"The data shows that 15,000 Americans were issued with their first carte de séjour residency permit in 2025, compared to 13,122 in 2024 - a 14.3 percent increase. READ ALSO: Checklist: How to move to France as an American✎ This number is probably a slight under-estimate of the number of Americans moving, since it does not include Americans who have dual nationality with an EU country and who therefore do not require a residency permit."
"However it's likely that not all of those Americans would be planning on moving to France for good - half of all residency permits issued (52.5 percent) were for students. This is a long-standing pattern in American residency permits - many American universities offer exchange programmes with students doing a semester at a French university and then returning to the US."
First-time residency permits issued to Americans rose 14.3 percent in 2025, with 15,000 permits issued compared to 13,122 in 2024. The official count excludes Americans holding dual EU nationality who do not require a residency permit. Students accounted for 52.5 percent of permits, reflecting exchange programmes and longer-term study at institutions such as the American University in Paris and growing English-language offerings at French universities. Workers made up 16.9 percent of new arrivals, including salaried employees and freelancers or new business founders. Family reunification via French spouses or relatives accounted for 9.5 percent, while 21 percent were in an 'other' category including retirees. The increase aligns with similar rises in several European countries since the start of Donald Trump's second term.
Read at The Local France
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