Hiring non-EU talent in France: 42 days, not 200

France needs international talent. Most companies can’t move fast enough to get it.

France is facing real talent shortages in its most strategically important sectors. Nearly 60% of French digital companies reported difficulty filling technical roles in 2025 (France Stratégie). Life sciences needs to recruit over 25,000 professionals by 2030 (LEEM). Renewable energy must nearly double its workforce this decade to hit France’s decarbonisation targets. For companies in these sectors, the local talent pool isn’t enough. Hiring internationally — including outside the EU — has become an operational necessity, not a last resort. The problem: most companies aren’t built to execute it.

Two blockers. Neither is optional.

Bringing a non-EU hire into France means solving two problems simultaneously — and getting both wrong is equally costly. Employment. How do you legally employ someone with no existing right to work in France — without setting up a local entity? Immigration. What permit does that person need, who manages the process, and how long will it actually take? Most HR teams treat these as unknowns until a candidate has already said yes. By then, the company is already behind.

Remote People handles employment. EasyStart handles immigration.

Remote People operates as an Employer of Record across 150+ countries — with owned infrastructure in France. We hold the employment contract, manage payroll, handle social contributions, and ensure full compliance with French labour law. No entity setup. No delays waiting for legal structure to catch up with hiring plans. EasyStart is a France-based immigration and global mobility specialist. They manage the complete non-EU immigration process: work permit applications, visa procedures, OFII filings, Préfecture procedures, and the full administrative chain from country of origin to first day in role. Employment and immigration are different problems. Remote People solves one. EasyStart solves the other. Together, they cover everything a non-EU hire into France requires.

Why the French immigration system defeats most HR teams

Work permit procedures run through the OFII and regional Préfectures — both operating under significant administrative pressure. Documentation requirements are precise. Incomplete files mean restarts, not just delays. HR teams without prior experience of French immigration typically rely on general guidance found online or providers without deep local expertise. The result is predictable: stalled applications, frustrated candidates, and roles left unfilled. The national average for international work permit processing in France: approximately 200 days (as of September 2025).

Run both workstreams in parallel. The timeline changes completely.

The key is treating employment setup and immigration as one coordinated workflow — not two sequential handoffs. In practice: Remote People establishes the employment framework and drafts a compliant French contract. Simultaneously, EasyStart assesses the applicable permit category, builds the file, and initiates procedures with the relevant consulate and Préfecture. Both workstreams run in parallel. The candidate’s start date is planned around the permit timeline — not discovered after the fact. The results speak for themselves: That 41.8-day figure sits against a 200-day national average. The gap comes from process expertise, running both workstreams simultaneously, and resolving blockers before they become delays.

The bottom line

International hiring in France isn’t inherently slow. The friction comes from treating employment and immigration as separate problems — and solving them one at a time. Remote People provides the legal employment infrastructure. EasyStart secures the right to work. Together, they give companies the ability to move at business speed — not administrative speed. For companies in tech, life sciences, or renewable energy competing for a narrow global talent pool, that speed isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s often what determines whether the hire happens at all.