France's talent — porteur de projet: which route is yours

No — at least not for the route a technology founder usually wants.

France has three separate articles here:

• Innovative project, L421-16 2° (branded the French Tech Visa) — there is no investment floor at all. You show resources at or above the annual gross SMIC: €22,404 in 2026.
• Business creation, R421-33-2 — this is where the €30,000 lives.
• Direct investment, R421-35 — €300,000 in assets plus a job-creation commitment.

To be straight about it: on the financial bar alone, France's innovative route may be softer than Spain's. We correct this misconception not because it flatters us but because it sends people down the wrong route.

Not under that name. Article L421-17 was abrogated on 28 January 2024 by law 2024-42. The current card is called talent — porteur de projet, governed by article L421-16, valid for up to 4 years.

This matters practically: a large share of English-language guidance still describes the repealed article. If a guide cites L421-17, it is at least eighteen months out of date, and its other claims deserve the same scepticism.

"French Tech Visa for Founders" is not a fourth permit — it is the name of the procedure for L421-16 2°.

The two countries treat silence in opposite ways, but for a startup file the Spanish rule matters less than it looks.

By law, article 76 of Ley 14/2013 gives the UGE 20 working days, and an application left undecided counts as granted (silencio positivo). In practice that does not help the startup permit: the UGE pauses the clock while it waits for ENISA's compulsory report on the business plan, and the pause can run up to 3 months (Ley 39/2015 art. 22.1.d). Plan on about 8 weeks to a real decision, not on silence. Silencio positivo does work for the Digital Nomad permit, which has no ENISA step.

In France, 4 months of silence is an implicit refusal, and you then have 2 months to appeal. You carry the risk, and the refusal arrives as nothing at all — which is easy to miss, so keep your own calendar.

How the Spanish deadline is counted is in the silencio positivo guide; the free generator is built for the Digital Nomad permit.

The incubator does not decide. Innovative character is certified by the ministry of the economy — an opinion under article R421-34-1, requested before the card application.

There are two evidence routes to it: backing from a partner incubator, or letters from actors in the French tech ecosystem — research bodies, laboratories, companies, recognised specialists.

That gives a simple sorting rule. If you are already inside the French ecosystem — accepted into an incubator, French angels on your cap table — France is the shorter path. If you are arriving cold, with no French contacts, assembling that support is a real obstacle. The quality of your company does not remove it. The Spanish route does not require a local network.

France, and that is the honest answer. Naturalisation by residence is 5 years against Spain's 10 for most nationalities.

The speed has a price. From 1 January 2026 a French naturalisation application requires B2 French (décret 2025-648). The ten-year resident card requires B1 plus a civic exam. Spain asks for DELE A2 and CCSE — a markedly lower bar.

So the trade is: 5 years at B2 French, or 10 years at A2 Spanish.

One exception matters a great deal. Under article 22 of the Civil Code, the Spanish term is 2 years for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Portugal, Andorra, the Philippines and Equatorial Guinea, and for Sephardim of Spanish origin. Then Spain is faster by a wide margin.

For Spain, yes — and that follows from what the Spanish permit actually is. "Startup visa" and "entrepreneur visa" are the everyday names, but article 69 of Ley 14/2013 calls it residencia para emprendedores: the Startup residency permit, which the UGE decides, not a visa a consulate decides. The law covers people already lawfully present, and filing itself extends your existing status until the procedure is resolved, so applying does not break it. A consulate only enters the picture when you apply from abroad, to issue the entry visa after the UGE approves.

On the French side we deliberately do not answer. We have no verified source on changing status to this card from inside France, and guessing on a legal question is a bad idea. Check France-Visas or your préfecture.

The gap is real: French startups raised around €7.4bn across 618 rounds in 2025, Spanish ones around €3.1bn across 376 rounds. Roughly 2.4× the money.

If your plan is to raise locally, France has the deeper pool, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

Two considerations rather than rebuttals. A venture market is not the same thing as a place of residence — a French fund can invest in a Spanish company. And the relocation decision usually turns on where you get status faster and with less risk, not on market size. If a round is central to your next twelve months, that is an argument for France.

The short fork:

• You are already in the French ecosystem, plan to raise in France, and are willing to learn the language to B2 — France.
• You want procedural predictability, you are arriving without a local network, or you want to file while already in the country — Spain.
• You hold nationality of an Ibero-American country, Portugal, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, or Sephardi status — Spain, by a wide margin: citizenship in 2 years.

If you are unsure, let's go through your situation against your actual documents and timeline.