Residence permits may be extended
Report calls for changes in policy to encourage economic immigration and end annual visits to prefectures
NON-European residents in France could find their administrative problems eased with a report to the prime minister calling for cartes de séjour to be given a four-year validity in place of the present one year.
Socialist MP Matthias Fekl said changing the present system – where only 2% of cartes de séjour for non-European residents were for longer than a year – would have a double effect of allowing those affected to live normal lives and easing congestion at prefectures where people must queue every year to renew.
Fekl said the one-year validty of the residence permit made finding jobs difficult, made finding housing difficult and made getting loans difficult. He added that of the 400,000 people who had to go to prefectures for renewals each year only 1% saw their applications rejected.
A proposal for a new immigration law will be put to the Cabinet before the summer and it will include measures proposed by Fekl to open up “economic immigration” and realign policies with the economic and employment needs of the country. This follows proposals from the Cercle d'Outre-Manche business group in London to look at following the UK’s policies.
For more on Cercle d'Outre-Manche: www.connexionfrance.com
