The French Senate has passed the New Immigration Bill that will change the country’s immigration policy. Following the Senate vote, the Immigration Bill will pass to the French National Assembly, where it may be further amended and debated before it is finally promulgated as law.
There are 27 provisions in the proposed Immigration Reform Bill but three are most talked and discussed: the regularisation of foreigners in ‘strained’ sectors suffering from labour shortages, the easing of deportation procedures and the need to add a language competency requirement for multi-year residency permits.
The new immigration measures would apply to all non-European Union (EU) nationals — anyone who needs a visa or carte de séjour to spend more than three months in France.
Here are the main provisions of the proposed Immigration Reform Bill:
Regularisation of undocumented workers in labour-shortage sector: Most of Europe is reeling under unprecedented labour shortage that is impacting the economy of several European Union (EU) Member States. In order to fill these critical gaps, the Reform Bill proposes to regularise ‘undocumented’ workers in 'strained' sectors suffering from labour shortages.
As per the proposal, the ‘regularisation’ provides for the creation of a one-year, renewable, residence permit for foreign workers in sectors under pressure such as construction, catering, hotels, personal assistance or even logistics. To be regularised, the worker must demonstrate a continuous presence in France for at least three years. The permit does not allow for the right to family reunification, which means that though the worker will be able to stay legally in France, he/she will not have the right to bring in his/her family to the country.
Quick deportation of foreigners representing a 'threat to public order’: Going by the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin's creed to ‘be nice to the good guys, and mean to the bad guys’, the proposal is to ease the process for the expulsion of foreigners who present a ‘serious threat to public order’. The bill also wishes to strike protections that exempts some from deportation notices and the automatic removal from social security and unemployment provision of foreigners subjected to a deportation notice.
The law currently prohibits the deportation of:
- a foreigner who arrived before the age of 13 on French soil
- a person residing regularly in France for more than ten years
- the parents of a French child
- foreigners married for at least three years to a French person.
The proposal is to add the requirement to fulfil a civic examination, with questions relating to French culture and history.
Restrict health care: The Immigration Reform Bill proposes to restrict state medical aid to illegal migrants. Currently, it costs the government €1.2 billion annually for 400,000 beneficiaries. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin has said he was considering ‘removing’ access to state medical aid (AME) to transform it into ‘emergency medical aid’ with much stricter conditions.
Restrict family reunification: Rules around foreigners in France being joined by spouses or family members would also be tightened up. To bring their family to France, a legal foreigner would have to have at least 24 months of presence on French soil, compared to 18 months today.
French citizenship for children born in France: Under the current immigration rules, children who are born in France to foreign parents are automatically given the right to French citizenship once they reach 18 under the droit du sol principle. Under the proposed Bill, this will no longer be an automatic right and children must 'express their will’ to get citizenship through added administrative procedures.
Withdrawal of residence permits for 'non-compliance with the principles of the Republic’: The proposal intends to make possible the refusal, withdrawal or non-renewal of certain residence permits in the event of non-compliance with the ‘principles of the Republic’, including gender equality, freedom of sexual orientation, respect for secularism, freedom of expression or even symbols of the Republic.
Increase penalty for employers hiring undocumented workers: To curb the increasing numbers of undocumented workers, the government plans to increase fines for employers employing undocumented immigrants. The maximum amount of the fine is €4,000 and can be applied as many times as there are workers affected by the violation and can be doubled if the offence is repeated within two years.
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