Foreigners required to pass language test with new French immigration law • FRANCE 24 English

With a new immigration law in France, foreigners will now be required to pass a language exam if they wish to remain in the country. Tens of thousands will be affected by this decree, and could even risk being kicked out of the country if they do not meet the requisite level. This comes as in-person language courses have been reduced. For many who hold employment and have been living in the country for years, this new requirement could have a significant impact on their future in France. Report by FRANCE 2 (adapted by Lauren Bain).

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47 comments

  1. Yes, about time. Staying in another country is a privilege… not a right. Either you learn the language or you leave.

  2. So what happens if they have kids who are French nationality? They have to leave the kids in France, or take the French kids with them when they get deported, or will the kids go to an orphanage in France?

  3. The French, English and Germans made zero effort to "fit in" in their colonies. Insisting that the "Natives" adopt their foreign language, many of whom completely lost their native tongue and were punished in schools for speaking their home language. So now, its those wonderful cultural aspects of elitism, snobbery and smug superiority about their life and languages that the migrants must assimilate to become a true citizen 🙂

  5. The goal is admirable. The approach is everything but. Demanding university-level French to become a citizen is ridiculous in that a very large share of the native population would inevitably fail that same exam. It’s also a bad move in that it could encourage other countries to become copycats, restricting the ability for French citizens to reside wherever that may be due to high local language level demands. What would that mean for French companies?

  9. Pass language test ha ha ha so basically whole Western Africa ( Islamic French part ) will move into France ha ha ha good luck to Islamic republic of France

  10. @4:45 Yes, it IS attainable. You had 10 years to save that money for citizenship unless if you were unemployed all along and just relied on welfare.

  12. Since the government is imposing this language requirement while simultaneously reducing language classes by 50% and setting an impossibly high bar for permanent residence, it's clear that the purpose of these requirements is to obfuscate its true goal of denying residency and deporting the vast majority of immigrants. This policy will enable politicians to shift the blame on the foreigners themselves. If/when they can't pass this absurdly difficult exam, politicians can claim that these foreigners are too lazy to study or too dumb and, therefore, unworthy of residency.

  15. That’s xenophobic!
    Next thing they’re gonna be asking people to prove that they’re not infected with disease or criminals from a different country.

  17. It should not be mandatory but… If you have plans to live in another country, start learning the language even before you get there, your life will be so much easier.

  19. Everybody saying “you live in a country and you don’t know the language bs”. Most people migrating to France speak French and come from French speaking countries that were colonized by France. Second, these people have bills to pay, children to take care of, which leave them with little time to learn university level French. Even if they had a little bit of time to dedicate to learn French it wouldn’t be university level of time. Some of you are privileged and never had the hardship to navigate a new country and starting from scratch. If you think it’s easy then why are the native French speakers unable to pass the test or are barely passing it? Riddle me that? You’re ignorant and very unsympathetic to these families seeking better lives for themselves and their children.

  20. I see these people immigrating just to look for work but I'd never think about immigrating to Germany or any other country where I don't speak the language. How am I going to be able to do my paperwork if I don't speak the language!?

  23. I've tried learning French, and it was tougher than I thought. I don't envy people who are required to learn it.

  26. nothing wrong with that. I am in france and i see foreigners living here more than 10 years and still dont speak a word of french apart from Bonjour and Merci

  31. Why Muslims going to Western Christian Nations, why you cannot stay in your peaceful Muslim countries or please go to Arab rich countries. Its their country not yours , you have to follow their rules. You cannot bring your rules to western countries.

  33. I am ok with everything but ,b2 you can see the example the native language or bachelor level even failed so you can imagine how tough it is ,i an living in french my level is b1 but this language isnt like ,German ,English and italian i already can speak 5 language but the way you speak its different in write ,the grammar is more tough , even some time our teacher take her phone and then teach us ,so its not easy .

  35. If you tried this in the US, you'd be called a right-wing racist. Or worse…
    There would be so many protests and speeches at the Oscar awards, etc. It'd never pass.

  36. This is great. Unfortunately America does not do this. Election materials are made available in half a dozen languages.

  37. Was in Lisbon (Portugal) a few months ago. Met a young couple of french engineers who moved there for life quality. They could speak some broken english (apparently enough for their jobs, one in the AI industry and the other in the space industry), and no portuguese at all, and they were not trying to learn nor considering the possibility. They made discover a weird french ghetto in Lisbon, were many french people moved to enjoy their retirement in a sunny vibrant city – they literally forced the local businesses to learn basic french to be able to communicate with them. I wonder how those french people, who sounded quite entitled, would react if Portugal tells them "want to stay here working or enjoying retirement? gotta learn our language buddy!". They would cry hard before starting a massive protest violently burning cars in their way!

  38. Core assumption of immigration is immigrants will eventually become assimilated and naturalized. It's really odd countries let people in without mechanisms to ensure assimilation actually occurs. Immigrants retaining their original culture is not the problem. Not assimilating and refusing to fit in is the problem. Every society has a limit on how many nonfunctioning members they can absorb at a given time. Deporting immigrants who failed assimilation to free up slots for more willing immigrants is only fair. Surprised this is not happening till now

  43. They make the French test for naturalization so hard that French university graduates can't pass it. They should be honest and just admit they don't want to naturalize immigrants.

  44. I wish the US did that with English. Give preference to English speakers for immigration and work permits, and require progress in English for those that are deficient.

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