Applicants for a French document de séjour (residency document) must sign a contract promising to respect “Republican principles” under new rules that came into force on Wednesday, July 17.
The measure is one of several from the controversial immigration law of January 2024 that are enshrined in law.
Read more: New rules come into force for foreigners and French residency cards
In the decree, published this week, Republican principles are listed as including “personal freedom, freedom of expression and conscience, equality between women and men, the dignity of the human person, the motto and symbols of the Republic, territorial integrity, and secularism”.
The decree states that a residency card may be refused or revoked “in the event of a clear breach of one of these principles”.
It does not specify if the contract will only have to be signed on first-issue of a card, or also on renewals of the same card.
As stated in this article Brexit Withdrawal Agreement cards result from an international treaty rather than just internal French law so they may not be affected - but no detail has been given on any exemptions.
We note that some residency card applicants must already agree to such principles as part of the more complex process called a Contrat d'intégration républicaine.
But in reality, what does respecting Republican principles mean for foreign residents of France?
What are ‘Republican principles’?
“The principle concepts are liberté, egalité, fraternité and laïcité,” immigration lawyer Haywood Martin Wise tells The Connexion.
It is the idea that “we are all living in a social system where there is a mutual respect and colour blindness, and basically no judgements about your own freedom of worship”.
The concept of Republican principles “has to do with mostly respect for women, respect for religious freedom, and complying with the general values of laïcité in France,” he says.
Read more: Laïcité: a bedrock of modern France
Laïcité – or secularism – is the concept of the state being completely neutral when it comes to religion, the almost entire separation of religion and public life, that is both strongly defended and a cause of regular controversy in France.
“It is that you are both tolerant of and do not wish to impose religious belief on other people,” says Mr Wise.
Read more: Do you agree? France’s belief in laïcité (secularism) works
How could you ‘breach’ Republican principles?
The new decree says the state can refuse to issue, or even revoke, a residency permit if an individual “breaches” a Republican principle.
This could include “any kind of expression of anti-ethnic, anti-Islamic sentiment” or breaching the principle of laïcité, says Mr Wise,
The refusal of a residency card could happen, for example, in the case of domestic violence or a legal infraction, but Mr Wise says, in the vast majority of cases, when people apply online, there is no way for authorities to check if they are following Republican principles.
Read more: How to apply online for a French residency card
“How would that apply in the context of a titre de séjour when now we have online renewal processes, it is hard to imagine how it is going to come up,” says Mr Wise.
The new rules “sound like virtue signalling”, he says.
“The French right would have wanted more and a way to enforce these provisions and the French left is just happy to have them and not have any consequences for anyone,” he says.
Mr Wise does not think the new rules will have a serious impact on foreigners applying for residency documents in France.
“I don’t think you should fall into catastrophism with this, it sounds like a concession to me by the French left that will have no real impact on anything,” he says.
Will the new rules affect people applying for residency documents?
“I don’t expect so,” says Mr Wise. “There’s no possibility for enforcement unless we have a demonstration through conduct because people are not going to be interviewed most of the time.
“Maybe if a person is already in France and they are requesting an exceptional titre de séjour, and they are in front of the prefecture requesting it. In that case prior history might result in the refusal of a residency document.
“But for British people, for example, who are requesting a long stay visa to France and then have to renew it on a yearly basis, I don’t see where this is going to come up, unless there’s some kind of criminal activity,” he says.
Do the new Republican rules mean you cannot support the UK royal family?
Will the pledge to uphold France’s Republican values mean you should become an ardent anti-royalist?
Mr Wise dismisses the idea.
“They don’t care,” he says, of the French authorities, for example if someone had showed support for the UK royal family on Facebook.
