French justice minister supports freeze on immigration: who would be affected
Plan could halt dream of moving to France for tens of thousands, but how likely is it?
Gérald Darminin has invited debate on topic of freezing new long-stay visas
Obatala-photography/Shutterstock
France’s justice minister has proposed freezing legal immigration for “two or three years”, potentially followed by the introduction of quotas. We look at exactly what has been suggested and who could be affected.
Gérald Darmanin, a right-wing former interior minister, spoke of a possible halt to immigration, although in detail only work and family-reunification routes have been cited. Retirees arriving on long-stay ‘visitor’ visas may therefore not be affected.
His comments come as new interior ministry figures show an increase in first residency cards issued last year.
However, a plan for a pause is far from certain to happen.
Immigration control is not the justice minister’s job. He introduced the idea as a point of debate on a television programme on French news channel LCI and did not say whether at this stage he had formally proposed this to the government.
However, it also comes in the context of approaching presidential elections in 2027 and Mr Darmanin has stated in recent days that in his view he is a suitable candidate to be president and that he is considering standing.
What exactly did he say?
Mr Darmanin said: “If we want to have a debate, which consists for example of – let’s imagine – a suspension of immigration for two to three years – we could imagine that.
“Mr Barnier [briefly prime minister in 2024, also part of Mr Darmanin’s Les Républicains party] spoke of a moratorium: why not?”
However, he said that if France were to introduce such measures, employers should be told to raise salaries to make certain jobs more attractive to French people and existing foreign residents. He argued that many of these roles are currently filled by foreigners working “at low cost”. France’s unemployment rate among the working-age population currently stands at 7.7%.
He said he was “favourable” towards such a suspension, but he suggested that if it were to happen there could be exceptions, such as for doctors and researchers and “a few students”.
He said this could then also be linked to holding a referendum to ask people “how many [foreign newcomers] do you want?”, so as to set quotas, adding that this process is already in practice in Canada.
Mr Darmanin also said there was a contradiction in France easing immigration rules to recruit workers in sectors deemed to be “under pressure” due to labour shortages – such as construction, hospitality and agriculture – while at the same time calls were being made for lower levels of immigration.
Employers in these sectors do not have to pre-advertise jobs before bringing in foreign people to do them. Rules also enable some illegal immigrants working in the sectors to have their immigration status legalised.
Who would be affected if the proposal was carried out?
EU/EEA/Swiss citizens would not be affected as they have free movement rights to come to France to work. They also do not figure in statistics on visas and residency cards since they do not require these.
Mr Darmanin said it would – barring exceptions – relate to new legal immigration, which means new long-stay visas and first residency cards. The latter includes VLS-TS visas that have been validated after arrival in France and are deemed equivalent to a first residency card.
People requiring these include, notably:
Those coming to work in salaried jobs and self-employment
People coming to study in French universities
People coming to join close family members who live in France
Foreign retirees and early-retirees on ‘visitor’ visas/cards who are able to live from pension and investment income
Mr Darmanin gave, as examples of kinds of immigration that could be targeted, family reunion and immigration for work, though he implied that student visas could also be restricted. ‘Visitor’ visas were not referred to.
It would probably not affect 'temporary' long-stay visas – used by many second-home owners to stay for up to six months – or other fixed-duration visas that cannot be renewed, such as those for seasonal workers or au pairs. In these cases, holders are not able to establish settled legal residency.
If the proposal happened in its strictest form many people considering a move to France would have to delay plans for “two or three years” unless, for example, they also have an EU nationality.
If quotas are imposed after this, which France has not done so far, some people meeting all the requirements for a long-stay visa risk being refused one on grounds that “the quota has been met”. The impact of this would depend on whether it relates to all forms of new long-stay visa/first residency card or only some of them.
How likely is this to happen?
The idea would have to be put into a bill and voted through by parliament. It would also have to be considered constitutionally valid: it is questionable whether a referendum on immigration quotas would be considered so.
It would require broad parliamentary backing, which is far from guaranteed, as the Assemblée nationale is currently weighted more towards left and centrist groups than the right and far right.
