Morocco Tops List of New French Residence Permits in 2020 Despite Pandemic Decline

In total, 554,378 Moroccans held a residence permit in 2020 against 546,367 in 2019, an increase of 1.5%. With this number, Morocco ranks second after Algeria (622,931) and ahead of Tunisia with 252,914. According to the report, the residence permits issued in 2020 experienced a 20.9% decline compared to 2019, due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on permit applications and issuances, reports Aujourd’hui Le Maroc.

According to the report, Morocco is the first country in 2020 to which France issued the most first residence permits with a figure of 30,107 in 2020 against 35,053 in 2019. It is followed by Algeria and Tunisia. It should be noted that residence permits for economic reasons have declined sharply. In total, 26,583 first permits for economic reasons were issued in 2020, or 12.1% of migration flows from third countries. Morocco (3,609) and Tunisia (3,490) are the two most represented countries.

Regarding student permits, Morocco comes first with 12,657, followed by Algeria (6,025), China (5,048), Tunisia (3,998) and Senegal (3,576). As for residence permits issued for family reasons, they also experienced a decline (-16.6%) in 2020. The most represented nationalities are Algerians (14,737), Moroccans (12,784) and Tunisians (7,374).