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Coronavirus epidemic: Measures taken by the Prefectures in France

Le 18 mars 2020

The French administration has responded to the coronavirus epidemic by establishing measures to deal with the crisis, in particular in regard to adminstrative formalities for foreigners, such as cancellation of appointments at the Préfecture.

Legal article written by Alfredo NELY, legal intern and Haywood WISE, attorney at Law

Measures to the coronavirus epidemic were established in France since the week of March 9, 2020, and has resulted in Préfectures temporarily modifying or suspending access to their services.

As regards the Préfecture of Hauts-de-Seine (Nanterre), in accordance with the confinement measures that has been established, the following measures have been taken:

The suspension of all appointments regarding the medical condition of foreign persons for administrative purposes, to a later date ;
Suspension of request for exchanges of foreign drivers’ licenses ;
Suspension of naturalization requests, and
Suspension of services for receipt of foreigners and issuance of residency cards (titres de séjour)

These measures mean that all appointments at the Préfecture have been cancelled. Foreign persons on French territory shall be notified of the cancellation of their appointments for their various formalities (naturalization, residency cards, etc.) directly or through their attorneys.

In addition, the Préfecture of Hauts-de-Seine (Nanterre) established certain measures in regard to asylum seekers :

Three month extension of all certificates of asylum requests from the date appearing on same, from March 16, 2020 included ; and
Renewals of asylum filing certificate request under the Dublin procedure.

Other Préfectures, such as the Préfecture of Yvelines have suspended all administrative formalities both for nationals and foreigners until further notice.

This is also the case for the zones that have been most affected by the coronavirus, such as the Préfecture of Haut-Rhin, which announced on March, 16 2020 that it was closing all services to foreigners in its jurisdiction until further notice.

As regards the Paris Préfecture, a Twitt was published on March 16, 2020, stating that all services were suspended until further notice.

For more information, please consult the websites of the closest Prefecture that regularly updates their information regarding the Coronavirus situation. Please do not hesitate to contact ou firm. We remain available by email and phone to assist you.

For additional information, please read the links below (written in French):

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