www.gisti.org/asylum-in-france

Applying for asylum in France

All the versions of this article:

[ Latest update : 5 November 2024 ]

À jour de la réforme de janvier 2024

The asylum procedure is complicated and sometimes difficult to understand. All the factsheets are up to date with law n°2024-42 of January 26th 2024 “to control immigration, improve integration” known as the “Darmanin” law (loi “pour contrôler l’immigration, améliorer l’intégration”).

The following Gisti factsheets aim to provide asylum seekers and those who help them with the information they need to apply for asylum, assert their rights and avoid the traps set by the French administration.

Every monday, between 2 pm and 5 pm, 10 rue affre 75018 Paris.

The legal advice provided only concerns questions relating to the Dublin procedure, CMA questions (problem with the Ofii), OQTF (obligation to leave French territory) and CNDA appeals, and issues encountered when registering your asylum claim (legal advice only in English and French).

Who are we ?

This legal clinic is set up by activists and various associations (ATMF, Dom’asile, GISTI, La Cimade, ADDE, ELENA).

All people working there are willing to fight for your rights, by your side, and support you when facing difficulties with the administration.

We are not related in any way to the public services organisations in charge of refugees’ reception (Prefecture, OFPRA, OFII or any association commissioned by the government like FTDA, Croix-Rouge, Coallia, Emmaüs solidarité…).


Already greatly transformed in 2015 and 2018, the asylum procedure outline has just been significantly changed again by the 2024-42 law of January 26th 2024 “to control immigration, improve integration” (“pour contrôler l’immigration, améliorer l’intégration”, or “loi Darmanin”) which reformed the Ceseda (« Code de l’entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d’asile » or “code for entry and residence of foreigners and for the right to asylum”). As per usual in the field of foreigners’ rights and asylum, the legislators did not try simplifying the procedure but, on the contrary, made it even more technical and difficult to understand by asylum seekers or by the people who assist them.

The few small improvements brought by these laws are, as always, outweighed by a multitude of other measures taken in order to reinforce the controlling of migrants, in order to “sort” them according to their administrative status, or in order to suspend or withdraw their rights—sometimes completely arbitrarily—so as to make them even more precarious, in order to lock them up, to remove them from the asylum procedure, to expel them…

The migratory policies and refugees reception crisis has now lasted for several years. This crisis is orchestrated by France itself, which instead of trying to adapt its system to better welcome people (centers for first reception, reception at the police prefecture, sufficient housing, real administrative, social and legal assistance), has chosen to control people even more and turn away as many people as possible.

All of this is made possible by resorting to a legal arsenal, including the infamous Dublin Regulation which determines the country responsible for examining an asylum application. This regulation -which is becoming increasingly restrictive - is used excessively even though all European countries are conscious that they cannot force people to stay in a country in which they do not want to settle down. In contradiction with legal standards and against all common sense, resorting to the Dublin regulation results in an inflation of the number of forced deportations, back-and-forth trips, and illegal practices of massively turning away people at borders. France itself has never complied with its reception of asylum seekers obligations, and, for many years, has preferred mistreating them, hoping that people will leave and spread the message to others that France is not a hospitable country to discourage them from coming.

Despite measures taken by the authorities to put an end to refugee camps, the camps are not disappearing. After each dismantling, they simply split up in smaller camps popping up elsewhere gathering just a few dozen to a few hundred people. In the Paris region, it still takes months before one can file an asylum claim. The long waiting lines in front of pre-prefectures have now transformed into invisible phone lines with the establishment of a telephone number, difficult to get through to, to get an appointment at the first reception center.

Once one has finally been able to start the asylum procedure, the French Office on Immigration and Integration (Ofii), substantially restricts the right to material reception conditions (CMA) for asylum seekers, leaving them in extremely precarious situations and degrading conditions throughout the whole asylum procedure.

Regarding the asylum application itself, the French Office for the Protection of refugees and stateless persons (Ofpra) and the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) interpret the Geneva Convention exceedingly restrictively.
In 2023, the protection rate is merely of 31,5% by the Ofpra and 20,7% before the CNDA.

Although it is impossible to list all of the traps set by the administration, these fact sheets aim to provide the information required to submit an asylum application, and assert one’s rights.

www.gisti.org/asylum-in-france

Warning:
  • always keep a copy of the documents you submit to the authorities
  • never give originals (except for the passport that you have to submit to Ofpra)
Note: for the writing of this publication and the various fact sheets that are translated in several languages, we have made the choice not to use gender inclusive writing - used in our other publications - so as not to complicate the reading by foreign people and to facilitate their translation.

A. SPADA reception center

In order to apply for asylum in France, you must first of all report to a first reception center (Spada). You must not go directly to the prefecture or to the Ofpra (French office for the protection of refugees and stateless persons).

Note : In the Paris metropolitan region (Ile-de-France), a new system was put into place in May 2018 to get an appointment at the Spada. You first have to call a number managed by the Ofii (French office for immigration and integration). The Ofii agent will ask you questions about your date of entry into France, your civil status, the civil status of your family accompanying you, your state of health, etc. They will then send you a text message to the phone number that you give them, confirming the date and time of your Spada appointment.

The Ofii’s number (01 42 500 900) is difficult to reach. The dematerialisation of the appointment scheduling system, adopted by many prefectures, makes migrants invisible while they wait for an appointment to register their asylum application.

If you are unable to reach this number, it is possible to appeal to the administrative court.

Warning: It is very important to attend your appointment at the Spada at the correct date and time.

You must go as soon as possible to the Spada (or call the Ofii’s number). Even though there is no time limit for requesting asylum and you can request asylum even after years of living in France, if you say that you arrived in France more than 90 days ago, the prefecture will place you in the fast-track process (factsheet no. 2). This fast-track process is less favorable for you, and you will be denied the Material Reception Conditions (CMA) that normally come with an asylum application, which involve housing and an allowance.

Each Spada is managed by an association which works on behalf of the French government. It has multiple roles, as it must inform you about asylum, give you the necessary documents to file an application for protection, and help you with the asylum application procedures, especially if you are not living in a housing center.

1. Informing you about asylum

The Spada must inform you about the asylum procedure and provide you with information documents produced by the Ofii (the French office for immigration and integration), a government body (factsheet no. 2).

2. Helping you with the registration procedure

The Spada must help you fill out the asylum request registration form and check that the file is complete, in order to send it to the prefecture.

To complete the form, the Spada officer will ask you questions about:

  • Your civil status (first names and surname, nationality, family situation);
  • The itinerary of your journey from your country of origin;
  • How you entered French territory;
  • If you have already requested asylum in France or in Europe…;

The form and a photo taken by webcam will be sent to the prefecture.

Note: even if you do not possess a passport or identity card, the Spada must register your asylum request and note the information you provide orally.

The questions about your journey are to check if you have travelled through other countries of the European Union in order to apply the so-called “Dublin” procedure (factsheet no. 3). Some police prefectures will only place you in the Dublin procedure if your fingerprints are in a database, while others also use what you have declared during the interviews.

If you do not want to answer these questions or if the prefecture realizes that you have given false information, the prefecture can decide that you do not wish to “cooperate” and can place you in the fast-track procedure, which is not in your interest (factsheet no. 2).

3. Making an appointment at the prefecture service desk

The Spada must obtain an appointment for you at the prefecture service desk called GUDA within 3 days (or 10 days if the number of asylum seekers is particularly high) and provide you with a notification of this appointment.

Warning: this can take a long time in some police prefectures – in which case you should contact an association to see if an appeal is possible.

4. If you have no housing

If, after your visit to the GUDA, the Ofii does not offer you long-term housing or does not direct you towards another region in France, you must return to the SPADA which must:

  • Domicile you (i.e. provide you with a fixed address which is very important for receiving mail). If you are not housed in an Asylum Seeker Reception Center (Cada), in a similar structure or in a Center for Reception and Situation Examination (CAES), then your domiciliation with the Spada is mandatory, in which case you cannot give a different postal address for your procedures including the asylum application (unless you are a tenant or owner of your home);
  • Fill in the Ofpra asylum request form with you (factsheet 4);
  • Help you write your asylum story and translate it (factsheet 4);
  • Help you obtain the health insurance that asylum seekers have a right to (factsheet 6);
  • Provide you with special assistance (vouchers, food parcels) and direct you to the municipal reception service if necessary (Municipal center for social action (CCAS));
  • Help you create a personal digital secure OFPRA space and help you consult your mail on this account.

The Spada has the obligation to help you, as this organization is financed by the government with a contract requiring it to fulfill certain tasks. If the Spada does not help you enough, after being registered by the Spada, you can contact an association which helps asylum seekers.

Warning: you must go to the Spada to collect your mail very regularly (once a week) or check the center’s website if you can’t. If you do not go to the Spada regularly, the Spada can cancel your address. If you do not attend your appointments (with the prefecture, the Ofpra, the CNDA, etc…) or go to pick up your mail, the police prefecture can also declare you are “on the run” if you are in the Dublin procedure, or terminate your asylum application (factsheet no. 3)

5. Accompanying and domiciling beneficiaries of international protection

According to the new contract bid made by the Ofii, the Spadas are also responsible for accompanying and domiciling beneficiaries of international protection, which involves the asylum seekers who have been recognised as refugees.

B. The Centers for reception and situation examination (CAES)

In order to remedy the malfunctions of the reception procedure, the State set up a second system giving access to the asylum procedure which is being spread nationally. This second system is composed of the Centers for reception and situation examination (CAES). CAES have been opened to provide shelter and a quick examination of individual administrative situations, before directing asylum seekers, more or less rapidly, towards housing depending on their administrative status (see the Cimade’s map to know their locations).

Each CAES is limited by its specific reception capacity. In theory, the stay should not exceed ten days. In practice, the stay is longer because of the recurring lack of housing spaces for asylum seekers in France.

Depending on their administrative situation, asylum seekers can be sent to centers which function in a coercive manner. People in the Dublin procedure who go through a CAES in the Parisian region are, most often, hosted in centers located in Ile-de-France which can serve as centers for “house arrests”,in which ID checks and arrests can take place. In Ile-de-France, in order to access a CAES, you must either go through one of the day-time reception centers for isolated persons (see below) or be spotted by a roving street team.

This new preliminary step makes it impossible to directly access a CAES. This allows the government to avoid waiting lines in front of centers, such as the ones that had formed in front of the former reception center at La Chapelle (the former “bubble”). All of this once again allows the government to make asylum seekers invisible and to hide the fact that France has a deficient reception policy.

The day-time reception centers for isolated persons in Paris can accompany asylum seekers for certain procedures, but these centers are often saturated and unable to properly function.

The temporary reception shelters scheme (“sas temporaire d’accueil”)

Since 2023, 10 « temporary regional receptions shelters” have been set up in France to “relieve overcrowding in housing centers” in the Paris metropolitan area (Ile de France). The scheme is mainly aimed at migrants, many of whom live on the streets or in emergency housing in the Paris metropolitan area.

People are to stay for three weeks in the “sas d’accueil”, before being “redirected” towards another region, in “the type of accommodation corresponding to their situation.”

Systematic fingerprinting on site via “bioweb” will enable “mobile records” to be taken. The March 13th 2023 circular specifies that “these records will allow the identification of people subject to an OQTF (obligation to leave the French territory) and the assessment of its enforceability.”

This circular thus provides that :

  • Asylum seekers will be redirected towards the national asylum reception system and refugees towards temporary accommodation centers. There is however a limited amount of places available in those centers;
  • People in irregular situations will receive a proposition of voluntary departure and will be reoriented towards the preparation for return scheme (“dispositif de préparation au retour” DPAR), a sort of open holding center (retention center);
  • People who are not subject to an enforceable OQTF (obligation to leave the French territory) and who wish to submit a request to have their administrative situation reviewed will be redirected towards an “generalist” emergency housing parc, which is already saturated;
  • People subject to an enforceable OQTF will have to be moved away (mesure d’éloignement = expulsion measure ? ), which leaves the possibility of placement into a holding/detention/retention center.

Since the “sas d’accueil” were open, a number of people have been forced to apply for a residence permit, without it being ascertained whether they really wanted to do so, or whether the conditions for obtaining a right of residence had been met.

After the reception platform – Spada (factsheet no. 1), you need to go to the Guda at the date of the appointment given to you by the Spada. The Guda includes services provided by both the prefecture and the Ofii. In France, there are 34 single-desk contact points. The prefecture is in charge of your residence; it provides you with an asylum application certificate. The Ofii is responsible for providing access to “material reception conditions” (housing, allowance…).

A. “Sorting” of asylum seekers by the police prefecture, and the right to residence

The police prefecture is responsible for your right of residence. Even if you do not have a passport or a national id card the police prefecture has to register the information that you provide orally.

Do not miss this appointment because it will be difficult to obtain another one.

If necessary, you must communicate, any change of address or “domiciliation” to the police prefecture by registered letter with delivery receipt.

Warning! You will be informed at the police prefecture of the languages in which the Ofpra interview can be conducted. You must indicate in which language you want to be heard by the Ofpra (list of available languages). This language will be used throughout the asylum procedure. If you don not choose a language, or if your language choice is “not available”, the interview could take place in a language of which you have sufficient knowledge (Ceseda, Art. L. 521-6). The only possible way of contesting this language choice is before the CNDA during an appeal against the rejection decision of the Ofpra.

It is highly recommended that you ask for an interpreter for your native language. Do not choose a language which you do not speak perfectly.

1. Taking of fingerprints

Your fingerprints will be taken at the prefecture to check if you are registered in the Eurodac and Visabio files. The police prefecture has to give you a booklet explaining why your fingerprints are taken entitled “I asked for asylum in the European Union: which country will handle my request?”.

The prefecture will also look for other evidence or signs of passage through another European Union country: you will be asked questions about your journey, your passport will be examined (to see if there is a visa for any other European country), as well as any other documents that you provide them.

  • If your fingerprints are stored in a Eurodac file, or if the police prefecture finds another indication of your passage through another European country, you will be transferred to the “Dublin” procedure (factsheet no. 3).
  • If the prefecture does not find proof that you have entered the European Union through another country, or that you have applied for asylum in another EU country, you will be able to apply for asylum in France.

Note:before your appointment at the prefecture, you cannot find out whether you are registered in a Eurodac file or not. Though this is becoming more and more uncommon, the countries that you have traveled through (Italy, Hungary, etc.) and in which you have gone through screening may not have recorded your fingerprints in the file.

Warning! if you refuse to provide your fingerprints at the police prefecture, your application will automatically be placed in the fast-track procedure (see below).

Some police prefectures refuse to register asylum requests if your fingerprints are unreadable, but this is illegal. In that case, you have to contact an association or a lawyer to contest this kind of practice.

2. The Guide for asylum seekers

The prefecture must provide you with a copy of the Interior Ministry’s Guide for asylum seekers in a language that you understand, and a list of associations that can help you.

3. “Normal”, “fast-track” or “Dublin” procedure

The prefecture can place you either in the normal, fast-track or Dublin procedure (normale, accélérée or Dublin) (factsheet n°3).

Warning: the fast-track procedure is not in your best interest (quick and superficial examination of your request).

You will be placed in the fast-track procedure:

  • If you do not provide your fingerprints, or if they are illegible or erased;
  • If you provide false identity documents;
  • If you provide incorrect information about yourself or your journey;
  • If the prefecture notices that you have already requested asylum in France under another name;
  • If you say that you entered France more than 90 days ago without providing legitimate reason for not applying for asylum within this timeframe;
  • If you are arrested and the police give you an “OQTF” – an order to leave French Territory – and you are placed in a detention facility…

Furthermore, the law provides that the police prefecture will place you in the fast-track procedure if:

  • you come from a “safe country of origin”: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Georgia, India, Kosovo, Macedonia (FYROM), Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro and Serbia.
  • you ask for a reconsideration of your asylum claim.

The Ofpra can also place you in the fast-track procedure after examining your story (factsheet n°4).

The prefecture must provide you with a document that explains why you have been placed into the fast-track procedure. If they do not give it to you, ask for it, as it is a necessary document to challenge the placement in the fast-track procedure before the CNDA (National Court of Asylum Steps and proceedings).

Note: No appeal is possible against placement in the fast-track procedure before an administrative tribunal. You can only appeal this decision before the Cour nationale du droit d’asile (CNDA) (factsheet n°5). If you have been wrongly placed in the fast-track procedure, it is nevertheless possible to send a registered letter with delivery receipt to the Ofpra to request a transfer of your application to the normal procedure, but the chances of success are low.

According to the law, in the fast-track procedure, the Ofpra only has 15 days to make a decision, but the delays are longer in practice.

Especially in the fast-track procedure, it is of paramount importance to carefully prepare your written asylum story on the Ofpra form and that you prepare for your interview (factsheet n°4).

Note: Since the January 26th 2024 law, appeals before the CNDA are to be examined by a single judge, under both the fast-track and the normal procedures ; the distinction between the two procedures therefore no longer has much impact on appeals before the CNDA. This judge delivers a decision in five weeks instead of five months under the normal procedure. In practice, this time limit is not respected, but the examination of cases under the fast-track procedure remains faster than under the normal procedure.

In addition, it is possible for the Ofii to use your placement in the fast-track procedure to refuse to provide you the material reception conditions (CMA), specifically the asylum seekers allowance (ADA) and housing (see below). It is then necessary to check if the law considers this reason as a valid justification for taking away the CMA (see B.5. Cases of refusal, withdrawal and suspension of CMA).

The provision of the material reception conditions (CMA) is not related to the placement in the fast-track procedure, though some motives for refusal of CMAs might be motives for placement in the fast-track procedure as well.

4. Reception of the asylum application certificate

The prefecture will provide you with an “attestation de demande d’asile” (asylum application certificate) which will indicate in which procedure your application has been placed (“normal”, “fast-track” or “Dublin”). This document proves that you are an asylum seeker: you must always have it with you in case you are stopped and checked by the police (the original or a photocopy).

Note: in addition to the certificate, the prefecture will provide you a renewal appointment date. The date of this appointment may be beyond the period of validity of the asylum application certificate, but in that case, your protection will still be maintained.

Depending on the prefecture (summons notice, presentation without an appointment, etc) you must return to the prefecture to renew this certificate with:

  • The Ofpra registration letter or a certificate from submitting your asylum application;
  • Proof of residence or proof of your postal address (from a “domiciliation”) no more than 3 months old.
Note: In some prefectures, you must report to the Spada to request a renewal before the end of the certificate’s period of validity.

In the normal procedure, the asylum application certificate is valid for 10 months, then renewable every 6 months. In the fast-track procedure, it is valid for 6 months, then renewable every 6 months. In the case of an appeal before the CNDA, the certificate will only be renewed upon presentation of the certificate of receipt of the appeal to the CNDA.

Warning ! in several cases, you are no longer entitled to maintenance, and therefore no longer receive an asylum application certificate, during the CNDA appeal :
  • if your application for reconsideration (demande de réexamen) has been rejected;
  • if OFPRA has deemed your application inadmissible on the grounds that you have obtained protection in another European Union Member State;
  • if you are from a safe country and OFPRA has rejected your application (see factsheet n°4).

In you recece an OQTF (obligation to leave French territory ), get in touch quickly with a specialized association or a lawyer.

Length of asylum application certificates (ATDA) according to procedures :

Normal procedureFast-track procedureDublin procedure
ATDA 10 months 6 months 1 month
Renewal 6 months 6 months 4 months (where appropriate)

The asylum application certificate does not permit you to travel freely in other countries of the European Union.

Warning: It is useful to keep copies or pictures of all your documents, especially certificates of asylum application, because if the prefecture were to illegally take them away from you, lawyers would be able to use the copies.

In the Dublin procedure, the first certificate is valid for 1 month, and is then renewable every 4 months.

Regarding refusals or withdrawals of certificates cases, see 4. : Different cases of refusal or removal of the certificate (loss of the right to stay).

5. Provision of the Ofpra form

At the single-desk contact point, the prefecture must also provide you with the Ofpra form (factsheet no. 4-1).

Note: We strongly advise you to send your file to the Ofpra as a registered letter with delivery receipt in order to have evidence of your submission. If the Ofpra did not send you a registration letter in time, you will thus be able to go to the prefecture for the renewal of your certificate with the copy of the proof that you sent the file.

6. Connection identifier (connection/login ID) on to the OFPRA portal

When you receive your OFPRA form, the prefecture will also give you a letter (in French) giving you your login details for the OFPRA portal and for creating your account.

Warning! It is very important to create your account quickly and to check it regularly (every week), to see if OFPRA has sent you a new document, for example, the convening letter (convocation) to the Ofpra interview (see factsheet n°4). Failure to consult this portal can also lead to missing the deadline for appeal before the CNDA if OFPRA rejects your application.
You can ask Spada for help in setting up this account.
Warning! Since the introduction of the secure personal digital space/account (https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr), the date and time of the first consultation of Ofpra’s rejection decision by the addressee is the date on which the “acknowledgment of receipt” is drawn up. It is from this notification that the appeal period begins. If the document has not been opened or has been opened late, the time limit begins to run 15 days after the document is made available on the Ofpra website (see factsheet n°5).

B. The Ofii and the material reception conditions (CMA)

→ For more detailed information : Asylum application and material reception conditions, Gisti, coll. Les Notes pratiques, december 2023.

The Ofii (French office for immigration and integration), a government body under the authority of the Interior Ministry, is responsible for providing access to “material reception conditions” (housing, allowance, postal address, vulnerability). No matter which procedural track your application has been placed in by the prefecture (normal, fast-track or Dublin) you have the right to these provisions called CMA, except in certain cases listed below.

Warning! the Ofii will offer that you sign the “offre de prise en charge” (a formal agreement for assistance) to obtain accommodation and the asylum seeker’s allowance. If you accept this agreement, you may be allocated housing and the allowance (ADA). This is a global offer, so if you refuse one part of it, you will not have the right to the rest.

1. Regional orientation (“orientation régionale”)

Accepting the offer of assistance implies that the Ofii can force you to move to another region (a region of residence).

In most instances, you will be housed in a CAES (centre administratif d’examen des situations). You will then be sent to more stable accommodation, usually in the same region.

You are supposed to request authorization from OFII when you wish to leave the region to which you are attached. In practice, such authorization is tacit for travel related to your asylum application. Important : By law, OFII is under the obligation to take your personal and family situation into account before offering a regional orientation. When you go to the Guda, if you think you have legitimate reasons for wanting to stay where you are or go to a region other than the one proposed to you, you must tell the OFII officer. If you forgot to mention those reasons during the interview, you should send them by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by email.

Warning! if the officer considers that your reasons for refusing the orientation are not legitimate and you refuse their offer, you will no longer be entitled to accommodation or benefit.

In practice, the OFII’s assessment of your personal situation is very strict. For example, if your are in the Paris metropolitan region (Ile-de-France), you can apply to stay there in three cases :

  • If your state of pregnancy makes travelling outside Ile-de-France inadvisable. You will need to produce a medical certificate stating that travelling outside Ile-de-France is not advisable;
  • If you are living permanently in Ile-de-France. In this case, you will need to provide the following documents within five days : a solemn declaration by your host (declaration sur l’honneur), a copy of his or her identity document (French ID card or equivalent, or valid residency permit (carte de séjour)), a copy of title deed (ownership title) or rental contract/lease agreement, proof of address less than three months old (electricity or gas bill, rent receipt, tax notice), and any document proving your family relationship, if this is the case;
  • If your spouse works in the Ile-de-France region. In this case, you will need to provide within five days a copy of the employment contract, a copy of your spouse’s identity document, a solemn statement (attestation sur l’honneur) that you’re are living together and proof of address less than three months old. Warning : If you do not want accommodation because you are being accommodated but cannot produce these documents, your refusal of orientation or accommodation will not be considered legitimate and you will be refused CMAs.

2. Vulnerability

An Ofii agent will receive you for a personal interview to assess whether you are a “vulnerable” asylum seeker (see the form). For example, a person with a disability, a pregnant woman, a sick person, etc. are considered “vulnerable” (art.L.552-3 Ceseda). As a vulnerable person, you will be given priority for housing, and that housing must comply with your specific needs.

Important! You can report a situation of vulnerability to OFII at any time throughout the procedure : do not hesitate to write a recommended letter or an email on that matter. If the ground for vulnerability is medical, OFII will provide a confidential medical certificate (MEDZO) to present to a doctor. Once the doctor has filled the certificate out, you must send it by registered letter with an acknowledgement of receipt to OFII (do not simply deliver it to the OFII mailbox as is sometimes suggested). Keeping a copy of the certificate completed by the doctor is recommended.

3. Housing

The Ofii will provide you with an accommodation offer based on the places available in reception centers for asylum seekers (Cada). To do so, the Ofii consults the DN@ file (national file for place management). In the absence of available space in a Cada, the office could offer you another kind of accommodation such as emergency accommodation (Huda) or in a Prahda facility (reception and housing program for asylum seekers).

If you are not housed in any of those places, the Ofii will redirect you to a Spada (a first reception center). The Spada will advise you to call the emergency number 115 to find your own emergency housing.

OFII will likely contact you at a later date for accommodation ; if you refuse accommodation without presenting a legitimate reason, the CMAs will be withdrawn.

These reception centers may have different operating rules but they are subject to common obligations (defined by their contract with the government), particularly concerning administrative, medical and social assistance.

Each of those housing centers must follow a particular procedure regarding departure from the accommodation. This procedure implies you must be given notice before you can be let back on the street. Therefore, before leaving the center, we recommend that you check with an association that your center is following the mandatory procedure.

4. Postal address

If you are provided with “long-term” housing by Ofii, you can use the address of the center for your asylum procedure; this is called “domiciliation”.

If you are not housed in such a center, you must return to the Spada (factsheet no.1) which will provide you with a postal address where you can receive your mail.

Warning: you have to collect your mail regularly (once a week) and check the website regularly. If you do not go to the Spada for over 3 month, the Spada can close your address (unless this absence is justified).

5. The asylum-seeker’s allowance (ADA)

The Ofii will provide you a card for this allowance. As this card cannot be used in ATMs (cash machines), you can only use the card to pay directly for your purchases.

It is nonetheless advisable to open a bank account (for example at the ‘Banque postale’) during the period of validity of the asylum application certificate (ATDA). To open an account, you need to provide the asylum application certificate and a valid domiciliation address.

In case of difficulties, you can contact the Spada or the accomodation center to help you out.

The ADA amounts to 6.80 euros per day for a single person. The amount is calculated based on your family compositions (for 2 people 10,20 euros; for 3 people 13,60 euros...).

An additional amount of € 7.40 per day will be paid to you each month if no housing has been offered to you. If you indicate that you are housed somewhere for free, this additional amount will be withdrawn.

Henceforth asylum seekers sleeping in emergency housing will no longer qualify for this additional amount, even though it is only a temporary housing. The services responsible for the management of emergency housing (SIAO) will be required to report the identities of refugees and asylum seekers that they are hosting to the Ofii on a monthly basis.

To qualify for the material reception conditions (CMA) and specifically the ADA allowance, you must:

  • Be over 18 years old;
  • Possess a valid asylum application certificate (which gives you the right to reside in France), i.e. not expired, except if the prefecture’s tardiness in renewing your certificate is the reason you cannot present a valid, unexpired one;
  • Have accepted and signed the “offre de prise en charge” given at the Ofii, during your appointment at the single-desk contact point, thus accepting their housing offer or the region of residence;
  • Have submitted the Ofpra form within 21 days (except for people in the Dublin procedure);
  • Declare that your income is less than the French “revenu de solidarité active” (RSA – a welfare benefit): 550 euros for a single adult with no children;
  • Present yourself to the authorities (police prefecture, Ofii, house arrest...) when summoned, and give them all the requested information.

The ADA is paid to you throughout the whole asylum procedure, as long as you have the right to remain in France, or until the transfer to another State responsible for the review of your application following the Dublin regulation. You will stop benefiting from the ADA the month following the termination of your right to remain in French territory.

6. Cases of refusal or cessation of the CMA

In each and every case, the Ofii is required to deliver written and motivated decisions.

The Ofii tends to cut the ADA erroneously. You should always verify that the Ofii decision is based on one of the situations listed above, and that it is justified. Important case law exists both at the level of the administrative courts and the Conseil d’Etat.

New: The appeal period has increased from two months to 7 days since the law of January 26, 2024! If you are out of time to contest the refusal or termination of the CMA, you must send a request for reinstatement to the OFII by registered mail or by e-mail, then wait for the explicit or implicit refusal (after two months) to file an appeal against this decision.

a. The refusal of the CMA

After the registration of your application at the single-desk contact point, the Ofii refuse the CMA if (articles L 551-15):

  • You submit a request for review of your asylum application (reconsideration);
  • You have not applied for asylum within 90 days after your entry in France, and have no legitimate reason to not have done so (60 days in Guyane). In practice, the Ofii applies this principle almost systematically without taking into account any “legitimate reason” justifying the “lateness” of the application, such as for example the impossibility of registration of the asylum application because of the overcrowding of the Spadas and prefectures (in this case, you should keep any evidence of your calls to those platforms). These legitimate justifications are not specified by the law; those can be, for instance, a serious health issue.
  • You refuse the accommodation proposal by the Ofii or the direction to a region determined by the Ofii.

b. The cessation/termination of the CMA

There are numerous cases of termination that allow the Ofii to put an end to your material reception conditions at any given point throughout the procedure.

This includes if (articles L.551-16) :

  • You leave the region you have been directed to by the Ofii or the housing in which you have been admitted
  • You do not comply with the requirements imposed by the administrative authorities, in particular going to the various interviews, presenting yourself to the authorities when being summoned and providing all necessary information to facilitate the procedure
  • You have concealed your financial resources
  • You have provided false information concerning your family situation
  • You have submitted several asylum applications with different identities

The law specifies that cessation decisions can only be taken “in exceptional cases”.

Violent behavior or serious breach of housing rules should no longer lead to the withdrawal of the CMA.

Warning! when notified with an “intention of suspending the material reception conditions”, to contest the decision, you can submit written observations within 15 days by registered letter with delivery receipt or by email to contest the decision. If the intention of cessation is not precise on the grounds for cessation, it is recommended to ask OFII for precisions before writing out those observations, as they could be used negatively.

c. A reinstatement request

It is always possible to request the reinstatement of CMAs under the provisions of article 20 of the directive “Accueil” (reception directive).

The application for reinstatement may concern all persons who have been refused or had their CMAs terminated by OFII. In the case of a refusal decision, the application is referred to as a grant application (demande d’octroi).

This type of application is particularly recommended for people who have been able to register their asylum application under the normal or accelerated procedure after having initially been placed under the Dublin procedure (see factsheet n°3) and then considered to be “fugitives” (“en fuite”) under the Dublin Regulation. In this case, OFII is not obliged to automatically re-examine entitlement to CMAs after registration under the normal or accelerated procedure. Only an application for reinstatement triggers this review.

It is therefore up to the person concerned to apply to OFII for reinstatement on the basis of :

  • the person’s vulnerability (non-exhaustive list of reasons for vulnerability: state of health, isolated women or children, previous mutilation or sexual abuse). It is important to enclose any certificates, attestations, photos or other documents that might support this vulnerability and to ask to be called in for an interview to assess vulnerability;
  • material needs (for example, for a family or for a disabled person: in practice, this criterion often overlaps with the grounds for vulnerability);
  • compliance with obligations towards asylum authorities. For example, supporting documents relating to breaches of the Dublin procedure may be attached to the application (proof of transport delays or medical documents explaining absence from an appointment, hospital emergency admission form, social notes, etc.). It is pointless, and counterproductive, to bring up failings for which one does not have good reasons to put forward.

The request for reinstatement of CMAs can be made by registered letter (with acknowledgment of receipt) or sent to contentieux.cma@ofii.fr and must be accompanied by all the relevant supporting documents. It is essential to keep a copy of this letter and the acknowledgement of receipt.

If OFII remains silent for 2 months following receipt of this request, it is considered to be implicitly rejected, and this rejection may be appealed before the TA (administrative tribunal).

In the event of an explicit refusal, the appeal must be lodged within seven days.

> For more details see: Gisti, Les notes pratiques, L’accompagnement des demandeurs et demandeuses d’asile en procédure « Dublin », 2e édition, juillet 2019. (Gisti, Practical guides, Accompanying asylum seekers in the Dublin procedure, April 2018).

Migration and asylum European pact 

On April 10th 2024, the European Parliament adopted a series of measures aimed at reforming the European Union’s (EU) common rules on asylum and migration. These measures include a regulation on “asylum and migration management”, intended to replace the “Dublin III Regulation” and which will come into force within the next two years. Contrary to expectations of a complete overhaul of the system for allocating responsibility for asylum, the criteria for determining the State responsible remain virtually unchanged.

However, the rules on the shift and cessation of responsibilities have been modified, with the stated aim of avoiding what the Commission describes as “abuses” and “unauthorized movements”.

  • People who have had a residence permit in one Member State will have to wait 3 years (instead of 2 years) before they can apply for asylum in another Member State; people who have had a visa will have to wait 18 months (instead of 6 months).
  • The Member State of first entry will be responsible for processing the asylum application for 20 months, almost double the current period.
  • Where the first entry takes place following a search and rescue operation at sea, the period of responsibility will remain at 12 months.
  • In the event of absconding (e.g. failure to appear when summoned by the prefecture, refusal to embark for the country responsible, etc.), the period of “absconding” will be increased from 18 months to 3 years.

The Dublin procedure as currently implemented is already particularly complex and plunges many people into instability (loss of material reception conditions (CMA) in the event of being declared “on the run” (en fuite), risk of detention, etc.). These new provisions are likely to lead to even longer periods of wandering, greater insecurity and ping-pong between Member States. This will have a considerable impact on access to rights and the possibility of preparing an asylum application in good conditions.

According to the rules of Dublin III, only one Member State is responsible for the assessment of an asylum request in the European Union (EU).

According to these rules:

  • If you asked for asylum in another EU member state, this country remains responsible for your asylum request (whether the request is ongoing or rejected);
  • If you haven’t asked for asylum elsewhere, “the Dublin III” regulations provide criteria that will enable France to determine the country responsible for the asylum request. For example, it can be the country which issued your first visa or a residence permit, or the country through which you entered into the EU and in which you first had your identity checked. This responsibility of member states ends twelve months after the date of an illegal crossing of the border. Other, more positive, criteria are provided, such as being a minor or having family in France (articles 7 to 17 of the regulations).

A. The prefecture determines which Member State is responsible for an asylum request

To do so, it consults:

  • the visa information system (Visabio) to determine if you received a visa for another EU member state;
  • the Eurodac file in which your fingerprints are recorded if they were taken in one of the 28 Member States of the EU or in 4 associated countries: Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein.
Note: Although EU member states now almost always record fingerprints in the Eurodac file, it still sometimes happens that fingerprints are not correctly recorded, or even not recorded at all.

The Eurodac file collects data on:

  • asylum seekers (category 1 – fingerprints are kept for 10 years);
  • persons apprehended while illegally crossing an external border (category 2 – fingerprints are kept for 18 months).

Persons who are illegally present on the territory of a member state (category 3) can also have their fingerprints checked and compared with the database, but their fingerprints will be destroyed after being compared.

Warning: in some prefectures, you can be placed in the “Dublin” procedure solely on the basis of your declaration at the Guda police prefecture service desk. The prefecture will carefully examine the information regarding your journey before arriving in France and the visa in your passport, if you have one. However, in most services you will not be placed in the “Dublin” procedure solely on the basis of your declarations, but only if your fingerprints are registered in Eurodac or Visabio, no matter what you have declared.
Note: your fingerprints will be taken during your first appointment at the Guda. Refusing to give your fingerprints does not allow the prefecture to refuse registering your asylum request, but they will place you in the fast-track procedure. It is possible to appeal via suspensive procedures (“référé-liberté”) before an administrative court (TA) to challenge the refusal to record an asylum request with the help of an association or a lawyer.

B. The Dublin Procedure in action

If it is proven that you have traveled through another EU country, you are placed in the Dublin procedure; you will then attend an individual interview either with a translator or with a translator by telephone. The prefecture must provide you with a detailed report of the interview, as well as several information brochures in a language that you understand: one on the taking of fingerprints (brochure A1), one on the “Dublin” procedure (brochure B2) and one about the Eurodac regulations.

Even if it is not the country responsible for the asylum request, France still has the possibility to examine your request (see in particular article 17 of the regulation: discretionary provisions). This is why you must provide the prefecture with any information which could encourage the French authorities to examine your asylum application, such as:

  • the legal presence in France of members of your family with residence permits, who are seeking asylum or who are protected;
  • if you have health problems;
  • if you are pregnant;
  • if you have experienced ill treatment while in the EU country to which it is intended you return to.
Note: If you provide this information at the time of the interview, we also advise you to send it as soon as possible to the prefecture by registered letter with delivery receipt. You will then have proof that you have provided this information and, in the case that you appeal the decision to transfer you to another country, the lawyer or association representing you can use it.

Setting up the regionalization of Dublin procedures

Once the Guda has registered the asylum application, people placed under the “Dublin” procedure must go to one of the 10 specialized centers known as “regional Dublin hubs” (PRD) to have their “Dublin procedure” asylum application certificate renewed. It is therefore the same prefect who continues to implement the Dublin procedure and takes decisions on transfers and house arrests where necessary (in all the départements within the hub’s jurisdiction) while the State responsible is being determined. The PRD also organizes the transfer in conjunction with the border police.

The regional prefecture is sometimes located several hundred kilometers from the place of residence of people in this situation. The regional prefecture must cover transport costs.

RégionRegional Dublin hubYou first made your asylum request in the following prefectures:
Hauts-de-France PRD de Lille Lille and Beauvais
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur PRD de Marseille Marseille and Nice
Grand Est PRD de Strasbourg Chalons, Metz and Strasbourg
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté PRD de Besançon Dijon, Besançon and Mâcon
Auvergne-Rhône Alpes PRD de Lyon Lyon, Grenoble and Clermont- Ferrand
Nouvelle Aquitaine PRD de Bordeaux Bordeaux, Limoges and Poitiers
Occitanie PRD de Toulouse Toulouse and Montpellier
Bretagne PRD de Rennes Rennes
Pays de la Loire PRD d’Angers Nantes and Angers
Centre Val-de-Loire PRD d’Orléans Orléans
Normandie PRD de Rouen Rouen and Caen

C. Deadlines

During the “Dublin” procedure, France and the country responsible for your request have deadlines to respect (a time limit to contact the other country’s authorities and a time limit to answer).

Time limit to contact the other countryTime limit to for the other country to answer FranceTime limit to transfer
1. requests to take back 3 months 1 month 6 months ((1 year in the case of imprisonment; 18 months in the case of escape) - If appeal is rejected by administrative court: the time limit starts over.
1. requests to take back (if you are in the Eurodac category 1file*) 2 months 15 days Idem (6, 12 ou 18 months)
2. Requests to take charge) 3 months 2 months Idem
2. Requests to take charge (if you are in the Eurodac category 2 file **) 2 months 1 month if it is urgent Idem
Detention center 1 month 15 days 6 weeks

* Category 1: fingerprints of all those who have applied for asylum in Member States.

** Category 2: fingerprints of people who have been apprehended while illegally crossing the external border of a Member State.

There is also a category 3: fingerprints of people who were staying illegally on the territory of a Member State, when the competent authorities consider it necessary to check the existence of any previous asylum application.

Warning: if you go through a CAES (factsheet 1), your fingerprints may be taken for the first time; it is important to keep evidence of it because it proves the start of your “Dublin” procedure. Indeed, after your transfer to another housing center (Huda, Prahdas…) in another region, the prefecture could start the procedure all over again. This can be challenged in court.

If you have not been transferred within 6 months of the date on which the country responsible for your asylum application gave its agreement to your transfer, and you are not ‘on the run’, France becomes responsible for your asylum application. The end date of the 6-month period is also shown on the laissez-passer issued by the prefecture. If you have appealed against the transfer decision, the 6-month period starts running again from the date of notification of the court’s decision.

You can go back to the Spada or the prefecture, depending on the region. In the Paris region, you can go directly to the Spada without making an appointment via the Ofii telephone platform. Consult an association before taking any formal steps.

D. You are declared to be “on the run”

You will be declared on the run (“en fuite” in French) if you missed one or more appointments at the prefecture, the Ofii, with the police or at the airport. Recently, more and more people are said to be “on the run”.This happens as soon as the asylum application is submitted because the prefectures have been assigning more asylum seekers to house arrest, which implies asylum seekers are obliged to sign in regularly at a police station. In addition, the appointment letters for the prefectures are sometimes written in such frightening terms (“appointment at the expulsion office, come with your luggage, go to the border police office in order for execution of the transfer”) that asylum seekers are afraid to go...and are declared to be “on the run”.

It is also possible to be declared on the run after being held in a administrative detention center (CRA – centre de retention administrative) in the context of a removal order or a denied boarding.

Warning: If you are declared to be “on the run”, you should rapidly get in touch with a lawyer or an association to challenge this status before an administrative court by justifying, for example, your absences to prefecture convocations (see the Gisti jurisprudence note and the model-letters for asking the court for interim relief).

If you are declared to be “on the run” and either you do not challenge this or you lose your appeal, France will only become responsible for your asylum request 18 months later. Thus, you will have to wait 18 months to be able to apply for asylum again in France.

If you are declared to be “on the run” the Ofii will stop giving you the ADA allowance. Regarding accommodation, it depends on each housing center: some will try to keep you as long as possible and some will not hesitate to kick you out.

After 18 months, you can return directly to the Guda to submit your asylum application in France. It is important to contact an association to ask for the reinstalment of your material reception conditions (CMA, see factsheet n°2).

E. Consequences for your asylum request

During the entire time of the Dublin procedure:

  • You cannot make an asylum request in France. The prefecture will provide you with a specific “Dublin procedure” asylum application certificate;
  • You have the same rights as other asylum seekers (asylum seeker’s allowance, health insurance, schooling for your children, etc.). As for housing, you do not have the right to a place in a housing center for asylum seekers (Cada) but you can be hosted in another type of center (factsheet 2);
  • You can be placed under “house arrest” ("assignation à résidence") during part of the procedure and even be placed in a detention center, before being sent to the country responsible for your asylum request. Detentions are more and more frequent, especially since the adoption of the March 20th 2018 law for a good application of the European asylum system” which legalizes detention for most people in the “Dublin” procedure, considering that there is a “non-negligible escape risk” justifying this placement.

F. Appealing a “Dublin” transfer decision

When the country responsible for you asylum request has given its approval, a transfer ruling is notified. You may contest this decision before the administrative court (this appeal suspends the transfer).

Pay close attention to the deadlines:

  • You must present your case to the administrative court within 7 days of receiving the transfer decision.
  • If you are placed in detention center you must bring your case before the court within 48 hours of receiving the transfer decision.
Warning: requesting legal aid does not stop the clock for these deadlines. Your transfer cannot take place either before the end of this period nor before a judge has made their decision.

Before you go to court, you should contact a lawyer or an association that knows these procedures in order to assess how useful it would be. Certain procedural irregularities may lead the judge to void the transfer decision (for example if your right to be informed is not respected or if there is a translation problem).It is also possible to use substantive elements, for example if you have been mistreated in the country France wants to send you back to, or if the conditions of reception for refugees are bad in this country (failure of the state). Both of these types of arguments are important for challenging a transfer.

> For more information on challenging a transfer decision, consult the practical note on the Gisti website: L’accompagnement des demandeurs et demandeuses d’asile en procédure « Dublin » (Accompanying asylum seekers in the “Dublin” procedure).

Appealing is a double-edged sword. If you appeal a transfer decision, the 6-months time period to transfer you is not calculated starting from the answer of the country responsible for your asylum request, but from the notification of the final court ruling. Therefore, the 6-months time limit begins “all over again” starting from the date of notification of the court ruling. Thus, if the transfer decision was notified to you at the end of the “Dublin Procedure” (after the 4th or 5th month), France will have a new 6 months period to transfer you, starting from the notification of the decision.

If the judge annuls the decision on strictly procedural grounds (for example the obligation to inform was not respected), the prefect can take another transfer decision in due form. However, if the decision was annulled for substantive reasons (for example an error made by the administration that cannot be “repaired”, or if you have been subjected to mistreatment in the country responsible for your asylum application, or that country has no “capacity” to receive you – failed state) the prefecture cannot issue a new transfer order. Thus, if the judge has annulled the decision of transfer and made an injunction to the prefecture to register the asylum application, the prefecture will have to do so.

Thus, after a hearing, even if the court annulled the decision of transfer, it is better not to show up to your prefecture appointments, and to wait until the end of the initial period of 6 months before returning to the prefecture. In any case, you should consult an association or your lawyer before going to the prefecture.

If you had appointments scheduled for a transfer procedure, and if the order of transfer was annulled, you are not held legally to show up to those appointments. However, very often, if you do not show up to these appointments, the prefecture will declare you “on the run” and you will lose the ADA allowance (factsheet 2). You will need to file an appeal before an administrative court to reinstall your rights to ADA allowance and housing, if emails to Ofii is not enough.

Warning: when notifying the transfer decision, some prefectures directly send asylum seekers to the administrative court to appeal the decision. By signing a very short form written in French, asylum seekers can thus appeal without realising that they are doing so. A court-appointed lawyer (who does not necessarily know this type of litigation) then pleads the case without the asylum seeker being present, and with very little information to defend them. After several weeks, a decision - often a rejection – is notified by mail.

It is important that you are able to meet your lawyer in order to provide them with all the useful information.f they do not call you, try to contact the court clerk to find out the date of the hearing which will generally be held a few days later.

In case of an appeal of the court’s decision -either by the prefect or by you- the time period after which France becomes responsible for your asylum claim can not be extended. The prefecture must register your application,in the normal procedure by default.

If you wish to appeal the decision of the administrative court rejecting your request, you should know that judgment will take a long time. If you have the means to challenge this rejection, an appeal can be useful, in particular if you are later declared to be”on the run”.

G. Appealing a house arrest order

If you are placed under “house arrest” ("assignation à résidence"), you will usually have to go to a police station, often twice a week or more, to sign a register.

If you fear being arrested there, ask an association for advice before deciding to avoid the house arrest, because doing so could also have serious repercussions: being declared to be “on the run” and having to wait 18 months without any rights before being able to ask for asylum in France.

Appealing a “house arrest” decision will have the same consequences as appealing a transfer decision (the 6-month time period after which France becomes responsible for your request starts again from the date of the court’s decision).

Warning: The practices of the prefectures quickly change, because of the government’s deliberate attempt to transfer more people or declare them “on the run”. The choices you must make at the different stages of the Dublin procedure (appeals, invitations to appointments) will have more or less significant consequences depending on the prefectures (depending on their propensity to carry out arrests, declaring people to be “on the run”).
Warning: If you haven not been transferred at the end of the 6-month period starting on the day when the country responsible for your asylum request gave its agreement for your transfer, and you have not been declared to be “on the run”, France becomes responsible for your asylum application. You can go back to the Spada or the prefecture depending on the regions (in the Parisian region you can go directly to the Spada without getting an appointment through the Ofii telephone number again). You can ask an association for advice before doing so.

H. Transferred persons who come back to France

If you come back to France after being transferred to another EU member state, a plurality of situations can occur:

  • the prefecture refuses to register your asylum application. In that case, contact an association to take legal action against the refusal;
  • the prefecture accepts to register your application but places you again in the “Dublin” procedure; which is the most frequent situation. It’s possible to explain to the prefecture that you were subject to an obligation to leave the territory of the country to which you were transferred, or explain that the authorities forced you to go back to France. If you have kept some documents proving this you must bring them (decision of the country asking you to leave their territory, photos of the mistreatment you were subject to, etc.). It can also be useful to bring documents proving that you have strong links to France; they can influence the prefecture’s decision. Try to go to the prefecture with a person who speaks French and who can explain your situation. It’s important to always keep a copy of your obligation to leave the territory of the country initially responsible for your request, because some prefectures keep this document. If the prefecture doesn’t take it into account, you will be able to produce this proof in front of the judge when you are appealing your transfer decision.
  • the prefecture registers your asylum request but you are placed in the “fast-track” procedure (procédure accélérée) because you “failed to comply with the Dublin procedure”. In that case, contact an association to engage legal proceedings if, following this, the Ofii refuses to grant you the ADA allowance. The prefecture hands you the Ofpra application file.
  • finally, in the best-case scenario, the prefecture can register your asylum request in the normal procedure and hand you the Ofpra application file.

A criminal punishment which was already applied in other cases has just been extended to persons in the Dublin procedure (Ceseda, Art. L. 624-3): the court can sentence any person who has avoided or who has tried to avoid the execution of a transfer decision to three years’ imprisonment. This measure particularly targets persons who return to France after their transfer. Similarly, a transferred person who has re-entered France without authorization will be punished by three years’ imprisonment.

For now, we have not observed such sanctions.