France’s Interior and Labour ministries have jointly circulated a 10-page instruction to all prefectures, the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII) and the public employment service France Travail setting out an ambitious “Pact for the Employment of Foreigners”. The circular—dated 22 January 2026 and seen by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs—urges local authorities to fast-track the economic integration of legally-resident non-EU nationals at a time when France is confronting acute labour shortages in construction, hospitality, health care and IT.
The pact orders regional stakeholders to map vacancies, mobilise sectoral training funds and recognise foreign diplomas more systematically. Prefects are told to convene quarterly “employment committees” bringing together chambers of commerce, trade-union federations and employer associations to match newcomers with open positions. Companies that sign up to the scheme will be able to advertise vacancies directly on OFII’s integration platform and receive coaching on how to navigate work-permit renewals and family-reunification procedures.
The same circular confirms the operational roll-out of a mandatory 40-question civic-knowledge examination created by France’s 26 January 2024 immigration-integration law. From 1 January 2026, first-time applicants for multi-year residence permits must pass the computer-based test—which covers French institutions, secularism, gender equality and environmental citizenship—before filing their permit request on the ANEF online portal. The pass mark is 32/40 (80 %). OFII has launched an open-access e-learning site and will certificate training providers able to deliver the requisite 24 hours of classroom preparation in French.
![France issues nationwide ‘Pact for the Employment of Foreigners’ and confirms new civic-knowledge exam for residence permits]()
A number of employers and foreign professionals are also turning to specialised visa services for guidance. VisaHQ, for example, provides up-to-date information on French residence categories, prepares application packets and can even help secure prefecture appointments through its France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/). Leveraging such support can save HR teams and newcomers precious time as they navigate the pact’s stricter documentation and testing requirements.
Language standards are also rising: applicants for most multi-year permits now need level A2 French (up from A1), while ten-year resident-card hopefuls must prove B1. Talent-Passport holders and ICT transferees remain exempt, but the ministries stress that good French “will become an employability imperative”.
For employers the pact offers both carrots and sticks. Sponsors that meet diversity quotas can obtain accelerated appointment slots at prefectures; repeat offenders on illegal work face intensified labour-inspectorate audits. Global mobility managers should therefore review onboarding materials, consider subsidising language courses and help assignees register early for the civic exam to avoid last-minute residence-permit refusals.
The pact orders regional stakeholders to map vacancies, mobilise sectoral training funds and recognise foreign diplomas more systematically. Prefects are told to convene quarterly “employment committees” bringing together chambers of commerce, trade-union federations and employer associations to match newcomers with open positions. Companies that sign up to the scheme will be able to advertise vacancies directly on OFII’s integration platform and receive coaching on how to navigate work-permit renewals and family-reunification procedures.
The same circular confirms the operational roll-out of a mandatory 40-question civic-knowledge examination created by France’s 26 January 2024 immigration-integration law. From 1 January 2026, first-time applicants for multi-year residence permits must pass the computer-based test—which covers French institutions, secularism, gender equality and environmental citizenship—before filing their permit request on the ANEF online portal. The pass mark is 32/40 (80 %). OFII has launched an open-access e-learning site and will certificate training providers able to deliver the requisite 24 hours of classroom preparation in French.
A number of employers and foreign professionals are also turning to specialised visa services for guidance. VisaHQ, for example, provides up-to-date information on French residence categories, prepares application packets and can even help secure prefecture appointments through its France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/). Leveraging such support can save HR teams and newcomers precious time as they navigate the pact’s stricter documentation and testing requirements.
Language standards are also rising: applicants for most multi-year permits now need level A2 French (up from A1), while ten-year resident-card hopefuls must prove B1. Talent-Passport holders and ICT transferees remain exempt, but the ministries stress that good French “will become an employability imperative”.
For employers the pact offers both carrots and sticks. Sponsors that meet diversity quotas can obtain accelerated appointment slots at prefectures; repeat offenders on illegal work face intensified labour-inspectorate audits. Global mobility managers should therefore review onboarding materials, consider subsidising language courses and help assignees register early for the civic exam to avoid last-minute residence-permit refusals.
