Part-Time Jobs in France for Indian Students: Hours, Pay in Rupees and the Rules (2027)

Planning to earn while you study in France? Here is what the law allows, what one hour of work pays in rupees, what a 20-hour week really adds up to, and why that money helps with rent and groceries but cannot stand in for the funds your visa asks for.

Can Indian students work in France while studying?

Yes. The rules are the same for every non-European student; what matters is the document you hold once in France.

Service-Public, the French administration’s information site, states that a non-European student may work with a student long-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit (VLS-TS) or a student residence card. Campus France India adds that the VLS-TS must be validated first: you do it online within three months of arrival and pay a €100 tax, about ₹10,586. The 964 hours count from that validation.

The visa procedure itself, from Campus France India to the VFS appointment, is covered in our France student visa from India guide; the general rules for every nationality are in working while studying in France. This page focuses on hours, rupees and the budget.

How many hours can Indian students work in France?

The French limit is 964 hours a year, which Service-Public describes as 60% of the legal annual working time. It is written as a yearly total, not as a weekly figure.

Spread evenly over 52 weeks, 964 hours comes to about 18.5 hours a week. Many students think in terms of “20 hours a week”, so check the arithmetic before you sign: 20 hours every single week for a year makes 1,040 hours, which is above the limit. At 20 hours a week you reach 964 hours after about 48 weeks. Lighter weeks around exams and heavier weeks in the holidays must still add up to 964 hours or less.

Three details change the count. First, a shorter stay means a smaller allowance: Service-Public gives the example of 482 hours for a six-month course. Second, Campus France states that internships completed as part of your degree do not count towards the 964 hours. Third, jobs inside a French university follow their own limits, which Campus France gives as 670 hours from 1 September to 30 June and 300 hours from 1 July to 31 August.

Part time job salary in France per hour in rupees

Most student jobs in France pay the legal minimum wage, the SMIC, or a little more. The SMIC was raised on 1 June 2026 by an order of 22 May 2026. Rupee amounts below use INR 105.8641 to the euro, the FBIL reference rate published on the Reserve Bank of India website as at 1.00 pm on 28 October 2026.

Gross is the amount in your contract; net is what reaches your bank account after the employee’s social contributions, about a fifth less. The full-time monthly figures are only a reference point for a part-time student.

What a 20-hour week earns in euros and rupees

Here is the calculation for a week of 20 hours at the minimum wage, step by step, so you can redo it with your own hours or a higher hourly rate.

1. 1
   Gross pay for the week

   20 hours × €12.31 = €246.20 gross, about ₹26,064.
2. 2
   Net pay for the week

   20 hours × €9.74 = €194.80 net, about ₹20,622. This is the money you can actually spend.
3. 3
   Turn it into a month

   A year has 52 weeks, so a month averages 52 ÷ 12 = 4.33 weeks, or about 86.7 hours. That gives €1,066.87 gross and €844.13 net, about ₹89,363 net.
4. 4
   Check the annual limit

   20 hours × 52 weeks = 1,040 hours, which is 76 hours too many. The legal maximum averaged over 12 months is 964 ÷ 12 = 80.3 hours a month.
5. 5
   The realistic monthly ceiling

   80.3 hours × €9.74 = €782.45 net a month, about ₹82,833, or €988.90 gross (about ₹1.05 lakh). Over a full year that is €9,389 net, about ₹9.94 lakh.

Monthly earnings against a realistic student budget

The fairest comparison uses the monthly ceiling of €782.45 net, the most a student can average while staying within 964 hours, against what a month in the Paris region costs.

Working the full allowance would cover the core costs of a modest month near Écouen, but not Paris and not the extras the cost guide leaves out. Keeping up 80 hours a month during term is demanding, and tuition is a separate line altogether. Our cost of studying AI in France guide breaks the monthly budget down item by item.

If an education loan funds you, size it on the full budget and treat any salary as a cushion: see the education loan for studying in France guide.

Why part-time earnings cannot replace your visa proof of funds

This is the question Indian applicants ask most often, and the answer comes from how and when the resources are checked.

Which documents count in the first visa file, and how to show them, is explained in proof of funds for a France student visa.

Typical student jobs in France

Student jobs cluster in sectors where shifts fit around classes. Whatever the sector, salaried pay cannot go below the SMIC.

Everyday French widens your options in customer-facing roles. Keep every payslip: they can support your permit renewal later.

Internship gratification: the minimum in 2026

An internship (stage) is not a job: you sign a three-party internship agreement with your school and the host organisation, and the payment is called a gratification.

Service-Public sets the minimum gratification at €4.50 per hour of internship, about ₹476, which is 15% of the hourly Social Security ceiling of €30 applicable from 1 January 2026. It is compulsory for internships of more than two consecutive months, or from the 309th hour for an internship spread over the year. Service-Public’s worked example for a full-time internship from January to March 2026 gives:

A gratification at or below €4.50 an hour carries no CSG or CRDS social contributions, and it is exempt from French income tax up to the annual SMIC (€21,622 for 2025 income, according to impots.gouv.fr). A host organisation may pay more than the minimum. Internships that are part of your programme do not use up your 964 hours, which matters for AI2’s 18-month MSc direct entry, whose six-month internship follows the taught phase, and for the Fast-Track, which ends with six months in a company in France.

Tax and social charges on a student job

Social contributions are deducted at source: they explain the gap between the gross SMIC of €12.31 and the indicative net of €9.74. Your payslip shows both lines.

For income tax, impots.gouv.fr states that pay earned during studies by people aged 25 or under is exempt up to three monthly SMIC, €5,405 for 2025 income; only the excess is declared. The full 964 hours at the SMIC come to about €11,867 gross, so a student working near the limit should expect to declare part of it. Check your own position on impots.gouv.fr when you file.

Where AI2 fits: study, work-study and internships near Paris

AI2, the Applied Institute of Artificial Intelligence, teaches applied AI, data science, cybersecurity and IoT 100% in English on one campus in Écouen, 22 minutes from Paris Gare du Nord by Transilien line H. No French is required for admission.

AI2 also builds in two paid routes. Work-study (alternance) is possible in Bachelor Year 2, the BSc final year and MSc Year 2: the employer’s training fund pays tuition for the contract period and you earn a percentage of the SMIC, provided you find an employer, which is never guaranteed at admission. See the AI2 work-study programme. The 18-month MSc direct entry and the Fast-Track each end with a six-month internship in a company.

Each final year awards the AI2 diploma and prepares a professional certification recognised by the French State and registered in the RNCP, at level 7 (master’s level) for the MSc. Every fee is on AI2 tuition fees 2027. For the AI-specific route from an Indian BTech, read MS in AI in France for Indian students, and for the wider picture, Masters in France for Indian students.

Frequently asked questions

Send your BTech or 12th-grade transcripts: AI2’s academic team reviews them, holds an online interview and confirms your entry year, tuition and any scholarship in writing.

Apply nowMasters in France for Indian students