Not all migrants must wait five years for benefits under France’s new immigration law

Posts being shared on social media make a number of claims about “tough new immigration laws” in France. But not all of these claims are true and some require more context.

The claims appear to come from a social media post by former deputy leader of the Reclaim Party, Martin Daubney, which says: “France has passed tough new immigration laws. LET'S DO THE SAME IN BRITAIN!”

It goes on to list: “no benefits for migrants for FIVE YEARS”, “permits for illegal workers in sectors with shortages: REJECTED”, “no right to stay for those with criminal records”, and  “fast track asylum system: REJECTED”. 

A new immigration law backed by President Emmanuel Macron’s government passed through the French parliament on 19 December 2023 after dividing the ruling party. The legislation has been sent for review to France’s Constitutional Council, which is able to eliminate certain parts of the law if they’re deemed unconstitutional. 

Mr Daubney’s post also shares a link to an article in the Telegraph with a screenshot of its headline saying: “Macron's toughened immigration Bill is a victory for me, says Le Pen”, which refers to comments from Marine Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of one of France’s opposition parties, National Rally. But, the points summarised by Mr Daubney do not reflect the content of the article. 

Full Fact contacted Mr Daubney for comment and will update the article if we receive a response. 

Full Fact has written about claims relating to France many times before, including how its energy bills, retirement age and pensions compare to the UK, whether it’s illegal for businesses in France to refuse cash and if the retailer Zara banned women wearing hijabs from entering French stores. You can also find more of our work checking claims relating to immigration here.  

Welfare benefits

It’s not quite true that there will be “no benefits for migrants for five years”.

The legislation rules that certain unemployed migrants new to France from non-European Union countries will not be able to receive specific non-contributory welfare benefits for their first five years in the country. 

But employed migrants may receive benefits such as child welfare and family allowances after two and a half years of working in France, and can receive the monthly rent assistance (known as APL) after three months of employment. Those with a student visa have no wait for APL. Disabled child education allowance and the disability compensation benefit are not affected by these time requirements, and are available without delay and after three months respectively.  

These waiting periods also do not apply to those who are stateless, refugees or holders of 10 year residence permits. 

State Medical Aid (AME), which enables migrants in an “irregular situation” to access care if they’ve lived in France for more than three months, will remain.

Working permits

The post suggests a permit for “illegal workers” in sectors with labour shortages has been rejected, but this is not the case. 

The new legislation outlines a one-year work and residency permit for undocumented migrants, known as ‘sans papiers’, to work in high-demand jobs in industries such as hospitality, building and agriculture. This trial scheme is due to end in 2026. 

This permit is subject to having lived in France for at least three years, having been in paid employment for at least 12 of the previous 24 months and having no police record. It does not require the applicant to have approval from an employer.  

The permits will be issued on a case-by-case basis determined by prefects (local state officials with administrative powers) who will consider how well the applicant has integrated into French society. French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, reportedly said this would lead to 10,000 additional foreign workers being “regularised” each year, while President Macron said it would be between 7,000 and 10,000. 

Criminal records

Mr Daubney also says the new law includes “no right to stay for those with criminal records”. 

The legislation specifies that migrants convicted of violence against public officials, and some other crimes or misdemeanours resulting in prison sentences, could face expulsion from the country. It also says migrants convicted of such crimes who arrived in the country before the age of 13 or are the spouse of a French person are no longer protected from expulsion, as they may have been before. 

However, it was reportedly already the case that certain migrants could face expulsion for serious crimes such as terrorism or “compromising the fundamental interests of the state” regardless of their protection status. 

Under the new legislation, those with dual nationality who are convicted of intentional homicide against any public official, such as a police officer or soldier, could face having their French citizenship withdrawn. 

It also removes a route to citizenship for those with a criminal record. The new law requires those born in France to foreign parents to apply for French nationality between ages 16 and 18, rather than adopting it automatically at 18 as was previously the case (known as 'Jus Soli'). But those with a criminal record are no longer able to obtain French citizenship in this way. 

Moreover, the new legislation has reintroduced a law enabling those who are in the country illegally, for example with an expired visa or without a residence permit, to be fined up to €3,750 (£3,230) and excluded from France for three years. The legislation also includes more significant action against companies employing illegal workers. 

Fast tracking asylum claims

Mr Daubney claims the legislation means a “fast track asylum system” has been rejected.

While the law doesn’t introduce a “streamlined” system similar to the one in the UK, it does include several reforms intended to increase the speed at which asylum applications are processed.

One measure will see the deployment of territorial centres called “France Asile” to allow asylum seekers to be registered and processed by various bodies in the same place. 

A similar measure involves creating regional chambers for France’s National Court for the Right to Asylum (CNDA), which processes asylum appeals, allowing magistrates and staff to process claims more easily beyond the current location east of Paris. It will also become more common for the CNDA to use a single-judge rather than a panel of three, which will now be reserved for complex cases only. 

There will also be a three-year experiment introducing a different way to process applications for residency permits in multiple departments. 

Image courtesy of Remi Jouan