This is the single biggest recent change across every country in this guide, and it’s recent enough that plenty of advice online still describes the old rules.
Two implementing decrees from 15 July 2025 took effect for applications filed from 1 January 2026:
One more real tightening: a foreign diploma’s ENIC-NARIC “comparability certificate” — previously usable to exempt a francophone-country graduate from the language test — stopped being accepted from 1 October 2025. A new 40-question civic-knowledge test (80% pass mark, retakeable) now runs alongside the language requirement for naturalisation.
Accepted proof: DELF B2, DALF, or a recent TCF/TEF score (under two years old). Applications filed complete before 31 December 2025 are still assessed under the old B1/A2 rules — but anything completed on or after 1 January 2026 falls under the new standard, even if the file was opened earlier.