Monaco residency: your carte de séjour file, prepared and steered
We assemble and steer the residence-card file the Section des Résidents actually asks for, and sequence it with your company file so that neither waits on the other.
- No State minimum: the Monegasque bank sets the sum it will certify
- Eight days from arrival to file the application (Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.153, Art. 2)
- Four cards, valid one, three, five and ten years (Art. 5)
- A French type D establishment visa first, for non-EEA nationals
Who needs a Monaco residence card, and where we come in
Anyone aged at least 16 who intends to stay in Monaco more than three months a year, or to make a home there, applies for a carte de séjour (residence card) at the Section des Résidents (application page, updated 26/05/2025). A founder needs no card first: residence is not a condition of the business authorisation. The récépissé of the Direction de l'Expansion Économique, the receipt confirming that a formation request is admissible, is what opens the card file, and the authorisation runs on its own clock, set out with the company registration rules and deadlines.
Residents pay no personal income tax, French nationals governed by the bilateral convention of 1963 excepted, a position the government traces to an ordinance of 1869 (Monegasque taxation, updated 27/08/2026). The same page draws the limit: the position "ne concerne que les activités ou les personnes établies effectivement et réellement" on Monegasque territory, and it does not displace another State's rules. There is no wealth tax, no land tax and no housing tax. Succession and gift duties do exist on Monegasque assets, so nothing here says Monaco taxes nothing.
What we prepare and steer
Six workstreams, and the line where each of them stops.
The card file. From the first document list to the enrolment appointment: the online filing with the Section des Résidents, the interview with the originals, and the handover at which the delivery fee is paid.
Sequencing with the company file. The DDE receipt confirming that a formation request is admissible "permet d'initier la demande de carte de séjour", so the two files are ordered rather than run blind against each other.
The French step. The visa d'établissement (type D establishment visa) file for the consulate nearest your last domicile, or a transfert de résidence (transfer of residence) request through the French Embassy in Monaco. France issues the document; we prepare the file.
The accommodation evidence. Title deed with an electricity contract or the last bill, a bail à loyer (lease) registered with the Direction des Services Fiscaux, or the certificat d'hébergement (hosting certificate) where you are neither owner nor tenant.
The means evidence. Which of the four kinds of sufficient means applies to you, and the attestation bancaire conforme (compliant bank attestation) under one month old where the answer is savings.
After the card. Renewals, the move up the card ladder, the change of address, and the certificat de résidence à des fins de formalités fiscales when a foreign administration asks for one. We are not the Section des Résidents, not a consulate, not a bank and not an estate agency, and we give no legal or tax advice.
Where you are from decides your first step
The document you need before the card file depends on your nationality and on where you live now.
| Your situation | What you must obtain before the card file | Source |
|---|---|---|
| EEA national, or a national of Switzerland, Andorra, San Marino, the Vatican City State or Gibraltar | Nothing: "vous n'avez aucun document à fournir" | Application page, 26/05/2025 |
| Any other nationality, UK nationals included since 1 January 2021 | The visa d'établissement (type D) at the French consulate nearest your last domicile: "le visa est obligatoire pour pouvoir déposer un dossier de demande de carte de résident" | Application page, 26/05/2025 |
| Established in France for more than a year | A transfert de résidence requested through the Ambassade de France à Monaco, in place of the visa | Application page, 26/05/2025 |
| Under 16 years of age | No residence card. A Document de Circulation pour Étranger Mineur may be issued instead | Application page, 26/05/2025 |
Your first step by nationality and current domicile, taken from the application page of the Section des Résidents, updated 26/05/2025. The prior document is French because the entry conditions run through the neighbourhood convention of 18 May 1963.
France publishes no period we were able to read for the type D visa: four French government pages returned HTTP 403 on 19 September 2026, and we record that rather than estimate around it. Plan the visa before the eight-day clock of Art. 2 starts.
How the residence-card file runs, step by step
Eight steps, and only the periods the texts actually publish.
- 01
eight days from arrival to filing
- 02
the month before expiry to renew
- 03
eight days before departure to return the card. Three grey open gaps
- 04
with no length and no arrowhead that could read as a decision date: the French type D visa
- 05
admissibility to interview appointment
- 06
and the administrative inquiry. Footer line for the intermediaries' estimates
The three periods the ordinance publishes, and the three the administration does not. Eight days to file (Art. 2), the month before expiry to renew (Art. 7), eight days before departure to return the card (Art. 14). The French visa, the wait for the interview and the administrative inquiry are drawn as open gaps because no period is published for any of them
1. The company file first. Residence is not a precondition of the business authorisation, and the DDE receipt confirming that the formation request is admissible is what opens the card application. The form is settled before anything is lodged: Monaco company types. Buying rather than forming changes the order, not the rule: why a shelf company cannot be bought ready to trade in Monaco.
2. The French document. Non-EEA nationals obtain the type D establishment visa at the French consulate nearest their last domicile, and the visa is obligatory before a card file may be filed. Established in France for more than a year, you ask the French Embassy in Monaco for a transfert de résidence instead.
3. Somewhere to live. A home in the Principality "de taille adaptée au besoin des personnes y résidant", held as owner, tenant or guest, proved by the documents Art. 3 of Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.153 of 19 March 1964 names. Anyone neither owner nor tenant who stays more than three months needs the certificat d'hébergement of Art. 12.
4. Means of existence. One of the four kinds on the application page. For a founder it is the DDE receipt or professional income; for someone who will not work, savings with a bank attestation under one month old. The statute's own version is a work permit, or a receipt standing in for one, or proof of sufficient means (Art. 6).
5. File within eight days of arrival. Art. 2 requires the application to be subscribed "dans les huit jours de son arrivée", and the filing is online. While the file is pending, the only title to stay in the Principality is the récépissé provisoire of the same article.
6. Admissibility, then the interview. A file declared admissible draws an electronic notification inviting you to book an interview appointment, at which the original documents are produced. No period is published for the notification or for the appointment itself.
7. The administrative inquiry. An enquête administrative follows. For the privileged card the statute defines what it bears on: "le caractère effectif de la résidence, la profession ou les moyens d'existence de l'intéressé" (Art. 8). Nothing published sets its length.
8. Enrolment and handover. A second appointment enrols the holder and hands the card over, and the delivery fee is paid then: EUR 80 for a first temporary card. The card is the physical support of the holder's digital identity under Art. 4 of the ordinance, which applies Art. 4 of Loi n° 1.483 of 17 December 2019.
Three periods are published in this whole chain and no more: eight days to file, the month before expiry to renew, eight days before departure to hand the card back. No processing time is published for the Monegasque card, and none that we could read for the French visa. The two-to-five and three-to-six-month figures that lead the search results are intermediaries' estimates [market: monaco-citizenship.info and a natlawreview.com press release of 23 June 2026, measured 2026-09-19]. No total is invented here.
Moving and setting the company up at the same time?
Tell us where you live now and what the company will do, and we will order the two files before you book anything.
Documents you will need
The file goes to the Section des Résidents, 9 rue Suffren-Reymond, Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00. No rent figure appears anywhere on this page, because no official rent statistics exist for Monaco. Company in Monaco: Cost of Living in Monaco
- A passport carrying the French entry documents of Art. 1 of the ordinance.
- The type D establishment visa, or the transfert de résidence granted in its place.
- A birth certificate less than three months old.
- A criminal-record extract under three months old from every country you lived in over the last five years.
- An extract of the Répertoire du Commerce et de l'Industrie under three months old, if you already operate in Monaco.
- The DDE récépissé, where a company formation is your means of existence.
- As owner: an electricity contract or the last bill, together with the title deed.
- As tenant: a bail à loyer registered with the Direction des Services Fiscaux.
- Neither owner nor tenant: the certificat d'hébergement of the Direction de la Sûreté Publique.
- An attestation bancaire conforme under one month old, where your means are savings.
- A sworn translation of any document not written in French, English or Italian.
Nothing on that list is a minimum lease length or a bedroom count. Neither is published anywhere official: the wording is a home "de taille adaptée au besoin des personnes y résidant", plus a registered lease. Under 16 there is no card at all, and a Document de Circulation pour Étranger Mineur may be issued instead.
The four residence cards, what they cost and how long they last
Four cards, each with its own seniority condition, its own validity and its own State fee.
| Card | Condition | Validity | First issue | Renewal | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Résident temporaire | A first application; no seniority condition | "ne peut excéder un an", and never longer than the French entry documents | EUR 80 | EUR 40 | O.S. n° 3.153, Arts. 5 and 6; A.M. n° 2020-814, Art. 1 |
| Résident ordinaire | Resident in the Principality more than three years | Three years | EUR 100 | EUR 50 | O.S. n° 3.153, Art. 5; A.M. n° 2020-814, Art. 1 |
| Conjoint de Monégasque | Spouse of a Monegasque national, resident more than one year | Five years | EUR 80 | EUR 40 | O.S. n° 3.153, Art. 5; A.M. n° 2020-814, Art. 1 |
| Résident privilégié | Resident at least ten years, and only after an administrative inquiry | Ten years | EUR 160 | EUR 80 | O.S. n° 3.153, Arts. 5 and 8; A.M. n° 2020-814, Art. 1 |
The four Monegasque residence cards, their seniority conditions, their validity and the State's delivery and renewal fees, each with the article behind it. Amounts from Arrêté ministériel n° 2020-814, Art. 1.
- 01
-
withdrawal at any time
The card ladder over time: temporary at the start, spouse of a Monegasque national after more than one year, ordinary after more than three, privileged after at least ten and an administrative inquiry. Validity is not permanence: a card may be withdrawn at any time if the conditions cease. Source: Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.153, Arts. 5, 6 and 8; Arrêté ministériel n° 2020-814, Art. 1
Four notes belong under that table. Renewal is asked for "au cours du mois qui précède l'expiration de la validité de la carte" (Art. 7), while the government's renewal page, updated 02/07/2026 says "au plus tard à son échéance": apply in the last month, at the very latest on the expiry date. A late renewal costs EUR 50 on any card, a duplicate EUR 80, and a change of civil status, family situation or address EUR 30. All ten amounts come from Arrêté ministériel n° 2020-814 of 30 November 2020, Art. 1, in force since 1 January 2021 and repealing the order of 4 August 2010. The ten years fall to one in the two cases of Art. 8: a foreign parent of a child of Monegasque nationality, and a woman who lost Monegasque nationality by marriage.
Leaving is also regulated: the card is returned eight days before departure and an attestation of the stay is issued (Art. 14), and cards whose holders no longer meet the conditions are "sans valeur" (the residence card, updated 28/10/2024). What happens between the first card and the tenth year is not our subject here: schools, health cover, the community and the practical side of the place sit with living in Monaco. The Welcome Office of Invest Monaco takes appointments in French or English on weekdays and holds quarterly information meetings for future and new residents.
What the money condition actually is
There is no State minimum. The official condition is "une épargne suffisante", and the government's own bracket settles who fixes it: "la somme jugée suffisante dépend de l'établissement bancaire de Monaco qui fournira une attestation". The only amount the State attaches to this file is the EUR 80 card fee.
What the bank certifies. Four kinds of sufficient means qualify: a salary, professional income from an independent commercial activity or through a company, sufficient savings, or support by a parent, spouse or partner. Savings need an attestation bancaire conforme under one month old. The right to a deposit account attaches to the card-application receipt for an individual, and to the DDE receipt for a company in formation (Loi n° 1.492, Art. 2, 3° and 4°): opening a bank account in Monaco.
What intermediaries report. Sums from EUR 500,000 upwards circulate as what Monegasque banks expect before they sign an attestation [market: bank practice as reported by intermediaries; henleyglobal.com and relocation-monaco.com, measured 2026-09-19]. That is bank practice described by the firms selling the service. It is not a rule of Monegasque law, and no official text carries a figure of any kind.
Problems we solve
There is no golden visa and no investment programme. Monaco publishes no investment route and no threshold. The conditions are age, accommodation, means, a clean record and the French entry document. Nationality sits in a separate statute, Loi n° 1.155 of 18 December 1992, and this page states no period for it: whether Monaco sells citizenship by investment.
No card is permanent. The first card's validity "ne peut excéder un an" (Art. 5) and it "peut lui être retirée à tout moment" once the holder stops meeting the conditions (Art. 6). The longest card runs ten years and is reached after ten years of residence, not after twelve.
A residence card is not a passport. What it gives a non-EEA holder carrying a valid passport is the right "d'entrer, de sortir et de circuler au sein de l'espace Schengen" without applying for a short-stay visa. That is the published benefit, and it is narrower than the travel lists sold around this service.
A residence card is not a work permit. Residents of the Principality rank in the statutory hiring priority order of Loi n° 629 of 17 July 1957, as a principle rather than as a numbered rank, and an employer's own prior authorisation is a separate file: the work permit guide.
The 183 days belong to the tax certificate, not to the card. The certificat de résidence à des fins de formalités fiscales is issued on one of three alternative tests: more than 183 days in Monaco, the principal centre of activities there, or the longest stay of the year. It costs EUR 600, runs one year, and is refused to anyone established less than six months without documents justifying a derogation. The card itself carries no published day count.
Want the file checked before you book the flight?
Send the passport you hold, where you live now and what the company will do, and we will say which document has to come first.
Why work with us
Élodie Marchal, residence and relocation lead, nine years on Monegasque residence files, in French, English and Russian.
From our practice: preparing carte de séjour files and the French type D visa step that precedes them for non-EU founders, assembling the accommodation and means-of-existence evidence, booking the Sûreté Publique appointments, and handling what follows the move.
Prepared by Élodie Marchal · Reviewed by Camille Perrin · Updated {{BUILD_DATE}}
Start your residence file
Tell us where you live now and we will map the two files, the company's and yours, in the order they have to run.
Start your Monaco file
Tell us the activity, where it will be carried on and who will run it. One of us reads it and comes back with the questions the authorisation file will ask. Our fees are on request.
The authorisation is personal and non-transferable, and it names the activity and the premises. Nothing on this site is sold ready to trade.
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