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

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

The file must then be sent by mail to be registered with Ofpra within 21 days from the date of receiving your asylum application certificate. Usually, the reception center, an NGO, or your lawyer will handle this task.

Important: It is strongly advised to send the file to Ofpra via registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt (lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception), ensuring you have proof of submission. This proof can be presented to the prefecture if Ofpra experiences delays in sending the registration letter when renewing your asylum application certificate, which must be renewed every 6 months.

The application form must be accompanied by two recent passport-size 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 national ID card, you must enclose copies with the file, keeping the original documents in your possession until you are summoned for an interview, during which you must present all original documents.

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

01 - Details of the Ofpra Application Form:

The asylum application file (as well as the application for stateless status) contains several pages with sections that must be completed to finalize the submission:

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

Ensure that all boxes concerning your civil status are filled out accurately. Any error will require requesting an amendment from the public prosecutor (Procureur de la République), a process that takes considerable time and does not serve your best interests. You might also encounter the same issue after being granted protection, particularly when issuing your "birth certificate and civil status records," which will be based on the information provided in the form. Therefore, close attention and thorough review are essential.

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

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

Your current family status: married, customary marriage, or single, your children (gender, age), and specifying whether family members reside in France, in your home country, or have disappeared.

This section is vital, especially if you arrived in France alone and intend to sponsor your family reunification once granted refugee or stateless status.

03 - Travel Route Section: This covers all travel details, particularly dates from your departure from your country of origin, the countries and transit points crossed, up to your arrival in France. The information must be consistent, logical, and free of contradictions.

04 - Language or Dialect:

You must specify the language or dialect you understand and wish to use when communicating with the Ofpra protection officer. This allows Ofpra to provide an interpreter who speaks your language during the interview (specify your exact dialect). Do not choose a language you do not master.

05 - Personal Narrative Section:

This is the most crucial part of the file, as an asylum request is fundamentally a request for protection based on your life story and your well-founded fears of persecution. Therefore, it must contain all necessary details and precise facts.

— The application may be supplemented at any time up until the interview. Additional details and copies of supporting documents proving fears of persecution must be sent to Ofpra via registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

Note: In the event of a change of address, you must immediately inform Ofpra via registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

02 - Official Correspondence with OFPRA:

- Once Ofpra receives the application and verifies that it is complete and meets all requirements, it will send a letter to your address containing the "Registration Letter of the Asylum Claim" (Lettre d'enregistrement).

*- Update: In recent years, Ofpra has launched a secure personal digital account through which all decisions are notified. Eligible asylum seekers receive a confidential access key to log into the user portal for this purpose. More details are available via the article link:

Official Correspondence for Asylum Seekers with OFPRA: How and Where Does It Take Place?

03 - Ofpra and the Accelerated Procedure (Procédure Accélérée):

Upon receiving the application form, Ofpra may place your case under the accelerated procedure, even if the prefecture placed you under the standard procedure, in the following circumstances:

- In cases of "fraud": such as presenting false statements, forged documents, or submitting multiple asylum applications under different identities.
- When your statements are "clearly inconsistent and contradictory."

- In cases of irrelevant submissions: for instance, if the narrative is extremely weak and unconvincing, or copied and pasted from a previously submitted story.

Under these conditions, your application will be reviewed within 15 days, followed by a decision granting or rejecting protection.

04 - Inadmissibility of Applications by Ofpra:

There are several grounds on which Ofpra may reject or declare your file inadmissible, most notably:

- When it is determined that you already enjoy refugee status in another EU member state or a third country (provided that protection is effective and you are permitted re-entry).

- When submitting a review request (Réexamen) without presenting a "new element or fact" supporting your claim. The new fact must be relevant, credible, and substantiated by evidence concerning "personal fears." Furthermore, this new event must have occurred after the proceedings before the National Court of Asylum (CNDA), or you must demonstrate that you were unaware of it prior to the hearing.

05 - Closure and Termination of an Asylum Case:

There are multiple grounds under which Ofpra may close an asylum application file. It is essential to be aware of these common circumstances:

- Failure to send the form/file to Ofpra within 21 days without providing a legitimate justification and a "compelling reason" (a compelling reason may include, for example, a change of residence or severe health issues). In such cases, Ofpra will request that you rectify your situation within 8 days. Failing to meet this deadline will prompt Ofpra to issue a decision closing the asylum application.

- Ofpra may close your application if you refuse to provide details regarding your account, identity, nationality, etc., fail to provide your address within a reasonable timeframe, or if you cannot be contacted for the purpose of examining your claim.

- If you do not provide your address to Ofpra within a "reasonable period," the date of issuance of the notice that could not be delivered by post due to an address error will be considered the date of the agency's decision.

- Following a closure decision, you have the right to request the reopening of your file within 9 months from the date of the decision.

*- Special report prepared by France News