Living in Guadeloupe Beyond 90 Days: The Visitor Visa and…

Guadeloupe has no residency scheme of its own. It is part of France, so the rules are French immigration rules, applied through the prefecture. That matters for property buyers, because owning a home there gives no right to live there.

Key facts

Guadeloupe follows French immigration rules, and owning a home there gives no right to live there.
Non-EU nationals who want to stay longer than 90 days need a long-stay visa before travelling, usually the 12-month VLS-TS visitor visa.
Since 1 May 2026, validating a VLS-TS costs €300, and a first residence card €350.
Naturalisation needs five years of legal residence and, since 1 January 2026, B2 French and a 40-question civic exam.

Who needs what

EU citizens can settle in Guadeloupe freely, as the relocation guide in this series explains. Visitors from the United States, Canada and the UK can generally stay up to 90 days in any 180 without a visa. For anything longer, non-EU nationals need a long-stay visa before they travel, and one guide says France does not allow a visitor to switch to residence from inside the country.

The visitor visa

France has no retirement visa. Non-EU nationals who want to live in France or its overseas departments without working use the long-stay visitor visa, the VLS-TS "visiteur". It lasts 12 months, renews, and acts as a residence permit once validated online within three months of arrival.

An applicant must show sufficient resources, private health insurance for the stay, a place to live, and sign a commitment not to work. France-Visas publishes no fixed income threshold, and consulates decide case by case. Advisers quote benchmarks of about €1,443 net a month in one 2026 guide, €1,500 in another, and the SMIC, the French minimum wage, which one guide puts at about €1,823 gross a month for 2026. These are advisers' readings, not legal thresholds. One guide warns that the standard €30,000 Schengen travel policy is not enough for a long-stay visa.

What it costs in 2026

Since 1 May 2026, validating a VLS-TS costs €300, up from €200. A first residence card costs €350, up from €225, and renewals €250, according to a second-home investor guide and a legal-help guide updated within the past week. Check the amounts on service-public.fr before budgeting.

Second-home owners and the temporary visa

Many buyers want months at a time, not residence. A temporary long-stay visa, the VLS-T, covers a stay of roughly four to six months, needs no validation and cannot be renewed or converted into a residence permit. Another guide gives six to twelve months, so confirm the duration on France-Visas. A buyer who spends most of the year in France should speak to a tax adviser from the start, since that pattern usually amounts to French tax residence.

After the first year

The visa is renewed as a residence card at the prefecture two to three months before it expires. One retirement-visa site cites continuous residence, with no absence over six months a year, proof of integration and basic French at A2 level. That is a single source, so treat it as something to check.

French citizenship

There is no citizenship by investment. Naturalisation by decree needs five years of legal residence, reduced to two in some cases such as higher education in France. Since 1 January 2026, applicants must also prove French at B2 level, up from B1 under Decree 2025-648, and pass a civic exam of 40 questions, needing 32 right. Stable income and a clean record are required, and the decision is discretionary, taking 18 to 24 months. A foreign spouse can declare nationality after four years of marriage, again with B2 French. France recognises dual nationality.

What this means for a buyer

If your plan is to spend a few months a year in Guadeloupe, price the visa fees and the French tax question. If it is to live there, plan for the visitor visa, annual renewals and, eventually, a language exam. For fast residency or a second passport, compare the Dominica and Saint Lucia routes covered elsewhere in this series, which work on different terms. Because these rules are set by France and change, confirm the current position with a French consulate and the prefecture.

Related guides

More on Guadeloupe

Similar guides for other islands

Living in Guadeloupe Beyond 90 Days:
The Visitor Visa and the Route to French Citizenship