Immigration: the 1968 agreements, a text that facilitates the entry of Algerians into France

The 1968 agreements under scrutiny. For its day dedicated to the National Assembly on Thursday, October 30, the National Rally chose to include a text aimed at "denouncing the agreements" of 1968 linking France and Algeria. The text was adopted by a single vote, with the support of the LR and Horizons groups.

Although the adopted resolution has no concrete impact, it brings back to the forefront the preferential treatment granted to Algerian nationals with regard to entry and residence on French territory.

With the 1968 agreements, in fact, Algerians are not subject to common law but to a special regime, which notably implies that their entry into the territory is "facilitated" , as indicated by the Ministry of the Interior on its website.

The agreements state that Algerians are free to settle in France to engage in "commercial activity or an independent profession." Furthermore, they can obtain a ten-year residence permit more quickly than nationals of other countries .

Thus, only one year of marriage is required (compared to three years for other nationalities) to be awarded it. The parent of a French child also obtains it upon the expiry of their first one-year residence permit.

Furthermore, an Algerian national can obtain a ten-year residence permit after three years of residence, compared to five years under normal circumstances, provided they can demonstrate sufficient resources. Family reunification is also facilitated, as the Algerian immigrant receives a residence permit of the same duration as the relative they are joining.

The agreement is, however, less favorable for Algerian students. They are disadvantaged, since they can only work a maximum of 50% of the annual working hours practiced in a sector, compared to 60% for other nationalities.

Since its publication, the 1968 agreements have been amended three times by addenda dated 1985, 1994, and 2001. The idea of ​​denouncing the agreements has frequently been raised since then. Brought back into the spotlight in May 2023 by Xavier Driencourt, a former diplomat, in a note published for the Foundation for Political Innovation, the agreement had been criticized in June of the same year by Édouard Philippe.

The question of repealing the 1968 agreement was raised again at the beginning of 2025, after the knife attack in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) by an Algerian subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF).

A few days later, on February 26, the government held an inter-ministerial committee on immigration at the end of which it asked Algiers to re-examine "all agreements" on immigration within four to six weeks, including the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968.