Organization

Each unit is further divided into several examination sections, with 8 to 12 protection officers working in each. There are around 350 protection officers in charge of examining asylum applications at Ofpra.
The purpose of geographic specialisation is to ensure examining expertise. Ofpra must also ensure that the workload is divided fairly and be capable of adapting quickly to changes in the flows of applications. To that end, examination of applications submitted by certain nationalities with particularly high volume is pooled between the eight geographic divisions.

The Europe-Asia Units

• The Europe / Middle-East 1 (EU) - Unit head : Aline Montaubrie
• The Europe / Middle-East 2 (EA) - Unit head : François Corbin

These units examine asylum applications submitted by nationals of Eastern European countries, the former USSR, the Balkans, the Middle East, Turkey, central Asia and Iran.
The office for stateless persons, which examines applications for statelessness status, is attached to the Europe/Middle East 1 division.

• The Asia 1 (AS) - Unit head: Pascal Roig
• The Asia 2 (AI) - Unit head: François Doyharçabal

These divisions primarily examine asylum applications submitted by nationals of Asian countries (with the exception of Central Asia) and Oceania.

Since 1 April 2016, the Asylum at the Border mission has been attached to the Asia 1 division.

The America-Africa Units

• Africa 1 unit - Unit head: Franck Eyheraguibel
• Africa 2 unit - Unit head: Guillaume Lefèbvre

These units primarily examine asylum applications submitted by nationals of Sub-Saharan African countries.

The branch of Ofpra in Mayotte is attached to the Africa 1 unit.

• The Americas-Maghreb 1 (AM)  - Unit head: Laurence Duclos
• The Americas-Maghreb 2 (MA) - Unit head: Valérie Vivien

These units examine asylum applications submitted by nationals of North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean.

The branch of Ofpra in Cayenne is attached to the Americas-Maghreb 1 unit.