Important information
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Target audience
Where is it?
Getting your residence permit
What is it?
When you obtain refugee status, stateless person status or subsidiary protection, you have the right to settle in France for the long term and to work there. You must then apply for your residence card (also called “residence permit”).
- Statutory refugees are entitled to a 10-year “resident” card in France .
- Subsidiary protected persons and stateless persons are entitled to a 4-year “multi-year” residence permit .
The prefecture has a minimum deadline of 3 months after the OFPRA decision to give you your card. This may take longer depending on your situation and the prefecture.
- For stateless persons, the application for a residence permit is always made at the prefecture.
Please note that this contract is different from the OFII's Republican Integration Contract (CIR) .
How to do it?
To apply for a residence permit, you need these documents:
- Contract of commitment to respect the principles of the Republic
You must read, print, complete, date and sign the written contract of commitment in French. This document explains the principles of the French Republic: personal freedom, freedom of expression and conscience, equality between women and men, dignity of the human person, motto and symbols of the Republic, territorial integrity of France, secularism. When you sign this document, you agree to respect these values while you live in France.
Everything is explained here .
If you apply for a residence permit directly at the prefecture, you must print, sign and add your commitment contract to your paper file, or send it by post or in PDF format to demarches-simplifiees.fr .
- Letter with the decision of OFPRA or CNDA granting you refugee status or beneficiary of subsidiary protection or stateless person
- Proof of address less than 6 months old (certificate of residence or proof of accommodation)
- If you are without stable accommodation and you only have a postal address to receive mail, the usual proof of address is accepted.
- If you are staying with someone (family, friend, volunteer, etc.), you must send: proof of accommodation from the person hosting you, a copy of their identity card (or residence permit) and proof of address in their name (electricity or telephone bill).
- 3 e-photos
> Also read: the Réfugiés.info sheet “Make and use an e-photo”.
- If you are married and a national of a country that allows polygamy: sworn statement of non-polygamy (the fact of not being married to several people in France)
If you are a refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection, you must apply for a residence permit online on this site: https://administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr/
- Connect to your Foreigners in France account: click on your name at the top right of the home page, and select "Access my account" .
- Or if you've never done it, create your account.
> To read: the Refugees.info sheet “Create a personal account on Étrangers en France”.
Stateless people cannot yet apply on this site. If you have been recognized as stateless, you must go directly to the prefecture near your address to apply for a residence permit. The documents requested are the same as the request on the internet.
Once you are logged into your account on the Foreigners in France (ANEF) website, click on “I request or renew a residence permit” to apply for a residence permit.
You must complete a form and send the documents.
> Also read: the Réfugiés.info “Scan a document” sheet.
After making the request online, you will automatically receive by email a "confirmation of submission" which proves that you have sent your file. This document does not confer any rights, it is only a proof.
If your file is complete and sent within the requested time frame, you will then receive a "certificate of extension of instruction" (API). This is a temporary residence document that proves that you have the right to be in France in a regular situation and that you can work. The API also allows you to open your social rights, but does not allow you to travel. This certificate replaces the receipt and is valid for 6 months. The certificate is renewable, as long as the prefecture has not made its decision.
When the prefecture has validated your application, you will finally receive a "certificate of favorable decision", which is valid until your residence permit is available. This certificate proves that you can work and authorizes you to cross the borders of the Schengen area.
> If you would like to know more about the different types of certificates you can receive during your application, you can read this document.
Your residence permit application is reviewed by the competent prefecture or sub-prefecture according to your declared address. File processing times are different in each prefecture.
To find out how your application is progressing, log in to your personal account on the Étrangers en France website, click on your name at the top right of the home page, and select " Access my account".
There are four stages:
- Submission of the request: your request has been received.
- Instruction in progress: the prefecture has started to study your request, its processing is in progress.
- Decision made: your request has been processed, a decision has been made.
- Residence permit available: your card is ready.
You must then make an appointment on your prefecture’s website to collect your permit. Example: Paris Police Headquarters
If you do not receive any message, you must go to the website of your prefecture to find out how to retrieve your residence card.
The day you pick up your residence permit, you will have to prove that you have paid €25 in tax stamps (with proof of payment of the stamp duty).
Tax stamps are sold only on the timbres.impots.gouv.fr website and in tobacconists).
See the Réfugiés.info sheet on the purchase of a tax stamp .
What happens next?
Your residence permit is valid:
- 10 years if you have refugee status, it is the “resident” card,
- 4 years if you have subsidiary protection or stateless person status, this is the “multi-year” card.
If you have a technical problem (blocked page, error message, etc.), you can contact the Citizens Contact Center (CCC):
- by telephone at 0 806 001 620 (free number),
- or with the contact form (“Contact” button at the bottom left of the screen). You must clearly explain your problem and send screenshots (site, date and time visible) with the error message if you have one.
For special cases, the CCC can provide a certificate proving the impossibility of making the request online. This certificate allows you to contact the prefecture directly to make an appointment and apply for the permit on site.
If you do not have any response from the prefecture or if it is a negative one to your residence permit application, even though you have sent all the documents within the deadline, you can challenge this decision (say you don't agree).
To challenge the decision:
- You must contact the Administrative Court of your place of residence. To have contact details for the Administrative Court in your department, click here.
- Seek help from a lawyer . If you don't have a lot of money, you can request legal aid to cover all or part of your legal costs.
To read: the Réfugiés.info sheet on legal aid . - You can get help from an association helping foreign people.
- You can contact the Defender of Rights, an administration which helps people in difficulty to access their rights.
You must declare online on the Étrangers en France (ANEF) website:
- if you move,
- if you lose your residence card or if your card is damaged,
- if your residence permit has been stolen.
This Réfugiés.info sheet explains how to do > “Declare a change of situation on Étrangers en France (ANEF) ”.
To prove your new address, a certificate with your new address will be available on your ANEF personal account.
Your status as refugee, stateless person or beneficiary of subsidiary protection allows members of your family to have the same card:
- The person you are married to, if they are over 18 years old and if you were officially married before making your asylum application,
- Your children under 19 years old,
- Your parents if you are still a minor and not married,
- The person with whom you live as a couple, if they are over 18 years old and if they have been authorized to stay in France with family reunification (if you had a sufficiently stable and continuous life together before the date of your asylum application ).
> Read: the Réfugiés.info sheet “Apply for family reunification” .
The card given to members of your family authorizes them to work in France.
To travel, minor children must take with them a travel document for minor foreigners (DCEM). This document must be requested by parents at the prefecture. It is valid for 5 years in the Schengen area. To obtain a DCEM, you can complete the process online by clicking here . Outside of Schengen, you must apply for a travel document for children, with a visa depending on the country.
> Read: the Réfugiés.info sheets “Request a DCEM” / “Request a travel document” .
The request must be made between 4 and 2 months before the expiry date of the document:
- online on the Étrangers en France website if you are a refugee or a beneficiary of subsidiary protection (log in and click on the same button “I request or renew a residence permit” and follow the steps),
- at the prefecture if you have stateless person status.
> To read also: the Refugees.info sheet "Renew your residence permit" .
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