Martinique’s residence route for workers in shortage occupations ends on 31 December

Identify whether the temporary route fits your circumstances

Workers without regular immigration status in Martinique should review the exceptional residence route for shortage occupations before its current statutory end date of 31 December 2026. This is a deadline follow-up, rather than an announcement of a new entitlement. Article L435-4 of the immigration code provides for a one-year temporary employee or temporary-worker residence card, subject to the administration's assessment.

The statutory tests include at least three years of uninterrupted residence in France, at least twelve months of qualifying salaried employment during the previous twenty-four months, and a qualifying job when applying. Those twelve months need not be consecutive. Periods of residence and employment under the specified student, seasonal-worker and asylum-applicant documents are excluded. Applicants should separate those periods from other evidence instead of adding every month shown on their employment history.

The authority also examines integration, social and family circumstances and public-order matters. Article L435-4 excludes applicants with the specified criminal-record entries. A shortage job alone therefore cannot establish eligibility.

Use Martinique's occupation list, including the job-code correspondence

The relevant territorial list is the order of 9 June 2026, published in the Official Journal on 18 June. Its first annex lists Martinique's shortage occupations; its second connects professional categories with the official employment classification. Readers should use this Martinique order when comparing their duties with a listed occupation, rather than assuming a list for another French region applies.

The list includes cooks, hotel employees, restaurant and café servers, domestic cleaners and premises cleaners. It also includes specified agricultural occupations and construction trades, including masonry, roofing, plumbing and building electrical work. These examples do not replace the complete annex: a business operating in hospitality or construction does not make every position within that business a listed occupation.

Compare the actual work performed, the professional category and the correspondence codes before preparing an application. The order helps identify the occupation; it does not itself grant residence or permission to start work.

Prepare evidence and confirm the prefecture's filing instructions

Service Public's work-regularisation guide directs applicants to the prefecture for their place of residence. Its shortage-occupation section lists a full birth record, identity or nationality evidence, photographs and address evidence less than six months old. It also calls for proof of residence history, previous qualifying employment, integration and a signed commitment to respect the principles of the Republic.

Employment evidence can include payslips, bank transfers, employment certificates and relevant tax records. Organise these by date so the authority can distinguish the twelve-month employment test from the separate three-year residence test. Service Public links the particular work-authorisation form that applicants complete themselves without employer intervention.

Check Martinique prefecture's current submission arrangements before filing; a portal or postal address belonging to another department is not a substitute. The national guide says a complete dossier leads to a receipt authorising work. Do not treat assembling documents or requesting instructions as that receipt.

Budget for current charges and distinguish proposals from enacted law

The immigration code's fiscal provisions changed on 1 May 2026. They specify a general first-residence-permit tax of EUR 300 and a EUR 50 stamp duty. A separate regularisation visa charge of EUR 300 applies in the circumstances defined by Article L436-4, including entry without required documents or visas; EUR 100 of that charge is non-refundable and collected when applying. Ask the prefecture to confirm the charges and any applicable exemption for the individual file before purchasing tax stamps.

A Senate committee report deposited on 28 October discusses a proposal to change residence arrangements for workers in shortage sectors. It describes the existing route as temporary and discretionary. A legislative proposal and its committee discussion are not an enacted extension or a guaranteed residence right. Readers should use the current code for the operative rule and the Senate report to understand what remains under debate, rather than postponing preparation in expectation of a change.