France ICT Visa: Does Three Months of Group Service Meet the Six-Month Rule?
French government pages use both three-month and six-month periods when describing work in a company group. They are not interchangeable rules. For the employee ICT residence card under Article L.421-26, the law requires at least six months of professional seniority in the employing group. The three-month wording on France-Visas appears in a separate description of group posting and employment procedures, including cases that involve work authorization or a temporary-worker visa. A three-month reference should not be used to assume that the six-month ICT-card condition has been waived.
Start with the document and route you are applying for
The first question is not simply how long you have worked for the group. Identify the French permission being considered and the actual assignment. The multi-year employee ICT residence card is designed for a temporary intra-group posting to a French entity in the same group. Article L.421-26 describes a person residing outside the European Union, assigned to a senior-management or expert role, with at least six months’ professional seniority in the group. The card is tied to the posting and is limited to three years.
The French public-service guidance repeats the six-month group-seniority condition in its eligibility and document sections. It lists employer evidence and payslips among supporting documents. A job title alone does not establish that the person meets the relevant conditions: the employment relationship, group structure, assignment and role must fit the route.
Why does France-Visas mention three months?
France-Visas has a broader section on posting or recruitment by a French company belonging to the same international group. It describes an employee who has worked for at least three months in a company outside the European Economic Area, then explains visa and work-authorization arrangements for different assignment lengths. That page also distinguishes short assignments of up to 90 days from longer work requiring a long-stay permission and, in some cases, prior work authorization.
That three-month sentence is not a safe substitute for the six-month wording in the statute and the public-service page for an employee ICT residence card. The pages address related but not identical procedures. Read the exact visa or card route, assignment duration and proposed work before relying on a threshold. Where the consular checklist or local instructions point to a different document, confirm the applicable route with the French authority handling the application.
What to check before preparing the file
Build a short timeline showing when employment with each group company began, any transfers between entities, the planned French assignment and the intended application document. Keep the underlying contracts, employer letters and payslips. If company names or payroll entities changed, explain the real change with records rather than treating similar branding as proof of a group relationship.
Describe the French role in concrete terms. For an ICT card, the legal wording concerns a senior-management position or the provision of expertise. A job title by itself is not enough; the task, reporting line and applicant’s experience should make sense together. If the plan is actually direct local employment, a short assignment, or a different work-permission route, assess that route separately instead of forcing it into the ICT-card checklist.
If the employee has only three months in the group
Do not assume eligibility for the employee ICT card from the France-Visas reference alone. Check whether another permission is genuinely available for the proposed work and duration, what work authorization is required, and whether the applicant’s facts meet that route. If the relevant ICT-card application is intended, the stated six-month condition remains the starting point in the law and public-service guidance.
A consular decision, visa label or residence card determines the permission actually granted. Do not book work or travel on the assumption that a pending application or the employer’s internal schedule authorizes the activity. Keep a copy of the current official checklist and verify it again before filing, because procedures and supporting documents can change.
Sources and next step
This article was checked on 22 October 2026. It explains the distinction between official descriptions and is not an assessment of a particular employee’s eligibility. Before filing, compare the applicant’s contract, group history, assignment and intended permission with the current instructions.
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