Subsidiary protection: status, residence permit and travel document

Verified 13 April 2022 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If theOfpra: titleContent grant you subsidiary protection, you receive a multi-annual residence card beneficiary of subsidiary protection. Subsidiary protection is a form of asylum protection granted to an alien who does not meet the conditions for obtaining refugee status. The residence permit issued shall not exceed Four years. If you wish to leave France to travel, a travel document can be issued.

The multi-annual residence card beneficiary of subsidiary protection which is issued to you for a maximum period of validity of 4 years.

It allows you to stay in France and work there (as an employee or self-employed person).

You don't have to ask for work authorization.

Who is involved?

You are affected if you have obtained the subsidiary protection.

Members of your family can benefit from the same card:

  • The person with whom you are married or bound by a civil union. Your spouse or partner must be at least 18 years old and your marriage or civil union must be anterior on the date of lodging your asylum application.
  • Your children, unmarried, not having passed their 19theme birthday (or as young as 16 if they wish to work)
  • Your parents (ascendants direct to 1er degree), if you are still a minor and unmarried, possibly accompanied by their unmarried minor children in their effective care
  • The person you live with as a couple, if they have been authorized to stay in France under the family reunification. This procedure applies in particular to the person who is at least 18 years old, with whom you had a sufficiently stable and continuous common life front the date of your asylum application.

Your family members should document their identity and the family ties that bind you. They must present a visa of more than three months' duration which was issued to them by the consulate for entry into France.

Please note

the card issued to members of your family bears the words family member of a beneficiary of subsidiary protection. It allows them to work in France.

Card Request

You must submit your card application online, at the earliest 4 months and at the latest 2 months before the end of validity of your residence document (visa, VLS-TS or title).

Apply online for a residence permit, a change of situation, a travel document, an application for naturalization.

When you apply for a residence permit on the Internet, you immediately get a dematerialized certificate deposit.

Documents to be supplied

You
  • Civil status certificate (transmitted by theOfpra: titleContent to the prefecture)
  • 3 photos. If the request is made on the internet: enter the code of the e-photo (provided by the photographer or the approved cabin on the photo board).
  • Declaration on the honor of no polygamy in France if you are married and are a national of a country that allows it
  • Decision of Ofpra or the NDA: titleContent granting you subsidiary protection
Member of your family
  • Full copy of birth certificate (unless he already has a residence card) with the most recent entries
  • Passport (pages concerning civil status, validity dates, entry stamps and visas). Otherwise, other supporting documents (e.g. consular certificate, identity card, consular card).
  • 3 photos. If the request is made on the internet: enter the code of the e-photo (provided by the photographer or the approved cabin on the photo board).
  • Decision of theOfpra: titleContent or the NDA: titleContent conferring subsidiary protection
  • Proof of family relationship with the beneficiary of subsidiary protection:
    • Proof of marriage (full copy of the marriage certificate or family record book) or of civil union (copy of civil union contract)
    • Proof of parentage for children and relatives in the ascending line (full copy of the birth certificate or family record book for legitimate children)
    • Declaration made by the subsidiary protégé or ascendant subsidiary protégé to the registrar recognizing his natural paternity or maternity for natural children
    • Adoption decision for adopted children
  • If he arrived in France on the basis of family reunification: medical certificate issued by theOfii: titleContent (at the latest at the time of submission of the residence permit)
  • Declaration on the honor of non-polygamy in France if he is married and a national of a country that authorizes it

Cost

You need to pay €25 (stamp duty) by tax stamps.

Proof of payment of stamp duty is requested when the card is handed over.

Card Delivery

The card is given to you by the prefecture (or sub-prefecture) of your home.

Period of validity

The residence card is valid 4 years maximum.

Renewal

After 4 years in France with card beneficiary of subsidiary protection, you or your family members can request a resident card.

You must apply within 2 months of the expiry date of your residence card.

If you meet the 4 years of legal residence requirement front at the end of validity of the title, you can request immediately the 10-year-old resident card.

If you wish to travel abroad, you can request a travel and identity document (TIV). This travel document is biometric. It allows you to leave France and then come back.

Your travel document is valid for 4 years if you have a multiannual residence permit or 5 years if you have a resident card. It shall be renewable.

Documents to be provided

The documents to be provided are different if the travel document concerns an adult or a minor.

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

The travel document is for a major

The following documents must in particular be presented:

  • Valid residence card (original and photocopy)
  • 2 identical identity photos and conforming to standards
  • Proof of residence under 3 months in your name or proof of accommodation and a copy of the host's identity document
  • Proof that you are under protection of theOfpra: titleContent (example: decision granting subsidiary protection)
  • In the case of an application for renewal, old travel document (original and photocopy)

The travel document concerns a minor

In particular, the following documents shall be submitted:

  • Photograph code and valid digital signature. Enter the code of the e-photo (provided by the photographer or the approved cabin on the photo board)
  • Full copy of the birth certificate with filiation or family record drawn up by theOfpra: titleContent
  • Proof of parental authority:
    • Marriage certificate extract
    • Divorce judgment
    • Court ruling on parental authority
    • Separation Order
    • Copy of the court decision delegating parental authority
  • Proof of residence of less than 6 months in the name of the minor if the address is different from that of the applicant

Cost

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

You have a multi-year residence card

The biometric travel document costs €40.

You have a resident card

The biometric travel document costs €45.

Territorial limits of the travel document

The travel document issued to you shall indicate the country or countries you are not allowed to enter.

In general, it is only your country of origin or the country of your habitual residence.

When you have obtained your residence permit and signed the republican integration contract, you can be supported in your efforts to find a job and a place to live.

This support takes into account your degree of vulnerability and the specific needs that arise from it.

Inquire with the territorial unit (UT) of the French Office for Integration or Immigration (Ofii) of your department.