Abstract
While public opinion associates "irregular migration" to irregular entry or sojourn, an incresing number of studies show that it results from the production of legal categories of authorized sojourn. Contributing to this literature, the present chapter shows how the construction of the legal category of authorized work engenders irregular migration. As a matter of fact, multiplying the requirements for a work permit amounts in France to depriving regular residents of their right to stay. In the EU, France is a leading country by the number of people obliged to leave the territory and the bottom of class by the size of economic immigration flows.