French authorities have published migration statistics for 2017
As reported by RFI, the French Interior Ministry publishes its migration statistics twice a year – in January and June. On Tuesday, January 16, the police department released preliminary data on migration for 2017 (final figures are expected in the summer). The data concerns citizens of countries not belonging to the European Union or the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland).
Last year, the Interior Ministry recorded a sharp increase in the number of foreigners arriving in France for a long-term stay. 262,000 people received their first residence permits – almost 14% more than the previous year (in 2016, French prefectures issued documents to 217,000 newcomers). The influx of immigrants has been steadily growing over the last decade. In 2007, 172,000 people entered France; five years ago, the Interior Ministry's statistics crossed the 200,000 mark.
Refugees break all records
The ministry explained last year's surge primarily by a sharp increase in the number of refugees. Almost 36,000 foreigners received refugee status in France. The number of "refugee" residence permits increased by 56.5% over the year, the Interior Ministry notes.
This growth is likely to continue, as in 2017 French authorities registered a historic record: more than 100,000 foreigners applied for asylum in the country. The number of applicants increased by 17% compared to 2016, when 85,000 people sought protection from French authorities. In 2012, the number of such applications barely exceeded 62,000.
These impressive figures cannot be considered in isolation from the answer to the question: how many applicants ultimately receive asylum in France? Here the statistics are much less impressive: barely a third of refugees obtain the sought-after status. In 2017, French migration authorities gave a positive response to only 32,000 applicants. The previous year, 26,500 foreigners received refugee status, and in 2012 this number barely exceeded 10,000.
Foreign students: twofold increase
In 2017, not only the number of refugees grew in France. The Interior Ministry's statistics confirm the country's growing attractiveness for foreign students. Another 88,000 people came to France to study last year. The number of student residence permits received by newcomers increased by 20 percent over the year.
The number of foreign students in France is growing every year, and this is a trend of the last decade. In 2007, only 46,000 foreigners entered France to study. Now their number has almost doubled. Currently, 187,000 foreigners live in France with a student residence permit.
"Student" migration has approached in volume "family" immigration, which still ranks first in the overall flow of foreigners arriving in France.
Family and immigration
The number of foreigners arriving in France annually for family reasons has remained stable over the last decade. These are spouses of French citizens, as well as families of foreigners living and working in France. Every year, 80-90 thousand people enter the country on these grounds.
In 2017, 91,000 people received their first residence permits marked "private and family life" (annual growth of only 2%). 52,000 foreigners entered the country as spouses of French citizens. Another 23,000 people arrived under the "family reunification" procedure (which allows spouses and children of foreigners permanently living and working here to obtain a residence permit in France).
"Family" immigration even decreased compared to 2013-14, when 92-93 thousand people per year arrived in the country. In total, family ties now keep 1.16 million foreign citizens in France.
Labor migration: unstable flow
Labor migration to France has been growing over the last decade, but still accounts for only 10 percent of the total flow of foreigners arriving in the country. In 2017, another 27,700 people received their first residence permits to work in France. Annual growth was 20%.
Statistics show that French authorities have not yet been very successful in attracting qualified foreign workers en masse. Moreover, the influx of labor migrants has remained unstable from year to year. Ten years ago, in 2007, only 11,700 foreigners came to France for work. In the following two years, their number exceeded 20,000. In 2010-14, there was a decline in labor migration (less than 20,000 arrivals annually).
Attempting to attract highly qualified foreigners to France, the authorities invented a new type of residence permit for them with the sonorous name "passport talent." This special status for labor migrants appeared in 2016. The validity of such a "passport" is from 1 to 4 years. Qualified specialists, businessmen, scientists, and people in creative professions can obtain it. In just over a year, only 28,000 foreigners have received the "passport talent" in France.
Illegal immigrants: focus on deportation
According to the results of 2017, the Interior Ministry reported an increase in the number of illegal migrants deported from France by as much as 14.6%. Almost 15,000 people who had no legal basis to stay on French territory left the country forcibly. Taking into account migrants who left voluntarily, the number of illegal immigrants in France decreased by 27,000 people over the year.
This figure, however, includes very different categories of illegal immigrants. French authorities forcibly expelled only 6,600 illegal immigrants outside the European Union in the past year (5.6% more than the previous year). At the same time, 3,400 of those deported were citizens of other EU countries (primarily Romania).
Also, 4,600 "non-Europeans" were sent to other EU countries. These are violators of the "Dublin Agreement," which requires asylum seekers to register their request in only one European country (usually the country of entry into the EU).
The number of illegal immigrants who returned to their homeland and received financial assistance from the French treasury increased by almost 40%. This is just under 5,000 people, of whom a thousand are from Afghanistan.
27,000 illegal immigrants who left the country in a year are only a small part of the migrants illegally staying in France. According to the Ministry of the Interior, their number is about 300,000 people.
How many foreigners are in France
According to the Ministry of the Interior, as of December 31 last year, just under 3 million foreigners were living in France with various types of residence permits (annual growth of almost 5%). About half have a "resident card" valid for 10 years.
Citizens of Algeria, holders of special residence permits, number 580,000 in France. More than half a million foreigners live with documents issued for up to one year. Another 300,000 newcomers have multi-year residence permits of a new type (they began to be issued in 2016 for a period of 2 to 4 years).
Police statistics are narrow and formal and do not provide an overall picture of immigration in France. Detailed information on migration processes is regularly published by the national statistics institute INSEE based on the population census. For example, according to the 2014 census, France counted 6 million foreigners and people from immigrant backgrounds. Actual residents with foreign citizenship born abroad number 3.6 million. Their children born in France number 600,000. Another 2.4 million are foreigners who have acquired French citizenship.
As reported by the Ministry of the Interior, in 2017 the ranks of French citizens were joined by another 83,000 foreigners who underwent the so-called "naturalization" procedure. Compared to the previous year, the number of newly minted French citizens decreased by 6%.
Visas and tourism boom
For several years in a row, France has remained the world's top tourist destination. Over the past year, the country was visited by almost 90 million tourists.
As reported by the Ministry of the Interior, with short-term visas last year, 3.4 million foreigners visited France – 11% more than the year before. The largest number of French entry visas was issued in China – 850,000. Second place was taken by Algeria (413,000 visas). The third largest group of visitors to France were citizens of Morocco.
Russians in 2017 moved to 4th place, overtaking residents of India. In Russia, 262,000 French entry visas were issued. Over the year, this number increased by almost 100,000.