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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

How good does your French need to be to get citizenship?

France has toughened up the language requirements to get citizenship. But in reality how fluent does your French actually have to be?

How good does your French need to be to get citizenship?
If you can understand this, well, that's a start. Photo: AFP

Currently there are no formal language requirements for residency – although there are plans to change this – but if you want to take French citizenship, you need to pass a French exam.

What is the requirement?

In order to become a French citizen there are of course a number of criteria that you need to fulfil. Full details on the process here but if you are applying through residency you need to have been here five years and be able to provide all sorts of paperwork to prove that you are able to support yourself and are leading a law-abiding lifestyle.

In addition to this, you need to be able to speak French (not unreasonable really, once you are a citizen you can then be called up for jury duty so you could potentially be deciding on the course of someone’s life).

The language test was made tougher in April 2020.

So just how good does your French need to be? Well the level required is B1 under the European CERL framework.

B1 language level is defined as someone who is is able to handle day-to-day matters that arise in school, work or leisure. 

They should be able to get by while travelling in an area where only French is spoken, and should be able to describe events and justify things like opinions, plans, or even ambitions. 

READ ALSO The nine French words you need to be very, very careful when pronouncing


In addition to the language, you also need to know about French culture. Photo: AFP

What were the changes?

The level has been set at B1 for many years, but from 2020 candidates have been required to take a written test, as well as speaking, reading and listening exams.

An exemption for the over 60s has also been scrapped.

What do the tests involve?

If you already have a degree from a French university or a language diploma you won’t need to do extra tests, but assuming you have no formal language qualifications of the type recognised by French authorities you will have to go and sit several tests.

The certificate you present to authorities when you make your citizenship application also cannot be more than two years old.

The tests you need to take are:

  • Oral comprehension – 25 minutes. This test involves listening to a tape and answering questions about the content, usually multiple choice answers
  • Oral discussion – 10 to 15 minutes. This is a one-on-one interview with an examiner who asks you progressively more difficult questions, towards the end of the chat you are also given the opportunity to ask questions or start a debate with your examiner on the topic
  • Written tests – reading 45 minutes and writing 30 minutes. Candidates are expected to read a selection of French texts (newspaper articles, memos, adverts etc) and answer questions about their content, then write a piece on a given topic in a specified style (formal letter, email, memo, news report etc).

The costs can vary depending where you do them, but €140 for all four parts is standard. You do not have to take all the parts at the same time, but all your certificates need to be less than two years old when you present them to the authorities.

READ ALSO The most common and embarrassing French language problems laid bare

Who has to do them?

Not everyone has to take a new test, there are some French qualifications that are accepted including a degree from a French university and a language diploma.

And is that the only language test?

Not quite. As part of the citizenship process, you are also required to have an interview at your local préfecture (or the Préfecture de Police if you are in Paris) where they test you on your knowledge of French history, culture and values.

This isn’t a formal language test but the interview is of course conducted in French and if you language seems to be far below the standard required you could be rejected.

In neighbouring Switzerland (where the process for getting citizenship is extremely tough) a woman who passed the language test and made it all the way to the interview stage was rejected because she apparently said ‘uh’ 200 times during the interview.

What about residency?

There is currently no formal language requirement for the carte de séjour residency card or for a visa, so you only need to start taking tests if you want to actually become French.

That said though, the majority of the application process for residency (with the exception of special online process that was put in place for British people who were already resident in France before the end of the Brexit transition period) are of course in French.

You will also have to go to the préfecture to provide fingerprints, so if your French is at a very basic level it would be a good idea to have a French-speaking friend help you with the process to make sure you have understood everything correctly.

Interior minister Gérald Darmanin in July 2022 announced plans to introduce a language test for certain types of residency card. 

Member comments

  1. Are they going to make this retrospective for those who got a CdS under the Brexit Treaty? Mine currently runs until 2031, will I have to take a test (at the age of 82!) to renew it?

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For members

AMERICANS IN FRANCE

Is there really a 1949 treaty that allows Americans an extra three months in France?

You might have heard rumours about an old but never-repealed treaty between France and the USA that allows Americans an extra three-month stay in France without requiring a visa. But is it still valid?

Is there really a 1949 treaty that allows Americans an extra three months in France?

It sounds almost too good to be true – an obscure treaty that would potentially allow Americans to stay up to six months in Europe without needing a visa . . .

The agreement exists, it was one of several bilateral travel agreements that France made in 1949.

It states: “From April 1st 1949, citizens of the US can enter the following countries on the simple presentation of a valid passport, without a visa, and stay between one day and three months; France, Andorra, Algeria, Morocco, Gaudeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion (or Tunisia for two months).”

First things first, we would strongly advise against turning up at the border of Algeria, Tunisia or Morocco and claiming your right to free entry based on an agreement that France made for them back in the days when they were colonised. Awkward.

The Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the Indian ocean island of La Réunion and the South-American territory of French Guiana remain French. For administrative purposes they are part of France, but they are not part of the Schengen zone so have slightly different travel rules. Andorra is different again.

Schengen rules

These days France is part of the EU’s Schengen zone and that has its own rules for travel.

Americans are one of several nationalities covered by the ’90-day rule’ – this allows for stays of up to 90 days in every 180 in the Schengen zone, without the requirement for a visa. In total over a year you can spend 180 days visa free, but they cannot be consecutive – within any 180-day period you must not stay for more than 90 days.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90-day limit covers time spent in any of the Schengen zone countries – so for example if you are travelling around France, Italy, Spain and Austria you get 90 days total, not 90 days in each country.

The 1949 agreement allows three months visa-free in France, while the Schengen zone agreement allows 90-days visa free in France – basically the same amount.

However where the 1949 agreement could potentially be an advantage is for Americans who want to travel around Europe for several months – essentially giving them three months in France plus 90 days in the rest of the Schengen zone countries, allowing for a six-month visa-free stay in Europe.

Neither rule allows for more than 90 days in France without getting a visa – if you want to stay longer than that in France, you will need a visa (unless you have dual nationality with an EU country).

Schengen rules versus pre-existing bilateral agreements

But is the 1949 agreement still valid? It’s true that the agreement was never specifically cancelled, but since then something big has happened – the creation of the Schengen free travel area which came into force in 1990.

The Schengen agreement creates a free travel zone (expanded several times since 1990 and now encompassing 29 countries and about 420 million people).

Countries that are part of the Schengen area;

  • do not carry out checks at their internal borders, except in cases of specific threats
  • carry out harmonised controls at their external borders, based on clearly defined criteria

The rules are covered by the Schengen Borders Code, which involves countries adopting a common visas policy – in brief this means that countries are free to set their own visa policy (eg types of visa offered, visa costs/duration) but must agree on who needs a visa and who does not.

The European Council explains: “An EU common visa policy is necessary for the effective functioning of the border-free Schengen area as it facilitates the entry of visitors into the EU, while strengthening internal security.

“The EU has established a visa policy for: intended short stays in or transit through the territory of a Schengen state; transit through the international transit areas of airports of the Schengen states; short stays are stays of no more than 90 days within any 180-day period.”

So the EU is clear that it operates a common visas policy – limiting visa-free stays to no more than 90 days in every 180.

French policy 

Part of the confusion over this historic agreement seems to be that over the years several French consulates have provided contradictory or confusing advice suggesting that the 1949 agreement is still in force.

You may be lucky and find a border guard who agrees with their interpretation – but if you find someone who interprets the Schengen rules as superseding the 1949 treaty, they will be able to provide a lot of more up-to-date and clearer statements of the rules specifying that non-EU citizens such as Americans are limited to 90 days in every 180 within the Schengen zone.

If you lose your argument at the border, you are liable to end up with an ‘over-stayer’ stamp in your passport which may make it difficult for you to re-enter any EU country, or to get a visa for any EU country.

Is it really worth taking that risk?

EES

Starting later in 2024 – probably October although it could be delayed again – is the EU’s new Entry & Exit System.

You can find a full explanation of it here, but it basically automates the counting of the 90-day allowance – passports will be scanned on entry and exit of the Schengen zone and dates automatically tallied.

There are exemptions for people who have residency permits or visas, but there is no provision built into the system to show old treaties at the border.

French citizens

The 1949 agreement is a bilateral one, so it also includes a provision for French people wanting to go the USA.

It states: “French citizens wishing to travel to the United States for stays not exceeding three consecutive months may, if they wish, receive free visas valid for two years and for an unlimited number of trips during that period.”

Sadly, this is no longer valid either – the US does not allow visa-free travel and French citizens wishing to go even for a short holiday will need to complete the ESTA visa-waiver online before travelling. Anyone who has failed to complete this form (which is not free) will be denied boarding by their airline.

Once completed, the ESTA visa waiver covers multiple trips for two years (unless your passport is renewed in that time, in which case you have to do it again).

The ESTA visa allows trips of up to 90 days per visit, French people wishing to stay for longer will need to apply for a visa.

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