France retirement visa 2026: the long-stay visitor visa income requirement and a life annuity
Written by Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent · CA 4273294Short answer: The usual France retirement visa for Americans is the long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS visiteur, then the carte de séjour visiteur), which in 2026 requires at least €1,477.93 net a month for a single person (about $1,729 at $1.17 per euro; service-public.gouv.fr, verified June 1, 2026). France publishes no couple figure and accepts a family member’s resources, so plan on about twice that for two, €2,955.86 a month (about $3,458). France lists annuities and pensions as acceptable resources, so a life-only SPIA counts and shows the same income at every annual renewal, and France’s wealth tax (IFI) reaches real estate only.
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The France retirement visa requirement in 2026
If you want to retire in France from the USA without working there, the long-stay visitor visa is the route. It is for people who will live in France without working. The visa itself (VLS-TS visiteur) covers the first year; after that you renew each year for a temporary residence card marked “visitor” under CESEDA article L426-20. Both stages test the same thing: enough resources to live in France for the whole year without working.
France sets the bar at the net minimum wage (SMIC). service-public.gouv.fr, verified June 1, 2026, gives the figure below, which reflects the automatic 2.41% SMIC increase of June 1, 2026. The SMIC is revalued at least once a year, and more often when inflation runs above 2%, so the euro amount moves.
You also need health insurance for the full stay, and you may not work (no employment or self-employment).
Single or married: how much income you need
| Household (2026) | Monthly (net) | About USD a month | Whose income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single person | €1,477.93 (€17,735.19 a year) | $1,729 | Your own, or a family member’s |
| Married couple | No figure published; plan on €2,955.86 | $3,458 | Household; each spouse files, either can rely on the other’s resources |
| Each other dependent | No figure published | Plan for more | Household |
FX assumption: €1 = $1.17, a planning rate; the ECB reference rate was $1.1225 on 2 October 2026, so these dollar figures include about 4% of headroom. service-public publishes only the single-person figure. Each adult needs his or her own visa and, later, residence card, and the consulate looks at the household. Two times the single figure plus headroom is my planning number for a couple, not an official one; confirm with your consulate.
When only one spouse has income. service-public says resources can be your own (annuities, pensions, real estate income) “or those of a family member,” so a non-earning spouse can file on the other spouse’s income. The earning spouse should show enough for both. If that income falls short, buy the lifetime annuity in the earning spouse’s name, priced on his or her own age and sex, while you are both still US residents. Any income already in place, such as two Social Security checks, reduces the SPIA needed.
A US tax note (general information, confirm with a tax adviser): if you instead buy an annuity for the other spouse, that is a gift. Gifts between two US-citizen spouses are unlimited. To a spouse who is not a US citizen, the 2026 annual exclusion is $194,000; above that you file Form 709, and generally no tax is due.
Who this page is for
France’s number looks small next to Ireland or Austria, and for many retirees Social Security alone clears it. The people who write to me about France are usually one of three cases: retiring at 55 to 61, before Social Security starts; one spouse with income and the other with none; or a household whose wealth sits in a brokerage account or IRA and shows little regular income on paper. In each case the question is the same: what can I show the consulate every year that reads as dependable income? A lifetime annuity is the cleanest answer, and you only buy as much of it as the gap requires.
What counts: savings or income
France is flexible. The official list of resources includes “annuities or pensions, real estate income, etc.,” and you may also present bank certificates. So a large account balance can carry the first application. Family allowances do not count, and housing conditions are part of the assessment.
Where a lifetime annuity helps is the renewal rhythm. Every year the prefecture checks resources again. A balance that shrinks as you live on it looks thinner each year. A life-only SPIA pays the same amount every month for the rest of your life, so the proof you file in year five looks exactly like year one. If you already receive Social Security or a pension, that counts too, and a SPIA only needs to fill the gap.
Which annuity counts. A life-only SPIA, a joint and survivor SPIA, or an existing deferred annuity or MYGA converted to lifetime payments. A period-certain annuity, an income rider (GLWB) where an account value can still be cashed out, or an annuity still accumulating reads as savings. France accepts savings anyway, so this is about the strongest renewal file, not eligibility.
- Bring statements showing payments already arriving, plus the insurer’s letter stating the monthly amount is payable for the lifetime of the annuitant.
- Size with 10 to 25% headroom: the SMIC rises and the euro moves.
Why I write about this. My mom is Norwegian, my dad is American, and they’re planning the move from the US to Norway. My mom is the sponsor (the host, or “reference person” in UDI’s words), so Norway’s income test falls on her income, not my dad’s. UDI told us in writing that money in an account does not count as income, and only lifelong income does. Their savings were not the problem; the paperwork wanted a monthly number in the host’s name. The rules in France are different, but the problem is the same one many retirees hit: the income test, not the net worth. I’m writing this to help others in the same boat as my parents. Read how we worked through the Norway income requirement.
In the same boat? Let’s run your numbers
See roughly what a lifetime annuity would cost to close your income gap, then get my personal read by email. I can help while you still live in the US.
Estimates use the September 9, 2026 ImmediateAnnuities.com payout survey (life only) and a 15% cushion. Illustrative, not a quote.
Example: a 62-year-old American moving to France
Payout at age 62 from the ImmediateAnnuities.com survey of September 9, 2026, life-only, per $100,000 per month: man $603 average ($660 best quote), woman $582 average ($637 best quote). Premium = monthly bar / payout per $100,000 x $100,000, rounded. Illustrative, not a quote.
| Age 62, no other income | Monthly bar | Premium, average payout | Premium, best quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single man | $1,729 | $287,000 | $262,000 |
| Single woman | $1,729 | $297,000 | $271,000 |
| Couple, planning figure (single-life annuity on the husband) | $3,458 | $573,000 | $524,000 |
Social Security can start at 62 and counts as a resource: with $1,200 a month of it, the single man’s gap falls to $529, about $88,000 at the average rate. A joint and survivor annuity for a couple pays less per dollar than single life, so get a quote, and add 10 to 25% headroom because the SMIC rises and the euro moves.
How the annuity is taxed: France and the US
The US side
As a US citizen you stay taxable on worldwide income wherever you live. A US single premium immediate annuity bought with after-tax savings is taxed under IRC 72: an exclusion ratio makes part of each payment a non-taxable return of your premium until the premium is recovered. If you bought it with IRA money, every payment is taxable. The foreign earned income exclusion does not cover annuities (IRC 911(b)(1)(B)(i)). Foreign tax on the payments can be credited on Form 1116, through the treaty’s relief article where there is one. Since January 1, 2026, a US citizen with a foreign residence address cannot opt out of federal withholding, even if payments go to a US account (IRC 3405(e)(13), Treas. Reg. 31.3405(e)-1). Withholding is a prepayment, not extra tax. An annuity from a US insurer is not reported on FBAR or Form 8938, and it is not a PFIC.
The treaty
The US-France treaty (1994, amended by protocols in 2004 and 2009) does not put private annuities in its pension article. They fall under the other-income article (Article 22), which gives France, as the country of residence, the right to tax. The saving clause (Article 29(2)) lets the US tax its citizens anyway. Then the relief article does the work: under Article 24(1)(b)(v) (numbered 24(2)(b)(vi) before the protocols), a French resident who is a US citizen gets a French tax credit equal to the French tax on US-source annuities, provided you show you have complied with your US income tax obligations. In practice France counts the annuity to set the rate on your other income but does not collect income tax on it, and the US taxes it as usual.
US Social Security paid to a French resident is taxable only in the US (Article 18(1)), and that rule holds for US citizens too.
The French side
- The base. Under French law (article 158-6 of the tax code), a purchased life annuity (rente viagère à titre onéreux) is taxable only on a fixed share set by your age when payments start: 70% under 50, 50% at 50 to 59, 40% at 60 to 69, 30% at 70 and over. That share is the figure France uses in the rate calculation.
- Social charges. The treaty credit covers income tax, not France’s social charges. Service-public lists purchased life annuities as subject to them, at 18.6% in 2026 (CSG 10.6%, CRDS 0.5%, solidarity levy 7.5%) on the same age-based share, and French tax guidance says the treaty credit does not remove them. Bought at 62, that is 40% x 18.6%, about 7.4% of each payment. The partial exemption applies to people covered by an EU, EEA or Swiss social security system, not the US. Ask a French tax adviser for a written view, and ask your US preparer whether these charges are creditable on your US return.
Net result
For French income tax, the treaty credit makes the US tax the binding one on the annuity. The cost France adds is the social charges on the age-based share. With the exclusion ratio on the US side, a SPIA from after-tax savings is still a light-tax way to fund a French retirement, but budget for the social charges. One more US wrinkle for higher incomes: the taxable part of an annuity counts toward the 3.8% net investment income tax (above $200,000 of modified AGI single, $250,000 joint), and the Tax Court (Toulouse, 157 T.C. 49) and the Federal Circuit (Christensen, 2026) have held that French tax cannot be credited against it under this treaty.
Does France have a wealth tax? Yes, but IFI is real estate only
France’s wealth tax today is the IFI. Per service-public.gouv.fr (verified March 6, 2026), it applies when your net real estate assets exceed €1.3 million on January 1, 2026; above that threshold, tax starts from €800,000 at 0.5% and rises in bands to 1.5% above €10 million.
The IFI (impôt sur la fortune immobilière) reaches real estate only; service-public still showed the same threshold and scale after the 2026 finance law was enacted. BOFiP guidance says a contract with no surrender value does not have to be declared for IFI, and lists immediate life annuities in payment among non-surrenderable contracts. A life-only SPIA from a US insurer has no cash value and holds no French real estate units, so it falls outside the IFI base. Your French property is what IFI looks at.
Practical rules
- Buy the SPIA while you still have a US address; a US agent can only sell to US residents.
- Keep a US bank account for the deposits. Since January 1, 2026, a US citizen with a foreign residence address cannot opt out of federal withholding even when payments go to a US account (IRC 3405(e)(13)), so plan for withholding as a prepayment of the US tax you would owe anyway.
- Start payments 3 to 12 months before your consulate appointment so statements show real deposits.
- Ask for life-only wording, no cash-out or commutation rider.
- A US SPIA is not reported on FBAR or Form 8938 and is not a PFIC. The French bank account you spend from is reportable.
The trade-offs, once
A SPIA is irrevocable. Payments stay level unless you buy a cost-of-living rider, they arrive in dollars against a euro bar, and they rest on the issuing insurer’s claims-paying ability. Buying younger means a lower payout per dollar. Size it to the gap, not your whole net worth, and keep liquid savings beside it. Meeting the money test is necessary, not sufficient: the consulate decides each file.
Married? Make the income outlive either of you. In France the main applicant shows the income and the spouse joins as a family member, so the annuity sits with the main applicant. If a single-life annuity is on one spouse and that spouse dies first, the payments stop, and the surviving spouse may have to show income of their own at the next renewal. A joint and survivor annuity, which keeps paying until the second death, or a separate annuity on each spouse closes that gap. Joint and survivor pays less per dollar than single life, so ask for both quotes and compare.
Experts we point readers to
- The Good Life France (Janine Marsh): living in France; how Americans apply for a French visa
We link to these because their guides are among the most useful we found. We receive nothing for listing them and are not affiliated. All experts by country.
Frequently asked questions
Free annuity gap analysis for France. Tell me your ages, your Social Security or pension, and whether you are single or a couple. I will show how far your income is from the France requirement and what a lifetime annuity would cost to fill the gap, in the sponsor’s or main applicant’s name where that matters.
Related reading
- Moving abroad on a fixed income: hub
- How European countries tax a US annuity
- Spain non-lucrative visa
- Italy elective residence visa
- Portugal D7 visa
- The exclusion ratio for Americans abroad
Sources
- Service-Public.fr: temporary residence card visitor (verified June 1, 2026)
- US-France income tax treaty, 1994 text (IRS), Articles 22, 24 and 29
- US-France treaty, 2004 protocol (renumbering of Article 24(2)(b))
- US-France treaty, 2009 protocol (Article 24 paragraphs swapped, Article 18(1))
- Service-Public.fr: social charges on investment income (18.6% in 2026, life annuities included)
- Service-Public.fr: SMIC 2026 (net monthly EUR 1,477.93 from June 1, 2026)
- BOFiP: rentes viageres a titre onereux, taxable fraction by age
- BOFiP: IFI and non-surrenderable insurance contracts
- Service-Public.fr: impot sur la fortune immobiliere, threshold and rates (verified March 6, 2026)
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.42 (2026: $194,000 gifts to a non-citizen spouse)
- 26 U.S.C. 3405 (withholding on pensions and annuities)
- Treas. Reg. 31.3405(e)-1 (no withholding opt-out with a foreign residence address)
- IRS: Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR requirements
- ImmediateAnnuities.com: immediate annuity rates by age (survey of September 9, 2026)
Goldstein & Co. LLC dba Goldstein Insurance Services · Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent, CA lic. #4273294 · NPN 20602398 · 213-414-2808 · hans@hansgoldstein.com
Education, not tax, legal or immigration advice. Rules, thresholds and exchange rates change; confirm with the consulate or immigration authority and a local tax adviser before you act, and get answers in writing. Hans Goldstein is a licensed insurance agent (CA 4273294) and can only offer annuities to residents of states where he is licensed. Annuity payments are guaranteed by the issuing insurer’s claims-paying ability, not by any government. Payout figures are illustrations from a published survey, not quotes. Immediate annuities are generally irrevocable.