Background information:

In France, the General Directorate for Foreign Nationals in France (DGEF) within the Ministry of the Interior is preparing new legislation related to the regularisation of irregularly staying third-country nationals (TCNs). In the EU context, regularisation refers to a state procedure by which irregularly staying third-country nationals are granted a legal status. The current French immigration law of 24 January 2024 introduced, as part of an experimental scheme running until 31 December 2026, a new channel for exceptional admission to stay (“regularisation”) for third-country nationals who have exercised a professional activity illegally in short-staffed occupations or geographical areas with hiring difficulties. This law does not include any measures related to regularisation on family and humanitarian grounds.

In this context, the French National Contact Point (NCP) to the European Migration Network launched this query in order to map existing legislation in other EMN Member and Observer Countries on the regularisation of third-country nationals.

Respondents:

27 EMN Member and Observer Countries (including BE) provided a public answer to this ad hoc query.

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that: 

• Out of 27 responding countries, 12 countries (BE, CY, FR, DE, EL, LU, PL, PT, RS, SK, SI, ES) report having a specific scheme for regularisation for irregularly staying third-country nationals. BE has two separate procedures for regularisation: on humanitarian grounds and on medical grounds, commonly referred to as "Article 9bis" and "Article 9ter" respectively, in reference to the relevant legal basis in the Law of 15 December 1980 regarding the entry, residence, settlement and removal of foreigners.
   
• Some countries that do not have specific regularisation schemes report having exceptional mechanisms to obtain a legal status, such as for victims of trafficking (EE), temporary residence permits for participation in criminal proceedings (BG, EE), cases of "substantial national interest" (EE), employment in specific sectors (IT), non-refoulement (LT, SE), etc.
   
• The residence permit issued after a regularisation procedure varies: 180 days (SK, renewable), 1 year (BE, FR, LU, renewable), 18 months (DE, non-renewable), 2 years (CY, SI, renewable), 3 years (EL, non-renewable).
   
• The eligibility criteria for regularisation vary from country to country, but generally include strong ties to the country (for instance through length of stay, level of integration, work, language, etc.). In BE and CY, humanitarian regularisation is an exceptional mechanism for which there are no formal eligibility criteria - the competent authorities have discretionary power to grant this status on a case-by-case basis.
   
• The main grounds on which regularisation can be obtained can be broadly categorised as follows:
  • Humanitarian (BE, CY, PL, PT, RS). In BE, applicants must demonstrate that exceptional circumstances make it impossible or extremely difficult to return to their home country to apply for a Belgian residence permit through the regular channels. 
  • Medical (BE). Applicants must suffer from an illness that poses a real risk to their life and for which treatment in their country of origin is unavailable or inaccessible.
  • Work or education (FR, PT, ES). For instance, FR introduced an experimental scheme to regularise third-country nationals exercising a professional activity illegally in a shortage occupation or geographical area with hiring difficulties.
  • Family and private life (FR, EL, LU, PT, ES). In EL for example, residence permits can be issued for exceptional reasons to parents of a minor Greek national. 

For further details, please read the compilation of answers attached above.