Working more than 20 hours per week on student visa in France

Question

I am a student who came to France last year and for a 1 year course and due to some unfortunate reasons I have failed my degree. Now, I am thinking of doing the same degree in the next year. I was given a fellowship last year. But, I am afraid that I will not be given any fellowship this year.

So, I am thinking of doing jobs at a mall/supermarket. When I asked about my titre de séjour (residence permit) of international house of my university : he told me that I can't work more than 964 hours per year and also 20 hours per week. Now, 20 hours per week is not sufficient to save some money for next academic year (tuition + accommodation). I have not worked any of my 964 hours till now.

So, I am asking what if I work more than 20 hours per week? What actions might be taken against me? I must tell you that I am thinking of working more than 20 hours per week out of desperation.

Answer 1

I am not aware of any strict 20 hour / week restriction and do not see anything about that in official sources (service-public.fr, the relevant articles in the labour code). I suspect this is just somewhat debatable advice based on the notion that a student's working time should be 60% of the regular legal working time and leave you time to pursue your studies.

Work should remain incidental for foreign students but it's not uncommon to work longer in some weeks (e.g. during the summer). At the same time, a student working more than 20 or 21 hours per week year-round would definitely exceed 964 hours and get in trouble. The thing is that having failed your degree can already put you in trouble when renewing your residence permit so you don't want to give the impression that you gave up and misused your visa to work in France instead of studying.