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France is the European country that opened nationality up to foreigners the earliest, from the second half of the 19th century. At the time, nationality was governed by jus sanguinis, introduced by the Civil Code civil of 1804 and founded on birth right. For demographic reasons, France extended the right to nationality to jus soli from 1851, followed by the reforms of 1889, 1927, 1945 and 1973.

Whereas emigration has been common within Portuguese society for several centuries, the massive arrival of Portuguese people in France only dates from the late 1950s. Until this time, Portuguese migrants preferred the distant coasts of America, Africa or even the Pacific. From representing a residual share of foreigners in France during the first five decades of the 20th century, in the space of a few years, the Portuguese became the largest foreign "community". In seventeen years, the number of Portuguese living in France went from 20,000 (1958) to 750,000 (1975).