The temporary residence authorisation allows certain foreign nationals in France to remain legally for a limited period. This permit facilitates access to essential rights: work, care, studies. Certain foreign nationals may be concerned depending on their situation: higher-education graduates in specific cases, parents of a sick child, persons requiring care in France, or foreign nationals engaged in an asylum procedure, each falling under their own legal regime.
Faced with complex procedures, the immigration law firm G-Partners can secure your process from the outset and spare you an OQTF (obligation to leave French territory).
What is a temporary residence authorisation?
The APS is a document issued by the prefecture that grants a foreign national authorisation to remain on French soil temporarily. It is governed by the Code on the Entry and Residence of Foreign Nationals and the Right of Asylum (CESEDA), through various specific regimes (for example for sick foreign nationals, parents of a sick child or certain situations linked to asylum), the applicable articles of which vary according to the basis of the application.
Objectives and purposes of the APS
- To ensure temporary protection for persons awaiting a more stable permit.
- To allow the search for employment or the creation of a business for foreign graduates.
- To offer access to urgent care for sick foreign nationals.
- To guarantee a continuity of rights (social protection, studies, family life).
Who can apply for a temporary residence authorisation?
The APS may concern different profiles of foreign nationals, according to their personal, medical or administrative situation. It may be granted
- to students finishing their studies,
- to parents confronted with their child’s illness,
- to persons in need of urgent care
- or even to certain asylum seekers.
Each category is subject to specific conditions that will be developed in the following sections.
APS for graduate students (job search or business creation)
Who is concerned?
You have just completed your master’s degree in France. After years of effort, lectures, sleepless nights and examinations, you finally hold this degree that can change your future. But there is one question that obsesses you: how can you remain legally in France to turn this academic success into a career opportunity?
For young graduates, the relevant arrangement today is the “job search or business creation” residence permit provided for in Article L.422-10 of the CESEDA. It is intended in particular for holders of a master’s-level degree or a professional bachelor’s degree (licence professionnelle) and is issued for a non-renewable period of one year, in order to allow the search for a job connected with the training or the creation of a business.
Administrative procedures for young graduates
As soon as your degree is validated, you must submit an application to the prefecture of your place of residence.
Time is of the essence: the application must be filed before the end of your “student” residence permit, within the time limit set by the prefecture (often in the months preceding expiry). In practice, it is prudent to anticipate and to file the file at least a few weeks in advance. This anticipation prevents you from slipping into irregularity and gives you a smooth transition into working life.
Documents to provide for the file
- Degree (master’s level or professional bachelor’s degree) or provisional certificate of success.
- Valid passport (copies of all pages).
- Recent proof of address (accommodation attestation + identity document of the host if applicable).
- Compliant identity photos.
- Application form completed.
These documents, sometimes perceived as mere formalities, are in reality decisive: an omission, an error, and your professional project may be delayed. This is why it is always useful to be assisted by a lawyer who will know how to support you in submitting a complete and error-free file.
To go further, do not hesitate to consult our article on « How to succeed in your change of status from student to employee. »
APS for parents of a sick child
Conditions specific to the family situation
You are a parent. Every day, you go through contradictory emotions between hope and exhaustion, because your child is suffering and needs a treatment that can only be found in France. In this ordeal, the APS becomes a lifeline: it allows foreign parents to remain at their child’s side. This protection, provided for by the CESEDA around the arrangement relating to sick foreign nationals and their relatives, is designed for parents confronted with an exceptional medical situation requiring the child’s care in France.
The issuance of this authorisation does not require the presentation of a visa. The parent must prove that they habitually reside in France with the child and that they provide for the child’s maintenance as well as their education.
The APS may also be requested by the foreign national who holds a court decision conferring parental authority on them. It is granted only if the presence on French territory does not represent a threat to public order.
Procedure to follow with the prefecture
You can submit your file in person at the prefecture or send it by registered post.
The procedure is identical to that of applications for the “sick foreign national” residence permit.
The APS is issued for a maximum period of 6 months and may be renewed for as long as the child’s medical care requires it, provided that the legal criteria continue to be met.
Supporting documents to provide
- Detailed medical opinion validated by a doctor of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII).
- Proof of filiation: birth certificate, family record book or parental authority judgment.
- Copy of valid passport and proof of address or accommodation attestation
- Hospital attestation confirming the medical care
No stamp duty or tax is required, which makes it an accessible procedure. Once granted, the APS allows its holder to remain in France and, within this framework, to carry out a professional activity where the legislation provides for it. Travel abroad may be possible, but it must be considered with caution, as a departure may make the return difficult if the permit expires or if the conditions for readmission are no longer met.
APS for sick foreign nationals (urgent or imperative care)
What are the medical requirements?
You are ill and your doctor announces a difficult truth to you: the treatment you need does not exist in your country of origin. Your health, even your life, therefore depends on your remaining in France. It is precisely within this framework that the APS may be issued to you.
The arrangement relating to sick foreign nationals applies to persons whose state of health requires medical care the absence of which could have consequences of exceptional gravity, and for whom there is no effective access to the appropriate treatment in the country of origin. When certain conditions, in particular of residence, are not met, a temporary residence authorisation may be issued.
This authorisation is in practice issued for a limited period, frequently of the order of six months, and may be renewed for as long as the medical care in France remains necessary and the legal conditions continue to be met.
It does not require the presentation of a visa and, in principle, is not subject to the €200 tax applicable to certain residence permits. Depending on the legal basis of the application, a stamp duty may nevertheless remain payable; the rules in force should be checked with the prefecture.
It exists to protect persons in your situation, so that the illness does not force you to leave French territory.
Where and how to carry out the formalities?
If you are in this situation, your first point of contact will be the prefecture or sub-prefecture of your place of residence. You can submit your file in person, or send it by registered post to have proof of your procedure.
Once submitted, your medical file will be transmitted to a doctor of the OFII (the French Office for Immigration and Integration). It is they who will assess whether the treatment is truly indispensable and whether it is unavailable in your country of origin.
Once issued, the APS also guarantees you access to care and the possibility of working legally.
Necessary medical and administrative supporting documents
- Detailed medical certificate.
- Hospital report or prescribed treatment.
- Copy of the passport.
- Proof of address in France.
A complete and well-prepared file makes it possible to avoid delays and increases your chances of obtaining this authorisation.
APS for asylum seekers awaiting a decision
Conditions of access
You arrive in France and file an asylum application. At the GUDA (One-stop desk for asylum seekers), an asylum application attestation is given to you: it serves as a right of residence for a limited period (one month, then renewal of several months depending on whether you fall under a Dublin, accelerated or normal procedure).
These documents remain distinct from a temporary residence authorisation. In certain particular situations, an APS may nevertheless be issued to maintain the regularity of the stay, on the basis of the provisions of the CESEDA relating to asylum seekers.
Filing and follow-up of the APS application
If you are in this situation or if someone around you is, the first step is to file your application with the prefecture or sub-prefecture of your place of residence. You can submit it directly at the desk, send it by registered post to keep proof, or make it online on the official portal administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr. In certain cases, the application can also be made via the DREETS (Regional Directorates for the Economy, Employment, Labour and Solidarity).
To be eligible, you must already hold an asylum application acknowledgement of receipt without the right to work and demonstrate a procedure in progress for more than one year before the OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons), or have referred the matter to the National Court of Asylum after a refusal. Once filed, your file is processed and the APS may be renewed until the OFPRA or the CNDA (National Court of Asylum) renders its final decision.
The follow-up often remains long and marked by variable delays depending on the prefectures. It is therefore crucial to anticipate and not to let your document reach expiry: an expired APS would immediately place you in an irregular situation with the risk of an OQTF (Obligation to leave the territory).
Evidence and attestations to provide
- Attestation of filing of the asylum application.
- Passport or identity document.
- Proof of address.
CAUTION
The mere filing of your file does not automatically suspend the expiry date of your right of residence. Only the issuance of an attestation, an acknowledgement of receipt or an APS by the prefecture officially confirms your continued stay in France. You must therefore check the validity date indicated on the document received and anticipate its renewal in order to avoid any irregular situation.
Rights and limits of the temporary residence authorisation
Work authorisation
Holding an APS may, in certain cases, open the possibility of working legally in France, where the legislation that forms the basis of this authorisation expressly provides for the exercise of a professional activity.
If you are a graduate student, you can look for a job matching your training and sign a contract fully legally. You also have the freedom to embark on a business creation and to test a professional project without fear of irregularity.
But be careful: the employment must remain consistent with your skills, and the contract must comply with French regulations. Outside this framework, the APS does not give unlimited access to the labour market.
Access to care and social protection
Once you have your APS in hand, you can in principle open rights to Social Security (universal health protection) and, where applicable, to the Complementary Solidarity Health Cover, which allows access to care under conditions close to those of a resident. State Medical Aid (AME) is rather aimed at persons without a residence permit and therefore does not constitute the ordinary regime for holders of an APS.
For many foreign nationals in a fragile situation, this right is vital: it guarantees that no illness goes untreated.
Possibility of travelling with an APS
It is often a great disappointment: the APS does not serve as a travel visa. Leaving the territory with this permit, especially outside the Schengen area, can jeopardise your possibilities of returning. Some choose to leave anyway, thinking they can return easily, but discover too late that their APS is no longer valid at the border.
In short: this document allows you to remain in France but not to travel freely. If you have urgent travel abroad, it is imperative to enquire with the prefecture or consulate before leaving.
What to do after the expiry of an APS?
The deadline always approaches faster than one imagines. When your APS comes to an end, it is essential to anticipate in order to avoid any interruption of rights and any slide into irregularity.
Deadlines to respect
The residence permit application must be filed before the expiry of the APS, within the time limits set by the prefecture. In practice, it is recommended to anticipate well in advance and to file the file several weeks, or even a few months, before the end-of-validity date
How to renew your APS?
For students, certain bilateral agreements concluded between France and third States provide for specific arrangements allowing, under conditions defined by these texts, the extension of the period of job search or business creation after obtaining the degree. The duration and the modalities of renewal vary according to the country concerned. It is therefore essential to check, on a case-by-case basis, the stipulations of the applicable agreement and the information published by the administration (prefecture, Ministry of the Interior, Campus France offices) before filing the application.
Progression towards a more stable residence permit
The APS is only a transitional step. It must always be considered as a bridge towards a more stable residence permit. Depending on your personal situation, several options are available to you:
For students
At the end of an APS obtained after a master’s-level degree or a professional bachelor’s degree, you can apply for the “job search or business creation” temporary residence permit (Article L.422-10 of the CESEDA).
This permit, with a duration of one year, allows you to look for a job connected with your training or to create a self-employed activity. The employment contract offered must comply with the legal minimum wage (at least 1.5 times the SMIC for certain qualified professions). If you find a lasting job, you can then progress to a employee residence permit or a talent passport.
For parents of a sick child
When the APS expires, the parent can apply for a “private and family life” temporary residence permit (Article L.425-9 of the CESEDA). This permit is renewable for as long as the minor child requires medical care in France and the parent continues to provide for their maintenance and education. It also opens access to work.
For sick foreign nationals
If your state of health still requires follow-up in France, you can apply for a temporary residence permit for care (Article L.425-9 CESEDA, and Articles R.425-11 to R.425-14). This permit is granted on the opinion of the OFII doctor. It is generally valid for one year and renewable for as long as the care remains necessary. On the other hand, it may be refused if the treatment exists in your country of origin or if your presence constitutes a threat to public order.
For asylum seekers
The APS is only a transitional permit, valid while awaiting the OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) or the CNDA (National Court of Asylum) ruling. If your application is accepted, you obtain a residence permit as a refugee (valid for 10 years, equivalent to a resident card – Article L.424-1 CESEDA) or a “beneficiary of subsidiary protection” multi-year residence permit (valid for 4 years – Article L.424-9 CESEDA). These statuses open up reinforced rights: access to work, to social protection and to family reunification.
Difficulties and practical solutions
Frequent mistakes to avoid
An APS file may be refused for simple reasons:
- filing too late,
- missing or non-compliant documents,
- lack of awareness of the deadlines
These mistakes are frequent, but they can be prevented by preparing each step with care.
How to challenge an APS refusal?
An APS refusal is never inevitable. You receive a written decision, often riddled with legal references that are difficult to understand. But you have the possibility of reacting.
The first step consists of filing an informal appeal with the prefecture. This involves requesting a re-examination of your file directly from the department that refused it.
If this procedure yields nothing, you can then bring a contentious appeal before the administrative court. This judicial procedure is strictly governed by the Code of Administrative Justice.
Each step requires rigour:
- respect the deadlines,
- attach all the necessary documents,
- justify your situation with solid evidence.
Challenging a refusal is not only about defending an administrative right. It is also about protecting your family life, continuing your studies, maintaining your authorisation to work or preserving a business creation project.
Recourse to an immigration lawyer
Carrying out these procedures alone can be trying. A specialised lawyer knows the rules of the CESEDA, the practices of the prefectures and the appeal procedures.
Their role:
- to put together a compliant and complete file,
- to defend your rights in the event of a refusal,
- to prepare a strategy suited to your situation
- to explain each step to you in detail and not to give you false hope
If you are faced with an administrative blockage, our G-Partners law firm, competent in immigration law, is present to spare you the loss of your chances of regularisation and to prepare a solid appeal.
Impact of recent reforms (immigration law)
The so-called asylum and immigration law of 26 January 2024 (often named the “Darmanin law”) introduces several measures that notably transform the access to and the conditions of issuance of the APS.
Reduction of eligible groups
The law of 26 January 2024, known as the “asylum and immigration law”, introduced several changes that directly or indirectly influence the APS regime.
Reduction of eligible cases and stricter conditions
· The text now imposes, for several categories of residence permit, new requirements:
- signing of a commitment contract to the principles of the Republic,
- proof of a stable residence,
- and sometimes a reinforced level of French.
These conditions apply generally to residence permit applications, including when the foreign national requests a temporary residence authorisation or a more stable permit, and may therefore complicate both the obtaining of the APS and its progression towards another basis of residence.
Reforms of the asylum procedure
The reform also modified the handling of applications: reduced appeal deadlines, change in the organisation of the OFPRA and the CNDA, and increased recourse to accelerated procedures for certain files. These developments may reinforce the feeling of uncertainty for applicants; in this context, the APS plays the role of a transitional document allowing, temporarily, the regularity of the stay to be preserved while awaiting a final decision
Processing and issuance times
In practice, the processing times at the prefecture risk lengthening. The multiplication of checks increases the administrative burden and makes anticipation indispensable for APS beneficiaries. The difficulty of obtaining an appointment with the prefecture makes these times even longer.
Practical advice to anticipate better
- Plan a backup option: study now the possible alternatives (“job search / business creation” permit, “private and family life” card, etc.), as the criteria could become stricter shortly.
- Anticipate each step: file your file as early as possible; delay or missing documents are immediate causes of rejection; be vigilant about your expiry and renewal deadlines.
- Seek support: a lawyer expert in residence permits will be able to help you avoid refusals, navigate between permits, or adapt your file to the new requirements.
Conclusion
As you will have understood, the temporary residence authorisation (APS) is a valuable but fragile gateway. It opens access to work, to care, to social protection, while preparing the transition towards a more stable residence permit. The rules change quickly and an incomplete file can lead to a refusal with serious consequences.
Do not take a risk: contact G-Partners now, a law firm specialising in immigration law.
