Glossary

It is not possible for you to apply for asylum from abroad. Ofpra is only competent to process asylum applications lodged on French territory.

However, from abroad, you can apply for an asylum visa from the French authorities in your place of residence. For this, you must contact the French embassy or the nearest French consulate to formulate your request.

The issuing of the visa in virtue of asylum falls solely within the scope of the Minister in charge of asylum.

The asylum visa only allows you to enter France. Once on French territory, you must go to the prefecture of your place of residence to collect an asylum application form.

Ofpra began using video conferencing techniques on a trial basis back in 2006 and these have steadily gained ground. The conditions in which video conferencing may be used have, incidentally, been clarified in the Act of 29 July 2015 reforming the right to asylum and its implementing decree.

Accordingly, the personal interview can now take place via a video conference owing to the asylum seeker's geographical distance from Ofpra's head office or to his or her personal circumstances – particularly when s/he is unable to travel for health or family reasons, or is detained in a place of deprivation of liberty (Article R. 531-16 of the French Code for Entry and Residence of Foreigners and Right of Asylum/CESEDA). Premises receiving asylum seekers have received prior accreditation from Ofpra's Director-General in a decision dated 5 November 2015, and the technical arrangements have been defined in a second decision of the same date.

This particular interviewing method meets guarantees regarding the confidentiality of the interview and the faithful transmission of exchanges between the protection officer, the asylum seeker and, where applicable, the interpreter and third party: the asylum seeker is placed in an equivalent situation to that of the asylum seeker who is interviewed in person.

This notion has been introduced into French law following the package of proposals to reform the asylum system. In the meaning of the "Procedures" Directive, a vulnerable asylum seeker is a person who is in need of special guarantees owing to individual circumstances which, if they are not taken into account, could limit his/her ability to benefit from the rights and comply with the obligations provided for in this Directive. Such individual circumstances may relate to his/her state of physical and mental health, age, family situation, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, or the fact that s/he has been a victim of serious violence (rape, torture) or trafficking in human beings. States shall set up a procedure for identifying vulnerable persons and assessing special needs and necessary compensation measures in terms of reception or procedure.