Accelerating Innovation: France Implements Several Measures to Facilitate Recruitment of Foreign Employees

France is taking action to become a leader in research and development, notably by relaxing entry and residence requirements for highly skilled workers and rolling out its France 2030 investment plan, which aims to support innovative companies and facilitate the arrival of foreign scientists and researchers. The prospects for companies based in France to recruit international talent are expanding.

HIGHLY SKILLED FOREIGN NATIONALS: MORE FLEXIBLE CONDITIONS FOR OBTAINING THE ‘EUROPEAN BLUE CARD’

A new law revises the framework for the European Blue Card to make it more attractive to highly skilled foreign workers. Notable changes include the following:

• The reduction from one year to six months of the minimum period during which a foreign national must be occupying a highly skilled employment in order to apply for the card
• The simplification of the conditions for admitting family members of European Blue Card holders and renewing their residence permits
• The relaxation of conditions for Intra-EU mobility, allowing a foreign national to obtain a European Blue Card in France automatically by proving that they have resided in another member state under cover of an identical card for at least one year (and no longer 18 months), or six months after the second mobility within the EU

FRANCE 2030 INVESTMENT PLAN

As part of the France 2030 investment plan, the Choose France for Science platform has been set up to centralize procedures for attracting foreign researchers and scientists.

This procedure, which primarily concerns researchers joining a university, school, or research organization, aims to enable partial funding (up to 50%) of a research project by public bodies. For companies, this system is not without interest, since it will enable (1) the company to position itself as a partner and, in particular, a co-financier of the project; and (2) highly qualified, multilingual scientist/researchers can be recruited more easily at the end of projects, since the conditions for residence in France can be met at that time, and work authorization will therefore be facilitated.

Meanwhile, companies can also submit applications to public calls for innovative projects, which may lead to certain subsidies. Similarly, the France 2030 plan offers companies (startups, small and medium companies, industrial groups, laboratories, etc.) the opportunity to make their innovative structures and projects known to the General Secretariat for Investment, which may offer support solutions.

THE CREATION OF A ‘SCIENTIFIC REFUGEE’ STATUS

On April 17, 2025, a bill to create the status of scientific refugee was submitted to the French National Assembly. The aim of this bill, currently referred to the Law Commission, would be to give scientists, researchers, and academics a specific right of asylum because of armed conflicts, authoritarian regimes, or persecution linked to their research work, opinions, or social/ethnic affiliations.