The préfecture and the titre de séjour in France

The card differs according to the reason for residence: salarié (employee under contract), travailleur temporaire, étudiant (student), vie privée et familiale (private and family life: marriage to a French person or resident family or children), visiteur, passeport talent (for talents, researchers, investors and skilled people), protection (refugees and those with subsidiary protection) and carte de résident (10 years) after 5 years of residence and integration conditions.

• The multi-year card (pluriannuelle) is issued after a first year and grants greater stability, and requires a French level A2 or higher according to recent laws.
• And each type has conditions: income, housing, work, study and French teaching.
• Students are authorised to work 964 hours a year.
• And a tax stamp (timbre fiscal, about 200 to 300 euros) is required, bought electronically on timbres.impots.gouv.fr.
• And some types can be converted (from student to worker).
• And a plastic card is delivered after approval.

Create an account on administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr with your email and phone number, and set the type of application (première demande, renouvellement or changement de statut), and upload the required documents as PDFs: passport, your visa, the translated birth certificate, proof of housing, proof of income and the work contract, ID photos, proof of study or family, and a health record on request.

• You pay the fees by tax stamp.
• After filing you receive an attestation de dépôt then you may be summoned to the préfecture for an interview or biometrics (fingerprints) or an integration interview.
• And the processing time ranges from weeks to months.
• Monitor your account regularly and respond on time to any request for documents.
• And for help there are France Services and the Cimade and GISTI centres.
• And avoid intermediaries who request large sums to get an appointment since applying is free (except the stamp).

Submit the renewal application via ANEF about four months before your card expires (and not much earlier) and up to at least two months before.

• On filing you receive an attestation de prolongation d'instruction (an extension-of-processing certificate) that allows you to stay, work and obtain services until the préfecture's decision, and it must include the continuation conditions (such as work or study).
• Keep digital and paper copies.
• Do not leave France while waiting without advice since you may face difficulty returning.
• Do not be late for the deadline since if your card expires without filing your residence is considered unlawful and you may face an OQTF (order to leave the country).
• And if you lose your card or it is stolen report to the police (dépôt de plainte) and submit a replacement application.
• And when changing your address or status (work or marriage) inform the préfecture within three months via ANEF.
• And keep all the messages and reference numbers.

To claim asylum you first apply at a structure de premier accueil des demandeurs d'asile (SPADA) or the guichet unique (GUDA) at the préfecture to register the claim and give fingerprints and your claim is referred to the OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees) and you are summoned to an interview.

• You get an attestation de demande d'asile permitting residence during consideration and the ADA (Allocation pour demandeur d'asile) a financial aid and housing in reception centres (CADA) if available.
• If your claim is rejected you have the right to appeal before the CNDA (National Court of Asylum) within a month.
• Recognition as a refugee grants a 10-year residence card, and subsidiary protection a 4-year card.
• And associations (Forum Réfugiés, Cimade, France terre d'asile and Secours catholique) help free of charge.
• And on an OQTF you must consult a lawyer at once since the deadlines to appeal are short (48 hours to 30 days).

To acquire French nationality by naturalisation (naturalisation par décret) you usually need five years of stable legal residence (and two years after a French higher degree or service), a stable income, a clean record, mastery of French (level B1 oral and written, and it may rise), and assimilation, that is knowledge of French history, values and system (there is a civic exam) and submitting an application via démarches-simplifiées or the préfecture with documents.

• An assimilation interview (entretien d'assimilation) is held.
• Decisions take about 12 to 18 months.
• And for marriage to a French person after four years (déclaration).
• And for legal help contact the Cimade, GISTI, the Défenseur des droits and a lawyer specialised in immigration, and aide juridictionnelle for the low-income.
• And the Maison de justice et du droit offers free consultations.
• Always check the current rules on service-public.fr since they change.

What is ANEF?