France announces the biggest news of its immigration history by confirming Citizenship to 12,000 immigrants. Many frontline employees’ jobs were in danger due to Covid-19 for a long time. Now, with the help of a particular fast-track scheme, the government awarded more than 12,000 such employees citizenship of France.
The application procedure took time of maximum 2 years in the past. The government is also putting an effort to make the application procedure speedy. Moreover, the government has announced the residency criteria for two years. Before this announcement, this was 5 years.
French hospital and nursing care workers were given tax-free bonuses ranging from €1,000 to €1,500 in April 2020. They got this as part of the government’s gratitude for their contributions during the Covid-19 issue. The government awarded Covid-19 incentives of up to €1,000 for France’s 320,000 home-care workers in August 2020.
The good news was released On Thursday, September 9, during the naturalization ceremony held at the Panthéon. This was on the first anniversary of the French government’s decision taken on September 14, 2020, to make available an exceptional mechanism for acquiring French nationality for foreign nationals working at the frontline during the pandemic.
According to data revealed by the General Directorate of Foreigners in France (DGEF) a total of 84,864 foreigners acquired French nationality in 2020, which is a drop of 22.7 percent compared to the previous year.
Citizenship Minister, Marlene Schiappa said “ Frontline employees answered the nation’s demand, therefore it’s only appropriate that the nation responds generously. The state is thankful to them.”
She further said, “ I offer a warm welcome to our new French citizens and express my gratitude on behalf of the nation. They are also honored by the state.”
The interior ministry asked those who “actively helped” in the fight against the Covid health disaster in September 2020. The purpose of this invitation was to apply for fast-track naturalization. According to Schiappa, 16,381 people applied after the invitation. Among them, we approved 12,012.
In September 2020, the ministry streamlined the procedure for acquiring French nationality for foreign health professionals, security or maintenance agents, cashiers, or home helpers mobilized during the health crisis, in particular at two years of age. instead of five, the minimum period of residence in France is required.
According to the ministry, the individuals who got the approval were:
- Healthcare providers,
- Security employees,
- Cleaning employees,
- Caretakers for critical employees’ children,
- Home support workers,
- Waste collectors.
France accepted almost 32,212 during the first six months of 2021. This was the second biggest number after Germany during the same period. You can read here complete report.