Subsection 1: File registration

On receipt of a complete application for family reunification, the Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration (French Office for Immigration and Integration) will immediately issue a certificate stating that the application has been lodged, which will start the six-month period within which the administrative authority must make a decision.

After checking the documents in the family reunification application file and issuing the interested party with a certificate stating that their application has been submitted, the services of the Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration will send a copy of the file to the mayor of the foreign national’s commune of residence or to the mayor of the commune where the foreign national plans to settle.

The diplomatic or consular authority in whose district the applicant’s family lives is immediately informed of the submission of the application for family reunification by the services of the French Office for Immigration and Integration and, as soon as the application for a long-stay visa is submitted, immediately carries out any checks of foreign civil status records that are requested of it.