That Wednesday afternoon, the office of La Cimade, boulevard des Batignolles, in Paris, was overflowing with people. Despite the rain, a crowd stretches in front of the door, before being able to access one of the volunteers trained in foreigners’ rights by the association. Modibo (1), a 31-year-old Malian, presents himself to Marie-France. Arriving in France in January 2022, this slightly shy man, with a slender profile, has been in an irregular situation since then. But he always worked, as a cleaner in a shopping center. “I would like to know if I can be regularized”, he simply asks.
With large-framed glasses on his nose, Marie-France, who knows his stuff, immediately dives into the briefcase where he has stored his papers. She is looking if he can prove his presence in the territory for three years, preferably using documents from an administration, and if he can provide 24 pay slips, including 8 in the last twelve months.
“Sir, you are almost perfect in pay slips, she announces after a few minutes of careful examination, lighting a little light in Modibo’s eyes. Just three are missing. Can you get them back? Be careful, the salary must be at least half of the minimum wage. On the other hand, you will need a little more proof of presence. You declared your taxes ? »
“Do you get along well with your boss?” »
According to the law, an undocumented foreigner can hope to obtain a residence permit if he meets a certain number of criteria, family or professional, specified in 2012 by the Valls circular, which allows some 30,000 regularizations per year. In 2023, more than 22,000 were with the motive “personal and family ties” (young people placed in child welfare, spouses of people in a regular situation, parents of children in school, etc.) and 11,500 because of their work. “Hope” only because this “exceptional admission to the stay” is not automatically: it falls within the discretionary power of the prefect, who can therefore say yes or no.
To be regularized through work, it is also necessary, a significant difficulty, to obtain from the boss that he signs an official document, a Cerfa, in which he not only acknowledges employing the person, but also undertakes to pay a tax. “This is often where things get stuck with employers, because as much as they don’t mind employing an undocumented migrant, they don’t want to be held accountable,” resumes Marie-France.
“Do you get along well with your boss?” “, she asks. Modibo responds with a small smile as a sign of concern. If many undocumented immigrants work with an alias, that is to say under the identity of someone who is in a regular situation, without their employer knowing it, Modibo gave his real name. His company, which is required to check the administrative status of any new hire, therefore undoubtedly knows that he is undocumented. But, if he asks him to sign the famous Cerfa, will the boss accept or get rid of him? “It’s going to take a little time anyway,” sighs Marie-France.
“Many undocumented immigrants work but it’s difficult to put all these positions in a list”
Like La Cimade, many associations which help undocumented immigrants are waiting. The latest immigration law, promulgated in January 2024, has in fact introduced a new regularization route, which, as a facilitating element, no longer requires the person to request a Cerfa document from their boss. On the other hand, it will be reserved for people who work in a so-called shortage profession, for which employers have recruitment difficulties. But the creation of the list of these professions in tension, worked with the social partners in each region to best correspond to recruitment needs, has fallen behind schedule. The government finally promised it for February.
During the parliamentary debates, there was talk that this regularization of professions in tension would be added to the Valls circular, but the new Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, recently indicated that it would replace it. A new circular, expected in the coming days, must specify the criteria. With the risk that regularization through work will be tightened.
“If there are no more regularizations than in professions in tension, there will be many fewer people regularized, believes Marie-France. Many undocumented immigrants work in jobs that others don’t want to do, but it’s difficult to put all of these jobs in a list. » It is therefore impossible to know, at this stage, whether the work of cleaning man in a shopping center that Modibo does will indeed be one of the so-called shortage professions in his employment area.
“What will happen to family regularizations? »
And that of Mirzo (1)? This jovial young man, who arrived from Tajikistan in 2018, worked as a store window installer, with a specialty in refrigeration, until the end of 2024, when his boss retired. Ginette, the volunteer who receives it, prefers to be frank: “What is certain is that you cannot submit a file for the moment because you no longer have a job. You need to find a job quickly, and if possible in a job that is in short supply. In the building. In catering, something like that… See? »
Ginette does not hide her concern. “Aren’t they going to take advantage of this to also tighten the criteria for duration of presence and work? And what will happen to family regularizations? » Until now, the Valls circular made it possible, for example, to regularize people who have been in France for more than five years and whose children have been in school for more than three years.
More “it has already become more and more difficult because not only do we have difficulty getting an appointment to submit files but when we get there we don’t always have an answer”, explains Ginette, who cites the case of a family “with a perfect record”, who has “requested an appointment in June 2022, submitted a file in October 2023 and still has no response”. But, she continues, “it seems that Retailleau asked the prefects to regularize even less. But if we don’t give them perspective, what will become of all these people? »
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Exceptional admission to the stay
Since 2006, the code of entry and stay of foreigners and the right of asylum allows prefects to admit foreigners to stay due to humanitarian considerations or exceptional reasons.
In 2012, the so-called “Valls” circular provides guidelines for harmonized treatment. Particular attention is paid to sensitive situations (young adults and victims of domestic violence or trafficking). It also provides for regularization for private or family reasons or through work.
In 2024, the Darmanin law also provided for regularization in the event of“salaried professional activity appearing in alist of professions and geographical areas characterized by recruitment difficulties”, coming in February 2025.
In 2025, a new circular, announced by the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, must replace the Valls circular.
(1) The first names of people in an irregular situation have been changed.