A number of organisations supporting foreigners in France have complained about the struggles migrants are facing to book a residence permit appointment.
As they have explained, it has become very difficult to find available slots via legal paths, pushing foreigners to turn to intermediary companies, which charge large sums of money for services that are originally free, Schengen.News reports.
According to organisations, foreigners are paying as much as €800 just to secure an appointment for a residence permit, Bladi explains. This is a very high amount of money, and the organisations have considered this a form of scamming.
While this is not the first time that organisations supporting foreigners in the French territory have complained about such matters, the authorities are yet to share what measures they have taken so far or plan on taking in the future to tackle these problems.
Foreigners Paying Large Amounts of Money for Citizenship Applications, Too
Foreigners wanting to apply for a French residence permit are not the only ones struggling to secure appointments. Those who want to apply for citizenship are sharing the same experience.
Organisations said that foreigners wanting to apply for citizenship are paying up to €1,200 for intermediaries to put their naturalisation process together.
An applicant said that despite paying this large sum of money, her citizenship application was rejected, and she did not get a refund.
Commenting on the matter, the head of a migrant aid organisation said that these companies, which claim to offer these services, know nothing. An activist appeared to be fed up with the situation, too, saying these companies are exploiting foreigners.
The Ministry of Interior of France has called on all those who have fallen victim to scams to report their cases. In addition, it recalled that there are legally established companies in major French cities that offer services in line with the country’s laws.
France to Introduce New Language Requirement for Residence Permit Applicants
France is planning to implement new language requirements for migrants residing in the country. This measure is expected to impact more than 300,000 foreigners who are currently in the country.
While it is estimated that a majority will be able to meet the new requirements, around 60,000 of them could lose their right to remain in the French territory due ot the failure to successfully complete the language test.
The new measure, which is yet to be decided when it will be implemented, will include a written test. Higher language proficiency will be required for those applying for longer validity residency permits, and lower language proficiency will be required for residence permits of two to four years.