PARIS, Oct 23: Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Tuesday that he will soon order governmental prefects to simplify the procedure by which paperless immigrants already in France apply for residency permits.

Until now, the process was not only extremely complex, it also varied considerably from prefecture to prefecture.

The decision by Sarkozy comes in the wake of the minister’s reception of a 20-page preliminary report on the subject of application procedures as drafted by a prefect, Anne-Marie Escoffier.

The new instructions will make it especially easier for paperless persons who have been in France since 1992 and before, especially as French law theoretically accords them automatic residency status once they have been in the country for 10 years.

It has been decided that applicants will no longer have to provide two “certain” pieces of proof for every year they have resided in France.

According to the new procedure, which has not yet been finalized, more weight will be placed on an applicant’s being able to provide proof of his initial entry in France, for example, in the form of an airline ticket, a visa or a receipt.