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France

48.8566° N · Western Europe · Schengen

France asks every foreign guest to sign a fiche individuelle de police — before the national téléservice is even fully live.

Hotels, chambres d'hôtes and meublés de tourisme must get foreign guests — EU nationals included — to complete and sign a police form on arrival. Short-let listings need a registration number under the loi Le Meur reform, but the promised national portal is still rolling out through 2026. Self check-in works when the fiche is signed and identity is captured before access, not after.

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NextStay relevance · France

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CESEDA requires every foreign guest — including EU nationals — to complete and sign a fiche individuelle de police on arrival, and meublés de tourisme must carry a national registration number.

At a glance · France

  • Police

    Fiche at arrival

  • Retain

    6 months

  • Meublé

    Code du tourisme L.324-1-1

  • Access

    Signed fiche

Who this is for

What hotels and hosts actually need to know

French accommodation sits on two parallel national tracks, plus a municipal layer. Public-security law (CESEDA, articles R.814-1 to R.814-3) requires a signed fiche individuelle de police from every foreign guest, regardless of accommodation type. Tourism law (Code du tourisme, article L.324-1-1, reformed by the loi Le Meur of 19 November 2024) requires meublés de tourisme to be declared and to display a registration number — via mairie/Cerfa today, migrating to a national téléservice through 2026. Cities such as Paris, Lyon and Nice add taxe de séjour and, for secondary homes, a separate changement d'usage authorisation. Self check-in remains workable when the fiche is captured and signed, and registration/licence status is settled, before keys or codes are released.

Front-desk workflows already resemble the CESEDA duty: identify the guest, complete the fiche, keep it on file. The habit that trips up digital front desks is treating the fiche as optional paperwork rather than a signed, retained record.

  • 01Get every foreign guest — including EU nationals — to complete and sign the fiche individuelle de police on arrival
  • 02Retain fiches for 6 months; transmit only if police or gendarmerie request them
  • 03Register the establishment and its taxe de séjour category with the commune
  • 04Keep records ready for the three lawful request grounds: public order, judicial inquiry, missing-person searches

Chapter · Identity

Who must be identified — and who is exempt

The fiche individuelle de police duty is broad by accommodation type and by nationality — broader than hosts often assume, since it also reaches EU nationals.

  1. 01

    Which accommodation types are in scope

    Hotels, holiday villages and family holiday homes, tourist residences and villages, meublés de tourisme, gîtes ruraux, chambres d'hôtes, and camping/caravan grounds must all get the fiche completed by foreign guests. Renting out bare, unfurnished premises is the one exclusion CESEDA carves out.

    [01][03]
  2. 02

    EU nationals are explicitly included

    Unlike some Member States that reserve guest-reporting duties for non-EU travellers, French guidance is direct: the renter must have the fiche filled in by tourists who are nationals of an EU country too, not only third-country nationals.

    [03]
  3. 03

    Every occupant, with a light-touch exception for children

    The duty runs to the foreign guest occupying the accommodation, not only the lead booker. Data for children under 15 travelling with an adult may be recorded on the accompanying adult's fiche rather than a separate one.

    [01][02]

Chapter · Police

The fiche individuelle de police

Since a 2015 reform, the fiche is no longer handed to police automatically — it is completed, signed and kept, and produced only when the police or gendarmerie actually ask for it.

Statute

“Aux fins de prévention des troubles à l'ordre public, d'enquêtes judiciaires et de recherche dans l'intérêt des personnes… [les hébergeurs] sont tenus de remplir, ou faire remplir, et signer par l'étranger, dès son arrivée, une fiche individuelle de police, dont le modèle est fixé par arrêté conjoint du ministre de l'intérieur, du ministre chargé de l'immigration et du ministre chargé du tourisme.”
Code de l'entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d'asile (CESEDA), art. R.814-1 [01]
  1. 01

    What the fiche must capture

    The official model (fixed by the joint arrêté of 1 October 2015, in French and English) collects surname and given names, date and place of birth, nationality, usual home address, mobile number and email, and arrival/expected-departure dates. It is filled in and signed by the foreign guest as soon as they arrive.

    [02][01][03]
  2. 02

    Keep it six months, transmit only on request

    Providers must retain completed fiches for six months. Automatic daily hand-in to police ended in 2015 — the fiche is transmitted only if police or gendarmerie ask for it, for one of three lawful reasons: prevention of public-order disturbance, a judicial inquiry, or a search in the interest of persons. Transmission may happen electronically, including by email.

    [01][03]
  3. 03

    Refusal to sign is a legitimate reason to decline the booking

    If a foreign guest refuses to complete or sign the fiche, the host or establishment is entitled to refuse the accommodation. A contract clause may let the host pre-fill the fiche from reservation data so the guest only has to sign on arrival.

    [03]

Chapter · Licence

Meublé de tourisme registration & the national téléservice

Code du tourisme article L.324-1-1, reformed by the loi Le Meur (n° 2024-1039, 19 November 2024), pushes every meublé de tourisme toward a single national registration number — the rollout is real, but not finished.

  1. 01

    The legal deadline was 20 May 2026

    The loi Le Meur replaces disparate municipal declaration systems with a national téléservice (API Meublés / Démarche Numérique) delivering a 13-character registration number, due at the latest by 20 May 2026. Every host offering a meublé — primary or secondary residence — is in scope.

    [04][05]
  2. 02

    The platform is still rolling out through 2026

    Per the Direction générale des Entreprises, the API Meublés beta (from March 2026) is limited to communes and platforms; the final version letting individual hosts self-register and obtain a number is expected in the second half of 2026, under decrees n° 2026-196 and n° 2026-197 of 19 March 2026. Until it opens, hosts continue to declare through their commune — typically Cerfa n°14004 — and existing municipal numbers remain the reference; re-registration on the national portal will be required once it launches.

    [06][07][08]
  3. 03

    Display the number everywhere the listing appears

    Once obtained, the registration number must appear on every advertisement for the meublé, on every channel. Digital platforms are required to remove listings that do not display a valid number.

    [08][04]
  4. 04

    Changement d'usage sits on top, in zones tendues

    Renting a secondary home short-term in Paris, Lyon, Nice and other communes over 200,000 residents (plus the inner Paris ring departments) generally requires a separate prior changement d'usage authorisation, distinct from the registration number. Paris requires a compensation surface; confirm your commune's own regime before listing a non-primary residence.

    [09][08]

Chapter · EU layer

EU law that sits underneath

France's fiche and meublé rules sit inside the same European stack hosts meet elsewhere — Schengen lodging purposes, GDPR, and the 2024 short-term rental data framework.

  1. 01

    Schengen Convention — Article 45(1)(b)

    Lodging providers across Schengen states are expected to account for who stayed where. France's fiche individuelle de police is a long-standing national implementation of that public-security logic.

    [13][01]
  2. 02

    GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

    Identity and contact data on the fiche are personal data. Collect only the fields the model requires, inform guests of their access/rectification rights, and respect the six-month retention limit rather than keeping fiches indefinitely.

    [14]
  3. 03

    Short-term rental data — Regulation (EU) 2024/1028

    From 20 May 2026, where Member States operate STR registration/data systems, platforms work through harmonised registration numbers and activity reporting. The loi Le Meur's national téléservice is France's implementation track, still completing its rollout.

    [15][16][05]

Remote arrival · Still the law

Self check-in under French rules

France has no Italy-style ban on automated, de-visu-free arrival. What it does require is a fiche individuelle de police that the foreign guest actually completes and signs — that signature, not a video call, is the compliance gate.

01

Document

02

E.turistas

03

Keys

  • A signed fiche is the gate, not a visual match

    CESEDA requires the foreign guest to complete and sign the fiche on arrival. There is no French equivalent of the Italian de-visu video-verification debate — but an unsigned or missing fiche is the actual gap. Capture and secure the signature before releasing door codes.

    [01][03]

  • Pre-fill from the booking, sign at the door (virtual or real)

    A contractual clause may let the host pre-fill the fiche from reservation data, leaving the guest to sign on arrival — a natural fit for pre-arrival digital forms paired with an e-signature step at the moment access is granted.

    [03]

  • Every guest, EU and non-EU alike

    Because EU nationals are explicitly in scope, self check-in flows should not skip the fiche step for guests arriving on an EU passport — a common assumption imported from other markets.

    [03]

  • Registration status gates the listing, not the day-of arrival

    A meublé's registration number and, where relevant, its changement d'usage authorisation need to be settled before the listing goes live — automating a smooth remote check-in does not fix an unregistered or unauthorised listing.

    [04][08]

Municipal & tax layers

The fiche and the national registration number are set nationally. Taxe de séjour rates and changement d'usage rules are set locally, and Paris, Lyon and Nice each run their own structure — confirm current tariffs with the local collectivity before quoting guests.

  • Paris — municipal tourist-tax and registration territory

    Paris — taxe de séjour + Île-de-France Mobilités surcharge

    01

    From 1 January 2026, Paris tariffs stack a municipal rate, a 10% departmental surcharge, a 15% regional surcharge, and a 200% Île-de-France Mobilités surcharge in force since 2025. Classed hotels and meublés range from about €0.65 per person/night (1–2★ campsites) up to a capped €15.93 for palaces and unclassed stays priced above roughly €100/night; unclassed meublés otherwise pay 5% of the pre-tax nightly price per person, all surcharges included, up to that same cap. Confirm the current published table with the Ville de Paris before setting guest-facing prices.

    [10]
  • Lyon — Métropole tourist-tax territory

    Lyon — Métropole tax + 10% departmental part

    02

    The Métropole de Lyon raised its taxe de séjour to the 2026 national ceiling and adds its own 10% additional part. Published 2026 tariffs run from about €0.22 per person/night for 1–2★ campsites up to €5.39 for palaces, with unclassed meublés paying 5% of the pre-tax nightly price plus the 10% surcharge, capped at €5.39. Confirm the current schedule with the Métropole / Office du tourisme de Lyon.

    [11]
  • Nice — Métropole Côte d'Azur tourist-tax territory

    Nice — Métropole tax + Ligne Nouvelle Provence Côte d'Azur surcharge

    03

    Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur's 2026 tariffs add a 34% "Ligne Nouvelle Provence Côte d'Azur" additional tax on top of the metropolitan rate — for example €4.80 + €1.63 = €6.43 per person/night for palaces, down to €0.20 + €0.07 = €0.27 for 1–2★ campsites, with unclassed meublés paying 5% (+1.70%) of the pre-tax nightly price, capped at €6.43. Confirm the current published table before setting rates.

    [12]
  • 04

    Changement d'usage — Paris, Lyon, Nice secondary homes

    In all three cities, letting a secondary home (not your main residence) as a meublé de tourisme requires a prior changement d'usage authorisation from the mairie, separate from the meublé declaration and registration number. Paris requires a compensation surface in the same district; Lyon and Nice run their own conditions. Renting a secondary home without this authorisation is sanctioned independently of any registration-number penalty — check with the relevant mairie before listing.

    [09][08]

This is the law · Here is the reference

Sources & references

Primary statutes, EU instruments and competent authorities. Open the link when your property is at stake.

  1. [01]Local law
    CESEDA — Fiche individuelle de police (art. R.814-1 à R.814-3)

    Primary duty: complete, sign, retain 6 months, transmit only on police/gendarmerie request.

  2. [02]Local law
    Arrêté du 1er octobre 2015 — modèle de fiche individuelle de police

    Official bilingual model and required data fields.

  3. [03]Authority
    Service-public.fr — Fiche F33458 (fiche individuelle de police)

    Who must collect the fiche, scope by accommodation type, EU nationals included, refusal right.

  4. [04]Local law
    Code du tourisme — Article L.324-1-1

    Statutory basis for meublé de tourisme declaration and national registration.

  5. [05]Local law
    Loi n° 2024-1039 du 19 novembre 2024 (« loi Le Meur »)

    Reform creating the national meublé-de-tourisme registration téléservice.

  6. [06]Agency
    Direction générale des Entreprises — API Meublés rollout

    Official rollout calendar: beta from March 2026, individual-host version expected 2nd half 2026.

  7. [07]Authority
    API Meublés — official portal (comprendre le dispositif)

    Host-facing description of beta vs final téléservice and Démarche Numérique registration path.

  8. [08]Agency
    Direction générale des Entreprises — Les meublés de tourisme

    Declaration routes (Cerfa n°14004 / registration number), display duty, penalty bands.

  9. [09]Authority
    Ville de Paris — La location meublée touristique : les règles à suivre

    Changement d'usage with compensation for secondary homes; penalty bands.

  10. [10]Authority
    Service-public.fr — Évolution en 2026 de la taxe de séjour à Paris

    2026 Paris tariff table including the 200% Île-de-France Mobilités surcharge.

  11. [11]Agency
    Office du tourisme de Lyon — La taxe de séjour à Lyon

    2026 Métropole de Lyon tariff table with the 10% additional part.

  12. [12]Agency
    Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur — Tarifs 2026 taxe de séjour

    2026 tariff table with the 34% Ligne Nouvelle Provence Côte d'Azur surcharge.

  13. [13]EU law
    Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement — Art. 45

    EU-layer lodging / guest-record purpose.

  14. [14]EU law
    GDPR — Regulation (EU) 2016/679

    Personal-data rules for identity and contact data on the fiche.

  15. [15]EU law
    Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 — short-term rental data

    EU framework for STR registration data and platform sharing (from 20 May 2026).

  16. [16]Agency
    European Commission — STR transparency rules

    Plain-language explanation of the May 2026 framework.

After the law · The product

Where NextStay fits

After the law is clear: we structure a signed fiche and settled registration status before access — so French hosts can run remote-friendly arrivals without skipping the CESEDA signature or shipping an unregistered listing.

  • 01

    A signature before the key

    Online check-in collects the fiche fields and captures a signature before door instructions unlock — matching CESEDA's arrival-moment requirement rather than a document nobody signs.

  • 02

    Every guest, EU passport or not

    Flows don't quietly skip EU nationals — the fiche step runs for every foreign guest on the reservation, exactly as French guidance describes.

  • 03

    Host visibility without desk chaos

    Hotels and individual hosts see who has signed, who is blocked, and when access can release — including late Paris, Lyon and Nice arrivals.

  • 04

    Destination guidance in the workspace

    This France dossier stays attached to the market — the fiche, the loi Le Meur rollout, and city-by-city tax and changement d'usage layers — not a generic EU footnote.

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