A work-based route to residency
Registered on October 6, 2026, and referred to the Assembly's law commission, the bill contains a single article adding Article L. 421-4-1 to the CESEDA. It would entitle foreign nationals to a residence card marked "salarié" if they could document at least six months of work in France during the preceding 24 months. Those months need not be consecutive, proof could take any form, and applicants' existing residence status would not affect their eligibility.
The explanatory memorandum presents the proposal against a backdrop of tighter rules. It says the January 26, 2024, law and January 23, 2025, circular successively restricted regularization, particularly for undocumented workers, by limiting prefects' discretion to grant exceptional permission to stay.
Christophle represents the Drôme department. His current bill is narrower than a separate proposal he has advocated: according to Le Figaro, he has called for granting legal status to around 700,000 undocumented workers in 2027 alone.
Support on the left, resistance on the right
The proposal is expected to bring left-wing lawmakers together, with center-left presidential candidate Raphaël Glucksmann among its likely supporters. He has already endorsed the initiative in an interview. Opposition from the center-right and far right, however, leaves its passage uncertain.
A Glucksmann campaign representative said the migration debate should set him apart from center-right rival Édouard Philippe, who considers a Europe-wide agreement a prerequisite for legalization programs.
A Cluster17 poll commissioned by Politico found that, among people who voted for Emmanuel Macron in the 2022 election, 29% planned to support Glucksmann and 49% planned to support Philippe.
Spain's policy as a reference
The French proposal points to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's approach of offering foreigners legal ways to live and work in Spain rather than seeking to control migration flows. Spain began granting legal status to about half a million undocumented migrants earlier in 2026. Applicants had to show at least five months of residence, employment or a family connection to Spain, and no criminal record.
According to NBC News, applications were accepted from April 16 through June 30, 2026. More than 43,000 arrived during the first three days, and the total reached 549,596 within a month. Adults receive a one-year work and residence permit and must subsequently demonstrate employment to keep it; minors receive legal status for five years.
Estimates of the population potentially affected vary. The #RegularizacionYa movement estimated that Spain had 500,000 undocumented immigrants, while the Funcas think tank put the figure at more than 800,000 by 2025.
The French bill's memorandum also draws on an earlier Spanish program: the regularization of 600,000 migrants under the Zapatero government in 2005. It cites a study that found no additional migration "pull effect" and reported more legal employment, less undeclared work and a net fiscal gain of 4,000 euros for each person regularized.
Spain's current program has met fierce resistance from right-wing parties. Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a conservative, described it as a way to "manipulate the census," "culturally transform Spain" and "sabotage the elections." NBC News noted that people receiving legal status through the program cannot vote.
