France raised the student residence permit money requirement: €877.50 a month since August 2026

For over two decades, foreign students in France had to show about €615 a month to get or renew a titre de séjour étudiant. That number has changed. Décret n° 2026-526, published on 22 June 2026, raised the threshold to 47% of the gross SMIC, which works out to roughly €877.50 a month, about €10,530 a year. It took effect on 1 August 2026, so it is the figure that applies to anything you file now.

Who this affects

• First applications for a student card (visa validations included) filed from 1 August 2026.
• Renewals filed from 1 August 2026, including on ANEF. The date that counts is when you submit, not when your current titre expires.
• Students under EU mobility programmes (the décret covers those categories too).

The one date that matters

The threshold is decided by your submission date, not by your titre's expiry date and not by the date the préfecture gets round to your file. Dossiers submitted before 1 August 2026 were assessed on the old €615, and a file already under review on that date is not reassessed against the new number. Everything filed from 1 August 2026 onwards is judged on €877.50 a month, which now includes the whole rentrée wave.

How to prove €877.50 a month

• Bank statements (French or foreign) showing the equivalent of about €10,530 for the year.
• A garant: a notarised parental or sponsor commitment, usually with their tax notice attached.
• An AVI (attestation de virement irrévocable) from a bank, for the new amount.
• A CROUS bourse notification or salary from part-time work. ANEF accepts a combination of sources.

One more thing

The décret also indexes the threshold to inflation, updated at least once a year. So the figure on this page is the 2026 value; check the letter or the portal for the current one when you file. And when the préfecture writes back about your resources, upload the letter to Mes Papiers and we'll tell you exactly what proof they're asking for and by when.