France: When foreigners become undocumented because of the State

"I lost my job, all my social rights": Marie has lived in France for more than a decade with her three children, but the last time she tried to renew her residence permit, her daily life turned into hell.

Like her, thousands of foreigners, often long established in France, find themselves undocumented, losing jobs, housing, and social benefits, because of administrative shortcomings delaying the issuance of their new residence permit.

In the fall of 2025, two months before her 10-year residency expired, Marie submitted her renewal application. "I called, I sent letters. Still no response," says the forty-something woman from West Africa, using a pseudonym.

A direct consequence of the delay: this single mother lost her job in the hotel industry in Marseille (south). "They told me 'you don't have papers, we can't keep you anymore'", she says, with tears in her eyes.

She is not eligible for unemployment benefits. She has lost her housing assistance and family allowances. "There's not enough to eat at home. The children eat at the school cafeteria. Evenings are not easy."

Faced with this impasse, the only remaining recourse is administrative justice. Marie obtained a hearing on June 11th.

- "Service saturation" -

Between "saturation of prefectural services" and "dysfunctions" of ANEF, the main online platform for applications for permits since 2020, "thousands of people" find themselves each year "in an irregular situation", laments the Defender of Rights in her report for 2025.

"Even though they diligently completed all the required steps," according to the document.

In early May, the Council of State, which advises the government, ordered the latter to "correct the malfunctions" of the ANEF, in particular erratic issuance of the receipt justifying that a file is under study.

With a backlog of 930,000 pending cases, the Ministry of the Interior unveiled a "comprehensive plan" in April to reduce processing times, making "combating the interruption of rights" a "priority." This included promises of new recruitment.

For Simon Imbert-Vier, an activist with Cimade for 29 years, in addition to the lack of staff, the delays are explained by an "enormous increase in the complexity of the processing of cases".

At the association's weekly drop-in sessions, several dozen people are received regarding issues with residence permits, he says.

- "Psychological suffering" -

The handling of cases is also guided by a security imperative. According to Marseille lawyer Anaïs Leonhardt, officers must "prioritize and verify" any potential "threat to public order."

Since October, the lawyer has assisted around one hundred clients.

"We would not tolerate such a delay in resolving problems if it were not foreign people," she laments.

She confirms the repercussions on the justice system, with an administrative court "that is overwhelmed."

Recently, Amnesty International called for a reform of the system: the "administrative precarity" it generates is the cause of "avoidable psychological suffering", the NGO indicates, citing "anxiety", "chronic stress", "sleep disorders" and even "crying spells" and "suicidal thoughts".

In France for several years, Elena, a pseudonym for this American woman in her thirties, obtained a job offer in early December in the health sector, but only started at the end of April: she had to resort to the administrative court to obtain a provisional receipt, while waiting for her residence permit.

"For four to five months I was without income," she says. "The impact on my mental health was enormous. I was worried, thinking, 'They'll find someone else, someone who doesn't have such a complicated profile.'"

Her receipt will expire soon and she fears that her employer will be forced to "temporarily suspend" her contract.