Recognition basics
Governing: Code des transports L5521-2; décret n° 2015-723 arts 10–15; arrêté of 25 Sep 2007; STCW regulation I/10. Builds on: your own STCW CoC.
The short version
For manning purposes a French-flag yacht is French territory. Anyone serving aboard her at operational or management level — watchkeeping officer, chief mate, master, engineer officer, ETO, GMDSS operator — must hold either a French title or a foreign STCW title that France has endorsed. That endorsement is the visa de reconnaissance: France's flag-State endorsement under STCW regulation I/10. It is the same idea you meet in Red Ensign Flag Endorsements, applied by a different administration with its own list and its own paperwork.
Where it sits in French law
| Text | What it does |
|---|---|
| Code des transports L5521-2 | Nobody works as a seafarer without titles matching his capacity; a decree sets how foreign titles are recognised |
| Décret 2015-723 art. 10 | Operational or management functions aboard a ship armé au commerce ou à la plaisance on a foreign title require a visa |
| Décret 2015-723 arts 11–14 | Validity, register, 3-month attestation, keeping the original aboard |
| Arrêté of 25 Sep 2007 | Which titles, the cerfa 15333 procedure, conditions for third countries |
| Décision of 16 Jun 2026 | The current list of recognised States (next lesson) |
Who issues it. The DIRM (interregional sea directorate) for the region of the ship's port of registry — or, if the yacht is on the RIF, the head of the guichet unique du RIF in Marseille, which handles almost every commercial yacht you are likely to join.
What the visa does and does not do
| It does | It does not |
|---|---|
| Let you serve in the capacity shown on your foreign CoC, with its limitations carried onto the visa | Give you a French brevet or the rights attached to one (arrêté art. 7) |
| Last as long as your CoC, five years at most | Outlive your CoC — if the foreign title lapses, so does the visa |
| Satisfy the STCW qualification requirement, including for master | Make you eligible to command — master and deputy face separate nationality, language and law tests (Module 3) |
Why it matters on the dock
The GU RIF puts it bluntly in its guidelines: at a port State control inspection an officer without the flag endorsement is treated as having no professional qualifications, which can lead to the ship being detained. Separately, the RIF reminds owners and masters that embarking a seafarer without the titles his post requires is punishable under L5523-6 by 6 months' imprisonment and a €3,750 fine.
WARNING — professional crew is the trigger The regime covers ships manned by professional seafarers (armés au commerce ou à la plaisance). An owner driving his own boat on a permis plaisance lives in a different system altogether — see Working on Yachts in France.
Words you will meet
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| visa de reconnaissance | recognition endorsement |
| attestation temporaire | provisional attestation, 3 months max |
| guichet unique du RIF | RIF one-stop office, Marseille |
| DIRM | interregional sea directorate |
| port d'armement | port of registry for manning |
| suppléant | officer who deputises for the master |
TIP — French brevet holders can skip this course The visa exists only for foreign titles. If your CoC was issued by France, none of what follows applies to you.