Budget amendment seeks €25 hike in residence-permit stamp duty

At 01:00 on 10 January 2026, Les Républicains MP Éric Ciotti and colleagues filed Amendment 003063 to France’s draft 2026 finance bill. The text proposes lifting the ‘droit de timbre’—a tax paid when residence permits are issued, renewed or re-issued—from €50 to €75. Proponents argue that immigration-related administrative costs have risen sharply and should be more evenly shared between the state and foreign nationals.

If adopted, the 50 % surcharge would apply to millions of transactions each year, from first-time student cards to ten-year resident cards. For employers, the cost of onboarding non-EU staff would rise immediately, affecting project budgets and posted-worker margins. Family members seeking dependant cards would also feel the pinch.



Business-immigration advisers note that the stamp duty is already payable in addition to separate tax-office fees and prefectoral processing charges, making France one of the costlier destinations for long-term visas in the EU. A mid-2023 OECD comparison placed the average French residence-permit levy 18 % above the EU median; the proposed hike would push it to nearly 40 %.

The amendment will be debated when the National Assembly resumes article-by-article scrutiny of the finance bill later this month. Although similar hikes were rejected in committee last year, the government’s reliance on ad-hoc majorities means the proposal cannot be ruled out.