Entering the territory

France requires a migrant to have a passport in order to enter its territory. Sometimes a visa is needed. There are exceptions, in particular for nationals of the countries of the European Union as well as those with whom France has concluded international agreements.

When France requires a visa and the foreigner does not have one or when a visa is not mandatory but the foreigner poses a threat to public order or is the subject of a prohibition of the territory, he will not be allowed to enter the country: in other words, he is simply sent back to the border.

The visa is only a temporary residence permit in France, for a period that is generally 1 to 3 months. When a person wishes to stay longer, he must obtain a residence permit or a resident's card.

Beneficiaries of the right of asylum

CESEDA Books VII and VIII refer by reference to the Geneva Convention that foreigners who "have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or its political opinions, is outside the country of which it has the nationality and which can not or, because of this fear, does not want to claim the protection of this country "can profit from a particular statute allowing them access to the right of asylum in France. Different statuses exist depending on the nature of the persecution suffered and the context in which these persecutions took place".

List of status entitled to the right of asylum in France:

Convention refugee status granted by OFPRA in the first instance to obtain a 10-year renewable residence permit;

Refugee status under the constitutional asylum granted at first instance by the OFPRA, which also allows the obtaining of a 10-year renewable residence permit;

Subsidiary protection (formerly territorial asylum), granted at first instance by the OFPRA, which allows obtaining a residence permit of one year renewable provided that the circumstances which justified its attribution continue to exist;

Temporary protection, granted by "police prefectures", which allows obtaining a residence permit of one year renewable within a maximum of three years