TL;DR
No. Forming or running a French company does not, on its own, give any right of residence or right to work in France. A national of a country outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland who wants to settle in France and run their business from there must obtain a long-stay visa or an appropriate residence permit, for example the "passeport talent" card, under the conditions set by the authorities. Sources (2)
Service-publicService-public: can a foreign national start a business in France?Service-publicService-public: how can a foreign national run a company in France?
Key points
- You can be president of a French company while living abroad.
- Settling in France to work requires a residence permit that authorises the activity.
- The conditions (financial resources, project, length of residence depending on the case) fall under immigration law: check with the official services or a lawyer.
Written by Razvan Toma, founder of LegalRapide. How we check our figures · LinkedIn