French language tests for residency cards: What the new law says
After a lot of political drama, France's new immigration law has been passed - including a section on compulsory French language tests for certain carte de séjour residency cards. Here's what the new law says.
NOTE: This is an old article. The immigration law passed in January 2024, you can find an updated version of language test requirements here.
It's been creating political chaos for months, but on Tuesday night a heavily revised version of the immigration bill was passed by the French parliament.
You can find a full breakdown of what is in it HERE, but one section that will be of particular interest for foreigners in France is the idea of having to pass a language test to get certain types of long-term carte de séjour residency card.
At present people with a low level of French can be ordered to attend classes by the OFII (Office of immigration and integration), but there is no requirement to pass an exam in order to get a residency card - only French citizenship requires a language exam.
Introducing the idea back in 2022, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said: "Today, a quarter of foreigners who have residence permits understand and speak French extremely badly.”
Who?
This affects non-EU citizens. Those who have the passport of an EU country, including dual nationals, are not covered since they do not require a carte de séjour.
The test is also only for long-term cards - the carte de séjour pluriannuelle or the carte de résident.
It does not cover Brits in France who are covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement since they already have long-term cards.
It does not cover new arrivals, since the test would be required only for long-term residency cards - it does not affect people on the one-year cartes de séjour, but only people who are moving onto multi-year cards, which usually happens after several years of residency.
It would not affect people who already have a long-term residency card.
It also does not affect visa applications, and does not change the requirements for French citizenship, which already has a language test as part of the application process.
What level?
This is of course the million-euro question - how hard is the test likely to be?
The bill specifies that people applying for the long-term cards must at a minimum "understand expressions frequently used in everyday language, communicate during routine tasks and talk about subjects that correspond to immediate needs".
It does not specify a language exam level as defined on the international DELF scale, but the requirements outlined above sound similar to those required for the A1 level.
At present A1 level is required for the carte de séjour pluriannuelle - although candidates do not have to take a formal exam - the Interior Ministry previously told The Local that the language level required was not expected to change.
The language level A1 in the international DELF scale is defined as: “The most basic level at which a language is used, called the “discovery” stage. At this stage, the learner can interact in a simple way: he/she can speak about him/herself and his/her immediate environment.”
TEST Could you pass the language level for residency?
For anyone applying for the long-term EU card - résident de longue durée-UE - a higher language level is specified. For this, candidates must be able to "understand sufficiently clear-cut conversations, to produce simple, coherent discourse on familiar matters and to put forward an idea succinctly".
Qualification type
At this stage we don't know what type of qualifications would be accepted and whether you would have to take a specific exam or can use qualifications already obtained.
When it comes to citizenship, you need to have passed writing, reading, listening and oral sections of the exam - and for citizenship the higher level of B1 is required - and the certificates you present cannot be more than two years old.
There are exemptions for anyone who has a degree or equivalent from a French university, but an exemption previously in place for over 60s was scrapped in 2020.
READ ALSO How to find affordable language classes in France
When?
The Immigration bill was passed by MPs in the Assemblée nationale on Tuesday night, but there are still several stages of parliamentary process to go through - including being approved by the Conseil constututional.
If it passes all those stages, it is then up to the government to decide when the law will come into effect - probably in 2024.
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NOTE: This is an old article. The immigration law passed in January 2024, you can find an updated version of language test requirements here.
It's been creating political chaos for months, but on Tuesday night a heavily revised version of the immigration bill was passed by the French parliament.
You can find a full breakdown of what is in it HERE, but one section that will be of particular interest for foreigners in France is the idea of having to pass a language test to get certain types of long-term carte de séjour residency card.
At present people with a low level of French can be ordered to attend classes by the OFII (Office of immigration and integration), but there is no requirement to pass an exam in order to get a residency card - only French citizenship requires a language exam.
Introducing the idea back in 2022, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said: "Today, a quarter of foreigners who have residence permits understand and speak French extremely badly.”
Who?
This affects non-EU citizens. Those who have the passport of an EU country, including dual nationals, are not covered since they do not require a carte de séjour.
The test is also only for long-term cards - the carte de séjour pluriannuelle or the carte de résident.
It does not cover Brits in France who are covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement since they already have long-term cards.
It does not cover new arrivals, since the test would be required only for long-term residency cards - it does not affect people on the one-year cartes de séjour, but only people who are moving onto multi-year cards, which usually happens after several years of residency.
It would not affect people who already have a long-term residency card.
It also does not affect visa applications, and does not change the requirements for French citizenship, which already has a language test as part of the application process.
What level?
This is of course the million-euro question - how hard is the test likely to be?
The bill specifies that people applying for the long-term cards must at a minimum "understand expressions frequently used in everyday language, communicate during routine tasks and talk about subjects that correspond to immediate needs".
It does not specify a language exam level as defined on the international DELF scale, but the requirements outlined above sound similar to those required for the A1 level.
At present A1 level is required for the carte de séjour pluriannuelle - although candidates do not have to take a formal exam - the Interior Ministry previously told The Local that the language level required was not expected to change.
The language level A1 in the international DELF scale is defined as: “The most basic level at which a language is used, called the “discovery” stage. At this stage, the learner can interact in a simple way: he/she can speak about him/herself and his/her immediate environment.”
TEST Could you pass the language level for residency?
For anyone applying for the long-term EU card - résident de longue durée-UE - a higher language level is specified. For this, candidates must be able to "understand sufficiently clear-cut conversations, to produce simple, coherent discourse on familiar matters and to put forward an idea succinctly".
Qualification type
At this stage we don't know what type of qualifications would be accepted and whether you would have to take a specific exam or can use qualifications already obtained.
When it comes to citizenship, you need to have passed writing, reading, listening and oral sections of the exam - and for citizenship the higher level of B1 is required - and the certificates you present cannot be more than two years old.
There are exemptions for anyone who has a degree or equivalent from a French university, but an exemption previously in place for over 60s was scrapped in 2020.
READ ALSO How to find affordable language classes in France
When?
The Immigration bill was passed by MPs in the Assemblée nationale on Tuesday night, but there are still several stages of parliamentary process to go through - including being approved by the Conseil constututional.
If it passes all those stages, it is then up to the government to decide when the law will come into effect - probably in 2024.
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