Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is tackling immigration with a circular, which came into force on Friday January 25, toughening the conditions for regularizing undocumented immigrants.
For Bruno Retailleau, the challenge is to “respond to the aspiration of the French”, which is to “reduce immigration”, he argued on CNews on Friday January 24. And for this, he signs the end of regularization “with all his might”. During a trip to Yvelines, he presented a new circular, applicable immediately, aimed at toughening the conditions for regularizing undocumented immigrants.
The objective: “controlling migratory flows, in particular through the fight against irregular immigration”, and “strengthening the integration of foreigners in France”, is written in the circular from the Minister of the Interior , published by Le Figaro. “If we want to reduce this immigration, particularly illegal immigration, we must not regularize it in too quantitative a way, because (otherwise) we give a premium to irregularity, to those who have committed fraud,” he added on the CNews set.
This new circular only concerns the regularization of undocumented immigrants. It completely reforms that of Manuel Valls, written in 2012, which allowed a foreigner in an irregular situation to request “exceptional admission to stay” for family, economic or student reasons, at the discretion of the prefect. Foreigners wishing to obtain residence permits by other means are therefore not affected by these new rules. However, the newspaper specifies that the minister should soon look into naturalization reform.
The new rules that came into force
The new instructions for regularizations: tighten the screw. Thus, for an immigrant to be able to access this exceptional admission to stay, he will have to prove seven years of presence on the national territory, unlike five years previously.
Bruno Retailleau also wants better integration of foreigners in France, “in particular through their commitment to respecting the values of the Republic”. He cites secularism, equality between women and men, personal freedom, freedom of expression and conscience… An undocumented migrant requesting to be regularized must therefore sign a contract committing him or her to respect these values, without which the request “will be incomplete and declared inadmissible”. Likewise, “particular attention should be paid to mastery” of French, it is written in the circular. And with a diploma, it’s better.
All polygamous applicants are excluded, as well as those who have demonstrated a “threat to public order”. If a foreigner is subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), and this has not been carried out (which concerns more than 90% of them), this may justify the refusal to issue a visa. a temporary residence permit.
Systematic OQTFs in the event of refusal of residence
The minister recalls that an OQTF can be enforced up to three years after being issued, compared to one year previously. And if the undocumented migrant cannot leave the territory, he must “certify new elements of fact or law since the notification” of the OQTF, at the discretion of the prefect. Furthermore, any refusal of the residence request must be systematically accompanied by “a measure requiring them to leave French territory”, specifies the Minister of the Interior.
Ultimately, the new circular aims to reduce the regularization of undocumented foreigners by a third. From around 30,000 per year, it would bring them to around 20,000. It is mainly family immigration which should be impacted: according to a prefect interviewed by Le Figarothere will be “8,000 to 10,000 fewer regularized for private and family life”.
Concerning regularizations for work, Bruno Retailleau also asks prefects to firmly apply the criteria set out in immigration law. They must ensure that the work is real and corresponds to the list of professions in shortage, which will be updated in February and will govern exceptional admission to the stay of professionals. In the list, we will find in particular hospital professions, nursing homes, catering, construction, and even agriculture.