Foreign people with many kinds of French residency cards will be obliged to take a French test – and pass it – to stay in France, according to rules that must be in place by January 1, 2026 at the latest.
French media highlighted the issue this week, amid claims that the level – European language level A2 – will be too hard for many relative newcomers to the country.
It is estimated that 300,000 foreign people will be concerned by these new tests.
As a result, tens of thousands of foreign people risk in future losing their carte de séjour residency cards, and others risk failing to obtain the 10-year carte de résident which helps secure people’s long-term future in France (typically after living in France for at least five years), according to FranceInfo.
Reports claim that it is likely that those concerned by the new carte de séjour rules will have to pay for their own tests to prove their level, costing around €100, as is already the case for people seeking French nationality or a carte de résident.
Read more: French 10-year residency cards - the three types and who can apply for them
The new rules are part of a toughening of attitudes towards immigration in France, with Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau stating last year that “when a foreign person has been legally living in France for several years and they don’t have French language skills, it means they have not made an effort”.
What is changing?
Once the new rules are in force, anyone moving to France on a long-stay visa requiring them to sign a ‘Republican integration contract’ (CIR) – which includes many common kinds of visa, especially for work – will have to pass a French test if they wish later to obtain a ‘multi-year’ (typically four-year) residency card.
The 2024 immigration law also states that those subject to a CIR will only be able to renew a ‘temporary’ (one-year) residency card under the same heading (eg. salaried or self-employed work) a maximum of three times: they will be obliged to apply for a multi-year card after this, with the risk of expulsion if it is not obtained.
Many initial long-stay visas obtained by newcomers to France are deemed equivalent to a first one-year residency card.
Under the former rules, there was no precise number of times a one-year card could be renewed.
People subject to a CIR only had to take a free test to evaluate their level during their welcome day at the Ofii immigration offices, and pledge to take free lessons if their level was found to be less than the most basic beginner level, A1.
These new rules do not apply to people with types of residency card not subject to the CIR (eg. visiteur cards, often given to retirees and early-retirees, or people with Brexit Withdrawal Agreement cards).
Read more: New tougher French language rules for immigration – who is affected?
French teacher Chloé Odent, from an association in Marseille, said: “There are people who speak French every day and communicate about all kinds of things in their work, or about their health, but who will fail the test [for a multi-year card].
“It creates anxiety and worry: that you could have been here for years on residency cards and then be told ‘this time you can’t have it’.”
FranceInfo showed a document attributed to the Interior Ministry that estimated that 15-20,000 people are liable to be refused a multi-year card if the A2 level is asked for with no modification to the current number of hours of training offered to those on a CIR.
The media also showed evidence that Ofii is facing budget cuts and has been asked to invite fewer people to attend its welcome day sessions, though it is unclear how this is meant to be achieved.
A senior Ofii official, who wished to remain anonymous, was also quoted as saying that there are now fewer in-person French language lessons offered to those on a CIR.
“They have been maintained for a tiny minority. For all those who speak a little bit already, they are simply asked to use an internet platform. Many don’t have a computer, only their phone. It’s almost a question of letting them fail,” she said.
However, Didier Leschi, Offi’s director general, said: “This package of measures aims at making people more responsible and helping them to integrate. We should have confidence in people. They’ve got three years to reach the minimum level.”
Read more: Will stricter language levels for some French residency cards start in July?
Also under the new rules, the language level for obtaining a 10-year carte de résident will be raised to a lower intermediate level, B1, instead of A2, and for those seeking French citizenship, B2 (upper intermediate) instead of B1.
A language-test exemption for over-65s applying for 10-year cards is expected to be maintained.
FranceInfo asked 10 French volunteers to take a ‘DELF B2’ test, one of the accepted ways in which citizenship applicants will be able to prove their French, which it described as being a ‘university student’ level.
Two out of the ten failed. Five did not meet the required level in written sections, but made up for it with their oral skills.
The general delegate of the Thot language school, Félix Guyon, said: “The level is much too high for most foreign people who want to ask for citizenship, or a long residency card in France”.
