VisaGuadeloupe employers must use the island’s own shortage occupation list
A current-rule guide explains how the June 2026 list affects recruitment of foreign employees, the documents employers need and why work permission does not settle entry requirements.
Official source date: 2026-06-18
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Match the job to Guadeloupe’s June list
Employers recruiting foreign workers for Guadeloupe should check the territory’s own shortage-occupation list, rather than assuming that a mainland-France list covers the post. The ministerial order signed on 9 June 2026 and published on 18 June establishes the Guadeloupe list and a second annex connecting occupational families with detailed job codes. This article explains its current use as checked on 2 November; the June publication is not a new November announcement.
The list includes employed agricultural workers, several construction supervisory and engineering roles, vehicle and refrigeration maintenance technicians, cooks, hotel employees, restaurant servers, household cleaners, home-care workers and specified childcare occupations. The official order is the resource for checking the exact family and code. A broad sector description is insufficient: a vacancy in a hotel, for example, should be matched to the listed occupation and its duties rather than treated as covered simply because the employer operates in tourism.
Understand what the shortage list changes
The French government’s Service Public work-authorisation guide explains the general recruitment test. The proposed job must either appear on the applicable shortage list or have been advertised through the public employment system for three consecutive weeks within the six months before the work-authorisation application, without a suitable application being received. The guide expressly points to separate lists for Guadeloupe and other overseas departments.
This distinction can remove the need to rely on an unsuccessful advertising exercise for a qualifying listed occupation. It does not mean every applicant automatically receives permission. Employer compliance, the offered employment and the worker’s circumstances still matter. Nor is this list itself a residence card, a visa or permission to begin employment. Employers should use the work-authorisation guide to identify their applicable case before building the file; students, graduates and other residence categories can have additional or different conditions.
Prepare the employer’s online application
The official Entreprendre Service Public application resource links directly to the online work-authorisation service. It identifies the employer as the applicant, describes the online procedure as free and sets out four stages: enter the information, attach evidence, confirm the submission and await the decision. The employer needs an email address and an identifying business or household-employer number, such as a Siret, Cesu, Urssaf or MSA number.
Its document-preparation list includes the worker’s valid residence document, passport or identity card, qualifications and curriculum vitae, and evidence of regulatory authorisation where the occupation requires it. It also lists the advertisement and the document recording its closure without a suitable candidate. Those recruitment documents should be read alongside the guide’s shortage-occupation alternative, rather than assuming that every case requires an identical advertising file. The service sends the submission confirmation and later decision by email; an acknowledgment is evidence of filing, not a favourable decision.
Separate employment permission from the travel route
The Interior Ministry’s overseas-visa guidance explains that Schengen rules apply to France’s European territory. A traveller may therefore need a short-stay visa specifically valid for Guadeloupe, although nationality and certain existing French residence documents or long-stay visas can provide exemptions. The ministry’s overseas page links to the territorial entry order, making it the appropriate resource for checking the travel side after the employment category is identified.
Conversely, an overseas short-stay visa does not authorise entry to the European Schengen area. Anyone routing through or combining a stay with mainland France should check both permissions; a single itinerary does not merge the two legal travel areas. These short-stay rules should not be mistaken for a long-term employment route. The cited online application page confirms a free work-authorisation procedure but does not establish the individual’s visa or residence charges. No general November application deadline or guaranteed processing period is confirmed here. Employers should allow for the applicable three-week advertising stage where needed and obtain the necessary immigration permissions before the intended employment begins.
