French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has proposed imposing a temporary three-year moratorium on legal immigration, stating that the country has reached the limits of its capacity to integrate and assimilate newcomers.
According to Le Parisien, citing Darmanin’s interview with the Journal du Dimanche, the minister believes it is necessary to “put an end to immigration as it exists today.” He proposes suspending legal immigration for three years and reforming the Constitution to introduce binding, rather than merely advisory, quotas on the entry of foreigners.
Darmainin had previously advocated for a temporary suspension of regular immigration for two to three years. This would apply to labor migration and family reunification, though exceptions could be maintained for doctors, researchers, and certain categories of students. Following the moratorium, the minister proposed transitioning to a system of immigration quotas, the volume of which would be determined after consultation with citizens.
Darmann’s proposal has not yet been adopted as state policy. Its implementation would require a political decision, a legislative process, and, according to the minister himself, a constitutional amendment. However, the initiative signals an intensification of the migration debate in France ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Potential restrictions could affect several key channels of legal entry: labor migration, certain student programs, and family reunification. At the same time, France faces a shortage of foreign workers in medicine, science, certain service sectors, and professions with labor shortages, making a potential moratorium politically and economically contentious.
The issue of migration remains a central one in French domestic politics. According to Le Monde, in 2025 the country issued over 380,000 initial residence permits to citizens of non-EU countries, an 11% increase from the previous year. About half of the new permits were issued to students and for humanitarian reasons: international students received about 118,000 permits, humanitarian categories—about 92,000, family migration accounted for about 91,000, while professional immigration fell by nearly 13%—to approximately 51,000 permits.
Historically, the overall structure of immigration to France has been dominated by people from North Africa and Southern Europe. According to data cited by The Connexion based on INSEE, among immigrants by country of birth, the largest groups are those from Algeria—12.4%, Morocco—11.7%, Portugal—7.3%, Tunisia (4.9%), Italy (3.6%), Turkey (3.4%), and Spain (3.1%). These seven countries account for 46.4% of all immigrants in France.
Ukrainians occupy a distinct place in France’s current migration landscape as recipients of temporary protection following the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. According to Eurostat, as of the end of March 2026, 4.33 million Ukrainian citizens and residents were granted temporary protection in EU countries. The largest countries hosting refugees were Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Eurostat’s country-specific tables for France as of March 2026 indicate approximately 70,700 people under temporary protection.
For France, a potential moratorium would mark one of the most drastic shifts in migration policy in recent years. For businesses, it could mean more difficult access to foreign labor; for universities, the risk of a reduction in international enrollment; and for family-based immigration programs, additional uncertainty. At the same time, Ukrainians under temporary protection are governed by a separate European regime that operates within the framework of EU decisions and is not considered ordinary labor or family-based immigration.
