For a founder living outside France, the question is not simply whether a French company may appoint a foreign director. The practical question is which country must insure the person for the management activity, whether France may require contributions, and which document proves the answer when the founder works from more than one country. An A1 certificate is a portable document used within European social-security coordination; it confirms which national legislation applies for a defined period. It is not a tax-residence certificate, a work permit, or a general exemption from French contributions.<\/p>\n
This distinction matters when a foreign founder chooses a SAS (soci\u00e9t\u00e9 par actions simplifi\u00e9e, a simplified joint-stock company) or a SARL (soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e, a private limited-liability company). The Kbis, meaning the official extract showing a company\u2019s registration and legal representatives, proves the corporate appointment. It does not by itself prove where the director works or which social-security system is competent. The URSSAF (Union for the Recovery of Social Security Contributions and Family Allowances) and the institution of the founder\u2019s country may therefore need a factual map of the activity before the first recurring payment.<\/p>\n
The answer below separates the corporate mandate from the cross-border activity. It explains when an A1 certificate can support continued coverage in France or another European country, when a bilateral certificate is needed instead, and how a foreign founder can prepare a file that matches the articles of association, the Kbis, the payroll records and the actual place of work.<\/p>\n
The first step is to identify the legal role before looking at the country of residence. A French company may have a foreign shareholder, a foreign director, a foreign parent company and a French registered office at the same time. Those facts are relevant, but they do not answer the social-security question on their own. The corporate form and the real activity must be analysed together.<\/p>\n
In a SAS, the president is the statutory representative of the company. Article L. 227-6 of the French Commercial Code<\/a> provides that \u201cLa soci\u00e9t\u00e9 est repr\u00e9sent\u00e9e \u00e0 l’\u00e9gard des tiers par un pr\u00e9sident d\u00e9sign\u00e9 dans les conditions pr\u00e9vues par les statuts.\u201d It also states that the president has the broadest powers to act for the company within its corporate purpose. A president who signs contracts, directs staff, makes operational decisions or represents the company is not merely a passive investor, even when every shareholder lives abroad.<\/p>\n The social-security classification is separate from the corporate power. Article L. 311-3, 23\u00b0 of the Social Security Code<\/a> includes \u201cLes pr\u00e9sidents et dirigeants des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s par actions simplifi\u00e9es\u201d among the persons subject to the general social-security regime. In practice, a remunerated SAS president is treated as an assimilated employee for the mandate. This French category does not mean that the president has an ordinary employment contract, and it does not create automatic unemployment insurance for the corporate office. It describes the contribution and protection route attached to remuneration for the mandate, subject to the territorial rules and European or bilateral coordination.<\/p>\n The result can be different in a SARL. Article L. 223-18 of the Commercial Code<\/a> states that \u201cLa soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e est g\u00e9r\u00e9e par une ou plusieurs personnes physiques\u201d and allows the managers to be chosen outside the shareholders. The manager\u2019s ownership position is then decisive for the French social category. Article L. 311-3, 11\u00b0 of the Social Security Code<\/a> covers SARL managers who do not, together, own more than half of the capital, taking into account the statutory attribution rules for a spouse, civil-partnership partner and minor children. A remunerated non-majority manager generally follows the general regime.<\/p>\n A majority manager is normally treated as a TNS (travailleur non salari\u00e9, or self-employed worker) under the French independent-worker system. This is not a label that can be chosen merely because it appears cheaper. It follows from the company form, the management and the ownership calculation. The current official guidance from Service Public Entreprendre<\/a> distinguishes the social treatment of the assimilated-employee director from that of the non-salaried manager and explains that contributions depend on remuneration or professional income. The same page also describes the 2026 calculation changes, which means that a founder should not reuse an old percentage from an incorporation guide as if it were a current legal rule.<\/p>\n The difference becomes visible when a SARL manager receives distributions. Article L. 136-3 of the Social Security Code<\/a> includes, for an independent worker whose activity is subject to corporate income tax, the part of dividends and related amounts that is \u201csup\u00e9rieure \u00e0 10 %\u201d of the reference amount based on capital, issue premiums and the relevant shareholder current account. The calculation is fact-specific. It should not be used to assume that all dividends paid to every foreign founder are subject to the same French contributions. A SAS dividend and the remuneration of a SARL majority manager do not belong to the same analysis.<\/p>\n The Kbis is evidence of the appointment and the date on which the company declares its legal representative. It is not evidence of the director\u2019s personal tax residence, the place where the director performs the mandate, or the country whose social-security law applies. A founder who lives in Dubai, London, New York or Zurich may be shown on a French Kbis without moving to France. Conversely, a founder who is registered abroad may spend most of the working week in France. The physical activity and the applicable coordination instrument must be recorded separately from the corporate registration.<\/p>\n The same separation is needed when one person has several capacities. A foreign founder may be:<\/p>\n Each stream should be identified before any payment is made. A bank transfer labelled \u201cdirector fee\u201d does not settle its legal nature. It may be mandate remuneration, salary under a separate contract, reimbursement of documented expenses, repayment of a shareholder loan or a dividend. The board or shareholder resolution, the accounting entry and the social declaration should describe the same transaction.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court\u2019s recent decision of 5 June 2025, no. 23-13.887, illustrates why the actual role matters. In that case, the Second Civil Chamber held that a person with a control role was not automatically subject to the general regime merely because of the title, but could be covered when the evidence showed that the person exercised \u201cune fonction de direction\u201d in reality<\/a>. The decision concerned a president of a supervisory board, not a foreign SAS president, so it must not be mechanically extended. Its useful lesson is narrower: corporate labels, registry entries and actual acts must be compared rather than treated as interchangeable.<\/p>\n This is also why a separate employment contract needs substance. A founder who controls the company may still have a genuine employment role for technical duties that are distinct from the mandate, but the file should show the duties, supervision, working time and separate remuneration. A document signed after a contribution dispute, with no evidence of subordination or separate work, will not by itself change the social classification of the corporate office.<\/p>\n For a foreign founder choosing between the two forms, the initial checklist is therefore:<\/p>\n\n