The deputy general director of the Ofii immigration service has spoken to The Connexion about the new language levels that will be required for many French residency cards by January 1, 2026.
Fabrice Blanchard also responded to allegations made by the French public service media, including the claim that “tens of thousands of immigrants are going to become eligible to be expelled from France” due to the language changes.
Read more: Obligatory new French tests for some residency cards – is level too tough?
It comes after a France 2 report cited language schools and teachers saying that the new levels, fixed by the 2024 immigration law, will be too hard for many relatively recent newcomers to France.
The report used the phrase ‘collège level’ (early years of French secondary school) for the A2 European level that will be required to obtain a ‘multi-year’ card after an initial year or more on one-year cards (up from A1 [training only]). This refers only to types of card where the applicant is subject to signing a ‘Republican integration contract’ (CIR), such as many cards for employees, self-employed people and people coming due to family links in France.
The report referred to ‘lycée level’ (upper secondary) to obtain a 10-year carte de résident (B1) [up from A2] and ‘university level’ for applicants for French nationality (B2) [up from B1].
Officially, the levels are referred to by European officials as ‘basic’ (A1, A2), ‘independent user’ (B1, B2) and ‘proficient’ (C1, C2). In each case level 2 is higher than level 1.
France 2 definitions of levels are ‘simplistic’
“This report creates a controversy which is biased and unhelpful,” Mr Blanchard said.
He said France 2 had used language level definitions which were “unofficial” and “simplistic”.
“We go by Europe’s CEFR levels, we don’t talk about collège, lycée etc. I think they tried to simplify, but in a simplistic way. That’s their responsibility.
“We just say A2 for the multi-year card, B1 for a carte de résident, B2 for French nationality.”
With regard to the levels, he said: “Back in 2006, some people – probably the same as today who are raising the alarm – said in press articles that linking an obligation to learn French to residency cards [as is already done in the CIR, though without an obligation to pass a test] was heretical and senseless.
“I think, sincerely, that over the last 20 years we have not seen, contrary to what they said, any decrease in the issue of residency cards, or increase in expulsions, linked to that.
“As for the [new] level, there will always be some people who say it’s too high, but I say that A1, the level asked for today for the CIR, is very insufficient to integrate successfully, for example for work. It’s extremely basic.
“If we take France 2’s simplistic definition of A2 as ‘collège’, when children enter collège, they speak and understand French perfectly even if they maybe write it with a little more difficulty. That’s not necessarily the case for non-native speakers with a level of A2.
“Level A2 is higher than A1, but it’s still quite basic all the same.
“We, at least, the government and lawmakers, have decided that A2 is the minimum for the CIR and the multi-year card – I won’t comment on the carte de résident and nationality, which are not Ofii’s responsibility.
“But A2 seems to me the minimum and when you look at other European countries, the level asked for, where there are similar schemes, is A2, or even B1, not A1.”
The tests that people currently take to prove their level as part of applications for a 10-year carte de résident or for French nationality, are largely based on listening and reading comprehension (often with multiple-choice answers) and oral exercises – actual writing required is minimal.
“Among specialists in French as a foreign language, opinions differ. I recently spoke to a university expert who said A2 is the minimum you could require, but there will be other experts and teachers who may say it’s too high.
“Either way, the lawmakers have decided on it, and it’s all with a goal of better integration, it’s not just done to cause bother to people.”
The A2 level will, by January 1, 2026 at the latest, be required for candidates to obtain a multi-year (issued for between two and four year years) card in categories whose holders are subject to signing a CIR at the local branch of Ofii after they settle in France.
None of these language changes apply to people who hold Brexit WA cards. Read the link below for more on who the tests apply to.
Read more: New language tests for French residency cards – eight key questions
On attending an Ofii welcome day these newcomers are given advice on integration, tested on their language skills and offered lessons, if necessary, plus four days of ‘civic training’ spread out over several months.
The CIR and related lessons/training do not apply to retirees and early-retirees who come to France on so-called ‘visitor’ visas, or highly-skilled workers on ‘passeport talent’ visas among others.
Signatories to a CIR currently only have to agree to take free lessons if their language level is assessed at less than A1 (the most basic European level). Having taken the lessons is, currently, the only language obligation for obtaining a multi-year card after an initial period on a one-year visa and/or one or more ‘temporary’ (one-year) residency cards.
New 2024 immigration law rules already in force also state that ‘temporary’ versions of the cards in question may not be renewed under the same heading (eg. salaried work) more than three times before a person is obliged to obtain a multi-year card to stay in France.
Read more: 2024 official residency card statistics released, how many Britons and Americans are moving to France?
France 2 showed a document it attributed to the Interior Ministry, which estimated that 15,000 - 20,000 CIR-signatories were liable to be refused multi-year cards if the level required was set at A2 and if the number of hours of language training currently offered was not increased.
Applicants will have to pay for own test
France 2 referred to multi-year card candidates having in future to pay for the tests they will take, as is already the case for applicants for the carte de résident or nationality, citing costs of around €100 (carte de résident and nationality candidates organise this themselves, at a local test centre).
Mr Blanchard said this was correct.
“Today when you ask for a carte de résident or nationality, to obtain your language certification you have to pay for it. From July 1 we are putting in place new public tender contracts for the provision of language and civic training [undertaken by CIR signatories].
Read more: French 10-year residency cards - the three types, and who can apply for them
“Under the current contracts, Ofii could finance certifications for those who [optionally] asked for it. From July 1, this will no longer be funded by Ofii, and thus those who apply for a multi-year card will have to finance their certification, like those who ask for a 10-year card or nationality. We are aligning the procedures so it is the same for everyone.”
Mr Blanchard confirmed that the new 2024 immigration law rules imply that a person could have up to four years in France to reach the A2 level: including a first year, for example, on a VLS-TS visa deemed equivalent to a first temporary residency card, then a maximum of three ‘renewals’ of one-year cards.
He said he did not recognise the ‘Interior Ministry’ document that showed calculations as to how many foreign people may be refused cards in the event of language lesson hours not being increased.
France 2 also alleged that “at the same time the number of hours of lessons offered is decreasing”.
It showed an internal Ofii document that referred to quotas being imposed on how many foreign people are invited to Ofii CIR welcome days, the need for ‘budgetary restrictions’ and for less frequent training sessions for certain foreigners.
It also cited an unnamed Offii official who was critical of the fact that much of the language training is being put online.
Mr Blanchard said the reductions referred to had related to 2024, which saw a particularly busy first half of the year, and thus requirements for some constraints in the second half to stay within budget.
Even so, there were 115,000 CIR signed in the year, similar to previous years, he said.
“Ofii must, like any state body, play its part in efforts to reduce public spending,” he said.
He added: “The new 2025 finance law implies that savings have to be made, which will apply to Ofii as well as other bodies, but we will continue to give people training.”
Read more: French budget is forced through parliament, how could it affect your finances?
People not invited to Ofii in a given year for budget reasons, can have their temporary card renewed and then be invited in the following one, he added. “This has always existed,” Mr Blanchard said.
“As for 2025, there will be a change from July when we are bringing in a platform for learning French at a distance,” he said. “There will still be in-person lessons for those who have the poorest French skills, ie. they can’t read or write French.”
The internet platform is not yet ready, so full details are not available of how it will work.
Change to online learning is for flexibility, not due to cuts
“There are already many other similar platforms that exist, where you can learn a language on your computer or smartphone, 24 hours a day. You have no teacher in front of you, but you progress through your training at your own speed.”
He added: “This is not a budget-related decision. It comes out of our reflections on the way people learn French. We get a lot of working people, and being obliged to follow in-person lessons can be difficult for them. More and more workers can’t follow the obligatory lessons. So, this is responding to a need.”
The lessons will be available for one year, he said. After that those that need it can access other language training, for example via lessons financed by the Interior Ministry, France Travail or the regional councils.
The CIR is also changing to include culture and history elements as part of the civic training sessions from July, he said.
The 2024 immigration law includes a requirement for CIR signatories to pass a test in this material, but which they will be able to retake as many times as they wish. This test will be organised by the Interior Ministry, not Ofii, Mr Blanchard said.
The law also requires all applicants, for all residency cards, to sign a pledge to follow Republican values, eg. gender equality and respect for democracy and the secular state. Card renewals may be refused for those deemed not to have respected this but account will be taken of the seriousness of the behaviour and the person’s time in France and links with the country.
