The 2024 French immigration law has modified the language requirements for French resident permits and citizenships. This article covers the various language requirements and how to prove them.
For more details about the immigration law and other updates , you can refer to the following article President Macron’s Immigration Bill Finally Approved By The French Parliament.
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Summary of the new French language requirements
The new language requirements mentioned in Article 20 & Article 21 have been effective since 28th January 2024. But the implementation can happen anytime before Jan 2026.
- Hereafter, any resident permit will be issued only upon signature by the foreigner of a contract of commitment to respect the principles of the French Republic “Contrat d’intégration républicaine (CIR)” and creation of a civic examination.
- The passing of this examination will be mandatory for issuing any multi-year resident permit, 10-year resident cards and the French citizenship. in the same way as the language test requirements explained below..
| Topic | New French language requirements |
| First application of a multi-year residence permit “carte de séjour (CdS) pluriannuelle”, excluding “Passeport Talent” applicants | A2 |
| First application of a 10-year resident card “carte de résident”. People aged 65 years and above are exempted | B1 |
| French citizenship “naturalisation” | B2 |
If an applicant for the multi-year resident permit is not able to prove their A2 level of French, then the the applicant will only be issued a 1-year card instead of the usual 4-year card.
- This exemption requires the passing of the civic exam and Contrat d’intégration républicaine (CIR) signed during the initial OFII procedures and can be used for only up to 3 renewals. Then, the renewals will be refused and the applicant will be forced to leave the country.
- For example, renewal of “Carte de Sejour Salarié” without an A2 certificate will only lead to another 1-year Salarié card.
These new measures bring France closer to its European neighbors such as Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, and Portugal.
Here is the official text from Document de présentation de la loi pour contrôler l’immigration et améliorer l’intégration.
French language certifications and degrees
The French language certification requirements depend on the type of the application.
You can find details in the following articles,
- Carte de résident (10-year card) : how to prove your knowledge of French?
- Nationalité française : how can you justify your level in French?
Good to know
If you had graduated from Master’s and/or PhD degree from France, the degree certificate is enough.
You do not need a language certificate as long as you can speak in French during the appointment.
Employers’ Support for French Training
Contribution of the employer to language training as part of the professional training on the actual working time of the employee, considering their responsibility for integration as explained in Article 23
- Employers can offer employees the opportunity to follow training in French as a foreign language (FLE) on working time, as part of the employer training plan.
- the possibility of taking French courses at the OFII on working time (up to 600 hours) for employees who signed the CIR.
- A work permit with full rights for employees taking French courses financed from their personal training account mon compte formation account (CPF).
Sources & References
- A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 : What are these language levels?
- 2024 French immigration law : Article 20
- 2024 French immigration law : Article 21
- 2024 French immigration law : Article 23
- 26/01/2024 – Document de présentation de la loi pour contrôler l’immigration et améliorer l’intégration
- Knowledge of the French language : Code de l’entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d’asile : articles L413-7
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Thanks for this article.
I want to know if same rules apply for passport talent as well. as i read in the law it’s not applicable to passport talent. basically i want to know the dependent on (Passport talent) do they need to prove there french level as A2?
Languages exams aren’t applicable for Talent RPs (ex-Passeport Talent). But there are a few other things to keep in mind.
Please refer to https://prasanthragupathy.com/2024/03/faq-new-language-requirements-for-french-resident-permits-citizenship/