Embassy of France in New Zealand. Checked 15 October 2026.
Tax
France treats you as tax resident if any one test is met: your home or main place of stay is in France, you work there other than incidentally, or your main economic interests are there. New Zealand treats you as non-resident only if you are away more than 325 days in a 12-month period and have no permanent place of abode in New Zealand. If both countries count you as resident, the New Zealand–France tax agreement of 1979 decides by permanent home, then closer personal and economic ties.
- For 2025 income, the French scale runs from 0% up to €11,600 per share, then 11%, 30% from €29,580, 41% and 45% above €181,917. The scale for 2026 income is not yet set.
- While you stay a New Zealand tax resident, New Zealand taxes your worldwide income. You file an IR3 each year you have overseas income, and tax paid overseas may give a credit.
More detail
Under the agreement, a New Zealand resident's pay for work done in France can be taxed in France unless all three hold: 183 days or less there in the fiscal year, an employer not resident in France, and no French establishment bearing the pay.
Freelance income is taxed only where you are resident unless you have a fixed base in the other country.
If you become non-resident, tell your bank so the right withholding tax is deducted. The agreement caps French tax on dividends at 15% and on interest at 10%.
France is not on New Zealand's list of social security agreements, so no certificate keeps you in a New Zealand system. Micro-entrepreneur contributions are 25.6% of takings for non-regulated services, under €83,600 a year. Employees pay CSG and CRDS of 9.7% on 98.25% of pay. These show how it works, not your bill.
Government KiwiSaver contributions need you to live mainly in New Zealand. After a year living overseas (not in Australia), you can withdraw most of your savings, but not government contributions. You become overseas-based for student loan purposes if you spend 31 days or fewer in New Zealand in a 184-day period, and the loan then stops being interest-free from the day after you left.
If you already get NZ Super, you may keep it in France at a rate based on months lived in New Zealand between 20 and 65. Apply at least 6 weeks before leaving. Work and Income says you generally will not pay New Zealand tax on it but may owe tax where you live, while the agreement says social security payments are taxable only in the paying country.
We did not find how a New Zealand employer would handle French contributions, so that is unknown.
Sources: BOFiP-Impôts (official French tax doctrine), Service-Public.fr (French government information service), impots.gouv.fr (French tax authority), Urssaf (French social contributions collector), Inland Revenue (New Zealand), New Zealand Legislation, Work and Income (Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand). Checked 15 October 2026.
Setting up
New Zealand's reciprocal health agreements cover only Australia and the UK, so nothing covers you in France by default. New Zealand's travel advice recommends comprehensive insurance that includes medical evacuation by air. Both visa routes need health cover for the stay. If you work in France, you can join the public health scheme (PUMa) as soon as your application is accepted. Without work, you wait 3 months, then must live in France at least 6 months a year.
- Members with little work income and large capital income may owe the cotisation subsidiaire maladie, up to 6.5% above a threshold. A 2026 law adds a contribution for some members without work, awaiting a decree.
- If the tax office has not written to you, ask your local tax office (SIP) with your civil status, a postal address and a copy of an ID. You then get an email to create your online account. Online filing is compulsory if your home has internet, and returns for 2026 income open in April 2027.
More detail
If you keep a New Zealand bank account and become non-resident, update your details so the right non-resident withholding tax is deducted.
Anyone living in France who is refused a bank account can ask the Banque de France to name a bank that must open one with basic services. You need the refusal letter, or proof the bank did not reply, plus ID and proof of address.
For an unfurnished lease, the deposit is capped at one month's rent before charges. For a furnished lease, it is two months. A landlord may accept a foreign tax notice where your income was not taxed in France.
Sources: Service-Public.fr (French government information service), Banque de France, Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora), New Zealand Government (govt.nz), SafeTravel (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand), Inland Revenue (New Zealand). Checked 15 October 2026.
Living in Toulouse
Toulouse is the main place the research looked at. France's tourism agency calls it the country's fourth-largest metropolis, known as la Ville Rose for its red-brick façades. The government's 2025 asking-rent indicator for small unfurnished flats is about €16 per m² including charges, below Montpellier and Bordeaux at about €18 to €19 and central Lyon at about €19 to €20. It is a modelled average, not a quote for any one home.
- Toulouse has one of the largest universities in France outside Paris, Airbus, and the Canal du Midi, a World Heritage waterway linking it to the Mediterranean.
- It is about 4 hours 10 minutes by TGV from Paris Montparnasse, or about 1 hour 20 minutes by plane to Toulouse-Blagnac.
More detail
Summers are hot. Météo-France's 1991 to 2020 normals for Toulouse-Blagnac give an average August high of 28.5°C and about 33 days a year at 30°C or more.
The same normals give about 27 frost nights and 627 mm of rain a year.
We found no official source for energy bills, transport passes, internet, groceries or health cover, so those costs are unknown here. We give no total because it would be incomplete, and personal tax and social contributions are not included.
Sources: Atout France (French national tourism agency), Météo-France, Ministère de la Transition écologique (data.gouv.fr). Checked 10 October 2026.
Other places we looked at
The research also looked at Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon, for contrast. Clermont-Ferrand is a smaller university city with colder winters. Lyon is a larger city with rent control and higher rents.
- Clermont-Ferrand: the government's 2025 indicator puts small-flat asking rents at about €14 to €15 per m², below Toulouse. Météo-France normals give about 56 frost nights a year and a January low of 0.6°C.
- Clermont-Ferrand: the tourism agency describes the volcanoes of the Chaîne des Puys, Michelin's headquarters and a black lava-stone cathedral. It is about 3 hours 45 minutes by train from Paris.
More detail
Lyon: for leases signed since November 2021, base rent must stay under a published upper reference rent unless a justified supplement applies. The 2025 indicator for small flats is about €19 to €20 per m² in central arrondissements.
Lyon: Météo-France normals for Lyon-Bron give 821 mm of rain a year and about 31 days at 30°C or more.
Sources: Ministère de la Transition écologique (data.gouv.fr), Atout France (French national tourism agency), Météo-France, Service-Public.fr (French government information service). Checked 10 October 2026.
New Zealand
France