How to validate your long-stay visa (VLS-TS) in France

What the VLS-TS is

A VLS-TS (visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour) is a long-stay visa that also counts as your first residence permit for its first year. Common examples are student, employee, "visitor" and family visas. The sticker in your passport says "VLS-TS" next to the visa type.

It only works as a residence permit after you validate it. Until then, you're covered for the first 3 months only.

Do you need this guide?

Your visa sticker says "VLS-TS"? Yes: follow this guide.
Your visa says "Carte de séjour à solliciter dans les 2 mois suivant l'arrivée" (a "D" visa without VLS-TS)? No: you need to apply for a residence card (titre de séjour) instead.
You're an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen? No: you don't need a visa or residence permit to live in France.

Before you start

You'll need:

Your passport with the visa, and the date you entered France (the entry stamp, or your ticket).
Your address in France.
An email address, to create your ANEF account.
A way to pay online for the tax stamp (timbre fiscal). You buy it during the process or beforehand on the official tax-stamp website.

Steps

Go to the ANEF website (Administration numérique pour les étrangers en France) and create an account with your email.
Choose "Je valide mon VLS-TS" (validate my long-stay visa).
Enter your visa details exactly as they appear on the sticker, then your date of entry and your address in France.
Pay the tax with an electronic tax stamp (timbre fiscal électronique). The amount depends on your visa type and is shown during the process.
Download your confirmation. Keep the PDF (attestation de validation): together with your passport and visa, it proves you're legally resident.

Cost

One tax, paid with an electronic tax stamp. Some visa types are exempt or pay a reduced rate; the amount is shown when you validate.

Common pitfalls

Missing the 3-month deadline. After 3 months without validation you're no longer legally resident and may have to start again from your home country. Validate in your first weeks.
Typos in the visa number. Copy it exactly from the sticker; a wrong number blocks the process.
Lost confirmation. Save the PDF somewhere safe. You'll need it for work, a bank, health insurance and to travel back into France.
Thinking it lasts for ever. The VLS-TS usually lasts one year. Apply on ANEF for a residence card (titre de séjour) a few months before it ends; don't leave it to the last weeks.

When to ask a helper

If the website won't accept your visa, your entry date is unclear, or you're close to (or past) the 3-month deadline, ask someone who's been through it.