Staying for good – the privileged residence card and Monaco citizenship, step by step
Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →
A first residence card lasts a year; after three years you can hold one for three, and after ten one for ten. Monaco citizenship is a different matter, since neither residence nor birth gives a right to it. Here is the ladder from temporary to privileged card, and what naturalisation or marriage really requires.
Monaco citizenship is rare by design. Of 38,857 residents at the end of 2025, 9,333 – 24.0 per cent – were Monegasque, according to IMSEE, and the nationality law says plainly that neither living in Monaco nor being born there gives a right to it. What residence gives is a stronger card at each threshold: an ordinary card after three years, the privileged card after ten. Nothing here has changed since Law 1.512 of 3 December 2021, in force since 1 July 2022.
Staying for good is therefore two projects: moving up the card categories, and the slower, discretionary route to nationality.
The residence-card ladder – temporary, ordinary, privileged
Monaco issues four categories of carte de séjour under Sovereign Ordinance 3.153 of 19 March 1964; the fees, set by Ministerial Order 2020-814, have applied since 1 January 2021.
| Card | Who | Valid for | First card | Renewal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary (temporaire) | Newcomers – no minimum residence | 1 year | €80 | €40 |
| Ordinary (ordinaire) | After 3 years of residence | 3 years | €100 | €50 |
| Privileged (privilégié) | After 10 years of residence, with effective presence | 10 years | €160 | €80 |
| Spouse of a Monegasque (conjoint de monégasque) | Foreign spouse of a Monegasque, resident at least 1 year | 5 years | €80 | €40 |
| Any card | Late renewal €50; duplicate €80; new card after a change of situation or address €30 | – | – | – |
Source: MonServicePublic and Ministerial Order 2020-814 of 30 November 2020 (Legimonaco), read 24 September 2026.
The privileged card is not automatic: the ordinance says it is issued only after an administrative inquiry into whether your residence is effective and into your occupation or means, and the Section des Résidents' inquiry unit can withdraw or reclassify a card or count an interruption of stay. The ten years are cut to one for a foreign parent of a Monegasque child.
What each year of residence unlocks in Monaco
Each threshold below has conditions of its own.
| After | What opens |
|---|---|
| 3 years | The ordinary card |
| 5 years | The 'liberalised' housing sector; standing as a staff delegate; the Couverture Médicale Subsidiaire at €700 a month for residents without cover (Law 1.562 of 2 July 2024) |
| 10 years | The privileged card; naturalisation (habitual residence counted from age 18); State scholarships for foreign students, reduced by 30 per cent (Ministerial Order 2026-377 of 3 July 2026) |
| 20 years | Nationality by declaration for the foreign spouse of a Monegasque (10 years if married before 1 July 2022) |
| 40 years | Registration as a 'protected person' for pre-1947 protected-sector housing, in the lowest priority rank (Law 1.235) |
Source: MonServicePublic, Legimonaco and the Caisses Sociales de Monaco, read 24 September 2026.
How do you keep your Monaco residence card?
Every foreign resident must renew at the latest by the card's expiry date, online on MonGuichet or on paper; for ordinary and privileged cards the ordinance says the request is lodged during the month before expiry. Bring a valid passport or ID, the signed sworn statement, the latest electricity bill, the latest rent receipt if you rent, and proof of means – payslip, business authorisation or a Monaco bank certificate.
Missing the date costs twice: the €50 late-renewal fee, plus a fine of €15 to €75 under article 29 of the Penal Code. A change of home or job, even within Monaco, must be reported within eight days, and a new card costs €30. If you leave for good, hand the card back eight days before departure. Travel on an expired card can prevent re-entry: for non-EEA holders the card, with a passport, replaces the short-stay Schengen visa, and since 12 October 2025 holders of a valid card have been exempt from the EU Entry/Exit System.
Two certificates prove residence: the administrative certificate, €5, valid six months and since 18 December 2025 paid for online on MonGuichet, and the tax-purposes certificate, €600, valid one year, for those who spend more than 183 days a year in Monaco or have their main centre of activities there (part 7).
Can you get Monaco citizenship by naturalisation?
Yes, but at the Prince's discretion. Under Law 1.155 of 18 December 1992, a foreigner may apply after ten years of habitual residence in Monaco counted from the age of 18. Naturalisation is granted by sovereign ordinance after an inquiry into the applicant's character and situation; the French authorities are consulted on every application the Prince views favourably. The Prince may waive the ten-year condition; according to MonServicePublic, the usual criteria are family ties with the Monegasque community, integration into Monaco's economic, social or cultural life, or being judged worthy by the Prince. Minor children of a naturalised person become Monegasque too.
The price is your previous nationality. You must show that naturalisation will make you lose it and that you are exempt from military service abroad; if your country only lets you lose its nationality after you have gained another, you must prove the loss within six months of the ordinance's publication, or you – and your children – are deemed never to have been Monegasque. Naturalisation can be withdrawn within five years. No language test appears in the law.
| Step | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ten years' habitual residence from age 18 | You |
| 2 | Application and inquiry | Direction des Services Judiciaires, Palais de Justice, 5 rue Colonel Bellando de Castro, 14:00–16:00, (+377) 98 98 88 11 |
| 3 | Sovereign ordinance of naturalisation | The Prince |
| 4 | Proof that the previous nationality is lost | You, within six months of publication |
Source: Law 1.155 of 18 December 1992 (Legimonaco) and MonServicePublic, read 24 September 2026.
Monaco citizenship by marriage – 20 years, or 10
Since 1 July 2022, the foreign spouse of a Monegasque may acquire nationality by declaration 20 years after the wedding; for couples married before 1 July 2022 the wait is 10 years. The couple must still live together (unless the applicant is widowed and has not remarried), the Monegasque spouse must still hold the nationality and must not have gained it through an earlier marriage, and the acquisition must not cost the applicant their original nationality. The logic is the reverse of naturalisation: you declare that you will keep your original nationality, and renouncing it afterwards is punishable under article 103 of the Penal Code.
The declaration is made to the civil registrar at the Mairie, who must record it within two months if the conditions are met; the nationality desk answers on (+377) 93 15 28 10. You supply a birth certificate, the marriage certificate, a criminal record, proof that your original nationality is not lost, and a sworn statement co-signed by your spouse that you still live together. The Prince may oppose the acquisition within six months.
What does not count – and how nationality is lost
Descent is the ordinary route: a child is Monegasque from birth through a Monegasque father, unless he acquired nationality by marriage declaration, or through a mother born Monegasque who still held it at the birth, among other cases. A child born in Monaco to unknown parents is Monegasque – the only exception to the rule that birth there confers nothing. A Monegasque loses nationality by voluntarily acquiring a foreign one or by serving in a foreign army without authorisation.
Take Anna Andersson, an illustrative Swede who arrived in 2016: temporary card renewed yearly, ordinary card after three years, privileged card after ten. Naturalisation would cost her Swedish nationality; marrying a Monegasque would allow a declaration 20 years after the wedding, provided she keeps her Swedish passport.
What to do now
| Step | What | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Note your card's expiry date and, for ordinary and privileged cards, the month before it | Now |
| 2 | Keep electricity bills, rent receipts and payslips as proof of effective residence | Continuously |
| 3 | Report any change of address, job or family situation to the Section des Résidents, 9 rue Suffren-Reymond | Within 8 days |
| 4 | Apply for the ordinary card | After 3 years |
| 5 | Apply for the privileged card and expect an inquiry | After 10 years |
| 6 | Ask the Direction des Services Judiciaires about naturalisation, or the Mairie about the marriage route | After 10 or 20 years |
Source: MonServicePublic and Sovereign Ordinance 3.153 of 19 March 1964 (Legimonaco), 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.
- MonServicePublic – La Carte de séjour ( · monservicepublic.gouv.mc
- Legimonaco – Ordonnance souveraine n° 3.153 du 19 mars 1964, art. 2 · legimonaco.mc
- Legimonaco – Arrêté ministériel n° 2020-814 du 30 novembre 2020 · legimonaco.mc
- MonServicePublic – Renouveler sa carte de séjour ( · monservicepublic.gouv.mc
- MonServicePublic – Carte de séjour et voyage ( · monservicepublic.gouv.mc
- MonServicePublic – news 'Le certificat de résidence administratif évolue' (18 Dec 2025); Gouvernement Princier press… · monservicepublic.gouv.mc
- Legimonaco – Loi n° 1.155 du 18 décembre 1992 relative à la nationalité (consolidated) · legimonaco.mc
- MonServicePublic – Acquisition de la nationalité monégasque; Loi n° 1.155 art. 6 · monservicepublic.gouv.mc
- Legimonaco – Loi n° 1.512 du 3 décembre 2021 relative à l'acquisition de la nationalité par mariage, art. 5 · legimonaco.mc
- Legimonaco – Loi n° 1.155 art. 14, 15, 19; Ordonnance souveraine n° 10.822 du 22 février 1993, art. 4 and 6 · legimonaco.mc
- Legimonaco – Travaux législatifs (search of the index by title 'nationalité', 'naturalisation', 'carte de séjour');… · legimonaco.mc
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.