The readers were all told the denials were linked to their income coming mostly from outside France.
This point is not stated in the Code Civil which sets out rules on citizenship such as the fact the applicant must reside in France, or related decrees.
However, Gisti, an association helping foreign people, said there is case law showing that ‘residency for nationality’ can include expectations that a person has their ‘family attachments’ and ‘material interests’ in France.
Thus, Gisti said, the origin of income has been considered as well as where a spouse/partner and minor children live.
This is not new but it was given new impetus in May when Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau sent a circular, asking prefects to be tougher with regard to people’s “assimilation in the French community”.
A circular cannot create new legal rules but it can give guidance and set the tone.
It asked prefects to “set aside” applicants whose income is mostly foreign – “apart from exceptions”, because this shows “the person has not totally transferred the centre of their interests to France”.
It also asked prefects to look for “a proven and lasting integration through work”.
'Rules were not clear'
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Kevin Biddlecombe, from Lot, showed his rejection letter from Haute-Garonne, which said as his income was mostly from abroad, “these circumstances do not allow us to consider that you have established, in France, all of your material interests”.
He felt this rule was not sufficiently spelt out in online information about the process, plus the prefecture could have seen from the start that his income was mostly foreign, as it was shown on tax statements he supplied.
Kevin Biddlecombe, from Lot, was rejected as most of his income was from abroadKevin Biddlecombe
“Apart from spending a lot on translations and French exams, I had to go for an interview, which, it seems, was a waste of time,” he said.
The retired paint sprayer, 71, who has now appealed, said it was normal his income came from the UK as he had worked all his life in the UK, “but nearly all of it is spent in France”.
He added the “centre of his life” is France: he lives here with his wife in a home they had built, and his daughter and son-in-law nearby.
“It seems a shame to be rejected for things that are beyond my control,” he said. Two retired teachers from Vienne, who asked not to be named, received notification of adjournment for two years.
The letter said: “The examination of your professional career, looked at overall since your arrival in France does not allow us to consider that you have fully achieved your professional integration since your income mostly comes from abroad.”
However, they have few prospects of changing this.
“I could get a job or form a company or rent our house, but I’m not prepared to do that,” the husband said. Instead, they are appealing, stressing their integration.
“I’ve been on committees, choir, orchestras, I’ve restored theatres and I volunteer for security duties for the department. I take neighbours to hospital, I help with wine harvests, we’ve opened our garden for charity…”.
He has sought help from an avocat, at a cost of around €2,500.
“I’m basically composing a love letter to France: about my deep desire to be French and my love for the area.”
Feelings of injustice
A retired American scientist from southern France was told his application was "inadmissible" as his mostly foreign-sourced income meant he did not meet the requirement of residence in France stated in the Code Civil.
“I feel it is unfair, especially as one of the conditions for me to get a visa to come – and for every year before I obtained a 10-year long-term residency card – was that I would not seek employment here. When I came, ten years ago, I could have looked for a job if I had known it would be necessary.”
He added: “I intend to appeal and will show I am assimilated and I sold my possessions, all my property, in the US. I own nothing there now, so have completely moved my life here. I love France: it is much more politically and socially aligned with my beliefs.”
An Interior Ministry spokeswoman told The Connexion: “A goodwill measure allowed for people over 65 whose income came mainly from abroad to obtain French nationality.
“The circular removes this tolerance by specifying that, with some exceptions, applications from applicants whose income comes mainly from abroad will be refused.
It does not matter whether the applicant is retired or still working.”
She said this rule did not apply to those who were retired from working abroad for international organisations (such as the UN) or who had worked for a foreign employer in France.
She added: “With regard to exceptions [as mentioned in the circular], each situation is examined individually and applicants must provide everything they believe justifies their involvement in French society. I cannot specify in which cases the exception may lead to a favourable decision.”
Technically, an application can be deemed irrecevable (inadmissible) because it does not fulfil the legal conditions; or otherwise inopportune (untimely/inappropriate), for specified reasons, and refused or adjourned. In adjournment, a period is given after which the person may reapply, showing ‘improved’ circumstances.
A fresh application can also be made if a reason for inadmissibility has changed, or five years after an ‘inopportune’ request is refused.
Applicants have two months after a negative decision to appeal to the Interior Ministry: if the response is again negative or there is no response in four months, they have two months to appeal to the administrative court of Nantes.
However, Gisti states that “the length of cases before the court is such that cases have little chance of being judged before the time period for adjournment has elapsed”.
