People applying for French citizenship are to face tougher scrutiny including being checked for ‘exemplary’ behaviour and financial “autonomy” as well as being asked to take a history and culture test.
It comes as demands for naturalisation have increased sharply at the same time as France looks to cut down on immigration.
A five-page circular containing instructions reinforcing the rules has been sent to departmental prefectures by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.
It does not on the whole fundamentally alter rules for what is required but rather aims to ensure the legal framework is followed as strictly as possible, though it is reported to include a new cultural and historical knowledge test.
Mr Retailleau, introducing the circular in a speech at the prefecture of Créteil, Val-de-Marne, said today (May 5): “Becoming French is something that you need to have deserved, we must be very, very demanding.”
He also said: “I make no apology for toughening the criteria, no one can expect to gain citizenship without being assimilated” and that a key factor is “the feeling of belonging” in France.
He stated, among other points, that applicants must respect the French traditions of the secular state (laïcité) and their behaviour should have been “exemplary”.
The document, which has not been released in full but has been subject to press leaks, reminds prefects of current and upcoming naturalisation rules, including those on language and cultural assimilation that were included in the 2024 immigration law.
Notably, this raised the minimum language requirement for people applying for French citizenship to B2 (up from B1), an upper intermediate level. This is set to apply from January 1, 2026 at the latest.
A new exam on culture and history, also part of the 2024 law, will also be in force from the same date for foreign people applying for multi-year residency cards or 10-year cartes de résident.
However, Mr Retailleau reportedly said nationality applicants will also be required to take it (presumably, if they have not already done so for a residency card) from January 1, 2026.
“We can’t have fewer criteria to obtain a residency card than a French identity card,” he said.
We note that it is unclear how this can be added without a new law.
At present, cultural knowledge of nationality applicants is only assessed as part of the obligatory prefecture interview.
While the circular does not demand that applicants reach a higher language score than the B2 set in the 2024 law – something that would require the passing of a new law – it insists on the importance of “knowing our language and knowing and recognising the history of France”.
Prefectures have been asked to report to the ministry on their efforts to enforce the circular in three months’ time.
Background checks, financial ‘autonomy’
There is a limit to how much can genuinely change in regards to immigration rules without a new law voted by parliament, and the circular is mostly asking prefects to be more stringent in following rules and to favour refusal when cases are less black and white.
However, there are some areas where prefects are being asked to employ harsher measures.
The circular notably instructs prefects to ensure that applicants have a good background and have not formerly been an illegal resident in the country.
He said today: “The first effort that people must have made - it seems obvious, but I must insist on it - is respect for our laws.
“I am asking prefects to reject applications from foreign people who have in the past been in an irregular immigration situation [ie. who have had periods when they were undocumented].”
This is stricter than the current rules in the current legal system, which state, for example, that citizenship should be refused to people convicted of terrorism offences or who have received a prison sentence of longer than six months (stated in article 21-27 of the Civil Code).
Another element relates to finances. Mr Retailleau said he was asking prefectures to check “if applicants have sufficient means not to just depend on benefits”.
French media report the circular requiring that people show they have been living in a fairly financially self-sufficient manner in the previous five years before applying, which is not currently an explicit part of the criteria.
However, applicants are already assessed on whether they have “stable and sufficient means” to support themselves and dependents.
Those who have most of their income derived from a non-French source should as a general rule be rejected, “since this situation demonstrates that they have not completely transferred the centre of their interests to France”, the circular is reported to state.
It is unclear how this would relate to those who derive their income from a foreign pension source, as it appears to be linked to requirements of being “professionally integrated”, ie. through work.
There have been previous reports of some prefectures having looked unfavourably on certain applicants whose income was largely derived from outside France.
The ministry is also asking that applicants with a CDI permanent contract be given preference, or at least, those with two years or more of continuous work under CDD temporary contracts.
"The applicants autonomy must be based on an integration in working life that is proven and lasting", the circular reportedly states. There are at present no details as to whether this will therefore make it more difficult for retirees to apply.
Wave of applicants
The number of applicants for French citizenship in 2024 reached 66,745, an 8.3% increase on 2023.
This covers both those by decree (living in France a certain number of years, etc) and declaration (marriage, family links, etc), and minor children of adults obtaining nationality in these ways.
It does not, however, include children of foreign families born in France, who can, as teenagers, claim nationality as a right under droit du sol under certain conditions (including the fact they still live in France).
Read more: French residency card system 'dysfunctional' says immigration lawyer
Citizenship is ‘not a right’
The measures are intended to ensure only valid applicants are accepted.
The circular reminds that the granting of French citizenship is “a sovereign decision of the government” and not a right for all who apply.
Indeed, it looks back on a landmark ruling by the French Conseil d’Etat in 1984 that states naturalisation is a ”favour granted by the French state to a foreigner”.
The minister – a hardliner on immigration – has previously said he supports a new law on immigration which could bring in measures tougher than those introduced by the 2024 immigration law.
