The government wishes to “improve the effectiveness” of the system for regularizing foreigners in an irregular situation working in so-called “shortage” professions, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday June 4, confirming information from Mediapart.
The subject was discussed on May 26 between the Ministry of the Interior, that of Labor and Solidarity, the unions and employers, while the Retailleau circular, effective since January 23, 2025, and which had refocused regularizations through work on professions in tension (in particular construction, health and social action and hotel and catering), comes to an end at the end of 2026.
The aim is “to improve the efficiency of renewing residence permits for professions in shortage”, explains the Interior, via an “increase in staff (which) will make it possible to reduce processing times, going from 100 days to 50 days”.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, “the social partners are aligned on this subject: we are pragmatic and we respond to precise and concrete needs, both for companies and for employees”. The Ministry of Labor plans “at the request of those in the field, (to) perpetuate a system of regularization through work via a circular”. In 2025, a total of 1,655 residence permits were issued to foreign workers in sectors that are difficult to recruit, according to data mentioned by the Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez in a telegram to the prefects.
80 professions give right to stay
According to the list updated in May 2025, around 80 professions are considered “in tension”, allowing undocumented workers in these sectors to claim a residence permit (if they have twelve months of pay slips over the last twenty-four months and three years of residence in France).
This provision also allows employers having difficulty recruiting to keep their employees and avoid the risk of a conviction, the employment of a person in an irregular situation being punishable by a penalty of up to €30,000 fine and five years of imprisonment. “Companies clearly tell us that, without these measures, they would find themselves in great difficulty overnight, sometimes forced to give up contracts in order to survive,” underlines the Ministry of the Interior.
Quoted by Mediapart, an employer voice who participated in the meeting underlines that “the system currently in place is not operational and has many defects. We all came together with this observation.” A union representative indicates for her part that “the employers’ vision is utilitarian. But even if it is not for the same reasons, we fully agree that this measure has failed.”
