Family reunion

The family reunion procedure gives the possibility to a foreign person to be joined in France by his/her spouse (aged over 18) and by his/her children (under 18) who live abroad. The family reunion procedure doesn’t apply to the foreigner’s relatives in the ascending line (mother and father) and to the other family members.

The Non-French person applying for family reunion must have been living in France for at least 18 months with one of the following documents:

• One-year (or more) residence permit (employee, private and family life, student…)
• Residence card or EU 10-year long-stay residence card (issued in France)
• Receipt of renewal request of one of the documents above

The Non-French person must prove to have steady and sufficient resources to welcome his/her family in good conditions.

To apply for family reunion, the Non-French person must fill in the formulaire Cerfa n°11436*05. The person must then send his/her file (Cerfa form + other documents) per post to the competent OFII center.

The family reunion request will be accepted or refused by the prefect from the département of the person.

The prefect’s decision must be notified to the person within a period of six months from the filing of the application at OFII (the French Immigration and Integration Office) (considered the file was complete). For more information go to OFII’s website (in French only). In case of refusal, the decision must be explained.

For more information about family reunion, go to expatica.com or to service-public.fr / info-droits-etrangers.org (in French only).