🇨🇦 Canada vs 🇫🇷 France: Digital Nomad Visa Compared
Canada has no visa officially called a "digital nomad visa". France has no visa officially called a "digital nomad visa". Every figure below comes from each country's own sourced, dated fiche - compare income, duration, tax, family rules, fees and processing time before you decide. France's initial visa period runs longer than Canada's: 12 months versus 6.
- Minimum income
- TBD
- 1,867 EUR / month
- Visa duration
- 6 months
- Tax regime
- Under 183 days in Canada in a calendar year, without significant residential ties, keeps you a non-resident for tax purposes - taxed only on Canadian-source income, not your foreign remote salary. Reaching 183 days in the year makes you a deemed resident, taxed on worldwide income.
- Living in France more than 183 days generally makes you a French tax resident, taxed on worldwide income at French rates. Double-taxation treaties apply.
- Family (spouse / children)
- Spouse + children admitted
- Spouse + children admitted
- Application fees
- 100 CAD
- 99 EUR
- Health insurance
- Processing time
- eTA (visa-exempt nationalities): typically minutes, occasionally up to a few days. Visitor visa/TRV (other nationalities): reported roughly 4-12 weeks, varying widely by country of application
- Typically 2-3 weeks after the consulate appointment
Canada has no digital nomad visa and visitor status carries no published minimum income - officers require proof of 'sufficient funds' for the trip plus evidence you will leave (ties to your home country), assessed case by case rather than against a fixed threshold.
France has no digital nomad visa. Since June 2025, France had enforced a ban on remote work under the long-stay VISITOR visa (VLS-TS 'visiteur'); a 2026-06-23 Journal Officiel response from the Ministry of the Interior (answering National Assembly question n°11730) reversed course: remote work from France for a foreign employer, with income paid and taxed abroad and no activity benefiting a France-based business, is 'non-active' and IS compatible with visiteur status - no work permit needed. The visiteur visa has no fixed income figure in law; consulates require proof of 'sufficient and regular resources', commonly benchmarked against the SMIC. The Profession Liberale visa (resources ~SMIC, figure above) or the Talent Passport remain the applicable routes only if the work is integrated into the French economy (French clients, French-paid work, staff supervised in France). SMIC-linked figures rise with each revaluation - confirm the current amount and exact thresholds with your consulate.
source · verified 2026-07-16
Most visitors are authorized up to 6 months per entry at the border officer's discretion (sometimes less, occasionally more); the day you must leave by is stamped in your passport or shown in your eTA/visa record. Staying longer requires applying to extend visitor status from inside Canada before the authorized period ends - not a renewal in the country-hopping sense.
source · verified 2026-07-25
source · verified 2026-07-25
source · verified 2026-07-08
Spouse and children can accompany you as visitors, but each family member generally needs their own visitor visa or eTA and must independently show sufficient funds and ties.
source · verified 2026-07-25
Family may accompany on the long-stay visa; each adult typically needs their own status/resources.
source · verified 2026-07-08
CAD 100 visitor-visa (TRV) fee applies to nationals who need a visa, plus a CAD 85 biometrics fee (CAD 185 total). Nationals of visa-exempt countries arriving by air instead need only the eTA, CAD 7. Which route applies depends on nationality - confirm on the IRCC eTA/visa-exempt country list.
source · verified 2026-07-25
EUR 99 long-stay visa application fee (paid to the consulate); confirm with the consulate. Separately, the mandatory post-arrival visa validation fee (OFII/interior-ministry portal) rose from EUR 200 to EUR 300 effective 2026-05-01. RE-CHECKED 2026-07-19: this rise now traces to a specific legal source - Article 128 of Loi n. 2026-103 du 19 fevrier 2026 (Loi de finances pour 2026) - corroborated on several prefecture .gouv.fr pages, not just aggregator guides. The figure itself is unchanged; this only upgrades how well-sourced it is. A separate OFII stamp fee (~EUR 25) is reportedly unaffected but single-sourced - unverified.
source · verified 2026-07-19
IRCC publishes current country-specific TRV processing times on its own processing-times tool; the range above is a general reported guide, not a guarantee.
source · verified 2026-07-25
source · verified 2026-07-08
Frequently asked questions
Which lasts longer, the Canada or France digital nomad visa?
The France visa's initial period is longer: 12 months versus 6 months for Canada.
Related comparisons
Figures marked TBD are not yet verified and are never shown as facts. Last full review: Canada 2026-07-25, France 2026-08-04.