Hello everyone
I’m from the UK and it’s been 5 years that I’ve been living in France. I have my CdS till June 2026. I would want to apply for french nationality in 5 months(approx Apr-May '24) to avoi applying for 10 years CdS
I have :
1 years of MSc studies which included 5 months of low-paid internship ( SMIC)
The above followed by 1 year of CDD at low salary of 28k EUR
I should be starting my CDI next year(Jan '24) with a good salary of 45k EUR.
Taking into account the above, I have following questions:
a) I can apply for chômage whilst I’m waiting for my new job to start. This unemployment should last just for about 1.5 month. Can this record of recourse to public funds negatively impact my dossier next year, when I’m applying for the nationality?
b) Does low-paid internship count as an employment when I’m submitting my employment history documents?
c) If there a min number of years that I should be employed for before I’m eligible for requesting nationality (the rules on the official gov website are not clear. It seems like it can be anything between 1 and 3 years, but should it be 3 years of CDI ? can the period have gaps between employments? does internship matter etc )?
Thank you very much in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience!
Do you know anyone who has applied for naturalisation? To do it in two years is an achievement. I suggest you do a search on “naturalisation” on here and you will find a lot of useful background reading.
First thing that strikes me about your plans… is that time is rather tight.
So, I must ask the question… why do you want to avoid applying for the 10 year CdS??
It is a requirement of the naturalisation process that you remain a legal resident throughout. So if your dossier has not progressed to completion by 2026 you will need to renew your resident permit. You don’t say where you are but in some areas it can take 3 years or more.
Unemployment doesn’t matter, not does a period of low wages as long as you continued to make your tax declarations even if no tax to pay. But you can’t apply even a day before you have been a legal resident for 5 years.
There is no written information on some aspects as each dossier is considered individually and the agents have a degree of flexibility. But two to three years of employment at or above SMIC should be fine if everything else is in order. You say you have been here for 5 years but only two years of study/employment?
Hi JaneJones
Thanks a lot for your detailed reply.
Yes, as of now, I have just 1 year of CDD and 1 years of studies (incl. 5 months of internship)
I did another year of studies here, before starting my masters, but that was just a diplôme universitaire and a course of preparing for B2 before that
Ok, so your dossier will be a bit “light”. If you are starting a CDI in January ‘24 and intend ro start the application in April/May I think there is a strong possibility you will be adjourned for two years for lack of professional insertion. (And is your evidence of integration strong?) It happens to a lot of people who apply soon after finishing their studies.
Personally I would accept that you will have to renew your residency, and apply when you have at least a year of CDI completed. Naturalisation is for life, so an extra year is really not that much. And if you decide to go ahead you may end up having to resubmit the naturalisation application as well as the carte de séjour one.
Your choice of course, but I know which one I’d take!
If you are a UK citizen and you have a 5 year card expiring in 2026 then it must be a WARP card. Renewing it should be a simple process and free of charge.
By all means apply for nationality when you are ready but I do not think that renewing your 5 year card for a 10 year card is a factor you need to think about.