Paris | Nearly 700 foreign workers in France who were on the “front line” during the coronavirus epidemic and “showed their attachment to the nation” will be naturalized French, the Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday.
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In mid-September, the Minister Delegate for Citizenship at the Ministry of the Interior had instructed the prefects to “accelerate” and “facilitate” this access to French nationality for people who had “actively contributed” to the fight against COVID-19.
In three months, 2,890 requests were recorded by the prefectures for this reason, on which 693 people are “in the process of obtaining it and 74 have already obtained it”, details in a press release the cabinet of Marlène Schiappa, responsible in particular refugee and integration issues.
“Health professionals, housekeepers, childcare, cashiers … They have proven their attachment to the nation, it is now up to the Republic to take a step towards them,” the statement added.
The instruction sent to the prefects allows them in particular to use the concept of “services rendered important” to reduce the minimum period of residence in France required to two years instead of five.
In 2019, more than 112,000 people acquired French nationality, including more than 48,000 by naturalization, a procedure in sharp decline (-10%) compared to the previous year.