Bruno Retailleau announced that he wanted to toughen the rules for regularizing certain undocumented immigrants, in particular by returning to the Valls circular sent to the prefects more than ten years ago.
:quality(50)/2023/07/07/64a7df4c5fe71_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Updated
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2024/10/10/000-par7354384-6707ef562e438327770815.jpg)
“We must only regularize slowly”. In a newspaper interview The Parisianthe Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau announces that he wants to tighten the rules for regularizing certain undocumented immigrants. The tenant of Place Beauvau even specifies that he intends to return to the Valls circular and promises to send, in the coming weeks, two new circulars to the prefects.
A circular in place since 2012
The Valls Circular is a circular taken by Manuel Valls in 2012, when he was Minister of the Interior. At the time, the left had just returned to power and in the months that followed, he signed this 12-page letter giving instructions to the prefects concerning the regularization of undocumented immigrants. It is in fact the prefects who have the power to grant, or not, residence permits to foreigners in an irregular situation.
Specific eligibility conditions
This circular provides for granting regularization to undocumented immigrants who find themselves in specific situations. For example, eligible are: parents of children who have been in school for at least three years and who can prove they have settled permanently in France, young adults falling into an irregular situation on the day of their 18th birthday while they were in school in France, previous years, and victims of domestic violence or human trafficking.
The Valls circular allows them, in theory, to obtain regularization on an exceptional basis. This circular also emphasizes work. An undocumented migrant residing in France for at least 5 years and who can present regular pay slips, or who has an employment contract or a promise of employment can, thanks to the Valls circular, make a request employee residence permit.
“Stable” figures in recent years
Every year, around 30,000 people are regularized via the Valls circular, including 23,000 for family reasons and 7,000 for work. This figure has been stable for several years. Moreover, at the time of publication of the circular, Manuel Valls himself affirmed that his text was not intended to increase “consequently” the number of regularized foreigners. But it was rather intended to demonstrate transparency on the criteria used to grant residence permits.