All you need to know about unemployment in France as a foreigner

Living in a foreign country sure is exciting: you get to experience a new culture and discover a new environment. But this excitment can feel more like a rollercoaster ride than a nice boat trip, especially when the situation gets uncertain. When you lose your job while living abroad, a new set of question kicks in: how am I going to sustain myself and my family? Is there a safety net? Am I eligible to it?

Well, we are here to help with these questions. In this article, we will cover all you need to know about unemployment insurance in France: how it works, how to receive it, how long it lasts, etc. So buckle up!

As a foreigner, am I eligible to unemployment insurance in France?

Any resident on the French territory who goes through an unemployment period can receive an allowance paid by social services that will compensate their temporary salary loss. This benefit is called ARE (for Aide de Retour à l’Emploi) or unemployment insurance and that is because it works just like an insurance: you have to contribute for a certain amount of time to the social system before being eligible to this benefit and there are some conditions to receiving it.

Let’s go straight to the point, you must meet the following conditions to be eligible:

1. Be a French resident (ie. have a residence permit);
2. Suffer from an involuntary work interruption;
3. Have a work history of at least 6 months (130 working days or 910 hours) over the last 24 months;
4. Register at France Travail within 12 months after losing your job;
5. Actively seek employment.

The second item on the list is probably the most important: you are not eligible to the benefit if you have resigned from your job. You must have lost your work involuntarily (either through a dismissal – whatever the reason, the end of your temporary contract or a mutual agreement procedure).

The items 4 and 5 are all about what France Travail is and what is does so have a look at the section below.

What is France Travail?

If you are to seek unemployment insurance, you have to know about France Travail (formerly Pôle Emploi). It is the governmental agency responsible for managing all activities related to unemployment in France. Among other things, it is responsible for registering unemployed people, managing the payment of their allowance and helping them find a job.

To receive your unemployment insurance, you must first and foremost register at Pôle Emploi, where you will be followed by an advisor. Besides sending you job offers and helping you find trainings, your advisor will be in charge of controlling whether or not your are actively looking for work. They will do that through periodical interviews (the frequency will range from once a month to once every semester depending on your situation). During these interviews, you may have to justify your research showing resumes, cover letters and e-mail conversations with employers.

This section would not be complete if we fogot to mention that Pôle Emploi, like many governmental agencies, has its set of inefficiencies. Advisors are typically swamped with the high number of job seekers they have to manage so be prepared to look for information on your own.

How long can I receive the unemployment allowance?

In 2023, a new bill has brought some changes to the maximum duration of the jobseekers allowance. Before 2023, you could receive  unemployment payments for up to 24 months (or more for people aged 53 and above). Now, the max duration has been reduced to 18 months.

However, the actual duration of the benefit is calculated based on your recent work history. The calculation gets nasty for edge cases but the rule of thumb is that your benefit will be roughly equal to the time between your first and last work day over the course of the last 24 months. Of course, this duration must be larger than 6 months – otherwise you are simply not eligible to the unemployment benefit.

Do work periods abroad count in the calculation of my unemployment rights?

If you have previously worked in another country in the European Economic Area, you can benefit from unemployment benefits in France only if you have previously carried out a professional activity in France. This applies to all work experiences in the countries of the European Union, in the European Economic Area and Switzerland (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland). But in order to be granted jobseeker allowance in France for your work carried out in another European country, you must not receive unemployment insurance from the country you have left.

Remember: you have to meet the same conditions as a French worker to qualify for unemployment benefits. That means you must have worked in France and must be able to prove it.

How to apply?

You must first register at Pôle Emploi, through their website. Then, you will have to fill in an application that will be sent to the unemployment insurance fund of the country you worked in. On the basis of this document, France Travail will define the amount of unemployment benefits that you will receive. The amount of time you have worked (both abroad and in France) greatly influences the check you will receive.