The Fernshore Index
The factors tradespeople look at first.
Each grade is against a published measure, with its source and the date we checked it. It is research information, not advice. Where we have no figure, the row says Unknown.
Cost of living
31 of 100Weak
Price level 0.766 of United States prices (2025).
Source: Price level index (GDP), France. Checked 15 October 2026.
Work and career
50 of 100Mixed
Mixed: fixed broadband is 48.9 per 100 people (2024), over the 30 line, but the official pages reviewed describe no residence route made for remote work for foreign employers, and the visitor card does not allow work.
Source: Carte de séjour "visiteur" (visitor residence card); Carte de séjour "entrepreneur/profession libérale"; Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, France. Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, United States passport
85 of 100Strong
A visitor card is open without a French job offer: valid 1 year at most and renewable, no minimum age, no deposit, and resources of about EUR 17,700 a year (about US$19,900 at the ECB rate of 9 October 2026), well under US$60,000. To be safe, have more than EUR 18,000 a year. It does not allow work. A one-year renewable card is read here as a year or more.
Source: Carte de séjour "visiteur" (visitor residence card); Visa de long séjour (séjour de plus de 3 mois à 1 an). Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, Canada passport
85 of 100Strong
A visitor card is open without a French job offer: valid 1 year at most and renewable, no minimum age, no deposit, and resources of about EUR 17,700 a year (about US$19,900 at the ECB rate of 9 October 2026), well under US$60,000. To be safe, have more than EUR 18,000 a year. It does not allow work. A one-year renewable card is read here as a year or more.
Source: Carte de séjour "visiteur" (visitor residence card); Visa de long séjour (séjour de plus de 3 mois à 1 an). Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, Australia passport
85 of 100Strong
A visitor card is open without a French job offer: valid 1 year at most and renewable, no minimum age, no deposit, and resources of about EUR 17,700 a year (about US$19,900 at the ECB rate of 9 October 2026), well under US$60,000. To be safe, have more than EUR 18,000 a year. It does not allow work. A one-year renewable card is read here as a year or more.
Source: Carte de séjour "visiteur" (visitor residence card); Visa de long séjour (séjour de plus de 3 mois à 1 an). Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, New Zealand passport
85 of 100Strong
A visitor card is open without a French job offer: valid 1 year at most and renewable, no minimum age, no deposit, and resources of about EUR 17,700 a year (about US$19,900 at the ECB rate of 9 October 2026), well under US$60,000. To be safe, have more than EUR 18,000 a year. It does not allow work. A one-year renewable card is read here as a year or more.
Source: Carte de séjour "visiteur" (visitor residence card); Visa de long séjour (séjour de plus de 3 mois à 1 an). Checked 15 October 2026.
English
60 of 100Mixed
EF EPI 2025 score 539 (38th of 123), between the 499 and 550 anchors.
Source: EF English Proficiency Index 2025: France. Checked 15 October 2026.
Safety
34 of 100Mixed
Global Peace Index 2026: 99th of 163.
Source: Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank. Checked 15 October 2026.
Healthcare
73 of 100Strong
WHO UHC service coverage index 82 (2023).
Source: UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1). Checked 15 October 2026.
The country
The rest of the research on France.
The country page grades every factor, with its sources.
FranceQuestions from tradespeople about France.
Can a non-EU tradesperson get a work permit to work in France?
Your employer requests a work authorisation online before you arrive. The job must be on the shortage-occupation list or have been advertised for 3 weeks with no valid applicant, and pay at least the Smic or collective agreement. An open-ended contract leads to a “salarié” card: 1 year, renewable, €350.
Will France recognise a US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand trade qualification?
For plumbing, a regulated trade, third-country nationals ask the local Chamber of Trades and Crafts (CMA) for an attestation of recognition of qualification, sending ID, diplomas with translation and proof of experience. The CMA may require a course or test. Whether yours is accepted is not stated; ask the CMA.
Is English enough to work in a trade in France?
The EF English Proficiency Index 2025 scores France 539, 38th of 123. It is built from people who chose to take an online test, so it is a national estimate, not a measure of English on a job site. We found no sourced figure for English in the trades, so that is unknown.
How expensive is France compared with the United States?
Prices overall are about 0.77 of US prices (World Bank, 2025), an economy-wide average. The government’s 2025 asking-rent indicator for small flats runs from €14.49 per m² a month in Clermont-Ferrand to €30.02–€40.43 across Paris. We have no sourced trade wages, so how far a wage goes is unknown.
How do safety and healthcare compare in France?
The Global Peace Index 2026 ranks France 99th of 163; it measures peacefulness, not workplace safety, and we found no sourced site-safety figures. The WHO service coverage index is 82 of 100 (2023). If you work in France you can join the public scheme (PUMa) once your application is accepted.
Sources
Where each figure comes from.
Every figure on this page links to the page we read, with the date we checked it.
- [C1] Price level index (GDP), France, World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2025: 76.57 (United States = 100), read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026.
- [K1] Carte de séjour "visiteur" (visitor residence card), Service-Public.fr (French government information service). Checked 15 October 2026. Page verified 1 June 2026: valid 1 year at most and renewable; resources of EUR 1,477.93 net a month for a single person; health insurance; no work in France.
- [K2] Carte de séjour "entrepreneur/profession libérale", Service-Public.fr (French government information service). Checked 15 October 2026. Page verified 1 June 2026; the route for freelancers and self-employed people, not a remote-worker route.
- [K3] Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, France, International Telecommunication Union, via the World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2024: 48.93 per 100 people, read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026.
- [V1] Visa de long séjour (séjour de plus de 3 mois à 1 an), Service-Public.fr (French government information service). Checked 15 October 2026. Page verified 9 October 2026: more than 3 months in France needs a long-stay visa (type D) from the French consulate, valid from 3 months to 1 year; one of its cases is a visitor who can live on their own resources; it does not allow work.
- [F1] EF English Proficiency Index 2025: France, EF Education First (private test-taker index). Checked 15 October 2026. Score 539, global rank 38 of 123 countries and regions; the 2025 edition was the current one on 15 October 2026.
- [S1] Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank, Institute for Economics and Peace. Checked 15 October 2026. France ranks 99th of 163 countries (score 2.083).
- [H1] UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1), World Health Organization. Checked 15 October 2026. France: 82 out of 100 (2023), read from the WHO Global Health Observatory API on 15 October 2026.