French PM announces tightening of immigration controls
29/11/2005 - 12:21:01French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced tightened controls on immigration, part of the government’s response to rioting that shook the country this month.
Villepin today said that marriages celebrated abroad between French people and foreigners would no longer be automatically recognised in France.
Consulates must screen couples first before foreign partners can be granted French identity papers, he said.
The prime minister also said the government should have the ability to enforce a law outlawing polygamy in France.
There are 8,000-15,000 polygamous families in France, according to official figures.
