Paris , France ( CNN ) -- France has denied citizenship to a man because he allegedly forced his wife to wear a full Islamic veil , the French immigration minister said in a statement Wednesday . The man was applying for citizenship in order to join his French wife in France , Immigration Minister Eric Besson said . The man was refused citizenship because he was depriving his wife of the liberty to come and go with her face uncovered , Besson said . The decision , made Tuesday , came exactly a week after a French parliamentary commission recommended a partial ban on any veils that cover the face -- including the burqa , the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women . The ban -- which has not yet come up for a vote -- would apply in public places like hospitals and schools , and on public transport , the commission announced . Foreigners may become French citizens if they marry French nationals and meet certain criteria , including integrating well in French society and having `` good morality , '' Besson said . It is on the criteria of morality that the man 's citizenship request was denied , Besson said . `` This individual imposes the full veil upon his wife , does not allow her the freedom to go and come as she pleases , and bans her from going out with her face unveiled , and rejects the principles of secularism and equality between man and woman , '' Besson said he told President Nicolas Sarkozy . France 's top court denied a Moroccan woman 's naturalization request in 2008 on the grounds that she wore a burqa . Sarkozy controversially told lawmakers six months ago that the traditional Muslim burqa was `` not welcome '' in France . He said the issue is one of a woman 's freedom and dignity , and did not have to do with religion . France has relatively tight controls on religion , according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life . It has among the most severe government restrictions on religion in Western Europe , as well as some of the highest levels of social tension involving religion , Pew senior researcher Brian Grim told CNN . More than half of French people support a full ban veils , according to a recent opinion poll . The Ipsos poll for Le Point magazine found 57 percent of French people said it should be illegal to appear in public wearing clothes that cover the face . That 's despite government estimates that fewer than 2,000 women in the country actually wear the full Islamic veil . France has about 3.5 million Muslims , representing about 6 percent of the population , according to Pew Forum research . The country does not collect its own statistics on religion in accordance with laws enshrining France 's status as a secular state . France already has a law against Muslim girls wearing headscarves in state schools . It sparked widespread Muslim protests when the French Parliament passed the law in 2004 , even though the law also bans other conspicuous religious symbols including Sikh turbans , large Christian crucifixes and Jewish skull caps . CNN 's Jessica Hartogs in London , England , contributed to this report .
Immigration Minister says man denied wife liberty of coming going with face uncovered . France is scheduled to vote on whether to ban full veils . France denied a Moroccan woman 's naturalization request in 2008 on the because she wore a burqa .