The law of January 26, 2024, titled “Law to Control Immigration, Improve Integration,” introduces various measures to address immigration, integration, and asylum issues in France.
1. Foreign Workers:
- Workers in high-demand jobs (construction, home care, hospitality) without proper documentation can exceptionally receive a “temporary worker” or “employee” residence permit. These individuals are no longer required to go through their employer for this permit but must demonstrate at least 12 months of work in the past 24 months, 3 years of residence in France, and integration into French society. Prefects have discretionary power to grant these permits, with this measure being experimental until the end of 2026.
- A new four-year “talent – medical and pharmacy profession” residence permit is introduced for doctors, dentists, midwives, and pharmacists who graduated outside the European Union.
- “Talent” residence permits for skilled workers and project leaders are simplified.
- Access to self-employed status for “platform workers” is conditioned on having a work permit for this status.
- Sanctions against companies employing undocumented workers are strengthened.
2. Integration and Residence Permits:
- Employers’ obligations to provide French language training to their foreign employees are strengthened.
- Foreign victims of “slum landlords” who have filed a complaint will receive a residence permit for the duration of the legal process.
- New grounds are created for refusing to issue, renew, or withdraw temporary residence permits, including document fraud and offenses against public officials.
3. Enhanced Removal Procedures:
- The law aims to facilitate the removal of foreigners posing a serious threat to public order. Expulsion is possible for foreigners (even those with long-term residence or family ties in France) convicted of crimes or misdemeanors punishable by at least 3 or 5 years in prison, depending on the foreigner’s status, or involved in violence against elected officials or public agents.
- Protections against a mandatory departure order for some undocumented foreigners are removed.
- Foreign minors continue to be protected against mandatory departure orders.
- The law allows for residence assignments for up to 3 years (previously 1 year) for foreigners unable to leave France due to situations like war in their home country.
- Measures to facilitate the execution of removals include conditioning visa issuance on the proper delivery of consular passes by foreign states.
4. Asylum and Foreigners’ Litigation:
- The law plans the gradual deployment of territorial hubs called “France asylum,” replacing the current single reception points for asylum seekers. These hubs will centralize asylum seeker registration, rights initiation, and application processing.
- The National Court of Asylum Right’s organization is reformed, with the creation of territorial chambers and the generalization of the single judge.
- Asylum seekers posing a flight risk or a threat to public order can be assigned to residence or placed in detention under certain conditions.
- The litigation involving foreigners (accounting for 40% of administrative court activity) is simplified, reducing the number of standard contentious procedures from 12 to 3.
5. Measures Censored by the Constitutional Council:
- The Constitutional Council censored 32 articles for formal reasons (as “legislative riders” with insufficient connection to the initial text) and 3 articles on substantive grounds, including issues like immigration quotas, conditions for accessing certain benefits by foreigners, and the tightening of family reunification rules.