|Published on: 11th June 2026|Categories: News|
The updated AIDA Country Report on France provides a detailed overview of legislative and practice-related developments in asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum applicants and content of international protection in 2025. It is accompanied by an annex providing an overview of temporary protection.
A number of key developments drawn from the overview of the main changes that have taken place since the publication of the update on 2024 are set out below.
(A) International protection
Asylum procedure
- Key statistics: 160,303 people were registered as asylum applicants by the Ministry of the Interior in 2025. This represented a slight decrease from the previous year (169,956). The main countries of origin of asylum applicants were Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Haiti and Sudan. 145,211 asylum applicants lodged applications with the Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) (153,715 in 2024). According to OFPRA, the overall protection rate at first instance in 2025 was 41.2%.
- Access to the territory: French authorities recorded 49,966 people attempting Channel crossings in 2025. A France-UK “one in, one out” agreement was introduced in July 2025. By February 2026, it had resulted in 338 returns to France and 370 admissions to the UK. The General Controller of Places of Deprivation of Liberty (CGLPL) and the United Nations Committee Against Torture expressed concern over barriers to asylum at the Italy-France border in 2025. These included pushbacks and the failure of border police to inform individuals of their right to apply for asylum in France. In Mayotte, media reported that illegal police practices aimed at stopping the arrival of small boats resulted in a number of deaths.
- New registration/lodging procedure: In 2025, the first Espace France Asile centre replaced the Single Desk for Asylum Applicants (GUDA) in Cergy-Pontoise. Under the new procedure, applicants register with the prefecture before receiving an OFPRA appointment on the same day. The system may require applicants to remain on site for extended periods, raising concerns about childcare as nothing is foreseen and children are not normally allowed to attend initial OFPRA appointments.
- Access to the procedure – Registration delays: Registration delays in Grenoble were resolved following a court order in July 2025. Although access to the prefecture in Mayotte was restored in May 2025 after a seven-month closure, more than 2,300 people were still awaiting registration appointments at the end of the year. In French Guiana, delays of up to 22 months were also reported.
- Travel to the first instance interview and appeal hearing: In May 2025, the Council of State ruled that limiting the reimbursement of travel expenses for summons before the OFPRA and the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) to asylum applicants in reception centres (CADA) or emergency accommodation (HUDA) violated the principle of equality. In order to resolve this, instead of extending the right to all other asylum applicants, the Directorate General for Foreigners in France (DGECF) removed it for asylum applicants in CADA and HUDA.
Reception conditions
- Difficulties regarding the financial allowance: Difficulties with the Asylum Seekers Allowance (ADA) persisted in 2025. Issues included delayed payments, challenges in using bank cards and cash machines, and inconsistencies in payment amounts between applicants in similar situations, leading to tensions.
- Access to material reception conditions: As of December 2025, over 60,000 asylum applicants in France were not benefiting from any reception conditions. An estimated 88,000 of the approximately 153,000 people whose applications were pending at the end of the year did not have any dedicated accommodation. Despite this shortfall, funding cuts that were included in the 2026 Budget Law also resulted in a reduction in reception capacity of approximately 5,000 places. In addition, the evictions of people from informal camps continued throughout 2025. In November, a group of NGOs brought legal action against the government over living conditions affecting more than 2,000 people who were living in camps around Dunkirk.
Detention of asylum applicants
- Detention in Dublin proceedings: Despite previous ministerial instructions to the contrary, in 2025, many prefectures continued to systematically impose house arrest as soon as asylum applicants were placed in the Dublin procedure without conducting an individualised assessment to establish if an alternative to detention would be required.
- Detention conditions at the border: Difficulties in accessing asylum were highlighted by the CGLPL in November 2025. It identified ‘numerous shortcomings resulting in serious violations of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty’ at the border police facilities in Montgenèvre on the France-Italy border. During an unannounced visit to the site in May 2025, CGLPL inspectors noted the ‘unsuitable, undersized premises lacking essential facilities’ and the ‘appalling conditions’ in which people were being detained.
Content of international protection
- Access to residence permits: Delays in the issuance of residence permits caused by OFPRA’s reconstruction of civil status documents were significantly reduced in 2025 as prefectures were no longer required to wait for them before processing residence permit applications from beneficiaries of international protection. However, practical problems persisted due to shortcomings in the mandatory Digital Administration for Foreigners in France (ANEF) online application system.
- Family reunification: In June 2025, the NGO La Cimade helped 66 families to lodge a complaint with the Ombudsperson regarding the various obstacles they faced during the family reunification procedure. These included an ill-suited online service, problems with booking appointments at consulates, particularly long processing times, unknown grounds for refusal and lengthy and costly legal proceedings that often resulted in refusals being found unlawful.
(B) Temporary protection
- Key statistics: According to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), in December 2025, there were 51,885 registered adult beneficiaries of temporary protection in France. 9,640 decisions granting temporary protection (to adults) were issued throughout the course of the year.
- Access to asylum: According to Eurostat, 11,675 first time asylum applications were registered by Ukrainians nationals in 2025. According to OFPRA, there were 25,780 Ukrainian beneficiaries of international protection in France at the end of 2025 (compared to 702 at the end of 2022) and 9,211 Ukrainian nationals were granted international protection during the year (91.5% protection rate).
The full report is available here and the annex on temporary protection is available here.
For more information about the AIDA database or to read other AIDA reports, please visit the AIDA website.
