France’s Constitutional Council has rejected large parts of the country’s new immigration law – which could have had a big impact on foreigners living here or hoping to move here one day.

Here’s the breakdown on what happened;

What are we talking about?

This is about the government’s controversial immigration bill, which caused an almighty political row in the second half of 2023.

The law contained many things that would directly affect the lives of foreigners in France, from limits on citizenship and benefits to compulsory language tests for long-term residency. There’s also a section that concerned British second-home owners.

After a lot of drama, the bill passed through parliament just before Christmas, but the final stage of its legislative journey is examination by the Conseil Consitutionnel, the country’s highest authority on the French constitution.

What happened on Thursday?

The Council handed down its verdict on Thursday evening, after examining the law for a month.

As expected, it demanded major changes and rejected around a third of the articles in the bill. 

The Council itself is made up of nine appointed experts, known as les sages (the wise ones). Their deliberations are private, only the decision is made public.

Their role is to judge whether the new law complies with France’s constitution and legal obligations and they have the option to either pass a bill unchanged, block the bill entirely or demand that the government makes changes.

All new laws go through this process, but only the controversial ones make news – for example the 2023 pension reform, which the Council approved with only a few minor changes required.

There is no right of appeal against council decision.

EXPLAINED What is France’s Constitutional Council and how does it work?

What did they say?

It was always expected that several aspects of the bill would be rejected or changed by the Council.

The government’s original immigration bill – which attempted to strike a middle ground with tougher restrictions on immigration coupled with an amnesty for undocumented workers in certain jobs – was voted down by MPs.

In order to get the law passed, the government was forced to accept several major amendments from right-wing parties, including limits on benefits and citizenship and an annual migration quota, which had not been in the original bill. 

However the scale of the rejections was larger than anticipated, in total around a third of the total bill was subject to a ‘censure‘ – in other words, the Council has ordered the government to change it.

Some parts were rejected because of their content and some on procedural grounds – mostly amendments that had been added at a later stage and bore little relation to the original bill (for example a proposal to exempt British second-home owners from visa rules).

What was rejected?

The following clauses have been struck out;

• A requirement that foreigners be resident in France for five years before they qualify for benefits including family or housing allowances. Many local mayors, including the mayor of Paris, had already said they would refuse to apply this law
• Creation of a new criminal offence of being in France without the correct paperwork
• A requirement for an annual parliamentary debate on migration, and the fixing of ‘migration quotas’ for certain types of immigration
• A requirement for non-EU students wishing to study in France to pay a refundable deposit in order to secure a study visa
• Tighter rules on family reunification visas that would require 24 months of residency before an application can be made to be joined by a spouse/family member
• The end to automatic right to citizenship for children born in France to non-French parents, known as the droit du sol
• A proposal to scrap the visa requirement for British second-home owners who wish to spend more than 90 days out of every 180 at their French properties

What remains?

Despite all the rejections, there is plenty still in the bill. The above clauses were all added at a later stage by right-wing parties, and what remains is much closer to the government’s original bill. 

Here are some its main provisions;

Language tests for residency cards – In an effort to increase French language standards and better integration of foreigners into life in France, people applying for multi-annual residency cards, 10-year cartes de résident (including the résident longue durée UE), and French nationality will need to prove higher levels of language acquisition than previously. 

According to a press release issued by the interior ministry on Friday evening, these new standards will bring France “closer with our European neighbours such as Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy and Portugal.”

Moving forward, those switching onto multi-annual (pluriannuelle) carte de séjour for the first time will need to demonstrate a minimum level of French, which will be A2 according to the international DELF scale, rather than A1 as previously reported.

It is worth noting that the pluriannuelle card is usually acquired after at least one year on a short-term residency card.

This level corresponds to “carrying out simple tasks of daily life (going to a shopkeeper, finding information, taking public transport, etc.); using the most common polite and exchange expressions; recounting a past event; understanding a simple conversation; talking about things one likes and dislikes; describing daily life; understanding directions; and connecting sentences using ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘because’.”

Several groups are expected to be exempt from this requirement, including those holding a ‘carte de séjour temporaire’ with the title ‘student’, ‘visitor’, or ‘family and private life’.

The requirement also does not apply to Brits who are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and have the post-Brexit residency cards.

To obtain a 10-year carte de résident (or résident longue durée UE, available after five years’ consecutive residency) for the first time, foreigners will need to prove a level of B1, rather than A2 which was the previous level required. Currently, those switching onto the 10-year card can show a diploma or language certification as proof.

The Local has contacted the French Interior Minister to clarify how this information will be collected in the future.

QUIZ Test your French language level on the A1 to C2 scale

As for applying for naturalisation, the interior ministry announced Friday that the language level requirement will be increased from B1 to B2.

Currently, applicants have several ways to show B1 level, including a DELF or TCF test result or graduating from a university programme taught in French. 

Easier expulsion for foreigners who ‘do not respect the values of the republic’ – There are already provisions to either refuse a residency permit or expel from the country foreigners who commit crimes in France, but the new law contains several provisions to strengthen these and speed up the process.

Declaration to respect the values of the republic to secure a residency permit – Foreigners applying for a residency permit will also have to “undertake to respect the principles of the Republic” there is also provision to “make it possible to refuse, withdraw or not renew certain residence permits for new reasons linked to their behaviour”.

At present only citizenship requires a formal declaration of adhering to French values. The “principles” include gender equality, freedom of sexual orientation and freedom of speech.

People-smugglers – The government wants to strengthen the fight against smugglers who organise the arrival of undocumented migrants in France. The laws intends to “criminalise the facilitation of the entry and stay of illegal aliens in an organised group”. Offenders will now be liable to 20 years in prison and a €1.5 million fine.

Asylum-seekers – The lawl also aims to establish a number of “France Asylum” centres, responsible for receiving migrants and registering their applications. They would bring together agents from the French Office of Immigration and Integration, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, and the prefectures. “We want to reduce all asylum procedures to a maximum of nine months,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told Le Figaro.

“Regional chambers” will also be created to make the National Court of Asylum more efficient.

When does the law go into effect?

Now that the bill is passed, it’s up to the government to decide when it will go into effect.

It’s expected that this will be from the middle of 2024, but it’s possible that some parts could have a later start date, especially those that require changes to official or bureaucratic processes.