Asylum Application File in France: How to Fill It Out and What Information Is Required?

After attending your appointment at the prefecture to submit your fingerprints (see details), you must fill out the asylum application form/file provided to you by the prefecture. It must be completed in French in order to submit your asylum claim to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) in Paris.

The file must then be sent by mail to be lodged with OFPRA within twenty-one (21) days from the date of receiving the asylum application certificate (Attestation de Demande d'Asile). Usually, the reception structure/association or your lawyer handles this task.

Important: It is strongly recommended to send the file to OFPRA via registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt, ensuring you retain proof of submission. This proof can be presented to the prefecture if OFPRA delays sending the registration receipt/notice when it is time to renew your asylum application certificate, which must be renewed every six months.

The form/file must be accompanied by two recent passport-sized photographs, a copy of the asylum application certificate (Attestation Demande Asile) issued by the prefecture, and copies of any other documents that support and substantiate your story.

If you hold a passport or an identity card, copies of these documents must be enclosed with the file. You must retain the original documents in your possession until you are summoned for your interview, at which point you are required to present them.

Notice: You must keep a complete copy of the entire file (the OFPRA form, the asylum narrative, and all attached documents).

01 - Details of the OFPRA File/Form:

The asylum application file (as well as the statelessness application file) contains several pages with sections that must be completed to finalize the application, which are:

01 - Civil Status Section: Surname, first name, nationality, marital status, etc. You will also be asked for your telephone number and email address.

Ensure that all boxes pertaining to your civil status are completed accurately. In the event of an error, rectifying it will require requesting a review from the Public Prosecutor, resulting in lengthy delays that work against your interests. You may also face the same issue after being granted asylum, particularly when issuing your civil status and birth certificates, which will reflect the exact information provided in the application. Therefore, you must focus and thoroughly review the file.

02 - Family Members Section: This includes comprehensive information about your parents, siblings, and family (full name, date and place of birth, current place of residence and situation, profession or occupation, marital status, etc.).

It may also include your belonging to an ethnic minority, religious affiliation, or belonging to a minority subjected to racial discrimination, etc.

Your current family status: married, customary marriage, or single; your children (gender, age); specify whether your family members are in France, in your country of origin, or have disappeared.

This section is crucial, especially if you arrived in France alone and intend to bring your family after your application for refugee or stateless status is approved.

03 - Travel Route Section: This includes all details from your departure from your country of origin, the countries and places you passed through, up to your arrival in France. The information must be coherent, precise, and accompanied by dates.

04 - Language or Dialect:

You must specify the language or dialect you understand and wish to communicate in with the OFPRA protection officer. This allows OFPRA to provide an interpreter who speaks your language (specify your specific dialect) during the interview. Do not specify a language you do not speak fluently.

05 - Narrative Section:

This is the most critical part, as an asylum claim is a request for international protection based on your life story and your well-founded fears of persecution; therefore, it must contain all precise details and information (see details in the attached link).

- The form may be supplemented at any time (up until the interview date). Additional information and copies of supporting documents demonstrating fears of persecution must be sent to OFPRA by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

Note: In case of a change of residence and address, it is essential to inform OFPRA by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

02 - Official Correspondence with OFPRA:

- Once OFPRA receives the file and verifies that it is complete and fulfills all requirements, it will send a letter to your address containing the "Asylum Application Registration Notice."

*- Update: In recent years, OFPRA established a secure personal digital account enabling the notification of all decisions. Asylum seekers who meet all requirements receive a secure access key to log into the user portal for this purpose. Read more details via the article link:

Official Correspondence of an Asylum Seeker with OFPRA: How and Where Does It Take Place?

03 - OFPRA and the Accelerated Procedure (procédure accélérée):

Upon receiving the asylum application form and file, OFPRA may decide to place your claim under the accelerated procedure, even if the prefecture placed you under the standard procedure, in the following instances:

- In the event of fraud: meaning the submission of false statements, forged documents, or lodging multiple asylum claims under different identities, etc.

- In the event of raising irrelevant issues (for example, if the asylum narrative is notably weak and unconvincing).

- When your statements are clearly inconsistent and contradictory.

Based on the above, your claim will be examined within a period of fifteen (15) days, after which an approval or rejection decision is issued.

04 - Rejection of the Application by OFPRA:

There are several grounds under which OFPRA may declare an application inadmissible or reject it, most notably:

- When it is established that you already enjoy refugee status in another European Union member state or a third country (provided that the protection is effective and you are readmissible).

- When you request a review of your application without presenting a "new element" supporting your story. The new element must be relevant, logical, and substantiated with evidence demonstrating "personal fears." Furthermore, this new event must have occurred after the proceedings before the National Court of Asylum (CNDA), or you must establish that you were unaware of it prior to the hearing.

05 - Closure and Termination of Your Asylum File:

There are numerous cases and grounds under which OFPRA terminates or closes an asylum application; therefore, you must be aware of them, which generally include:

- If you do not send the form/file to OFPRA within twenty-one (21) days without providing a legitimate justification and a "compelling reason" (a cited "compelling reason" could be, for example, a change of address, severe health complications, etc.), OFPRA will request that you regularize your situation within eight (8) days.

If you fail to meet this deadline, OFPRA will issue a decision closing your asylum application.

- OFPRA may close your asylum application if you refuse to provide information regarding your story, identity, nationality, etc., or fail to provide your address within a reasonable timeframe, or if it proves impossible to contact you for the purpose of examining your asylum claim.

- If you do not provide your address to OFPRA within a "reasonable period," the date of the decision that could not be delivered to you by mail due to an incorrect address will be deemed the date of issuance of the Office's decision.

- Following a closure decision, you are entitled to request the reopening of your file within nine (9) months.

*- Special report prepared by France News