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French left and right spar over new immigrants' rights bill

France's ruling Socialists are proposing a bill to simplify the procedure for foreigners to obtain and renew residency papers. While the Socialist Party calls the bill a triumph, the right-wing Républicains have pledged to fight it and try to clamp down further on immigration.

Protesters pushing for legislation that supports migrants of irregular status, les sans-papiers in Paris, 5 October 2013.
Protesters pushing for legislation that supports migrants of irregular status, les sans-papiers in Paris, 5 October 2013. AFP
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The immigration bill will create a carte de séjour (temporary residency card) that will last two to four years, after which immigrants can apply for a resident's permit.

The bill aims to reduce lines at several prefectures, as candidates wait for their visas to be processed.

It will also create a new status of four-year passports for applicants with qualificatons in the arts, sports, sciences and other fields.

Socialist Erwann Binet claims the bill will cut the lengthy queues at immigration service offices, which he claims were a political choice that showed that France did not accept its situation as a destination for immigrants. 

Guillaume Larrivé of the conservative Les Républicains party, on the other hand, claimed that the legislation is going "the wrong way", on France 2 TV.

The part will propose measures aimed at reducing immigration by changes to the right to nationality for people born on French territory, granting of visas and the right of families of immigrants to join them.

About 200,000 new immigrants arrive in France each year, 60,000 of them to pursue studies, 20,000 for humanitarian reasons and the same amount for professional employment.

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