On Thursday, the French government granted citizenship to more than 2,000 foreign employees who had applied for it.
According to the French “Le Point” website, Marilyn Schiappa, Minister of State in charge of Citizenship Affairs, announced that 2009 people, including 665 minors, enjoyed the acceleration of the naturalization process.
The French minister explained the decision that those who were included in the naturalization showed their “connection to the nation,” stressing that they were on the “front lines” during the outbreak of the Corona virus.
It is noteworthy that, last September, Marilyn Schiappa issued instructions to governors to “speed up” and “facilitate” the acquisition of French citizenship for people who “actively participated” in fighting Corona, including health professionals, security or maintenance, nannies, cashiers, and domestic helpers. , And garbage collectors.
In 2020, 61,371 people were naturalized, and since then “more than 8,000 applications have been submitted to the governorate across the country,” according to the press release, which specifies that “the files are under examination and all will be studied with the greatest interest.”
It is worth noting that the instructions sent to the governors in particular allow the use of the concept of “services rendered” to reduce the minimum period of stay required in France to two years, instead of five years.