The family reunification process

Conditions to be fulfilled:

You have a refugee or stateless person status or you have been granted subsidiary protection in France.

You have a receipt of recognition of international protection or a residence permit.

Your family ties (marriage, PACS, common-law union...) existed prior to your asylum application.

You declared your family members to the Ofpra at the time of your asylum application.

Good to know: if you got married after you submitted your asylum application, you cannot apply for family reunification. However, you can apply for family reunification for non-European foreigners.

Which member of your family can join you?

Your husband, your wife, your PACS partner or the person with whom you are in a common-law relationship.

The unmarried children of your couple — up to 19 years old.

Your children under the age of 18 from previous unions who are entrusted to you by a foreign court decision.

The children under 18 years of age of your current husband or wife, PACS partner or the person with whom you are in a common-law union and who are entrusted to him or her by a foreign court decision.

Good to know: if you are a minor (under the age of 18), you can apply for family reunification for your father, mother and their dependent, unmarried, minor children.

Once you have checked that you are elligible, prepare a long-stay visa application file to be submitted by your family members to the French Consulate closest to their home in their country.

Each member of your family must enclose the following supporting documents with their long-stay visa application.

Documents concerning your family member :

- One long-stay visa application form per person.

- A passport or pass for those cases that justify it.

- 2 passport-size photographs in European format.

- A full copy of the birth certificate of the country of origin.

- A copy of the marriage certificate from the country of origin.

- Or any document that can prove the family link.

- The equivalent of 99€ per person in local currency.

Documents concerning you:

- A copy of OFPRA's positive decision for your protection.

- A copy of your birth and/or marriage certificate (from OFPRA).

Start your Visa application on France-Visas.gouv.fr. You will be able to build your file more easily then print it to submit it to the Consulate.

Good to know : Not all countries accept the online application yet. Check the correct procedure by choosing your country of origin on this page.

Your family members must submit their complete file to the French consulate closest to their home in their country of origin.

You will receive an information form from the refugee families office to complete and return by post.

The processing time is long and depends on the country. It takes at least two months. The period may be extended if civil status records need to be verified (between 4 and 8 months).