In short: France is easier to enter through a job and faster to citizenship, Italy is easier without an employer and kinder to families. The French salary threshold sits at the minimum wage, while Italian employment goes through quotas that work like a lottery. Italy, though, has a digital nomad visa that France lacks, and in both countries status survives a job loss. In our ranking France is 38th of 97 and Italy 75th.
If you have a job offer: pay only has to reach the minimum wage, about €1,823 gross a month, there are no quotas, citizenship comes after 5 years, and if you lose your job through no fault of your own the card is extended for a year. The price is language and patience: the integration programme includes up to 600 hours of French, citizenship has required B2 and a civics exam since 2026, and renewals in 2025 took 117 days on average against a target of 55.
If you work remotely: the nomad visa asks for €24,789 a year, and France has no such visa. Family members may work at once, an employment permit is not tied to one employer, and if you lose your job you get at least a year to find a new one. But citizenship takes 10 years, employment goes through quotas where only 7-8% of places turn into an actual permit, and in big cities documents take a year or more.
France is stronger in 5 of 7 areas, Italy in 2.
The entry bar is low: pay at the minimum wage, a shortage occupation list widened in 2025, and free school for every child aged 3-16. We found no campaigns against legal residents, and after involuntary job loss the card is extended for a year. Delivery is what breaks: renewals take twice as long as promised and the ANEF online platform fails systematically. Since 2024 every foreigner signs a pledge to respect the principles of the Republic, and on that discretionary test a card can be withdrawn or not renewed.
The rules are generous: an employment permit is not tied to one employer, family members may work at once, children go to school whatever their status, and quotas rise to about half a million places for 2026-2028. We found no pressure on legally working foreigners. Delivery is what breaks: of 127,707 quota places in 2023 only 9,528 became an actual permit a year later, 7.5%, and a fingerprint appointment at the police office takes 2-8 months.
Through a job, France: pay only has to reach the minimum wage, about €1,823 gross a month, and there are no quotas. In Italy employment goes through quotas where only 7-8% of places become a permit, but there is a digital nomad visa from €24,789 a year, which France does not offer.
In France a renewal took 117 days on average in 2025 against a target of 55. Italian law promises 60 days, but in practice it is 2-6 months in mid-sized cities and a year or more in Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin.
Italy's fees are lower: €70.46-130.46 per cycle, about €483 for a family of three over five years. In France the first card alone costs €350 per person (€100 at the reduced rate), and renewals are charged separately.
France, after 5 years, but since 2026 it requires B2 French, spoken and written, and a civics exam. Italy takes 10 years with Italian B1. Both allow dual citizenship.
Both protect you. In France, after involuntary dismissal the card is extended for a year and then for your benefit period, but a new employment contract needs a new work authorisation. In Italy you get a job-seeking permit for at least a year, and the permit was never tied to one employer.
It depends on how you earn and how long you can wait for citizenship. France is stronger in most areas of the ranking and gets you to a passport twice as fast, but expects good French. Italy offers safer status and is kinder to families, but its agencies perform worst in our sample.
Every fact on this page comes from the country pages, where the sources are listed. Checked 01/10/2026.