Immigration again took centre stage in France’s budget process on 10 January 2026, when National Rally MP Michel Guiniot tabled separate amendments seeking deep cuts to integration and asylum programmes.
• Amendment 002343 would reduce the ‘Intégration des étrangers primo-arrivants’ line by €19.45 million, a 20 % cut that sponsors say reflects low uptake of integration-contract training.
• Amendment 002339 targets the Office Français de Protection des Réfugiés et Apatrides (OFPRA), trimming €10.9 million from funds earmarked for implementing the EU Migration Pact.
For organisations and individuals who still need to secure visas, residence permits or other French immigration documents amid these shifting budgetary winds, VisaHQ can provide timely, hands-on assistance. Its online portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) offers step-by-step guidance, document checks and real-time tracking, helping applicants avoid administrative pitfalls and stay informed even if cutbacks slow government processing.
![Opposition amendments aim to slash migrant-integration and asylum budgets by €30 million]()
Guiniot argues that France is ‘financing its own migration pull-factor’ and should redirect money to border enforcement. NGOs and business groups have reacted sharply, warning that under-funded integration services would lengthen work-permit processing times and slow labour-market entry for dependants and refugees—ultimately hurting employers who rely on a steady pipeline of legal migrant labour.
The amendments will be put to a vote during the forthcoming plenary marathon on the finance bill. Even if rejected, they highlight the political headwinds facing France’s integration infrastructure at a time when new civic- and language-test requirements are already straining prefectures.
Corporate-mobility managers are advised to monitor the debate: any reduction in OFPRA or integration funding could lengthen asylum interviews, delay work permission for recognised refugees and intensify prefectural bottlenecks across the board.
• Amendment 002343 would reduce the ‘Intégration des étrangers primo-arrivants’ line by €19.45 million, a 20 % cut that sponsors say reflects low uptake of integration-contract training.
• Amendment 002339 targets the Office Français de Protection des Réfugiés et Apatrides (OFPRA), trimming €10.9 million from funds earmarked for implementing the EU Migration Pact.
For organisations and individuals who still need to secure visas, residence permits or other French immigration documents amid these shifting budgetary winds, VisaHQ can provide timely, hands-on assistance. Its online portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) offers step-by-step guidance, document checks and real-time tracking, helping applicants avoid administrative pitfalls and stay informed even if cutbacks slow government processing.
Guiniot argues that France is ‘financing its own migration pull-factor’ and should redirect money to border enforcement. NGOs and business groups have reacted sharply, warning that under-funded integration services would lengthen work-permit processing times and slow labour-market entry for dependants and refugees—ultimately hurting employers who rely on a steady pipeline of legal migrant labour.
The amendments will be put to a vote during the forthcoming plenary marathon on the finance bill. Even if rejected, they highlight the political headwinds facing France’s integration infrastructure at a time when new civic- and language-test requirements are already straining prefectures.
Corporate-mobility managers are advised to monitor the debate: any reduction in OFPRA or integration funding could lengthen asylum interviews, delay work permission for recognised refugees and intensify prefectural bottlenecks across the board.
