France makes it harder to become French

France makes it harder to become French


France will be making it harder for foreigners to seek French citizenship as of January. Critics say the new requirements, which include tough language tests and allegiance to “French values”, are an electoral ploy that panders to the far right.
By FRANCE 24 (text)


Foreigners seeking French nationality face tougher requirements as of January 1, when new rules drawn up by Interior Minister Claude Guéant come into force.

Candidates will be tested on French culture and history, and will have to prove their French language skills are equivalent to those of a 15-year-old mother tongue speaker. They will also be required to sign a new charter establishing their rights and responsibilities.

“Becoming French is not a mere administrative step. It is a decision that requires a lot of thought”, reads the charter, drafted by France’s High Council for Integration (HCI). In a more obscure passage, the charter suggests that by taking on French citizenship, “applicants will no longer be able to claim allegiance to another country while on French soil”, although dual nationality will still be allowed.

Guéant, a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party, described the process as “a solemn occasion between the host nation and the applicant”, adding that migrants should be integrated through language and “an adherence to the principals, values and symbols of our democracy”. He stressed the importance of the secular state and equality between women and men: rhetoric perceived largely as a snipe at Muslim applicants, who make up the majority of the 100,000 new French citizens admitted each year.

France’s interior minister has made it clear that immigrants who refuse to “assimilate” into French society should be denied French citizenship.

Earlier this year, Guéant intervened personally to ensure an Algerian-born man living in France was denied French nationality because of his “degrading attitude” to his French wife.

That followed an earlier push by France’s former Immigration Minister Eric Besson to revise existing laws in order to strip polygamists of their acquired citizenship.

Pandering to the far right?

Guéant has come under criticism numerous times over the past year for allegedly pandering to the whims of far-right voters in his efforts to secure a second term for Sarkozy in 2012. The UMP has edged progressively further right over the course of Sarkozy’s term, even as the far-right National Front party continued to bite into its pool of voters.

Marine Le Pen, the popular leader of the anti-immigration National Front, has been campaigning in favour of a ban on dual citizenship in France, which she blames for encouraging immigration and weakening French values. While several UMP members have endorsed her stance, Guéant has stopped short of calling for a ban on dual nationality, largely because of the legal difficulties such a move would entail.

But the interior minister has taken a hard line on immigration, announcing plans to reduce the number of legal immigrants coming to France annually from 200,000 to 180,000 and calling for those convicted of felony to be expelled from the country.

François Hollande, the Socialist Party’s candidate in forthcoming presidential elections, described Guéant’s stance as “the election strategy of a right wing ready to do anything in order to hold on to power”, adding that his own party would tackle all criminals “irrespective of their nationality”.

Under further proposals put forward by the ruling UMP party, non-French children who would normally be naturalised at the age of 18 (those who are born in the country and have spent most of their childhood there) would instead have to formally apply to the state.

Should Sarkozy and his party secure a second term in 2012, analysts predict a return to an immigration stance that hasn’t been seen in France for almost two decades. They point to a case of déjà vu: in 1993 Charles Pasqua, then France’s interior minister, coined the slogan “zero immigration” and introduced a bill that made it virtually impossible for children born in France to non-French parents to be naturalised.

http://www.france24.com/en/20111229...ion-election-looms-sarkozy-gueant-citizenship

Europeans are awakening from their slumber. They are starting to realize that progressive multiculturalism will be their doom.


_

 

can you still sneak in after 3 years in the Foreign Legion?

 

Probably, they teach you French in boot camp.

 

they don't so much as teach it, as beat it into you...and by beat, i mean pre-'63 USMC beat it into you.

 

Sounds like they are beating the French out of them.


_

 

fixed that for you.

the highest number of enlistees from anyone country was "Belgium". French aren't allowed to join...or weren't. <---i haven't really kept up on that, and i'm too lazy to look it up.

 

LOL! Thanks. I knew I loved the FFL for a reason. I wish that I could be a FFL drill sgt. now.

 

Since Sarkozy has been elected, it has been harder to be French

 

You can wear the burka in the privacy of your flat.

_

 

Thanks.

But I'd rather go outside to cheat

 

Sorry, your profile says that you are a dude.

_

 

Correct.

I have left that tidbit out of my e-burka, in case one is interested

 

I never knew that many people wanted to move to France that they're stepping up immigration requirements. Then again California has a large population so what does that say.

Speaking of which, California is the France of America, they're both great places to visit and the urban areas are filled with wackos. Also everything is too expensive.

 

70 years ago France was taught about intolerance and susicion of immigrants by the best of the best!

 

Good, maybe we'll follow suit.

 

Whats minimum number of snails one must be able to eat in an hour? Did they raise that too?

 

and they both have a Disney park.

 

It's hard to believe that the French are taking the lead - again - in this.

Smart move on their part, indeed.

 

I've seen the test that immigrants have to take to become American citizens. Another nurse and I took it one night at work and we aced it. Unfortunately, the high school grad nurse's aides we worked with, couldn't pass it.

American education - and it's the best money can buy?

 

Actions like these will be necessary for France's survival. With nearly a 10% Muslim population, a percentage expected to quintuple within the next 40 years, drastic measures are going to need to be taken to preserve Western civilization in that country. They are already plagued with no-go zones and "youth" riots. This will only get worse.

 

Countries should have some sort of intelligence test for applicants. Here in america, they should take the SAT ( in english of course) and we should insist on 600+ in both math and verbal. Skip the essay test since that's just more affirmative action for blacks.

 

have you ever been to france or north africa?

 

France has population control issues. Why? because they are a culture and society that is not in debt. Same as Germany.

Both also have socialist type governments that really run the country.

So if they are one of the good countries to live, they do nees some kind of control. Hell, some loser Americans with a lot of money are trying to get French citizenship, because the USA and the other broke in debt countries have no room for positive growth.

Go figure. Go ahead, go, go.

 

how are they losers?

 

Great argument.
Do you know what capitalization is?

_