A NEW RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR JOBS IN TENSION


french immigration lawThe bill on immigration and the right to asylum has been adopted by the Council of Ministers. The text proposes a new residence permit for jobs in tension. The project includes a large number of provisions aimed at improving the employment of foreign workers in an irregular situation and that of asylum seekers. It tries to respond to the recruitment difficulties of the sectors in tension.The new bill has been introduced and will be discussed in parliament in the spring of 2023 to be enacted in the fall of 2023.

Creation of a new residence permit for jobs in tension.

The draft law creates a new residence permit accessible to foreigners in an irregular situation present in the territory for more than three years without interruption, exercising a job in an activity or a geographical area considered to be in tension for at least eight months in the last 24 months of presence on the territory.

The foreign worker will automatically be issued a temporary residence permit bearing the mention “work in shortage occupations” for a period of one year. He may be issued, on the expiry of this permit, a multi-year residence permit bearing the mention “employee” subject to benefiting from a permanent contract and satisfying the new requirements in terms of proficiency in French (read our box below). below). The issuance of this card will lead to that of the work permit (article L. 5221-2 of the labor code).

An implementing decree will specify the procedures for issuing the residence permit mentioning “work in shortage occupations”, in particular with regard to the procedures for taking into account part-time and multiple jobs for the count periods conditioning the benefit of the title.

The Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, specified during the report of the Council of Ministers that the quotas or a ceiling applicable to this new residence permit could be discussed during the parliamentary examination of the bill.

Periods of stay and salaried professional activity carried out under cover of a “student” residence permit, a multi-year “seasonal worker” residence permit or as an asylum seeker authorized to work are not taken into account. account for obtaining a temporary residence permit bearing the mention “work in shortage occupations”.

This card can be granted until December 31, 2026. The government must submit a report to Parliament summarizing this experiment by the end of June 2026 at the latest.

These provisions will remain applicable even after this date to holders of a residence permit issued before December 31, 2026.

Olivier Dussopt announced that the list of sectors in tension will be updated to better represent certain sectors such as cooking and cleanliness (thus going in the direction of the opinion of the Council of State).

 

Strengthen sanctions for employers in an irregular situation.

The bill intends to further sanction companies that employ workers in an irregular situation. A new administrative penalty is thus created. The advantage, underlined Olivier Dussopt, is that these are “very rapid and dissuasive sanctions”.

In order to determine the amount of the fine, the prefect of the department may take into account the circumstances of the breach, the behavior of its author, in particular his good faith, as well as his resources and his charges.

The maximum amount of the fine will be 4,000 euros and may be applied as many times as there are foreign workers affected by the violation. The ceiling of the fine may be doubled in the event of a new breach noted within two years from the date of notification of the fine concerning a previous breach of the same nature.

Due to the “non bis in idem” principle expressly pointed out by the Council of State in its opinion, when an administrative fine and a criminal fine are imposed on the same person for the same facts, the amount overall fines imposed may not exceed the highest legal maximum of the penalties incurred.

The limitation period for the action of the administration for the sanction of the breach by an administrative fine will be two years from the day on which the breach ceased.

The person against whom a fine is imposed may challenge the decision of the administration before the administrative court, to the exclusion of any hierarchical appeal.

A Conseil d’Etat decree will have to set the terms of application and the conditions for the implementation of this new fine.

 

A list of jobs in tension to be updated.

The list of jobs in tension, which has not been renewed for three years, will be updated to take recent developments into account.The cooking and cleaning trades are very rare. The creation of this new residence permit is expected by the professional world. It aims to respond to recruitment difficulties. There are sectors of activity in which there are 20 to 25% foreigners, which cannot function without them.

According to a report from the Ministry of the Interior, 52,000 residence permits were issued for economic reasons in 2022, up 45% compared to 2021. Regularizations of undocumented workers are also experiencing a sharp increase, from 29%, and mainly concern Algerians, Moroccans and Malians. In total, labor immigration accounted for 16% of flows, a record for several decades.

Faced with criticism from some of the Republicans and the National Rally, who accuse the creation of a new residence permit for jobs in tension of promoting massive regularizations, the ministers have shown themselves open to restricting the extent. The Minister of Labour, who does not expect a number of regularizations “consequent”, indicates that the new residence permit is only created until the end of 2026. At this date, Parliament will have to assess it, before deciding whether or not to renew it.

 

Acceleratehiring asylum seekers.

The bill also intends “to authorize certain asylum seekers to work before the six-month period, which is an incompressible period before requesting a derogation to have the right to work when one is an asylum seeker, explained Olivier Dussopt Wednesday. Will be concerned foreigners who come from countries for which the acceptance rate is extremely high. “The list of countries will be regularly updated to take into account the evolution of each country and the evolution of the acceptance rates”, specified the Minister of Labor. The list may also be supplemented and one of the countries concerned suspended.

The asylum seeker who will thus access the labor market, under these conditions, must benefit from the language training provided for as part of the personalized Republican integration course under conditions which must be specified by decree. He must also benefit from training actions contributing to the development of the skills provided for in Article L.6313-1 of the labor code.

 

Modernize the scheme talent passport.

TheTalent passport, which facilitates entry into the territory of people earning more than 54,000 euros, will be simplified to be more accessible. And a new Talent Passport, for the medical and pharmaceutical professions will be created, as people in these professions do not earn the 54,000 euros required for the Talent Passport.

On the other hand, the titles currently issued for the reasons of business creation, innovative economic project and investment in France will be merged under a single title bearing the mention “talent-project leader ».

Finally, a new multi-year residence permit has been created.talent – ​​medical and pharmacy professions dedicated to health professionals and their families when they are recruited by a public or private non-profit health, social or medico-social establishment.

Improve learning French.

The bill also provides that any foreigner applying for a long residence permit will have to pass a French exam, whereas until now, he was only required to follow the courses. The examination will be the existing one for applications for French nationality, which has proven itself, according to Gérald Darmanin. Companies will be asked, by a decree to be written after consultation with employers’ organizations, to free up working time so that foreigners can learn French.

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