France Approves New Immigration Law, Tougher Rules for International Students

The French Parliament has adopted a new immigration law, which includes tighter rulers for international students and workers seeking to enter the country, local media reports say.

Under the new law, immigrants will be able to receive state assistance only after living in France for an extended period, meaning from several months to several years.

The legislation came after an agreement was reached between French President Emmanual Macron’s party and the conservative opposition, Erudera.com reports.

The bill introduces some changes, affecting immigrants aiming to reunite with their families in the country, meaning it will be challenging for international students to bring their dependents.

At the same time, there will be additional visa fees for international students. Additionally, the latter have to pay a “return deposit” and will be under quota regulation.

Throughout the year, 42 French universities provided complete waivers of enrollment fees to international students, while 16 percent offered partial exemptions. On the other hand, 13 percent of universities applied increased fees in full.

The new law is expected to affect the most students from Morocco, the nation with the highest representation among students in France. African students have already raised concerns regarding the recent legislation.

In the 2021/22 academic year, the number of Moroccan students increased by 3 percent within one year and by more than 22 percentage points in five years, specifically between 2026 and 2021.

“There’s a migratory fantasy among the government and lawmakers who voted for these measures. African students are suspected of cheating in order to be able to settle permanently in France. The law, which was passed the day after International Migrants Day, “establishes a discriminatory regime and a clear breach of equality between European and non-EU students,” Lina Hernandez, general secretary of the Solidaires Étudiant-e-s student union, told Le Monde.

France hosted over 400,000 international students in the 2021/22 academic year, an 8 percent increase from the previous year. The numbers represent the most significant increase in 15 years, as indicated by data from Campus France, and can be attributed to the growing number of European students.

The top seven countries of origin with the highest number of students in France in 2021/22 were Morocco with 46,371 students, followed by Algeria (31,032), China (27,479), Italy (19,185), Senegal (15,264), Tunisia (12,661) and Spain (11,256).

Differently, some countries such as China and Vietnam had fewer students in France in the same academic year, experiencing a decrease of -2 percent and 4 percent over one year.