France eases citizenship rules for retirees with foreign pensions

Retirees who are very integrated in France should no longer be turned down for French citizenship solely because they live mostly off income from abroad, under new rules from the interior minister.

The minister, Laurent Nuñez, set out the flexible criteria that will now be used, in a letter to senator for Charente, Nicole Bonnefoy, who has worked to draw his attention to the issue, which has affected many foreigners.

It says: “Retirees who receive a pension paid from abroad will see their application looked on in a favourable light if their income is declared in France and they can show strong local roots.”

Ms Bonnefoy received the news in a letter from the minister after writing to ask if he had advanced with promises he originally made in parliament in January.

She had asked him if he would revise a circular sent to prefectures by his predecessor, Bruno Retailleau, which told them to reject such applications on grounds that the person has not totally transferred the centre of their interests to France – though it said exceptions could be made.

Applications for French citizenship by naturalisation - the standard route, involving showing integration and more than five years’ residency - are processed mainly by prefectures before suitable applications are sent to the ministry, which has the final say.

Mr Nuñez said at the time that he did not plan to go back on the rules set out in the circular but he would look to see if prefectures were going further than necessary.

In a follow-up meeting between members of his staff, Ms Bonnefoy and Nièvre senators Patrice Joly and Nadia Sollogoub in April, the possibility was raised of new guidelines including consideration of factors such as “civic commitment” and property ownership.

In the letter, Mr Nuñez says Ms Bonnefoy had drawn his attention again to the difficulties experienced by foreign retirees, especially British people, in their citizenship applications.

He wrote: “You wanted their situation to be taken better account of, as discussed on April 1.

“I want to assure you that this concern has been taken into account and that the methods for examining retirees’ naturalisation applications have been adapted, so as to take better account of the specific factors of their case and the diversity of their situations.”

He said “strong local roots” could be demonstrated by factors including the person having owned their main home in France for more than five years and having been involved in community life, notably if they have ever been a municipal councillor.

In such cases, “the origin or nature of their income no longer constitutes, on its own, an obstacle”.

He said that this guidance is now already in place and has already allowed the ministry to accept several applications which were awaiting checking or where refused applicants had made an appeal to the ministry.  

We note that Britons can no longer be councillors since the 2020 local elections, unless they also hold another EU nationality. However, it is estimated that almost 800 were previously councillors and had to stand down due to Brexit. 

Research at the 2014 local elections found the British to be the most numerous nationality to stand for election after the French, with a total 1,525 candidates. 

The new approach may help some people who were previously rejected for citizenship solely on foreign income grounds, or whose applications were ‘adjourned’ due to this. 

In the latter case, a period is given after which the candidate is invited to reapply with evidence that they have improved their situation.