OFFI - Signing of the offer: Housing and money

What should you consider before signing the OFFI offer? In any case, proposals to take you to another area should consider your personal and family situation, so do not hesitate to speak freely to the OFFI officer.

We are always at GUDA: After finishing with the prefecture services, you will be asked to wait the OFFI’s officer with whom other issues will be addressed: those of material reception conditions, which in official jargon are known as CMA. It is more specifically about housing, financial quota of the asylum seeker, postal address, verification of vulnerable situations. OFFI is an institution subordinated to the French Ministry of the Interior.

Be careful: OFFI will propose you to sign your takeover offer, a formal agreement for assistance (the form of which can find here «l'offre de prise en charge»¹, so that you can benefit from the accommodation and financial support quota.

You cannot get these services without signing. If you sign the offer, you will likely be given housing and financial support. This proposal is general so if you do not accept one of the parts of the offer, you will not be eligible for any of the other services.

You cannot get these services without signing. If you sign the offer, you will likely be given housing and financial support. This proposal is general so if you do not accept one of the parts of the offer, you will not be eligible for any of the other services.

But on the other hand, the signing puts you under some obligations: It also means that OFFI can send you to another region to live, without necessarily giving you special accommodation (in this case, you are normally offered financial aid, but it may be insufficient to afford the rent).

 Why can this happen? Why moving to another region? According to the association Gisti² (July 2021), an association of lawyers and jurists in the field of immigration, “the law has established a National Reception Plan for Asylum Seekers which defines the reception capacities of each region. If in the region you live, the number of asylum seekers to be admitted exceeds the number set by the National Reception Plan, you may be referred to another region in which you are required to reside at the time your application is processed. It will not be possible to leave this region without OFFI permission."

In any case, proposals to take you to another area should consider your personal and family situation, so do not hesitate to speak freely to the OFFI officer about the reasons why you wish to stay in a certain area.

But on the other hand, the signing puts you under some obligations: It also means that OFFI can send you to another region to live, without necessarily giving you special accommodation.

While at GUDA, you will be invited to a personal meeting/interview to see if you are a vulnerable asylum seeker: You may have a disability or illness, you may be a pregnant woman, etc. In these cases, you should know that the law recognizes you as a priority to get provided with special and adapted accommodation. If during this interview you are not in a sensitive situation, but you become later, while you are in the asylum procedure in France, you have the right, at any time, to contact the OFFI of the prefecture where you live and make your condition known.

References

¹Gisti, (July 2021).

https://www.gisti.org/IMG/pdf/offre_prise_charge.pdf

² Gisti, (July 2021). Demander l’asile en France.

https://www.gisti.org/spip.php?article5116

* This article is produced as part of the “Migration, Youth and Internet” project. It is written by Elda Spaho Bleta, volunteer of the local group Oxfam in Nancy, who paid close attention to the information given. The sources of the information are cited, and when personal advice is given, it is the sole responsibility of the editor. If, despite her attention, an error had slipped into the document, please report it to her by writing to [email protected]. This article is published with the funds of the French Development Agency, Grand Est Solidarités et Coopérations pour le Développement (GESCOD), and with the support of Oxfam France. The content of the articles does not engage the structures previously named.