Family of foreign national residing in France

You want to join your spouse or partner living in France. The procedure to follow depends on your residency status in France:

Person regularly residing in France for at least 18 months

The “family reunion” procedure, which allows you to join your family in France must be followed by your spouse or parent (if you are under 18 years of age) and be submitted to the Direction Territoriale de l’Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration (OFII ) in your place of residence. You must be able to prove that you have sufficient and regular resources in order to support your family as well as provide adequately-sized accommodation. The local Préfecture (i.e. in the place of residency) will determine whether these conditions have been met.

Once the application has been accepted by the police station, the consular services will contact you to issue your long-stay visa, which is valid for three months. You will then be issued with a residence permit which must be applied for at the police station in the département where you reside.

Refugee status, person benefiting from subsidiary or stateless protection

If the refugee benefits from subsidiary or stateless protection and is aged over 18, you can apply for a “family reunion” long-stay visa if you are:

His/her spouse or partner (linked by a civil partnership) on the condition that the marriage or partnership was earlier than the date on the asylum application file
A child of a couple aged under 19 years of age when the asylum application file was submitted
His/her child under 18 years of age or that of the spouse whose direct line of descent has only been established with respect to the spouse; the other parent is dead or deprived of parental rights
His/her child aged under 18 years of age or that of his/her spouse entrusted to one or the other by virtue of a decision of a foreign court

If the refugee benefiting from subsidiary or stateless protection is an unmarried minor, only parents (first degree direct ascendants) can apply for a family reunion visa.

The “accompanying family” exemption facility is reserved for certain categories of people (e.g. family members of qualified workers and scientists).

Update : December 2018