Specific procedures

Summary

• Normal procedure vs. accelerated procedure, what are the differences ?
• Requests to reexamine an application
• Final closure decisions and the procedure to reopen an application
• Applying for asylum at the border
• Applying for asylum from a foreign country

Normal procedure vs. accelerated procedure, what are the differences ?

• Classified as an accelerated procedure by the GUDA

During your appointment with the GUDA, you are informed of the procedure applicable to the examination of your asylum application.

Your application is automatically classified as an accelerated procedure, by the GUDA, for the following 2 scenarios:

• When you are a national of a country considered as a safe country of origin ;
• When you have carried out an initial asylum application, which was definitively rejected and you are requesting it to be reexamined.

Furthermore, your application can be classified as an accelerated procedure by the dedicated asylum application service center for the following scenarios :

• If you refuse to get your fingerprints taken ;
• If you try to mislead the authorities by presenting false documents, providing false indications or hiding certain information ;
• If you have presented several applications under different identities ;
• If you were slow to apply for asylum after you arrived in France (more than 90 days) ;
• If you only apply for asylum in order to thwart an order of removal ;
• If your presence represents a serious threat to public order, public safety or the safety of the Government.

Remarks :

• Ofpra can reclassify your application as a normal procedure during its examination if it believes it necessary in light of your application or your specific situation.
• If your application is classified as an accelerated procedure, this has no effect on the examination of your application by Ofpra.

• Ofpra’s processing timeframes

Ofpra tries to make a decision as soon as possible.

In case it takes longer than 6 months, a letter will be sent to you fifteen days before the expiration of this time period. If you requested it, you can also be informed of the expected timeframe in which a decision will be made regarding your application and the reasons justifying the absence of a decision during this 6-month period.

• Appeals

Whether your application was classified as a normal or accelerated procedure, you have the possibility of disputing Ofpra’s decision by submitting an appeal to the National Court of Asylum ( CNDA ) within one month’s time.

You have the right to stay in France until the CNDA’s decision (on the day that it is read), unless your application was classified as an accelerated procedure for the following reasons :

• You are a national from a country that is considered as a safe country of origin ;
• You have submitted a request for your application to be reexamined, which was accepted ;
• Ofpra made a final decision ;
• You were placed in detention ;
• You presence represents a serious threat to public order, public safety or the safety of the Government.

Requests to reexamine an application

Have you submitted an initial asylum application that was rejected, but the circumstances in your country of origin have now changed or you have new elements to bring to Ofpra’s attention? You can submit a request for your asylum application to be reexamined.

• The procedure’s steps

The preliminary steps are the same as those for the initial asylum application. A specific form will be given to you, as well as an asylum application certificate that will allow you to stay in France while your application is being examined.

This form needs to be sent to Ofpra, along with the requested substantiating documents, within 8 days once the application has been registered at the dedicated asylum application service center, by mail only (date confirmed by postmark):

Ofpra
201 rue Carnot
94136 Fontenay-sous-Bois Cedex
 

If your application is complete, your request will be submitted to Ofpra. If your application is incomplete, a supplementary period of four days will be granted to you by Ofpra in order to complete your file. In the absence thereof, your request may be closed (see the section on final closure decisions below)
The request to reexamine your application is automatically classified as an accelerated procedure by the GUDA .

• Eligibility

Ofpra will carry out an initial examination of your request to reexamine your application within 8 days after it has been submitted.

• If the new facts or elements allow Ofpra to consider that a more in-depth assessment is necessary, you will be summonsed to an interview.
• If the facts and elements presented are not considered to be new by Ofpra, or if these facts and elements do not make it possible for Ofpra to consider that a further evaluation is necessary, Ofpra will decide that the request to reexamine your application is inadmissible. This decision will be made without you being summonsed to an interview. You have the possibility of forming an appeal with the CNDA against this decision.

Final closure decisions and the procedure to reopen an application

The closure procedure applies if you withdraw your asylum application.

Closure is also an option offered to the Office, which thus retains freedom of assessment in view of individual situations and protection needs, if you are in any of the following cases:

• You have submitted your asylum application after the indicated timeframes ;
• You refuse to cooperate ;
• You did not come to the interview and did not provide any kind of justification ;
• You did not communicate a valid mailing address ;
• you have abandoned, without legitimate reason, the place where you were accommodated proposed by OFII in application of article L. 552-8 du CESEDA /

• Reopening the application

You can request for your application to be reopened with the prefecture within 9 months following the decision to close the application. The prefecture will register your information again and a new asylum application certificate will be issued to you, as well as a specific form.

You will then have 8 days to send in the form to Ofpra to request the reopening of your asylum application. Ofpra will then resume the examination of your asylum application at the stage where it was interrupted.

• Past the 9-month time period

It is no longer possible to request the reopening of your asylum application after 9 months. Your request will be considered as a request to reexamine your asylum application.

Applying for asylum at the border

Introduced in 1982, the purpose of the asylum procedure at the border is to allow or bar entrance to France, in virtue of asylum, of foreign nationals who present themselves at the border without the required documents in order to be admitted.

Indeed, if the conditions for entering France are not fulfilled, you may be held in a holding area.

Since the law from November 20, 2007, the administration has decided on a four-day holding period in a holding area. The judge for freedom and detention (JLD) is then contacted in order to authorize the extension of this holding period for another eight days. At the end of this timeframe, the administration may once again request the JLD for a “one-time” extension, which could reach up to another eight days. In principle, and without exception, you may not be held in the holding area for more than twenty days in total.

If you are held in a holding area, you can request to enter the country in virtue of asylum at any time.

The Ministry of the Interior will then decide to admit you to the country or not.

In case of admission to the country, the Border Police will deliver a safe conduct , which gives the recipient 8 days to manifest their desire to apply for asylum with the prefectural services. This application, once submitted, will be examined by Ofpra according to the regular conditions and may also be the subject of a decision to grant international protection ( refugee status or subsidiary protection ) or a refusal after an in-depth examination of the application.

A decision of non-admission to the country is conveyed, in the absence of any other means of leaving the holding area, by rerouting the interested party back towards their country of departure, which may be their country of origin.

This decision of non-admission to the country in virtue of asylum may be the subject of an appeal before the administrative court.

Applying for asylum from a foreign country

Ofpra is only authorized to process asylum applications submitted in France. You cannot contact Ofpra from abroad.

However, if you live outside of France, you can contact the French authorities located nearest your place of residence in order to request a visa in virtue of asylum. In order to do this, you need to go to the French embassy or French consulate located nearest to you in order to formulate your request.

The issuing of the visa in virtue of asylum falls solely within the scope of the Minister in charge of asylum.

If this visa is issued to you, you may legally come to France and contact the prefecture located nearest your place of residence in order to pursue the asylum application procedure with Ofpra.