A Parti Socialiste senator for Charente, south-west France, Nicole Bonnefoy has recently addressed growing concerns over changes to the income requirements for French citizenship.
These changes were brought into effect in May 2025 via a circulaire from the former interior minister Bruno Retailleau and have demanded a rigid application of the rules on income, leading to numerous retirees being turned down for citizenship, as well as people who moved to France as young children and who have spent their lives here.
Bonnefoy has recently raised questions in the Senate over the implementation and interpretation of the 2025 naturalisation circulaire, leading to current interior minister Laurent Nunez promising a review.
In an interview with The Local, Bonnefoy stressed that préfectures should be able to look at an applicant's whole life when making their decisions.
She said: "Naturalisation is not a simple administrative act. It is the recognition of a mutual commitment between an individual and the nation.
"It deserves a humane, individualised assessment that respects each person’s life journey."
Retirees
The requirement that the majority of income should come from French sources has particularly impacted people who have retired to France and live on a pension from another country. Unable to fulfil the 'French sources' requirement, numerous pensioners have been refused over the last nine months.
READ MORE: 'Rules have changed' - Préfecture confirms they can refuse French citizenship to retirees
Bonnefoy told The Local that it is important not to “confuse requirements with inflexibility” when applying for French citizenship. While the naturalisation process is demanding, she said, “it must not become inaccessible to those who have built their lives in the country.”
She added that applying income criteria too rigidly to pensioners raises legitimate questions.
“A pensioner is no longer able to increase their income through professional activity. Their pension, even if modest, often reflects a lifetime of work, contributions and participation in their home country’s economy.
“Integration cannot be reduced to an amount on a tax notice. It must be assessed in light of a person’s life history.
“Retired people should not be penalised because of their age."
Young people raised in France
Another area of concern involves young people who arrived in France with their parents at an early age, and grew up here.
Children born in France to two non-French parents must generally wait until the age of 18 to apply for citizenship via the residency route (par décret). While language proficiency and integration are often straightforward for those educated in France, the stricter interpretation of income requirements has complicated matters.
READ ALSO: What new French citizenship rules mean for children raised in France
Applicants must now demonstrate several years of 'stable and sufficient income', primarily from French sources.
“Many have been educated here, have grown up here, and consider themselves fully French,” Bonnefoy said.
“Our law already provides several mechanisms for long-term resident young people to obtain nationality. Any change in the criteria must not unnecessarily undermine successful integration paths or create a feeling of exclusion.”
She concluded that while France has the right to set demanding standards, it must also ensure consistency and fairness.
“Naturalisation is not a simple administrative act. It is the recognition of a mutual commitment between an individual and the nation. It deserves a humane, individualised assessment that respects each person’s life journey."
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Can a circular be challenged?
One contentious aspect of the changes is that they were introduced by a circulaire, not as part of a new law.
A circulaire is a type of ministerial memo that is supposed to merely clarify how rules are applied, not introduce changes. The use of a circulaire also means that changes can be applied to applications made before the date of the memo - many of the people currently being rejected made their applications years before Retailleau sent out his memo.
Bonnefoy explained that a circulaire is not a law - it clarifies how existing legislation should be interpreted by the administration. As such, it can be amended or withdrawn by the government.
A circulaire may also be challenged in court if it is considered contrary to an existing law or fundamental principles, particularly the principle of equality. Parliament, for its part, retains the power to clarify or amend the legislative framework governing naturalisation.
Bonnefoy concluded: “There is no automatic right to naturalisation, but there is a right to a fair, individualised and non-arbitrary examination."
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