New Caledonia

Visa types: Carte de séjour temporaire — «Salarié» / «Travailleur temporaire» (one year, renewable twice; work authorisation from the government of New Caledonia — BEFORE arrival) · Carte de séjour temporaire — «Entrepreneur / profession libérale» (one year; DTEFP opinion on the viability of the business, income of at least the full-time SMG) · Carte de séjour temporaire — «Activité professionnelle non soumise à autorisation» (one year; must live on own resources, amount not stated) · Carte de séjour pluriannuelle «Talent» (up to 4 years, eight kinds: qualified employee, medical profession, researcher, innovative project, direct investment from 35,799,523 XPF, legal representative, artistic profession, family) · Carte de séjour temporaire — «Étudiant» (one year; resources from 73,389 XPF a month, work within 60% of the annual working time) · Carte de séjour temporaire — «Stagiaire» (one year; traineeship agreement, salaried work prohibited) · Carte de séjour temporaire — «Visiteur» (one year; undertaking not to work) · Carte de séjour «Vie privée et familiale» (one year, then multi-year; spouse of a French citizen, parent of a French child and other family grounds) · Carte de résident (10 years; on family grounds only — the “activity” grounds do not lead to it; French at A1 or above and a declaration of respect for the principles of the Republic) · Carte de résident permanent (open-ended; available from the first renewal of the resident card) · Carte de séjour «Citoyen UE» (up to 5 years: all professional activities, economically inactive, student) and «Séjour permanent» for 20 years after five years of residence

Collected on 28.08.2026 from the site of the High Commission of the Republic in New Caledonia. The first thing to know: **the rules here are NOT those of France or of the other overseas territories.** A stay of more than three months is governed by the special provisions of book IV of the code on the entry and residence of foreigners, and the lists of documents were settled by an order of 4 May 2022. **The work authorisation is issued not by the State but by the government of New Caledonia, and it must be obtained BEFORE ARRIVAL.** This applies to every foreigner wishing to take salaried work — “including a national of the European Union and the spouse of a French citizen”. EU nationals get one concession: they may obtain the authorisation after arrival, but before starting work. The offender and the employer face criminal penalties. Applications go to the Directorate of Labour and Employment (DTENC) through the demarches.gouv.nc portal. The ladder of titles has four steps: a temporary card for one year, renewable twice on the same ground; a multi-year card of up to four years; a resident card for ten years; and an open-ended permanent resident card, which may be applied for from the very first renewal of the resident card. An application must be made within TWO MONTHS of arrival — even by someone whose long-stay visa itself serves as a residence permit — and a renewal within two months BEFORE expiry. **The main fork: the “activity” grounds DO NOT LEAD to the resident card.** The high commission says so outright of work, study, visiting and traineeship. What leads to the ten-year card is family grounds alone — marriage to a French citizen (with three years of marriage and three years of residence), parenthood of a French child (after three years of residence), being a dependent ascendant of a French citizen, being the foreign child of a French citizen, and family reunification with three years of uninterrupted residence. Beyond the papers, “republican integration” is required: a declaration on honour of respect for the principles of the Republic and command of French at level A1 or above, from which only those over 65 are exempt. The fee is uniform and strikingly small: **a stamp duty of 3,000 CFP francs** stands in every list for nationals of non-EU countries — for the employee, for the holder of a Talent card, for the student alike. Two exceptions. First: for the resident card and the permanent resident card the list warns that the duty is taken not on filing but ON DELIVERY of the title, and names no sum. Second: in the list for EU citizens and their family members there is NO stamp-duty line at all. There are exactly two thresholds given as figures, and both are in the document lists rather than on the conditions pages. For the student — **73,389 CFP francs a month**, and a scholarship, earnings (work is allowed within 60% of the annual working time), maintenance by a third party and other income all count. For the holder of a direct-investment project — **35,799,523 CFP francs** of direct investment in fixed assets, plus personal direction of a business or ownership of at least 30% of a company's capital. The other thresholds are set as MULTIPLES rather than sums: the legal representative of an establishment needs gross remuneration of at least three times the annual SMIC; the artist needs resources of at least 70% of the gross minimum wage per month, of which at least 51% must come from the artistic activity itself; the entrepreneur and the investor need the business to be capable of providing resources of at least the guaranteed minimum wage (SMG) for full-time work. EU nationals follow their own branch: an “EU citizen” card of up to five years in three kinds (all professional activities, economically inactive, student), a family-member card for the same period, and a PERMANENT residence card for TWENTY YEARS after five years of lawful uninterrupted residence — family members from non-EU countries get the same card for ten years. Continuity is proved with one document per half-year. The page warns specifically that Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Andorra, San Marino and Monaco are not members of the Union and their nationals are subject to the rules for other countries. A small thing that says much about the regime: almost every list requires a married applicant from a country where polygamy is permitted to declare on honour that they are not a polygamist. And the “Private and family life” card expressly provides that a breakdown of the common life does not sink the application where it was caused by spousal or family violence or by the death of the spouse. Not found: **the processing standard** — it is neither on the conditions pages nor in the document lists; **the amount of the stamp duty for the resident and permanent resident cards** — the list defers it to the moment of delivery without naming it; **the fee for EU nationals** — there is no line about it in their list at all. Foreign minors are not required to hold a residence card at all; for travel they are issued a travel document for a foreign minor (DCEM), which lets them return to New Caledonia without a visa. We did not record it as a separate ground: it is not a right to live in the country but a right to return.

Document certification

consular legalisation

The country does not accept apostilles: documents go through consular legalisation in three steps — ministry of justice, foreign ministry, consulate.

Limit

no limit

Life expectancy

78.9 years

Bread, 500 g

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Milk, 1 l

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Eggs, 12

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Chicken breast, 1 kg

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Cheese, 1 kg

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Rice, 1 kg

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Potatoes, 1 kg

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Apples, 1 kg

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Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 l

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Total

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The same set for every country, so the comparison is fair.

Life expectancy

78,9 years2024

Homicides

3,1 per 100k2009 · data lags behind

Unemployment

11,2 %2025

Unemployment, ages 15–24

33,1 %2025

Access to clean water

99,5 %2024

Governance

Political stability

high · 1,1

Control of corruption

above average · 0,1

Rule of law

high · 1,1

World Bank estimates on a −2.5 to +2.5 scale, higher is better.

Each value carries the year it refers to. “Data lags behind” means this country's figure was collected noticeably earlier than the rest. Natural hazards use one 0–10 scale and are meant to be compared against each other.

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