DREETS and the Entrepreneur/Self employed Residence Permit: What Role Does It Play in the Decision ?

The DREETS and the entrepreneur/self-employed residence permit are now linked following a procedural change that took place in 2021. Previously, the Prefecture consulted the DIRECCTE, which issued a favorable or unfavorable opinion on the foreign national’s project to establish an economic activity in France.

Since last May, the procedure has changed. The DREETS has replaced the DIRECCTE in issuing work authorizations. Additionally, foreign nationals wishing to obtain a residence permit labeled “entrepreneur/self-employed ” must now obtain a DREETS opinion before submitting their status change request or long-stay visa application to the consulate.

However, some clarifications need to be made regarding this procedure.

Previously, the opinion issued by the DIRECCTE was not public. This meant that the foreign national did not know whether the opinion was favorable or unfavorable. Except when a negative decision was made by the Prefecture, in which case the decision would state that the DIRECCTE had given an unfavorable opinion, but the content of that opinion was never disclosed.

Now, the DREETS and the entrepreneur/self-employed residence permit are linked even before the Prefecture’s procedure begins. After the foreign national requests the opinion, the response is communicated to them, and they can contest it. But in practice, this makes little sense, as the procedure to challenge this opinion is long and not particularly useful.

This is especially true because the DREETS opinion is not binding on the Prefecture. The Prefecture is under no legal obligation to follow the DREETS opinion if it believes that the submitted documents are sufficient.

If the Prefecture wishes to follow the DREETS opinion in rejecting the entrepreneur/self-employed residence permit, it may do so, but it must also justify its decision independently and cannot rely solely on this opinion to refuse the residence permit. This also applies to long-stay visa requests submitted to the French consulate if the visa application is denied.

What, then, is the significance of the DREETS and the entrepreneur/self-employed residence permit? Can this be seen as an improvement in obtaining a residence permit within the framework of professional immigration?

After a few months of practice, it seems not.

The DREETS opinions are poorly reasoned, often citing vague articles of the CESEDA (Code of Entry and Stay of Foreigners and the Right of Asylum). The DREETS adds requirements that do not exist in the law or in official circulars. It does not respond to questions via the platform and assumes that in case of refusal, the foreign national will abandon their request because they are unaware that they can still submit their application.

Additionally, the online platform is poorly designed. The document submission tabs do not match what is listed in the decree specifying the required documents. The process is deliberately made more complicated than it actually is.

The only improvement one could see in the DREETS and the entrepreneur/self-employed residence permit procedure is that if a document does not meet their standards, it is possible to slightly modify it to obtain a favorable opinion.

The problem is that while an unfavorable opinion does not prevent the Prefecture from issuing the residence permit, the reverse is also true. Even with a favorable opinion from the DREETS, the Prefecture can still refuse to issue the entrepreneur/self-employed residence permit.