You have been granted international protection in France and you wish to bring your family (spouse and minor children) to France?
What is family reunification in France?
This type of reunification allows refugees who have been granted asylum in France to bring their immediate family members to join them. The family members must meet certain criteria, such as being dependent on the refugee and not having any other means of support.
Who is concerned by a request for family reunification?
Only the spouse and children of the foreigner.
What are the conditions to fulfill for a request for family reunification?
The applicant for family reunification must have refugee or subsidiary protection status. He/she must also provide evidence of the existence of family ties with his/her spouse and children at the time of the request for family reunification. What is the procedure for making a request for family reunification?
- The applicant fills in a family reunification request form and provides documents establishing the existence of family ties (e.g. birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.).
- He/she sends the form together with the supporting documents to the refugee family office of the Ministry of the Interior. He/she then receives a response in the form of a standard letter from the refugee family office explaining the procedure.
- The applicant sends this response to his/her family who will be responsible for submitting the visa application for family reunification to the French consulate in their place of residence.
- The consulate examines the application and makes a decision within a minimum period of two months. This period may be extended by 4 to 8 months in case of verification of civil status.
- If the decision is positive, the consulate grants visa(s) for family reunification of the refugee family member.
What recourse is available in case of rejection of the family reunification request?
In the absence of an explicit response or in case of a negative response (visa refusal), the applicant may take the following recourse against the refusal of the family reunification request:
- Gracious recourse before the consulate or before the Minister of the Interior
- Mandatory preliminary recourse before the Visa Refusal Appeal Commission (CRRV)
- Contentious recourse before the territorially competent administrative tribunal
- Contentious recourse before the competent administrative court of appeal
