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Living in Monaco without French – what the law requires, what schools teach, where Monégasque fits

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

French is the official language, English is common and Monégasque is taught in every state school. But no French test stands between you and a residence card, a job or even a passport – the paperwork simply has to be in the right language. Here is what is and is not required.

A woman studies French from a textbook and notebook at a table on a small balcony above the rooftops and harbour of Monaco
Illustration: Relocate in Europe

Living in Monaco means living in French on paper and in several languages on the street. The Constitution of 17 December 1962 makes French the official language (article 8), yet Monegasques are only 24.0 per cent of the 38,857 residents counted by IMSEE on 31 December 2025; French nationals are 21.3 per cent, Italians 19.5 per cent and Britons 7.9 per cent, among 144 nationalities. The news of the past year concerns the smallest language of all: the Commission pour la Langue Monégasque got new members by Sovereign Ordinance 11.219 of 7 May 2025 and resumed work in November 2025. Here is where the law demands French, where English or Italian will do, and where you need a sworn translation.

Is French required for living in Monaco – residence card, job, citizenship?

No language test appears anywhere in the residence-card procedure. The Section des Résidents (the police residents' section) asks for housing, means, a clean record and identity papers; the only language rule is that documents in a language other than French, English or Italian must come with a sworn translation. The same holds at the far end of the road. Law 1.155 on nationality lists ten years' habitual residence after the age of 18, an inquiry into morality and situation and loss of your former nationality – no language test. Nationality by marriage, after 20 years (10 if married before 1 July 2022), lists none either. Naturalisation is at the Prince's discretion, and good integration in Monaco's economic, social or cultural life is one of the usual criteria, so French helps without being a legal condition.

Work is where French matters most in practice. Applicants for civil-service jobs must submit an up-to-date CV in French, and recruitment gives priority to Monegasques under Law 188 of 18 July 1934. For private-sector work permits, no official statement either way was found on the pages read: the Direction du Travail (Labour Department) decides on hiring authorisations, and it is the employer who files, so ask before you assume.

ProcedureFrench required?What the rules say
Carte de séjour (residence card)No testSworn translation for documents not in French, English or Italian
Naturalisation (Law 1.155)No test listedTen years of habitual residence after 18, inquiry into morality and situation, loss of the former nationality
Nationality by marriageNo test listed20 years of marriage, or 10 years if married before 1 July 2022
Civil-service jobCV in FrenchPriority to Monegasque nationals under Law 188 of 1934
Private-sector work permitNot statedNo official statement either way found on the pages read

Source: Mon Service Public and Legimonaco, read 24 September 2026.

Where you will need a sworn translation

Monaco's administration accepts French, English and Italian for most files, and the formalities portal Mon Service Public has an English version – though the French pages are the reference. Beyond those three languages you will pay a translator; the table lists the cases the official pages name.

DocumentRule
Residence-card fileSworn translation if not in French, English or Italian
Foreign driving licenceIn French or with an official French translation; non-EU licences and driving-rights certificates need a translator sworn before the Monaco Court of Appeal or a French one
Diplomas for an ENIC comparability certificateForm in French or English; sworn French translation of documents not in French, English or Italian
Custody judgment for school enrolmentTranslated into French
Invoices for the electric-vehicle purchase subsidyIn French and in euros, or with an official translation
Student-loan documentsOfficial French translation

Source: Mon Service Public and the Code de la route, read 24 September 2026.

How Monaco schools teach French, English and Monégasque

Law 1.334 of 12 July 2007 makes mastery of French and knowledge of two other languages core objectives of public and contracted schools; a foreign language starts in nursery school, and teaching French is compulsory even in private schools. In practice all lessons are in French and English is taught from age 3. A child whose mother tongue is not French sits a level test at the admitting school, and several schools run a French-as-a-foreign-language (FLE) section: the public École de Fontvieille, École du Parc, École Saint-Charles and École Stella, and the private Cours Saint-Maur. The International School of Monaco teaches bilingually in French and English.

Monégasque, the history of Monaco and its institutions are part of the curriculum by law (article 38). Monégasque is compulsory from CE2 – around age 8 – to 3e, optional from 2nde to Terminale, and taught in primary school by specialist teachers. Since 1981 the Mairie de Monaco (town hall) has run an annual Monégasque language, culture and history competition with written and oral tests; 1,911 pupils took part in 2025.

LanguageWhereStatus
FrenchAll lessons in public and contracted schoolsCompulsory subject, including in private schools
EnglishFrom age 3In every public and contracted school; European and international sections at Collège Charles III and Lycée Albert Ier
MonégasqueCE2 to 3eCompulsory; optional from 2nde to Terminale
ItalianFANB lycéeEuropean Italian section

Source: Mon Service Public and Law 1.334 of 12 July 2007, read 24 September 2026.

Monégasque – the language of the ancestors

Monégasque, a lenga d'i nostri avi (the language of our ancestors), has its roots in Genoese. It was purely oral until a group of Monegasques founded, in 1924, what became the Comité national des traditions monégasques and began writing it down. The Commission pour la Langue Monégasque, created by Sovereign Ordinance 7.462 of 27 July 1982, exists to defend and promote the language and to propose ways of improving knowledge of it, notably in schools. With its members appointed in May 2025, it set up three sub-commissions – grammar; lexicon and dictionary; promotion and dissemination – at a meeting reported on 26 November 2025. For a newcomer none of this is required; for your children it is a school subject.

Where can adults learn French in Monaco?

Here the official picture is thin. None of the State or Mairie pages read describes a public French course for adult newcomers, nor a Monégasque course for adults; courses run by associations or private schools were not checked. Two official routes exist at the edges. Jobseekers who can register with the Service de l'Emploi (Employment Office) – Monegasques, their children and spouses, people domiciled in Monaco, and residents of the four neighbouring French communes who have already worked in Monaco – can get language tests and training. And the State's language-stay scholarships pay for learning foreign languages abroad, not French, and only for Monegasques, their families, children of civil servants and residents of at least ten years.

English speakers are well served meanwhile. The Welcome Office of Invest Monaco meets future and new residents by appointment in French or English, and its information meetings at the Club des Résidents Étrangers de Monaco are held in English and last about 45 minutes; the last date published was Tuesday 8 September 2026 at 18:30.

ServiceLanguageNotes
Mon Service Public formalities portalFrench and EnglishThe French pages are the reference
Welcome Office, Invest MonacoFrench or English, by appointment2a boulevard des Moulins, Monday to Friday 9:00–17:00, +377 98 98 94 94
Newcomer information meetingsEnglish, about 45 minutesAt the Club des Résidents Étrangers de Monaco, registration only
Service de l'EmploiLanguage tests and training for registered jobseekersRegistration by appointment, Monday to Friday 8:30–13:00

Source: Mon Service Public and the Government of Monaco, read 24 September 2026.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Book a sworn translator for documents not in French, English or ItalianBefore you file for the residence card
2Get an official French translation of your driving licence if it is not in FrenchBefore the exchange, within a year of normal residence
3Tell the school your child's mother tongue and ask about the FLE section and the level testAt enrolment
4Book a Welcome Office appointment or the next English information meetingIn your first weeks
5Prepare a CV in French if you will apply for a civil-service jobBefore applying

Source: Mon Service Public, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.