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Maintaining a foreigner in a Transit Zone
Verified 30 April 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
A foreigner arriving in France by boat, train or plane can be placed in a waiting area at the border in three cases: if he is refused entry to France or if he has been denied boarding to the country of final destination or if he applies for asylum at the border. The procedure for holding in a transit zone is legally regulated and limited in time (maximum 26 days). How is the procedure going? What rights does the foreigner enjoy? We explain this procedure.
What applies to you ?
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Refusal of entry into France
You can be placed in a waiting zone if you are a foreigner arriving in France by boat, train or plane and that you are the subject of a refusal of entry into France.
The waiting area is a well-defined space located
- either at an airport (Roissy, Orly, etc.),
- either in a port or close to a landing place (Marseille, Calais, etc.),
- or in a railway station open to international traffic (Paris-Gare du Nord, Lille-Europe, Strasbourg, Nice, Modane, etc.).
A waiting area should not be confused with a detention centre.
The area extends from the points of embarkation and disembarkation to the points where passenger controls are carried out (bonded areas).
It also covers the places you have to go in the context of the holding procedure and in case of medical need (in court or in hospital for example).
Pending the decision on your situation, you can be accommodated in a specially equipped facility or in a hotel near your place of arrival.
Please note
If you arrive in a group (at least 10 foreigners) outside a border crossing point, you may be placed in a temporary mobile waiting area. You will then be transferred to a normal transit zone (attached to the nearest border point).
The border police can keep you in a waiting area for 4 days maximum. This period begins as soon as you are made available to the police.
Your holding in a waiting area is notified by a written and reasoned administrative decision, which specifies the reasons for your retention.
It is subject to compulsory registration in a register mentioning your civil status and the date and time when the measure was notified to you.
It mentions your rights and deadlines for appeal.
The decision and notification of your rights are communicated to you in a language you understand.
Under what conditions is an extension of this period possible?
Before the end of the 4 days of administrative detention, the police can ask the territorially competent Judge of Liberty and Detention (JLD) for an extension of your detention in the transit zone.
The judge can then extend your placement in a waiting area for 8 days maximum, bringing the total length of your stay in the waiting area to 12 days.
The JLD of the court on which the waiting area depends shall decide by ordinance within 24 hours of being seized (or within 48 hours if instructed to do so or if the holding involves a large number of foreigners at the same time).
The order is served on you. It shall also be notified to the Prefect and the public prosecutor.
The hearing may be held in the courtroom or in a room near the waiting area.
The JLD can be seized for a 2nd extension. This can only be done in exceptional cases or in case of deliberate will on your part to prevent your departure. This extension shall be 8 days maximum, increasing the total length of stay in transit zones to 20 days.
If the order ends your detention in a transit zone, you are, from the time of its notification, kept at the disposal of the court for 6 hours (unless the prosecutor decides otherwise).
During this period, you can, if you wish, contact your lawyer or any person of your choice and request the assistance of a doctor.
In total, the duration of your holding in a waiting area cannot exceed 20 days (4 days administrative support + 1re judicial extension of up to 8 days + 2nd judicial extension of up to 8 days).
However, in 2 particular situations, the retention in the waiting zone may be greater than 20 days :
- If you make a refugee claim between the 14e and 20e days of your presence in the waiting area, your stay is extended by 6 days, in order to allow the examination of your application.
- If your entry into France for asylum has been refused and you file an application for annulment within the last 4 days of the retention measure, it is extended by 4 days.
Is there a possibility of appeal against the extension of detention in transit zones?
You can challenge the JLD order within 24 hours of its delivery.
You must enter the 1er president of the court of appeal (or his delegate). He must then make a decision within 48 hours.
Your call isn't suspensive : you can be reappointed before the judge's decision.
Who shall I contact
Then, if you want to challenge the court of appeal order, you can to bring an action for cassation.
Who shall I contact
The rights differ depending on whether you are an unaccompanied minor or not.
General case
You will be informed as soon as possible that you can request the assistance of an interpreter and a doctor.
You can contact a lawyer or anyone of your choice.
Who shall I contact
If you don't speak French, you must indicate a language you understand and if you can read.
The language you have declared to understand is used until the end of the procedure.
Otherwise, the language used is French.
The Public Prosecutor and the Judge of Liberty and Detention may visit the transit zones to verify the conditions of detention.
The comptroller-general of places of deprivation of liberty can also visit the waiting areas at any time.
Officers of theOfiiOfii : French Office for Immigration and Integration are present in some waiting areas. They are in charge of your humanitarian assistance.
Multiple associations may also assist you. These are associations specializing in helping and assisting foreigners, defending human rights or providing medical or social assistance. They may have on-site or telephone hotlines and hear you.
Isolated minor
If you are minor and entered France without a legal representative, the public prosecutor shall without delay designate a ad hoc administrator.
This administrator assists you and represents you in all administrative and judicial proceedings concerning your maintenance in a waiting area and your entry into France.
He has to come to you.
You will be informed as soon as possible that you can request the assistance of an interpreter and a doctor.
You can contact a lawyer or anyone of your choice.
Who shall I contact
If you don't speak French, you must indicate a language you understand and if you can read.
The language you have declared to understand is used until the end of the procedure.
Otherwise, the language used is French.
The Public Prosecutor and the Judge of Liberty and Detention may visit the transit zones to verify the conditions of detention.
The comptroller-general of places of deprivation of liberty can also visit the waiting areas at any time.
Officers of theOfiiOfii : French Office for Immigration and Integration are present in some waiting areas. They are in charge of your humanitarian assistance.
Multiple associations may also assist you. These are associations specializing in helping and assisting foreigners, defending human rights or providing medical or social assistance. They can have on-site or telephone hotlines and hear you.
There are two ways to end your holding in a transit zone: either you must leave France or you are allowed to enter France temporarily.
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Departure from France
Voluntary departure
You can leave the waiting area for any foreigner country at any time.
Forced departure
You are returned to one of the following countries:
- Country of origin
- Country from which you come
- Other country where you can be admitted
You may be transferred to another waiting area if your return cannot take place from the station, airport or port where you are being held.
This transfer does not interrupt the procedure for maintaining a waiting zone.
Legal entry into France
Your entry into France may result in:
- Either the Liberty and Detention Judge (JLD) refuses to extend your detention in a transit zone
- Either the end of the maximum time allowed to remain in a waiting area, if your departure could not take place
A valid regularization visa 8 days (called safe conduct) is issued to you.
Before the end of this period, you must:
- Either leave France
- Either go to the prefecture to file a request for residence permit, if you are authorized
If you are unaccompanied minor, you are entrusted to the child welfare department or directly to a specialized structure for the care of minors.
Vous avez choisi
Choisissez votre cas
Departure from France
Voluntary departure
You can leave the waiting area for any foreigner country at any time.
Forced departure
You are returned to one of the following countries:
- Country of origin
- Country from which you come
- Other country where you can be admitted
You may be transferred to another waiting area if your return cannot take place from the station, airport or port where you are being held.
This transfer does not interrupt the procedure for maintaining a waiting zone.
Legal entry into France
Your entry into France may result in:
- Either the Liberty and Detention Judge (JLD) refuses to extend your detention in a transit zone
- Either the end of the maximum time allowed to remain in a waiting area, if your departure could not take place
A valid regularization visa 8 days (called safe conduct) is issued to you.
Before the end of this period, you must:
- Either leave France
- Either go to the prefecture to file a request for residence permit, if you are authorized
If you are unaccompanied minor, you are entrusted to the child welfare department or directly to a specialized structure for the care of minors.
Transit
You can be placed in a waiting zone if you are a foreigner arriving in France by boat, train or plane and you have been denied boarding to the country of your final destination (or the authorities of that country have returned you to France).
The waiting area is a well-defined space located
- either at an airport (Roissy, Orly, etc.),
- either in a port or close to a landing place (Marseille, Calais, etc.),
- or in a railway station open to international traffic (Paris-Gare du Nord, Lille-Europe, Strasbourg, Nice, Modane, etc.).
A waiting area should not be confused with a detention centre.
The area extends from the points of embarkation and disembarkation to the points where passenger controls are carried out (bonded areas).
It also covers the places you have to go in the context of the holding procedure and in case of medical need (in court or in hospital for example).
Pending the decision on your situation, you can be accommodated in a specially equipped facility or in a hotel near your place of arrival.
Please note
If you arrive in a group (at least 10 foreigners) outside a border crossing point, you may be placed in a temporary mobile waiting area. You will then be transferred to a normal transit zone (attached to the nearest border point).
The border police can keep you in a waiting area for 4 days maximum. This period begins as soon as you are made available to the police.
Your holding in a waiting area is notified by a written and reasoned administrative decision, which specifies the reasons for your retention.
It is subject to compulsory registration in a register mentioning your civil status and the date and time when the measure was notified to you.
It mentions your rights and deadlines for appeal.
The decision and notification of your rights are communicated to you in a language you understand.
Under what conditions is an extension of this period possible?
Before the end of the 4 days of administrative detention, the police can ask the territorially competent Judge of Liberty and Detention (JLD) for an extension of your detention in the transit zone.
The judge can then extend your placement in a waiting area for 8 days maximum, bringing the total length of your stay in the waiting area to 12 days.
The JLD of the court on which the waiting area depends shall decide by ordinance within 24 hours of being seized (or within 48 hours if instructed to do so or if the holding involves a large number of foreigners at the same time).
The order is served on you. It shall also be notified to the Prefect and the public prosecutor.
The hearing may be held in the courtroom or in a room near the waiting area.
The JLD can be seized for a 2nd extension. This can only be done in exceptional cases or in case of deliberate will on your part to prevent your departure. This extension shall be 8 days maximum, increasing the total length of stay in transit zones to 20 days.
If the order ends your detention in a transit zone, you are, from the time of its notification, kept at the disposal of the court for 6 hours (unless the prosecutor decides otherwise).
During this period, you can, if you wish, contact your lawyer or any person of your choice and request the assistance of a doctor.
In total, the duration of your holding in a waiting area cannot exceed 20 days (4 days administrative support + 1re judicial extension of up to 8 days + 2nd judicial extension of up to 8 days).
However, in 2 particular situations, the retention in the waiting zone may be greater than 20 days :
- If you make a refugee claim between the 14e and 20e days of your presence in the waiting area, your stay is extended by 6 days, in order to allow the examination of your application.
- If your entry into France for asylum has been refused and you file an application for annulment within the last 4 days of the retention measure, it is extended by 4 days.
Is there a possibility of appeal against the extension of detention in transit zones?
You can challenge the JLD order within 24 hours of its delivery.
You must enter the 1er president of the court of appeal (or his delegate). He must then make a decision within 48 hours.
Your call isn't suspensive : you can be reappointed before the judge's decision.
Who shall I contact
Then, if you want to challenge the court of appeal order, you can to bring an action for cassation.
Who shall I contact
The rights differ depending on whether you are an unaccompanied minor or not.
General case
You will be informed as soon as possible that you can request the assistance of an interpreter and a doctor.
You can contact a lawyer or anyone of your choice.
Who shall I contact
If you don't speak French, you must indicate a language you understand and if you can read.
The language you have declared to understand is used until the end of the procedure.
Otherwise, the language used is French.
The Public Prosecutor and the Judge of Liberty and Detention may visit the transit zones to verify the conditions of detention.
The comptroller-general of places of deprivation of liberty can also visit the waiting areas at any time.
Officers of theOfiiOfii : French Office for Immigration and Integration are present in some waiting areas. They are in charge of your humanitarian assistance.
Multiple associations may also assist you. These are associations specializing in helping and assisting foreigners, defending human rights or providing medical or social assistance. They may have on-site or telephone hotlines and hear you.
Isolated minor
If you are minor and entered France without a legal representative, the public prosecutor shall without delay designate a ad hoc administrator.
This administrator assists you and represents you in all administrative and judicial proceedings concerning your maintenance in a waiting area and your entry into France.
He has to come to you.
You will be informed as soon as possible that you can request the assistance of an interpreter and a doctor.
You can contact a lawyer or anyone of your choice.
Who shall I contact
If you don't speak French, you must indicate a language you understand and if you can read.
The language you have declared to understand is used until the end of the procedure.
Otherwise, the language used is French.
The Public Prosecutor and the Judge of Liberty and Detention may visit the transit zones to verify the conditions of detention.
The comptroller-general of places of deprivation of liberty can also visit the waiting areas at any time.
Officers of theOfiiOfii : French Office for Immigration and Integration are present in some waiting areas. They are in charge of your humanitarian assistance.
Multiple associations may also assist you. These are associations specializing in helping and assisting foreigners, defending human rights or providing medical or social assistance. They can have on-site or telephone hotlines and hear you.
There are two ways to end your holding in a transit zone: either you must leave France or you are allowed to enter France temporarily.
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Departure from France
Voluntary departure
You can leave the waiting area for any foreigner country at any time.
Forced departure
You are returned to one of the following countries:
- Country of origin
- Country from which you come
- Other country where you can be admitted
You may be transferred to another waiting area if your return cannot take place from the station, airport or port where you are being held.
This transfer does not interrupt the procedure for maintaining a waiting zone.
Legal entry into France
Your entry into France may result in:
- Either the Liberty and Detention Judge (JLD) refuses to extend your detention in a transit zone
- Either the end of the maximum time allowed to remain in a waiting area, if your departure could not take place
A valid regularization visa 8 days (called safe conduct) is issued to you.
Before the end of this period, you must:
- Either leave France
- Either go to the prefecture to file a request for residence permit, if you are authorized
If you are unaccompanied minor, you are entrusted to the child welfare department or directly to a specialized structure for the care of minors.
Vous avez choisi
Choisissez votre cas
Departure from France
Voluntary departure
You can leave the waiting area for any foreigner country at any time.
Forced departure
You are returned to one of the following countries:
- Country of origin
- Country from which you come
- Other country where you can be admitted
You may be transferred to another waiting area if your return cannot take place from the station, airport or port where you are being held.
This transfer does not interrupt the procedure for maintaining a waiting zone.
Legal entry into France
Your entry into France may result in:
- Either the Liberty and Detention Judge (JLD) refuses to extend your detention in a transit zone
- Either the end of the maximum time allowed to remain in a waiting area, if your departure could not take place
A valid regularization visa 8 days (called safe conduct) is issued to you.
Before the end of this period, you must:
- Either leave France
- Either go to the prefecture to file a request for residence permit, if you are authorized
If you are unaccompanied minor, you are entrusted to the child welfare department or directly to a specialized structure for the care of minors.
Application for asylum
You can be placed in a waiting zone if you are a foreigner arriving in France by boat, train or plane and that you are seeking asylum at the border.
Warning
This procedure does not concern a foreigner who is a national of European countrynor the members of his family living in France with him.
The waiting area is a well-defined space located
- either at an airport (Roissy, Orly, etc.),
- either in a port or close to a landing place (Marseille, Calais, etc.),
- or in a railway station open to international traffic (Paris-Gare du Nord, Lille-Europe, Strasbourg, Nice, Modane, etc.).
A waiting area should not be confused with a detention centre.
The area extends from the points of embarkation and disembarkation to the points where passenger controls are carried out (bonded areas).
It also covers the places you have to go in the context of the holding procedure and in case of medical need (in court or in hospital for example).
Pending the decision on your situation, you can be accommodated in a specially equipped facility or in a hotel near your place of arrival.
Please note
If you arrive in a group (at least 10 foreigners) outside a border crossing point, you may be placed in a temporary mobile waiting area. You will then be transferred to a normal transit zone (attached to the nearest border point).
You stay in the waiting area for the time necessary for the following 3 points to be checked:
- If the examination of your application falls within the competence of another State
- If your application is not inadmissible
- If your claim is not manifestly unfounded
The border police can keep you in a waiting area for 4 days maximum.
It is a written and reasoned decision. It mentions your rights and deadlines for appeal.
It also mentions your right to refuse to be repatriated before the end of the one-day period
It is subject to compulsory registration on a register mentioning your civil status and the date and time when the measure was taken notified.
The decision and notification of your rights are communicated to you in a language you understand.
When in the course of the examination of your asylum application, theOfpraOfpra : French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons considers that your case is not compatible with holding in a waiting area, you are taken out of that area.
This is the case in particular:
- If you are a minor
- If you have been subjected to torture, rape or other serious psychological, physical or sexual violence
The administration grants you an 8-day regularization visa and gives you a certificate of asylum application.
Under what conditions is it possible to extend the duration of detention in transit zones?
Before the end of 4 days administrative maintenance, the administration can apply to the Judge of Liberty and Detention (JLD) to prolong your placement in a waiting zone.
The judge can then extend your placement in a waiting area for 8 days maximum.
The JLD of the court on which the waiting area depends, rules by ordinance within 24 hours of being entered (or within 48 hours if instructed to do so or if the holding involves a significant number of foreigners at the same time).
The order shall be notified to you, the Prefect and the public prosecutor.
The hearing may be held in the courtroom or in a room near the waiting area.
JLD can be entered for 2nd an extension that can only be granted in exceptional circumstances or in the event of your deliberate intention to frustrate your departure. This extension shall be 8 days maximum.
If the order ends your detention in a transit zone, you are, from the time of its notification, kept at the disposal of the court for 10 hours (unless the prosecutor decides otherwise).
During this period, you can, if you wish, contact your lawyer or any person of your choice and request the assistance of a doctor.
In total, the duration of your holding in a waiting area cannot exceed 20 days (4 days administrative support + 1re judicial extension of up to 8 days + 2nd judicial extension of up to 8 days).
Is there a possibility of appeal against the extension of the duration of detention in transit zones?
You can challenge the JLD order within 24 hours of its delivery.
You must enter the 1er president of the court of appeal (or his delegate).
He must then make a decision within 48 hours.
Your call isn't suspensive : you can be reappointed before the judge's decision.
Who shall I contact
Then, if you want to challenge the court of appeal order, you can to bring an action for cassation.
Who shall I contact
The rights differ depending on whether you are an unaccompanied minor or not.
General case
You will be informed as soon as possible that you can request the assistance of an interpreter and a doctor.
You can contact a lawyer or anyone of your choice.
Who shall I contact
If you don't speak French, you must indicate a language you understand and if you can read.
The language you said you understood is used until the end of the procedure.
Otherwise, the language used is French.
You can leave the waiting area at any time for any destination outside of France.
The Public Prosecutor and the Judge of Liberty and Detention may visit the transit zones to verify the conditions of detention.
The comptroller-general of places of deprivation of liberty can also visit the waiting areas at any time.
Officers of theOfiiOfii : French Office for Immigration and Integration are present in some waiting areas. They are in charge of your humanitarian assistance.
Multiple associations may also assist you. These are associations specializing in helping and assisting foreigners, defending human rights or providing medical or social assistance. They may have on-site or telephone hotlines and hear you.
Isolated minor
If you are minor and entered France without a legal representative, the public prosecutor shall without delay designate a ad hoc administrator.
This administrator assists you and represents you in all administrative and judicial proceedings concerning your maintenance in a waiting area and your entry into France.
He has to come to you.
You will be informed as soon as possible that you can request the assistance of an interpreter and a doctor.
You can contact a lawyer or anyone of your choice.
Who shall I contact
The delegate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and his representatives have access to the waiting areas.
You can ask to speak to them confidentially.
If you don't speak French, you must indicate a language you understand and if you can read.
The language you said you understood is used until the end of the procedure.
Otherwise, the language used is French.
The Public Prosecutor and the Judge of Liberty and Detention may visit the transit zones to verify the conditions of detention.
The comptroller-general of places of deprivation of liberty can also visit the waiting areas at any time.
Officers of theOfiiOfii : French Office for Immigration and Integration are present in some waiting areas. They are in charge of your humanitarian assistance.
Multiple associations may also assist you. These are associations specializing in helping and assisting foreigners, defending human rights or providing medical or social assistance. They can have on-site or telephone hotlines and hear you.
There are two ways to end your holding in a transit zone:
- Either you have to leave France
- Either you are allowed to enter France temporarily
Departure from France
Voluntary departure
You can leave the waiting area for any foreigner country at any time.
Forced departure
You are returned to one of the following countries:
- Country of origin
- Country you come from
- Other country where you can be admitted
You may be transferred to another waiting area if your return cannot take place from the station, airport or port where you are being held.
This transfer does not interrupt the procedure for maintaining a waiting zone.
Vous avez choisi
Choisissez votre cas
Voluntary departure
You can leave the waiting area for any foreigner country at any time.
Forced departure
You are returned to one of the following countries:
- Country of origin
- Country you come from
- Other country where you can be admitted
You may be transferred to another waiting area if your return cannot take place from the station, airport or port where you are being held.
This transfer does not interrupt the procedure for maintaining a waiting zone.
Legal entry into France
Your entry into France may result in:
- Either the JLD refuses to extend your holding in a waiting area
- The end of the maximum time allowed to remain in a waiting area (20 or 26 days) if your departure could not take place
- Either a favorable decision by the Ministry of the Interior on the merits of your application for asylum at the border or your application for humanitarian residence
A valid regularization visa 8 days (called safe conduct) is issued to you.
Before the end of this period, you must:
- Either leave France
- Or, if you are authorized to do so, go to the prefecture, to file an application for residence permit or pre-register your asylum application
If you are unaccompanied minor, you are entrusted to the child welfare department or directly to a specialized structure for the care of minors.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
Delegation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Representation in France
7 Henri Rochefort Street
75017 PARIS
Telephone: +33 (0)1 44 43 48 58
Fax: +33 (0)1 44 43 48 61
Decision to place in a waiting area
Decision of the Judge of Liberties and Detention
Transfer to another waiting area
Delineation of the waiting area
Rights of foreigners held in transit zones
Decision of the Judge of Liberties and Detention
Conditions of access for the delegate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or his representatives
Conditions for access by humanitarian associations
FAQ
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