France’s itinerant merchant’s card
If you want to practice certain activities in France, you need a special permit. One of these is the Carte de commerçant ambulant (Itinerant Merchant’s Card).
When do I need it?
Basically, if you practice any sort of itinerant trade, you’re legally obliged to have this card. It doesn’t matter if it’s only a seasonal activity, or if it’s just part-time; you need this card.
There are a couple of situations where you’re exempt from this though.
Read more about this here: Do I need to get an Itinerant merchant’s card?
How do I get it?
Depending on the exact nature of your demand, the form you need to give varies slightly. Indeed, it’s different if you want to:
- Ask for your first Itinerant Merchant’s card
- Renew your Itinerant Merchant’s card
- Update your Itinerant Merchant’s card
- Ask for a duplicate of your Itinerant Merchant’s card
You can find the forms you need to fill in and the documents you need to prepare here (though, keep in mind, the website is in French).
Once you’ve filled out the form and prepared the necessary documents, you need to send them to the appropriate Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (Business Formalities center), or CFE for short.
- If you’re working as a sole entrepreneur:
The CFE you need to contact is the one for your personal residence. - If you’re working for a company:
The CFE you need to contact is the one for the company’s head office - If you’re in a country of the European Union or European Economic Area:
The CFE you need to contact is the one for the place you want to work in