A contentious package of immigration reforms designed to toughen certain conditions for foreigners living in or moving to France has now passed both houses of the French parliament, thanks to the support of the far right. The legislation has changed considerably since it was first proposed by President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party – so what does it actually contain?
The bill was adopted by the lower house, the National Assembly, late on Tuesday. The upper house Senate had already passed it last month.
The revised text, the result of amendments in the Senate as well as by a joint committee of lawmakers from both houses, has prompted one cabinet member to resign and drawn outrage from charities and rights groups.
The bill still needs to be officially enacted into law, and the measures are subject to the approval of France's top constitutional and administrative courts, which will rule on whether they comply with the country's principles and procedures.
RFI looks at the main changes that parliament has approved.
■ No amnesty for undocumented workers
Macron and his party insisted from the start that one of the goals of reforming immigration rules was to make it easier for undocumented immigrants working in understaffed sectors to stay, legally.
They wanted to offer one-year residency permits to people working in hospitality, construction and other key industries – but the right insisted on adding conditions.
Now only people who have been in France for three years or more and working for at least 12 out of the past 24 months will be eligible to apply, and local prefectures will evaluate each request case by case.
■ Undocumented immigrants criminalised
The new text makes being in France without the proper immigration papers an offence, a change demanded by the right.
However, the offence is classified as minor and cannot be punished by prison time. Instead, people risk a fine of up to €3,750.
■ Tougher conditions on citizenship
While children born to two foreign parents in France previously got French citizenship automatically when they turned 18, the reforms will now require children to formally apply for nationality during a two-year window between 16 and 18.
Anyone convicted of a crime will see their application categorically denied.
Meanwhile dual nationals who are convicted of murdering a law enforcement officer can be stripped of French nationality.
■ Strings attached to family reunification
The new law will make it harder for non-EU immigrants living legally in France to bring family members over to join them.
People seeking visa for a spouse or relative won't be able to apply until they have been in France for at least two years, and they have to show proof of "stable, regular and sufficient" financial resources as well as a form of health insurance (including public).
For unmarried partners, only people aged over 21 will be eligible instead of over-18s.
■ Migration quotas
According to an amendment introduced by the Senate, parliament should aim to agree specific limits on "economic migration" – in other words, people moving to France to work, not asylum seekers, students or people joining family members.
The bill commits lawmakers to holding a debate on the question every year, to discuss quotas for the next three years. But the proposal looks likely to face challenges on constitutional grounds.
■ Five-year wait for benefits
Set on making it harder for immigrants to access welfare in France, the right pushed for a new waiting period before non-EU nationals can claim certain benefits, even if they have moved here legally.
Under the reforms, immigrants from outside the EU will have to spend five years living in France before they can request welfare including housing allowances, family benefits and income support for the over-60s – reduced to two and a half years if they're working.
The waiting period doesn't apply to unemployment benefits for people who lose a job.
■ Foreign students pay a deposit
The new law requires non-EU nationals seeking a first-time student visa to pay a deposit to the state to cover unexpected costs during their studies in France – such as returning them to their country of origin, if necessary.
The deposit, the amount of which hasn't been set, will be returned if the student leaves France as planned, renews their permit or switches to a different category of visa. It will be withheld if the student overstays and evades an order to leave.
Students with permission to stay several years in France will also have to prove annually that they are enrolled in a genuine, "serious" programme.
■ Restrictions on health visas
France offers certain visas on the basis of ill health, to allow immigrants to remain for the purpose of receiving medical treatment.
But under the reform, such visas will only be granted if an applicant can demonstrate there is no "appropriate treatment" available in their country of origin. And if they have a certain level of resources, they will be shut out of the state healthcare system.
However, parliament did not agree to scrap state-funded medical aid for undocumented immigrants, as sought by the right but opposed by public health experts.
Instead that system will come up for more debate next year, with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne promising to present a separate bill reforming it early in 2024.
■ Ban on detaining children
One of the few other concessions obtained from the right was an agreement to outlaw the practice of placing minors in immigration detention centres.
Thousands of under-18s are detained after entering French territory without permission, a practice that has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights. Most of the children in question are held in France's overseas department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean.
