French for living in France
To settle in France long-term, a certain level of French is required for several procedures.
Requirements
The January 2024 immigration law tightened language requirements, applying from 2026: A2 for some multi-year residence permits, B1 for the long-term resident card and B2 for citizenship. Your level must be proven with a recognised diploma or test (DELF, TCF IRN, TEF IRN…).
The republican integration contract
Foreign nationals settling in France sign a republican integration contract (contrat d'intégration républicaine, CIR) with the state, which may include free language training depending on their assessed level.
Learning in France
- courses provided under the CIR;
- associations and community language workshops;
- city-run classes;
- universities and language schools.
🇫🇷 Research and writing: My French
This guide was researched and written by the team at my-french.com, a platform for learning French as a foreign language and the owner of learnfrench.wiki. Put theory into practice: lessons from A1 to C2, quizzes, games, a verb conjugator and a community of learners at my-french.com.