The measures stem from a memo sent by the ministries of interior and employment last May instructing immigration officials to limit immigration through stricter interpretation of current legislation – giving priority to job seekers already on French soil, “both of French and foreign nationalities”.

This autumn, the Minister for HE and Research, Laurent Wauquiez, then reduced the time granted to students to seek employment after their degrees to six months, while raising the amount of personal savings required of them to apply for residency – measures sure to lessen France’s appeal as a postgraduate study destination.

However, after an outcry from leading university groups and other concerned parties, Wauquiez told Le Figaroearlier this month there was no “policy of closure”, and that he would “correct” his policies and review the issue of post-study work rights.

Laurent Wauquiez promises to examine the situation

In addition, a ministry spokesperson told the New York Times that officials would consider student work permit applications “positively” and re-examine visa applications that had been rejected.

A range of influential voices had come out against the new rules. Louis Vogel, the president of the Conférence des Présidents d’Université (CPU), which represents the interests of all French universities, said earlier this month that the measures were “contrary to the very essence of a university and to the attractiveness of French universities in the context of globalisation.”

Pierre Tapie, president of the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles, which represents France’s elite universities, said: “These young people do not take employment away from the French… These talented people create employment in France.”

Meanwhile the May 31 Collective, a student protest group which has named itself after the date of the original government memo, has logged 150 cases of students having their visas rejected and more than 400 waiting for up to five months for a decision on their case.

Response to Wauquiez’s comments has been positive but cautious, given the none of the rules have yet been removed. Fatma Chouaieb, a spokesperson for the May 31st Collective, said, “Only a public and written correction of the memo will reassure companies that are now already rejecting foreign candidates even though they need them.”

According to the OECD, France has welcomed the fifth highest proportion of international students of any country over the last decade, something that owes much to its lenient entry policies and comparatively low tuition fees. It also had the second highest student ‘stay rate’ – numbers remaining in the country to work after graduation – at more than 25% of overseas students in 2008-9.