Applying for asylum in France

If you are currently in another country, you can apply for an asylum visa or a “visa au titre de l’asile” from the local French consulate. Contact details can be found on this website.

This visa will allow you to come to France. Once you are in France, you can submit an application for asylum.

Under the Dublin Regulation, you need to file your application for asylum in the first country you entered, within the European Union.

If you file your application in France but entered the European Union via another country, France may declare that it does not have jurisdiction to examine your application.

In exceptional cases, France may still decide to process your application, if you have family in France or a health issue, for example, or if you have experienced mistreatment in the country where they want to send you. However, this is very rare.

Contact details depend on where you are located:

• For the region of Ile-de-France: contact the “Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration (OFII)” by phone on 01 42 500 900 to make an appointment at a “SPADA”.
• For other regions: consult the list of “SPADA” to find the one in your départment and contact them directly to make an appointment.

Someone will complete a registration form with you to begin the asylum application process.

They will then make an appointment for you with the organisation that records asylum applications, known as the “guichet unique (GUDA)”, at the local French administration centre or "préfecture".

If you require an interpreter, please inform the person at “SPADA”. They will need to request an interpreter when arranging the appointment.

Once the appointment has been booked, the person from “SPADA” will give you a document called a “convocation” specifying the place, date and time of your appointment at the “préfecture”. The appointment will usually take place within the next two weeks.

You must bring the following documents with you to the appointment:

• Four identity photos that meet the standards requested by the prefecture, if they have were not taken at the “SPADA”
• The “convocation” documents you received at the “SPADA”
• Your identity documents, if you have them.

At this stage, you will not be obliged to provide a document proving your place of residence, known as “justificatif de domicile”.

You will first meet an agent of the “préfecture” who will take your fingerprints and ask you some questions in an individual interview or "entretien individuel". An interpreter will be present if you don't speak French and if you requested one when you made your appointment.

The questions will be about the journey you have made from your home country to France. Their aim is to determine if France is the country responsible for your asylum application.

At the end of the appointment, the “préfecture” agent will give you several documents:

• A declaration that you have started an application for asylum called “attestation de demande d’asile”. Things to know about this document:
  • It authorises you to remain in France.
  • It doesn’t allow you to work.
  • It is valid for a limited period, which will be specified on the document, generally between six and ten months, renewable. If your application goes through the Dublin procedure, this will be specified on your "attestation" as “attestation de demande d’asile procédure Dublin”, which will have a limited validity of one month, renewable.
• The report of your individual interview or “entretien individuel”.
• Information leaflets in a language you understand on:
  • determining the state responsible for your asylum application and fingerprinting, which enables states to establish whether you have already submitted an application for asylum in another country or whether your fingerprints have already been taken at a border (brochure A)
  • placement in the Dublin procedure, which establishes which country is responsible for examining your application for asylum and the possibility of being transferred to another country, as well as the possibility of contesting this transfer decision (brochure B)
  • the Eurodac Regulation which concerns the database in which fingerprints are recorded on European Union territory.
• A form to complete to submit your asylum application known as a “formulaire de demande d’asile”. This will only be included if the “préfecture” considers the French state responsible for your application and does not initiate the Dublin procedure.

If you have already applied for asylum in another European state, arrived in the European Union via another country before France, or obtained a visa for another country, the “préfecture” may declare that France does not have jurisdiction to process your application for asylum.

In this case, they will initiate the Dublin procedure to arrange your return to the first country you entered in the European Union so that this country can process your application. This is called a transfer decision or “décision de transfert”.

You will be informed of this procedure in writing. You can ask for this decision to be changed by asking the the administrative court known as the “tribunal administratif” with the support of an “association” or a lawyer.

If the “préfecture” deems that France has jurisdiction to examine your application for asylum, you will meet a representative from the French Office of Immigration and Integration or “Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration (OFII)” directly after your interview at the “préfecture”.

They will ask you questions to evaluate your personal situation and take care of your access to material conditions of hosting or “conditions matérielles d’accueil”. These conditions consist of:

• an administrative address where you can receive mail, known as “domiciliation”, and which you can provide during your administrative proceedings
• an offer of accommodation
• financial assistance known as an asylum applicant allowance or “allocation pour demandeur d’asile (ADA)”.

It is very important to thoroughly prepare the way you tell your story. It is advisable to write your account down in a document that should include:

• your personal background, including surnames, first names, date and place of birth, nationality, religion, ethnicity, and the life you had in your country
• your motives for asking for protection in France: the reasons why you have faced, or fear that you will face, threats or persecution
• the events that led to your departure
• your migration journey from your home country to France.

This document must be written in French. It should not be too long (around two or three pages) but it must contain the key facts supporting your application for protection in a clear, chronological way. Your story needs to be very detailed, especially if you don’t have evidence to support it.

You can get help writing your story. It is recommended that you seek support from an “association” specialising in assisting asylum seekers or from a lawyer.

This document will then serve as the basis for your interview with the service responsible for examining asylum applications, called the “Office français de la protection des réfugiés et des apatrides (OFPRA)”. You must therefore be able to tell it orally.

First, make a copy of your certificate of your asylum application or “attestation de demande d’asile” for your application, and keep the original with you.

To include in your application:

• the asylum application form or “formulaire de demande d’asile” that you received at your “GUDA” appointment
• two identity photos that meet the standards requested
• a copy of your valid certificate of your asylum application or “attestation de demande d’asile”
• the account of your story in French
• if possible, your travel documents and any civil status documents for you or your family members.

Then submit the document directly in person to “OFPRA”, or send it by post to the following address:

"OFPRA
201 rue Carnot
94 136 Fontenay-sous-Bois Cedex"

Send it by registered post with recorded delivery or “lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception”. This is the only way to prove it has been received. Keep the receipt as proof of postage.

Once the file has been sent to “OFPRA”, you will receive a letter at the address you indicated in your application form confirming that your application for asylum has been registered. If you have not received anything within one month, you can contact them to find out how your case is progressing.

You can attend this interview with your lawyer or an organisation called an “association” specifically authorised to accompany asylum seekers. You will find a list of these “associations” here.

The person accompanying you will not be allowed to speak for you, but will be able to make comments at the end of the interview. They can also help prepare you for the interview beforehand.

The “OFPRA” may summon you several times about your application if they believe more information is required.

At the end of the process, you should receive a response from “OFPRA” by post to the address you provided in your application.

The response should usually be sent no later than six months after your application was submitted. Unfortunately, the waiting periods can be much longer, sometimes up to two years. In this case, you will receive a letter to inform you that the review of your application will take more than six months.

If the decision of “OFPRA” is negative, you can ask for the decision to be changed by lodging an appeal or “appel” to the National Court of Right to Asylum or “Cour nationale du droit d’asile”.

You have a period of one month from the date you were notified of the decision to appeal, which means from the date you received the decision letter.

It is strongly recommended to be accompanied by an “association” for this procedure or to hire a lawyer specialised in the rights to asylum. If your resources are too limited to pay for their services, you can apply for legal aid or “aide juridictionnelle” to cover the costs:

• the application for “’aide juridictionnelle” must be made no more than 15 days after receiving the decision letter
• it must be made using a specific form and sent by registered post or “lettre recommandée avec avis de réception” to the “CNDA”.