Nine regulations and one directive
Adopted in May 2024, the Pact brings together nine regulations and one directive. The regulations apply directly, without any French law to transpose them. Where an article of the French immigration code (CESEDA) contradicts them, the European rule prevails. The directive on reception conditions for asylum seekers, however, must be transposed into French law.
In France, incomplete implementation
The Government asked Parliament for authorisation to adapt the CESEDA by ordinances. The Senate adopted this bill on 20 May 2026. In the National Assembly, the law committee rejected it on 22 July 2026, and the text had still not been voted on by mid-October.
In the meantime, decrees published in early June 2026 amended the regulatory part of the CESEDA. A Ministry of the Interior circular of June 2026 tells the préfectures which articles to set aside. The Conseil d’État has pointed out that a circular cannot create a new rule, and that some matters are for Parliament, such as the asylum procedure at the border or the time limit to appeal for asylum seekers held in detention.
The same case may therefore depend both on European rules and on CESEDA articles that no longer apply. Have your situation checked by a lawyer before any decision.
At the borders: screening and the border procedure
A person who arrives without authorisation at an external border of the Union, for example at an airport, now goes through “screening”: identification, security check, examination of their health and vulnerability. This screening lasts seven days at most. A person stopped within the country without having gone through this check may also be subject to it, for three days at most.
Nationals of countries whose claims rarely succeed, with less than 20% of positive decisions on average in the Union, have their claim examined under a border procedure. It lasts twelve weeks at most, including appeals. In France, a June 2026 decree excludes this procedure when the person turns out to be vulnerable.
Fingerprints from the age of 6
The European Eurodac database records the fingerprints and photograph of asylum seekers and of people without legal status from the age of 6, instead of 14 previously.
Which country examines the claim: the end of the Dublin III Regulation
The Dublin III Regulation is replaced by the European regulation of 14 May 2024 on asylum and migration management. The principle does not change: a single country examines the claim, often the one through which the person entered the Union. However, this responsibility lasts longer: 20 months after an irregular entry, compared with 12 months previously. Take-back requests between States become simple notifications, to speed up transfers.
Appeal to the CNDA: 10 days in some cases
For asylum claims lodged since 12 June 2026, the time limit to challenge a decision of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) before the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) remains, in principle, one month. It falls to ten days for inadmissibility decisions, for rejections under the accelerated procedure and for the border procedure. In these cases, the appeal counts as a legal aid application, unless you waive it.
The time limit can only be relied on against you if it is stated in the notification of the decision. The Pact also provides that a return decision accompanies the rejection of an asylum claim. This point will be covered in a future article.
What to do
- Read the decision you received to the end: the time limit to appeal is stated there, and it may be ten days.
- Keep the envelope or the notification message: they prove the date on which the time limit began.
- Contact a lawyer as soon as you receive it, without waiting.
Etienne Lemichel and his team assist asylum seekers before OFPRA and the CNDA. Call the firm on +33 7 49 90 46 30, or send a text, a WhatsApp message or an email.
This guide gives general information as of 27 October 2026, based on the Conseil d’État analysis, Article R. 532-10 of the CESEDA, the National Court of Asylum, the Senate legislative file, Toute l’Europe, the Village de la Justice review of the June 2026 decrees, the French Coordination for the Right of Asylum, France terre d’asile and GISTI (sources in French). It does not replace a consultation. For the asylum procedure in detail, see the Asylum page.