09/21/2006

The French Code on Immigration and Asylum has been amended by a new Immigration Act, dated July 24, 2006, which contains important new provisions that could affect foreign nationals working, living, and/or studying in France. Please note that many of these provisions will not take effect until implementing regulations ("décrets d'application") are published, which are expected at the end of the year. Upon publication of the implementing regulations, we will circulate a follow up Client Alert. The following summarizes the new provisions:

Changes Affecting Foreign National Employees and Assignees

To date, all foreign nationals seconded to France temporarily are required to hold two permits—a 9-month work permit and 1-year residence permit—both of which must be renewed separately. The new Act creates a new three-year permit that combines work and residence authorization for assignees who are intra-company and intra-group transferees. For such individuals, the combined residence and work permit will replace the current system of applying for two permits. However, foreign nationals entering France to provide services to client companies must continue to apply for the 9-month work permit and 1-year residence permit.

In addition, the new Act recognizes certain fields that will not be subject to the "labor market test¹." A list of these fields will be published by the administrative authorities.

New Combined Permit "Compétences et Talents"

The Act also creates a combined residence and work permit for foreign nationals who will contribute "in a significant and durable way to the economic development or influence, in particular intellectual, scientific, cultural, humanitarian or in the field of sports" of France and of the foreign national's home country, by way of a project which interests both France and the foreign national's home country. The permit will have a three-year duration and will be issued by the Ministry of the Interior, which will consider criteria to be specified each year by a special commission.

Students and Trainees

The new Act contains provisions that will benefit students who have a good academic record in certain specific fields and students who attended French-language secondary schools in their country of origin. Visa and university enrolment procedures are simplified for these persons who apply to study in France.

Students who have completed a Masters level degree in France may be granted an additional six months of residence to facilitate their search for employment. Furthermore, the number of hours for which foreign students can be authorized to work in France will increase to 60% of the amount of time that an annual full-time job would demand. However, a student who exceeds the amount of time authorized risks losing his or her work permit (as was the case previously), and his or her student status in France.

The Act provides for a single category to cover all types of trainees / interns. Previously, foreign nationals entering France for traineeships were governed by a variety of regulations and circulars that depended on the type of traineeship. A residence permit marked "stagiaire" will be issued to trainees who come to France under a "trainee agreement" approved by the French authorities and who have adequate means of support².

Self-Employed Professionals

Previously, professionals who wanted to work in France independently, i.e. those professionals who planned to have self-employed/sole proprietor status in a non-commercial field, and pensioners or persons of independent means who did not plan to have any professional activity in France, were issued the same type of long-stay visa and residence permit marked "visiteur". Under the new law, only persons without any professional activity in France will continue to be issued a "visiteur" visa and residence permit. Self-employed professionals will now be issued a visa and a residence permit that states their profession.

Changes Affecting EU nationals³

Nationals of most EU states⁴ have been exempt from the residence permit requirement in France since the end of 2003. Under the new Act, however, they will now be required to register at the town hall where they reside within three months of arrival in France. Furthermore, after five years of uninterrupted legal residence in France, EU nationals will be eligible for the unconditional right to reside in France.

EC Long-Term Residence Permit for Third Country Nationals

Third country nationals legally residing in France continuously for five years can apply for the EC long-term residence permit (' "carte de séjour "communauté européene" ') issued by the French authorities and valid for 10 years. In addition to the residency requirement, they must show they are "integrated" (including French language skills), have health insurance and have access to sufficient and stable financial resources⁵.

Third country nationals who hold a EC long-term residence permit issued by another member state of the European Union⁶ will be allowed to take up residence in France without a residence visa, provided that they have access to "sufficient and stable resources," health coverage, and meet the conditions for the type of residence and/or work permit that they wish to obtain in France⁷.

Other Changes

Please contact us for details about other changes introduced by the new law in the following areas: family reunion, seasonal workers, visas for spouses of French nationals, deportation procedures, the "integration contract," short-term volunteer work in France, asylum and French citizenship.

The content of this alert is provided for informational purposes only.

If you have any questions regarding this alert, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global Immigration Services.


¹ The labor market test means that the employer must prove he cannot find any qualified French or local resident candidates for the job, before he will be authorised to hire a foreign national.
² There are several other categories of foreign "trainees" in France. For example, foreigners holding a "student" residence permit and undertaking an internship as part of their French university degree, or young persons having completed their studies in a foreign country who want to gain work experience abroad and who can be authorised to work in France for a limited period ("stagiaires professionnels").
³ References herein to "EU nationals" extend to nationals of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein as they benefit from the same regime.
⁴ The exemption applies to nationals of the 15 pre-existing EU member states, of Malta and Cyprus, and nationals of Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, provided the latter do not have any economic or professional activity
⁵ Exception: students cannot benefit from this provision.
⁶ In accordance with the EC Directive on long-term EU residents.
⁷This means they will be required to obtain prior authorization in order to work in France.

Source: http://pubweb.fdbl.com/news1.nsf/c8abb103352ef95a86256e3100809438/e617ed948daa46ec852571f0004780c9?OpenDocument