As the French Senate combed through the 2026 draft budget on 3 December, Senator Guylène Pantel filed Amendment 1415 to shift €3 million into the “Integration and Access to French Nationality” programme. The money would come from the parallel “Immigration & Asylum” envelope, keeping the overall mission budget neutral.
The catalyst is Decree 2025-647, which from 1 January 2026 raises language thresholds for residence permits (A2 for multi-year cartes de séjour) and for ten-year resident cards (B1) and introduces a mandatory civic-knowledge exam. Officials estimate thousands of additional foreigners will need state-funded French classes and test preparation.
![Senate amendment seeks €3 million boost for immigrant language & civics training]()
Pantel’s explanatory note warns that without extra funding, OFII-run integration courses will be oversubscribed, jeopardising foreigners’ ability to meet the tougher standards and risking a processing bottleneck for prefectures. Digital-access support is also flagged, with many applicants still struggling to navigate online booking systems.
While only a small line-item in a €480 billion budget, the amendment is politically symbolic: it reframes integration spending as an investment rather than a cost, countering calls from the lower house to cut immigration-related outlays. Business-immigration lawyers say corporate transferees on talent-passports could benefit if training capacity expands, reducing wait times for mandatory language certificates.
The amendment will be voted on later this week; if adopted it would signal cross-party recognition that stricter rules must be matched by practical support, an approach applauded by relocation firms that already budget for private language tuition when public slots are scarce.
The catalyst is Decree 2025-647, which from 1 January 2026 raises language thresholds for residence permits (A2 for multi-year cartes de séjour) and for ten-year resident cards (B1) and introduces a mandatory civic-knowledge exam. Officials estimate thousands of additional foreigners will need state-funded French classes and test preparation.
Pantel’s explanatory note warns that without extra funding, OFII-run integration courses will be oversubscribed, jeopardising foreigners’ ability to meet the tougher standards and risking a processing bottleneck for prefectures. Digital-access support is also flagged, with many applicants still struggling to navigate online booking systems.
While only a small line-item in a €480 billion budget, the amendment is politically symbolic: it reframes integration spending as an investment rather than a cost, countering calls from the lower house to cut immigration-related outlays. Business-immigration lawyers say corporate transferees on talent-passports could benefit if training capacity expands, reducing wait times for mandatory language certificates.
The amendment will be voted on later this week; if adopted it would signal cross-party recognition that stricter rules must be matched by practical support, an approach applauded by relocation firms that already budget for private language tuition when public slots are scarce.
