The French government recently announced that since the outbreak of the epidemic crisis, more than 700 foreign workers on the front line of the fight against the epidemic will be allowed to become French citizens because of their contributions.
According to AFP, Marlène Schiappa, the assistant minister for civic affairs, issued a directive to the provinces in mid-September this year to “accelerate” and “simplify” the acquisition of French nationality by those who have made “positive contributions” in the fight against the epidemic.
In the next three months, provincial governments reported a total of 2,890 naturalization applications under this project, of which 693 were about to acquire nationality and 74 had acquired nationality.
The foreign workers, who worked in different occupations, such as health professionals, cleaners, nurseries, cashiers, said in a statement, “They have proved their emotional ties with the French nation, and the Republic then took a step towards them.”
In previous instructions to provincial governors, applicants marked as “provide important services” have a minimum number of years of residence in France from five years to two years.
In 2019, more than 112,000 people acquired French citizenship, of which 48,000 were naturalized, a significant decrease (-10%) from the previous year.
