In 2011, 3,1 million old persons from 18 to 50 years old, born in metropolitan France, are children of immigrants. The half of them is less than 30 years old. 50 % have two immigrated parents, 20 % are downward of immigrants only by their mother and 30 % only by their father.

The half of the direct descendants has a parent immigrated born in Europe and four of ten on the Africain continent, principally in the Maghreb. The youngest descendants have parents of more various and more distant origins. The children of immigrants from 18 to 30 years old once have on two one Africain lineage.

The regional sharing out of the descendants moves away not much from that of immigrants. So, a third of the descendants from 18 to 50 years old is from the Ile-de-France.

Near the quarter of the descendants having French nationality has another nationality at least.

For the great majority descendants, the French language was transmitted in their childhood by at least to one of their parents. In the following generation, the become descendants themselves parents speak French with their children living in France, in 99 % cases.

Be born or become Frenchman
5 % descendants of two immigrated parents have no French nationality. 25 % of them applied for nationality (ongoing for 22 %, refused for 3 %) and 35 % didn’t make it, but have the intention of making it.

So, only 2 % descendants of two immigrated parents have no French nationality and don’t like to ask for it. 10 % of those who have French nationality declare to have got it by naturalisation, 10 % by statement (or by return). In the inquiry, 80 % declare themselves therefore born Frenchmen. This proportion can appear a bit high with regard to legislation, but it is necessary to have in mind that this one changed in the course of last decades, what doesn’t make easier the knowledge of right by the very descendants and can therefore draw erroneous answers away during the statistical inquiry (supervised 2).

As for the descendants of the single immigrated parent, almost totality declared itself, in the inquiry, born Frenchman, what appears logical considering legislation.

A quarter of the descendants having French nationality has another nationality at least. The binationalité is rare in high ages (6 %), but it grows strongly among the youngest generations (30 %). A third of the descendants of two immigrated parents has a dual citizenship. When the only one of the parents is immigrant, the dual citizenship is more frequent if it is the father who was born abroad.

The half of the descendants of parents of Turkish origin combines two nationalities. It is also the case of 40 % of the descendants of two parents immigrated of North Africa or of Portugal. On the other hand, only 10 % descendants of immigrants of sub-Saharan Africa or of Asia (except Turkey) have the dual citizenship. It can translate the non-recognition of the dual citizenship for the nationals of some countries, as it is case for those of the democratic Republic of Congo or of Vietnam, for example.