Before you start

A long-stay visa matched to your route, obtained before travel
A passport valid well beyond the intended stay
A French address and a justificatif de domicile in your name
An ANEF account and the visa's reference numbers

Step-by-step

1
Validate your VLS-TS within three months of arrival
Done online with the visa number, your date of entry and an electronic tax stamp. This is the step that converts the visa into a valid residence permit. Missing the window puts you out of status, and the remedy is far worse than the fifteen-minute procedure you skipped.
OnlineWho: YouWithin 3 months of arrival
2
Create and monitor your ANEF account from week one
Nearly all immigration procedures now run through the national platform. Requests for further documents appear inside the account rather than arriving by post or by email, so check it weekly whenever a procedure is live.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
3
Get a utility bill in your own name early — several things depend on it
There is no municipal registration in France, but its administration constantly asks for a justificatif de domicile in your name. An electricity or internet account is the usual source. In Montpellier it also unlocks the free-transport pass, which needs a proof of address in your name like everything else.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1–2
4
Use the préfecture's own channels, not a paid appointment site
The Hérault's migration service publishes its procedures and contact routes on herault.gouv.fr, including a dedicated email address for residence questions. A cluster of commercial sites sells 'guaranteed' préfecture appointments; the préfecture states plainly that booking is free on official state sites and that paying a private service guarantees nothing.
OnlineWho: You
5
Start renewals at the earliest permitted date
A renewal is filed at the earliest four months and at the latest two months before your current permit expires. Use the front of that window: applying early gets you a récépissé that protects your status while the file is under consideration, which is the entire point of applying early.
OnlineWho: You
6
Screenshot every submission
Files get lost, requests for documents appear and disappear, and the platform's history is not always reliable. Being able to show exactly what you sent and on what date is the only leverage you have when a procedure stalls for months.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport with the long-stay visa
Proof of the date you entered the Schengen area
Justificatif de domicile in your name
Employment contract or proof of resources, depending on the route
Diploma and enrolment certificates, for a change of status after study
ANEF account credentials

Things most newcomers don’t know

The three-month validation deadline is the one that quietly ends people's stay.

A long-stay visa marked VLS-TS is not a residence permit until you validate it online and pay the tax stamp. Miss the window and you are out of status with no simple remedy — you may have to leave France and restart. It looks like a formality precisely because the visa in your passport appears to be doing the job already.

Source: service-public.fr

ANEF posts document requests inside the account and tells nobody.

The platform does not reliably notify you when a caseworker asks for something, and there is no letter in the post. Files sit untouched for months because an applicant never saw a request they could have answered the same day. Check the account weekly during any live procedure and treat email as unreliable rather than as the channel.

Source: service-public.fr

Paid 'préfecture appointment' sites are selling you something that is free.

Search results for a Hérault residence appointment are dominated by commercial intermediaries charging for slot-hunting. The préfecture's own guidance is that appointments are free on official state sites and that using a private service does not guarantee you will be received. Everything genuine runs through herault.gouv.fr or ANEF, and paying elsewhere buys you nothing but a reused public form.

Source: préfecture de l'Hérault

France has no Anmeldung or empadronamiento — the justificatif de domicile does that job instead.

Unlike Germany or Spain there is no municipal registration to complete on arrival, which sounds like one less thing to do. In practice it means French administration asks you to prove your address with a document in your own name at every turn, and the easiest source is a utility account. In Montpellier that same document is also what gets you the free-transport pass, so it is a week-one task with an unusually good return.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Missing the three-month deadline to validate a VLS-TS online.
Paying a commercial site for a préfecture appointment that is free through official channels.
Not checking the ANEF account and letting a document request stall the file for months.
Having no utility bill in your own name when a justificatif de domicile is demanded.
Applying for renewal too late and falling between a lapsed permit and an undecided file.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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