Section 1: Competent authority

Without prejudice to the second paragraph of article 11-1 of decree no. 2004-374 of 29 April 2004 on the powers of the prefects and the organisation and action of the State services in the regions and departments, when a foreign national within French territory applies for asylum, the registration of his application is the responsibility of the departmental prefect and, in Paris, the police prefect.

By way of derogation from the provisions of article R. 521-1, when a foreign national, placed in administrative detention, applies for asylum, the registration of his or her application is the responsibility of the prefect who ordered the administrative detention of the person concerned.

For the application of Article L. 521-3, the competent administrative authority may provide that the application is submitted to one of the legal persons mentioned in Article L. 550-2.

When the foreign national applies in person to the French Office for Immigration and Integration, the police or gendarmerie services or the prison administration, with a view to requesting asylum, he/she is directed to the competent authority.The same applies when the foreign national has lodged his application directly with the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, without his application having first been registered by the competent…