Resident Permit status after Job Resignations and Terminations in France

Job Resignation (Demission)

• Resigning from a job is known as demission in France and it is considered a voluntary job loss.
• In this case, there is no protection for your resident permits which are based on a job and they will lose their status automatically (in theory).
• In reality, prefectures do not actively follow demissions and take back resident permits. But it is possible.
• However, these resident permits cannot be renewed until you find a job or be eligible to apply for a different resident permit.
• If you resign from your current job based on a new job offer, your Talent (formerly Passeport Talent) resident permit can be maintained if the new job satisfies all the requirements of the same resident permit.
• If the new salary is less than the Talent requirements, your new employer must apply for a work permit and only then you can apply for a status change to the regular Salarié resident permit.

Onsite Employees

• People with a “Passeport Talent – salarié en mission” resident permit and their dependents must be extremely careful while switching jobs in France.
• Your resident permits are attached to your current employer, so they cannot be used to work with any other employer for even a day.
• If the new job offers a salary above the EU Blue card limits, you can apply for a status change from “CdS PT SeM” to  “CdS PT CBE (EU Blue card)” online via ANEF website. But, the option might be disabled for some people. In such cases, an offline application directly with the local Prefecture is required. This requires contacting the local Prefecture and asking for a offline solution. It can add more complexity to the process.
• If the new job offers a salary below the EU Blue card limits, you must apply for a status change to the regular Salarié resident permit. In this case, the new employer must apply for your work permit and only then you can apply for a status change. 
• In both the above cases, the new job cannot be started until a favorable decision is taken on your status change application.
• So, this creates a complication because a new employer may not wait for 2 to 6 months, the usual duration taken for the approval at the moment. It can take little longer too.
• In some cases, the previous employer might insist on returning to the home country for completing the notice period and other paperwork. In this case, new visa application must be submitted for returning to France.