Integration of immigrants, from arrival in France to their first job

Half the population of immigrants of working age (15-64 years) arrived in France before 1998. Among those who arrived aged 15 or over, almost half say they emigrated for family reasons.

Over the years immigration has increasingly involved women and there are now as many women as men coming to study in France. The immigrant population is increasingly qualified, for reasons relating to the higher levels of study reached by the parents and the continuing studies in France of people who arrived as children or students.

Four out of ten immigrants speak little or no French when they get their first job in France. A third of those in work consider themselves to be overqualified. For immigrants equal in other respects, the feeling of being overqualified in the first job held in France is stronger among those who didn't speak French.

Among immigrants who arrived in France aged 15 or over, one third of those who became French acquired the nationality within five years following their arrival.