Organisations that help with a residence permit in France: who can help you for free

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

To get free help with a residence permit in France (first application, renewal, regularisation, appeal against an OQTF), turn first to a specialised organisation: La Cimade, Gisti (advice by phone or by post) or a drop-in session of the Ligue des droits de l'Homme. On the public side, a Point-justice near you runs free legal sessions, where the first consultation with a lawyer is free. If your income is low, legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) can cover a lawyer's fees.

In an emergency. You have just received an order to leave French territory (OQTF)? The deadline to challenge it is short. According to service-public: one month in the general case, 7 days if you are under house arrest, 48 hours if you are held in a detention centre. Contact an organisation or a lawyer the same day. Service-public says its page is being updated after the 2026 decrees: have the deadline confirmed by whoever is helping you.

This article is part of our series on organisations that help migrants in Europe and the Americas. Applying for asylum? Read our guide to the organisations that support asylum seekers in France instead. Compatri presents these organisations to point you in the right direction: it is not linked to any of them and gives no legal advice.

Organisations that help with a residence permit in France, in one table

Right of residence: first permit and renewal

La Cimade

La Cimade works on the right of residence, the right of asylum, detention and removal, and unaccompanied minors. It serves foreign nationals facing problems with their papers or discrimination, as well as the social workers and volunteers who support them. To get help, its website asks you to contact the delegation for your region or, failing that, the local group, which tells you the steps and its sessions. The list is on its La Cimade in the regions (FR) page. Almost all its sessions close in summer: do not wait until July for a permit that expires in September.

Gisti

The Groupe d'information et de soutien des immigré·e·s gives immigration law advice only by phone or by post. It states that it does not receive visitors or give appointments. Its advice covers visas, residence, asylum, nationality, removal and social rights, but not housing or financial aid. By post, send photocopies, never your originals. The number and address are on its legal sessions page.

Ligue des droits de l'Homme

According to its 2025 legal report, the LDH legal service runs a daily phone line at its head office and immigration law sessions in maisons de justice et du droit, community centres and access-to-law points in Paris and the surrounding region. Many local branches also hold reception and referral sessions. Outside Île-de-France, contact the branch in your city.

FASTI and the ASTIs

The Fédération des associations de solidarité avec tout·e·s les immigré·e·s brings together local organisations, the ASTIs. According to its website, the network runs 55 legal and social support sessions and 90 French workshops. The map can be browsed region by region.

Renewal: the procedure remains yours

The application is filed online on the digital administration for foreign nationals in France (ANEF) (FR), or following your préfecture's procedure. An organisation helps you understand the documents required and react if things get stuck; it does not file on your behalf a case you do not understand. Deadlines, documents and fees are detailed in our article on renewing your residence permit in France, and the arrival process on our page on steps after arriving in France according to your visa.

Regularisation: what the administration says, what an organisation does

Service-public (page checked on 29 October 2026) describes exceptional admission to residence (admission exceptionnelle au séjour). A foreign national in an irregular situation may apply for a permit on humanitarian grounds or for exceptional reasons, based on private and family life, work, or services rendered to the community. What the page states:

• applications are examined case by case: the prefect has discretionary power, and a permit is never automatic;
• the prefect takes into account integration, including command of French, and the length of presence in France, normally at least 7 years;
• after 10 years of residence, a prefect who plans to refuse must consult the commission du titre de séjour;
• the application is filed at the préfecture or sous-préfecture where you live; in Paris, at the préfecture de police;
• the circular of 23 January 2025 sets the guidelines for this procedure.

An organisation does not "regularise" anyone. It helps you see whether your situation matches these criteria, gather proof of presence and integration, and avoid filing without a real chance. That is the work of the sessions run by La Cimade, the ASTIs or LDH branches.

OQTF and appeals: act the same day

Service-public describes the appeal against an OQTF before the administrative court:

This appeal to the court suspends removal: you cannot be removed while it is being examined. A further appeal does not. A lawyer is not mandatory; you can ask the court to appoint one, and legal aid can cover the fees. A request for review to the prefect does not extend the deadline.

Whom to call: La Cimade works in detention centres, and its regional page gives the contacts of its staff there. RESF published a four-page guide on the OQTF on 1 September 2026. A Point-justice can refer you to a lawyer. This table is not advice: your situation may fall under a specific rule.

Health and residence on medical grounds: Comede

Comede works for the health of exiles and the defence of their rights. Its national phone helplines are open to individuals, organisations and professionals:

• a social and legal line: access to care, health cover, the right to residence on medical grounds;
• a medical and psychological line: referral to care and mental health services, health check-ups.

Comede also runs a health centre at Bicêtre hospital (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre) and activities in PACA, the Loire and French Guiana. The numbers are on its helplines page. For care itself, see our guide to healthcare access for foreign nationals in France.

Families and young people in school: RESF

The Réseau Éducation sans frontières, launched in 2004, brings together local groups, teachers, parents and organisations. It supports undocumented young people in school, unaccompanied foreign youth and their families in dealing with préfectures. Each département has its own group, reachable from the local groups page. Did your family come through family reunification? The official steps are in our article on family reunification in France.

Everyday support: Secours catholique

Secours catholique supports migrants with their paperwork (asylum applications, benefit files, using the internet), learning French and integration. It is not a specialised legal service, but a local point of entry, with 72 delegations in France.

Free public services

Point-justice

A Point-justice groups together the points d'accès au droit and the maisons de justice et du droit. According to service-public (page checked on 22 July 2026), lawyers, notaries and other professionals hold free sessions there, including on immigration law. With a lawyer, only the first consultation is free; after that you pay, unless you have legal aid. The nearest one is in the public directory, under Point-justice.

Legal aid

Legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) covers all or part of a lawyer's costs. Service-public (page checked on 12 June 2026) states that a foreign national must usually reside in France, even if their residence permit is no longer valid. For a single person, full aid is granted up to €12,957 of reference taxable income. Before the administrative court, the application is made with form cerfa no. 16146, to the legal aid office of the competent tribunal judiciaire.

Préfecture and ANEF

The procedures themselves remain official: online on the ANEF or at your préfecture. Nobody can make them succeed in your place for money.

Beware of paid intermediaries

Remember before paying anyone

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- A serious organisation never promises a residence permit: the decision belongs to the prefect.

- Be wary of anyone selling a "guaranteed appointment" at the préfecture or a "sure-fire file".

- A lawyer is registered with a bar: ask which one and check with the bar association.

- Never hand over your originals (passport, permit): a copy is enough for advice.

- Keep a copy of everything you file and of every certificate you receive.

Finding your compatriots, alongside the organisations

An organisation answers a legal question. For everything else (knowing how long an appointment takes, finding an interpreter, not facing a refusal alone), compatriots who have already been through the same préfecture are often the best help. On Compatri, for free, the community from your country in your city brings them together: in Paris, Lyon, Marseille or the other cities in France. See also the pages for Senegalese in France, Cameroonians in France or Congolese from the DRC in France. Our article on mutual help between compatriots explains how to ask for and return that help, and the directory of organisations lists diaspora organisations, mostly in Belgium for now.

Got your permit? The republican integration contract often follows: read our article on the OFII summons and the CIR.

Sources

• La Cimade: getting help from La Cimade (FR)
• La Cimade in the regions (FR)
• Gisti: legal sessions (FR)
• LDH: defending your rights (FR)
• LDH: 2025 legal report (PDF, FR)
• FASTI: the ASTIs (FR)
• Comede: phone helplines (FR)
• RESF: local groups (FR)
• Secours catholique: migrants (FR)
• Secours catholique: locations (FR)
• Service-public: exceptional regularisation (FR)
• Service-public: order to leave French territory (OQTF) (FR)
• Service-public: consulting a lawyer for free (FR)
• Service-public: legal aid (FR)
• Digital administration for foreign nationals in France (ANEF) (FR)