Visas in Pointe-à-Pitre

Good to Know

• Guadeloupe being part of the EU but not part of Schengen surprises a lot of travelers — a Schengen visa or ETIAS approval will not get you in; check whether you need a separate overseas ('DFA') visa if you're not from a visa-exempt country.
• If you're island-hopping between Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Saint Martin or Saint Barthélemy, your 90-day clock is shared across all of them, not reset at each border.
• Keep a printed/digital return or onward ticket and proof of accommodation handy — border officers can ask for these even for visa-exempt nationals.
• Official guidance says your passport just needs 3 months' validity beyond departure, but airlines commonly enforce a stricter 6-month rule for boarding — travel with the extra buffer to avoid issues at check-in.
• As of June 2025, French tax authorities explicitly ruled that working remotely for a foreign employer or client while on the long-stay Visitor visa is not allowed, even physically from home — this closed a workaround many nomads used for years.
• If you want to legally live in Guadeloupe long-term as a remote worker, the realistic path is the Profession Libérale (freelancer) visa, which requires demonstrating steady, credible income as an independent contractor, not just a remote salary.
• Guadeloupe residents get an automatic 30% French income tax reduction (capped at €2,450) that mainland France residents don't get — a genuine, distinctive perk of overseas-department tax status once you are legally tax-resident.
• Spending more than 183 days a year in Guadeloupe can make you a French tax resident on worldwide income, so short-stay nomads who want to stay tax-transparent at home should track this carefully.
• As a French overseas department, Guadeloupe's residence-permit paperwork (renewals, status changes) goes through the local Préfecture de la Guadeloupe rather than a mainland French prefecture.