Americans in France: The new French budget and how hard will language tests be?

Local France

19-02-2025

Welcome to The Local's "Americans in France" newsletter for members, featuring all the news and practical information you need as an American resident, visitor or second-home owner in France. You can sign up to receive it directly to your inbox before we publish it online via the link below.
Dear Americans in France,
As geopolitical tensions between the US and Europe run high, the French presidency is continuing its push for greater European security. I can't help but think back to veteran journalist John Lichfield's analysis shortly after the election in November.
Back to domestic politics - if you have been following our work here at The Local, you are probably aware that we have been diligently covering the upcoming changes to French immigration rules, as a result of the 2024 law.
Up until now, it has been difficult to find detailed coverage of the new, stricter language requirements for multi-year residency cards and citizenship in the French press, but last week a French Senate report noted that approximately 300,000 people will be required to meet new language requirements.
To me, the headline figure was that 60,000 could be at risk of failing the new language tests, and for some people a failure to pass would mean losing one's right to remain in France.
It's worth noting that several groups will be exempt from the language tests generally, so before you start to worry, you should read our separate guide to exceptions.
France Télévisions decided to do their own experiment, they asked 10 French people to take the B2 test, which will soon be required of people looking to acquire French nationality. They reported that two of the test-takers failed outright, while another five failed the written section (but made up for it with the oral part). Apparently, one of the people stumped by the questions had studied literature.
I have some of my own theories about this - I think that these types of tests do of course look at your ability to speak, read and write in French, but I also think that a lot of what is judged is your test-taking ability. It would be hard for anyone - French or not - to pass the B2 test with no preparation.
Still, I think this underscores what many feel to be a quest to push people out for imperfect French, despite being well integrated. As the France Télévisions investigation rightly identifies - the people who will suffer the most from these changes will be those at the margins who probably already speak decent French, but may not have benefited from formal schooling (and thus they may struggle with the writing and reading sections).
Recently, France's interior minister made some inflammatory remarks, claiming that "when a legally resident foreigner has not mastered French after several years, it's because he or she has not made the effort". The Local France's editor, Emma Pearson, had a strong response, which has caught the eyes of many of our readers. Feel free to add your opinion by commenting at the bottom of the article.
In other events, France also finally passed its 2025 budget (a few months late). We've got an overview of the changes, but a few that stand out have to do with increasing costs for plane tickets and a controversial (and now paused) plan to lower VAT thresholds for self-employed people and small business owners.
And finally, we love to answer your questions directly - feel free to fill out our ongoing survey with any tips, questions or comments.
One reader, Frank, told us that "driving rules and regulations with yearly changes" was one aspect about French life that he would like The Local to help explain.
We do have a 'Driving' section which we update periodically.
Most recently, we covered a story about a French driver who was fined for using the payment option on his smartphone at a French toll booth. A police officer apparently told him this constituted using his phone while driving. We looked at the rules around phones while driving, as well as how the French President chimed in (on TikTok).
Frank also had some tips. He advised: "Do your research before moving. Not every one wants the hassle of a large city."
This is true, it is easy to generalise Paris and the rest of France, when the two are actually quite different from one another. Ultimately, life in France is what you make of it, but here are some of the things readers connected with their ' high quality of life ' here.