How does Family reunification work?
Family reunification allows beneficiaries of international protection (refugees, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, stateless persons) to bring back close family members who have remained in another country. Family reunification only applies to families that already existed BEFORE the asylum application and that have been declared to OFPRA (marriage celebrated in another country or child born before having the positive response from OFPRA or CNDA). If you got married AFTER your asylum application, family reunification is not possible, but you can apply for « family reunification ».
To bring your family to France, there are two procedures depending on your situation in France and the situation of your family in the country of origin.
– OFPRA family reunification.
– OFII family regroupment
What are the steps?
Applying for a visa
Your family members must apply for a long-stay visa at the French Embassy or Consulate closest to their place of residence (by ensuring beforehand about how to secure an appointment on (https://france-visa.gouv.fr)
Your family members must provide the following documents:
One visa application form per person
-A valid travel document
– 2 ID photographs
– Copy of the letter from OFPRA or the decision of the CNDA, informing of the granting of protection, or copy of the residence permit mentioning the status of refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection
– A full copy of the Birth and/or Marriage certificate establish the individual’s family tie with you
– 99 euros per person in local currency
Processing of application
The case is registered by the consular services and a receipt is provided to the visa applicant(s). The date of receipt shall be taken as a proof of the date of visa application submission when verifying compliance with the age condition for the children.
The Refugee Family Office assists the consular authority in verifying the admissibility of the application for reunification and the membership of your family, as you have declared it to OFPRA. Once the visa application has been submitted, the Refugee Family Office will send you a form. In order to prevent any delay in processing your application, this document be completed with the greatest care and be submitted along with all the documents requested. You must ensure that your address is up to date at OFPRA and in the visa application form addressed to the French Consular services.
Approval
After all relevant criteria have been fulfilled, the application can be approved. At the end of the review process, the consulate places a visa sticker on the travel document. This sticker enables your family to travel to France and apply at the Prefecture’s services for a residence permit.
DENIAL
The consular services may deny you the visa:
– If the eligibility conditions for the family reunification procedure have not been satisfied;
– If the declared family tie has not been established;
– If the case poses a threat to the public order;
– if you do not abide by the essential principle which govern family life in France and prohibit, for example, polygamy.
APPEAL
Should your application be denied, you or your family members may appeal within 2 months of notification of the decision by writing to:
Commission de recours contre les décisions de refus de visa d’entrée en France
BP 83.609
44036 Nantes Cedex 1
Important addresses
Direction générale des étrangers en France`
Direction de l’immigration Sousdirection des visas Bureau des familles de réfugiés
11, rue de la Maison blanche 44036 Nantes Cedex 1
https://www.immigration.interieur.gouv.fr
Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (OFPRA) 201, rue Carnot
94136 FontenaysousBois Cedex
Tél. : 01 58 68 10 10
Télécopie : 01 58 68 18 99
https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr
83, rue de Patay 75013 Paris
https://www.ofii.fr/en/
Permanence d’Assistance et d’Urgence Humanitaire Roissy Croix-Rouge française
Rte du Noyer du Chat Rue;DU, 93290 Tremblayenfrance
01 74 37 89 99
A permanent health care access center (PASS) and a hospital care unit open to any sick person in a precarious situation.
https://www.aphp.fr/permanences-dacces-aux-soins-de-sante-lap-hp