France adopts strict immigration law / 5 changes

2023-12-21 11:59:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

France adopts strict immigration law / 5 changes

Illustrative photo

The French parliament has approved an immigration bill that will impose stricter rules on foreigners coming to France, a move that sparked tense political debate and revealed unexpected alliances.

The legislation, chaired by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, was initially voted down by Macron's party as an act of rebellion after the bill gained support from the far-right National Rally (RN), led by Marine Le Pen, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.

However, after the new immigration law was passed to make the legislation more acceptable to the right, with some government easing, it was successfully passed.

The main provisions of the legislation include:

Residence permits: The government, in an attempt to appease right-wing factions, eased measures by allowing some immigrants to obtain residence permits. This means that migrants will be eligible for state emergency health care benefits, at least for a while, while the previous bill aimed to strip migrants of this privilege from the start.

Housing Benefit : Under the new legislation, unemployed migrants outside the EU will not be able to receive housing benefit for up to five years.

Migration quotas : With the introduction of migration quotas, the government has tightened the procedures for the children of immigrants to become French citizens.

Residency for labor needs: The draft law facilitates obtaining residence permits for migrants working in sectors facing labor shortages, as originally planned in the first version of the draft law.

Deportation of irregular migrants: At the same time, the legislation directs the process of deportation of irregular migrants, a tougher stance on immigration enforcement. The draft law was strongly criticized by many actors, especially the Green legislators, who called on members of parliament not to vote on the draft law. /CNA