At the beginning of the month I stumbled upon this article (in French) discussing the changes in the language requirements for becoming a French citizen. Apparently they have just changed the law and now candidates applying for French citizenship must demonstrate a B1 level of French, rather than the previous A1. If they cannot demonstrate this new level, they will be required to take language classes until they obtain the level. These can either be free class with government accredited "FLI" (français langue d'intégration) institutions, or, for those who want to reach the level faster, private lessons that the candidate must pay for.
Apparently, included in this new language requirement is the elimination of the traditional language interview to obtain citizenship. Now the candidate will be required to supply proof that they have the appropriate level in the form of a diploma or an attestation de niveau from an institution recognized by the Minister of the Interior.
What do you think?
I think it's a good idea because speaking the language of the country you live in really is the bare minimum in my opinion, and B1 is not a difficult level to reach. They aren't asking for scholarly essays, etc (that'll be the next step lol). I'm not sure how i'd get a certificate of my level but if they want to sponsor me to take the C1 or C2 exams, I'd be up for that. In the big picture I really don't think there are that many immigrants per year who become citizens and evaluating our level is a pretty simple thing for them to cover. What's ridiculous is when we have to go to the "integration" classes and they are taught by an immigrant who can't even speak french and doesn't know who Louis XIV is.. that's a huge waste of tax dollars. Also all the lines we have to wait in, all the paperwork we have to file.. I say they cut back on all of that mess and in exchange they give us a language test. That would be a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the change either. When a country has an official language and you want to become a naturalized citizen of that country, then you have to learn that language. For immigrants who haven't gone to school in France and who don't have a regular diplôme, they'll just require a certificate from one of the government-approved schools/testing centers (like ones that do the TCF or DALF/DELF). It just adds more expenses to the applicant since taking those tests costs a couple hundred euros sometimes, but other than that I don't see it as being a huge change.
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