Who is concerned
Who must take the civic exam?
Three procedures are concerned: a first multi-year residence permit or resident card, for non-EU nationals, and naturalisation. Each also requires a minimum level of French.
Updated
| Procedure | Civic exam | French level |
|---|---|---|
| First multi-year residence permit (carte de séjour pluriannuelle) | Yes, at the end of the civic training | A2 |
| First resident card (carte de résident) | Yes, for the categories concerned | B1 |
| Naturalisation | Yes | B2, spoken and written |
Levels follow the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and are proven with a recognised diploma or test (TCF, TEF, DELF, DALF, etc.).
Who is exempt?
- Renewals of a multi-year residence permit or a resident card.
- People over 65, for residence permits.
- People whose disability or health makes the assessment impossible, with a medical certificate. Others can get exam adjustments.
- For the multi-year permit: permits outside the republican integration contract, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, stateless people, and their families.
- For residence permits: EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, who do not apply for these permits.
For naturalisation, some candidates can be exempted from providing the language or civic exam certificate (order of 30 December 2025).
These rules have exceptions. The official service-public.gouv.fr page for your procedure, and your prefecture, are the authority.
Official sources (in French)
- Service-public.gouv.fr : examen civique (titre de séjour)
- Service-public.gouv.fr : niveau de français exigé pour un titre de séjour
- Service-public.gouv.fr : niveau de français pour la naturalisation
- Service-public.gouv.fr : naturalisation par décret
- Service-public.gouv.fr : examen civique obligatoire à partir du 1er janvier 2026