The 2025 Quota System for Work Permits: Sectors and Occupations in Demand
France faces a chronic labour shortage in key industries, and lawmakers have decided that 2025 is the year to tackle the gap head-on. The new quota system for work permits, adopted under the Immigration & Integration Act 2024-1555 and in force since 1 January 2025, sets clear annual ceilings for how many third-country nationals can be recruited in shortage occupations. For foreign professionals and undocumented workers already in France, understanding how these quotas work—and which sectors desperately need talent—can open the door to a long-term residence permit and, eventually, French citizenship.
1. Why a Quota System in 2025?
The French government published Decree 2024-1789 of 31 December 2024 to operationalise the quota mechanism now codified in Article L522-5 of the CESEDA. The goals are twofold:
- Reduce administrative bottlenecks by pre-authorising a fixed number of work authorisations in acute shortage areas.
- Protect domestic workers by limiting non-EU recruitment in sectors where unemployment remains high.
Each year, an arrêté (ministerial order) details the quota figures and the exact list of occupations in tension. For 2025, the arrêté was published on 4 January 2025 in the Official Journal.
2. Snapshot of the 2025 Quotas by Sector
| Sector (NAF Rev. 2 code) | 2025 Quota | % of Total | Key Shortage Occupations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health and Social Care (Q) | 12 500 | 25 % | Nurses, geriatric aides, radiology techs |
| Construction (F) | 9 000 | 18 % | Scaffolders, roofers, crane operators |
| Hospitality and Catering (I) | 8 500 | 17 % | Commis chefs, hotel housekeeping supervisors |
| Information Technology (J) | 6 000 | 12 % | DevOps engineers, cybersecurity analysts |
| Transport & Logistics (H) | 5 000 | 10 % | Heavy-goods drivers, warehouse managers |
| Agriculture & Agri-food (A/C) | 4 000 | 8 % | Dairy farm technicians, meat processors |
| Renewable Energy (D) | 2 500 | 5 % | Solar PV installers, wind-turbine techs |
| Other Critical Roles | 3 000 | 5 % | Early-childhood educators, dental prosthetists |
| Total 2025 Quota | 50 500 | 100 % |
The quotas apply nation-wide, but an additional regional layer allows prefectures to re-allocate up to 20 % of unused slots to sectors showing unexpected shortages.
3. How the Quota Work-Permit Track Operates
- Employer declares a vacancy on the new Contrôle Travail portal and selects “quota occupation”.
- Automatic labour-market test exemption is granted if the role matches the shortage list, shaving off 3–5 weeks of processing.
- Digital submission of the work-authorisation request (ATT) via the ANEF platform. The system instantly checks remaining sector quotas.
- Approval is issued by the Ministry of Labour’s regional unit (DREETS) in 10 days on average—down from 28 days before quotas.
- Visa or status change: the foreign worker applies for a long-stay “travailleur temporaire” visa abroad or a change of status at the prefecture if already in France.
- Quota deduction occurs once the work authorisation takes legal effect.
If a quota is exhausted mid-year, subsequent requests revert to the classic labour-market test and longer timelines.
4. What Counts as a “Quota Occupation”?
The shortage list annexed to the 4 January 2025 arrêté uses the ROME coding system. Below are the most in-demand job families:
- K1203 Health Nursing – all specialities, A1-level French sufficient
- H1202 Masonry – rough and finishing masons, no diploma required with 3 years’ experience
- G1602 Restaurant Service – table service staff and sommeliers
- M1805 IT Studies and Development – full-stack, mobile, and AI developers
- N1103 Transport Scheduling – supply-chain planners and dispatchers
A complete ROME-by-ROME list with descriptive tasks is available on the Ministry of Labour website.
5. Pathways for Undocumented Workers Already in France
The quota system does not automatically regularise undocumented workers, but it dovetails with Article L435-1 CESEDA (Admission exceptionnelle au séjour) introduced in 2023 and reinforced in 2025. Workers able to prove:
- 12 months of payslips over the last 24 months, or
- Continuous employment in a quota occupation for 6 months
may request a work-regularisation permit without leaving France. Our prefecture-specific checklist for eight payslips is explained in detail in this guide.
| Route | Main Advantage | Typical Processing Time | Residence-Permit Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quota Work Permit (employer-driven) | Fast approval, no labour-market test | 2–3 months incl. visa | 1 year, renewable |
| Regularisation by Work (employee-driven) | Lets undocumented workers stay | 4–6 months | 1 year, renewable |
6. Tips to Secure a 2025 Quota Work Permit
- Gather proof of qualifications early: overseas diplomas should be translated and evaluated by ENIC-NARIC.
- Meet the minimum French level stated in the arrêté (A1 or A2 for most manual jobs, B1 for IT and healthcare). Free mairie courses can help; see our enrolment guide.
- File tax returns even if income is low; prefectures increasingly ask for avis d’imposition. Follow our first-year tax filing tutorial.
- Check regional allocations: Île-de-France hit its construction quota by May 2025, while Normandy still had 35 % left in July.
- Monitor monthly quota bulletins published on the DREETS dashboard; ImmiFrance clients receive alerts in real time.
7. Compliance Obligations for Employers
The 2025 quota regime comes with stricter oversight:
- E-verification of each employment contract via Contrôle Travail within 48 hours of onboarding.
- Quarterly reporting of payroll and hours worked; failure triggers automatic suspension of the work authorisation.
- Enhanced inspections: employers already saw a 60 % uptick in labour audits during Q1 2025, according to DGT statistics.
Penalties for non-compliance have doubled (up to €30 000 per undocumented worker), as detailed in our piece on employer sanctions.
8. Renewal and Long-Term Perspectives
A quota work permit can be renewed annually without counting against next year’s quota, provided the employment contract and salary remain unchanged. After three consecutive years, holders may switch to a four-year multi-purpose “carte de séjour pluriannuelle salarié”. From there, the path to the 10-year resident card or naturalisation becomes straightforward, especially if the worker files consistent tax returns and meets language requirements.
9. How ImmiFrance Can Help You Navigate the 2025 Quotas
- Eligibility check: our advisers analyse your CV, payslips and regional quota availability during a free 15-minute call.
- Employer coaching: templates and live support to register offers on Contrôle Travail and ANEF.
- Document audit: translations, diploma equivalence, tax history and criminal-record compliance.
- Real-time tracking: dashboard updates when sector quotas approach exhaustion.
- Appeals and litigation: if a work authorisation is refused, we connect you with CESEDA-specialised lawyers to contest the decision within 30 days.
Ready to turn a labour shortage into your residency opportunity? Book a quota-permit strategy session with ImmiFrance today and move one step closer to building your life in France.