VisaFrench Guiana asylum applicants face seven-day filing under adaptation lasting through December
Current procedural guidance explains the Cayenne filing deadline, personal attendance and separate interview requirements; the January order is not a new November announcement.
Official source date: 2026-06-11
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
A territorial procedure with a year-end legal horizon
French Guiana asylum applicants need to distinguish registration from the subsequent submission of their protection claim. France’s order of 27 January 2026 maintains adapted processing in the territory through 31 December 2026. This is a current explanation of that existing arrangement, not an announcement of a new November restriction. The order records 10,918 applications in 2025 compared with 9,204 in 2024, an increase of approximately 19 percent. Those figures describe administrative demand, not an individual applicant’s prospects of obtaining protection.
The January order activates the adaptation under the immigration and asylum code and identifies an Ofpra branch capable of handling cases locally. Use the published order to check the territorial scope and stated end date. It does not establish that the arrangement will continue in 2027. Anyone whose procedure crosses the year-end should check subsequent official instructions rather than assume either automatic continuation or automatic cancellation of an existing appointment. The order’s publication in the Journal officiel on 29 January is separate from its signature date. Neither date should be confused with the date on which an individual receives the application form that starts their own filing period.
Seven days begins with delivery of the prefecture’s form
Ofpra’s French Guiana guidance, updated on 11 June 2026, says applicants first attend the single asylum-registration office, GUDA, in Cayenne. They receive an application form and an asylum-application certificate. From delivery of the form by the prefecture, they have seven days to complete it in French and appear personally at Ofpra in Cayenne with the essential supporting documents. The practical trigger is therefore the form’s delivery, not the publication date of this article.
Use that territory-specific Ofpra page for the next step. A person who has received the form should record when it was handed over and arrange preparation and attendance immediately; waiting for general mainland-France filing instructions risks using the wrong timetable. Once a file is complete, Ofpra hands over an introduction letter, an interview summons and a summons for delivery of the decision. The page asks applicants to bring supplementary evidence on the interview day.
Use the initial-application notice for documents and contact changes
The accompanying June initial-application notice gives the Cayenne submission address as 4 rue Dr Barrat, 97300 Cayenne. It directs applicants to the cover page of their individual form for the documents to attach, rather than prescribing one identical evidence list for every case. Applicants should select the sections corresponding to their situation, accurately identify their nationalities and family relationships, and explain their claim in French. These details can later affect civil-status records if protection is granted.
The notice provides an additional three days to return a completed application if Ofpra returns an incomplete file. That remedial period should not be treated as permission to plan an incomplete initial submission. It also identifies a separate five-day deadline after notification of rights for people in administrative detention; they should not apply the ordinary seven-day calculation. Changes to address, email and telephone must be notified through Ofpra’s online procedures. Correspondence sent to the last known contact can count as notified, making accurate contact details essential.
Prepare separately for the confidential protection interview
Ofpra’s interview FAQ explains that Cayenne handles interviews for claims filed in French Guiana. Follow the address and time on the summons. Bring the original summons and asylum-application certificate, plus original identity and civil-status documents if held. The interview is individual and confidential, with an interpreter in the selected language. A relative’s presence is not interchangeable with authorised professional assistance: a lawyer or representative of an approved association may accompany an applicant under the published rules.
Use the interview FAQ to arrange assistance and report a problem attending. It gives procedures for explaining an absence with supporting evidence and warns that an unjustified absence can lead to a decision on the existing file or closure. None of the resources reviewed establishes a filing fee to quote here, guarantees protection or supplies a universal completion date. Keep the filing, interview and decision summons distinct: satisfying one step does not remove the next obligation. VisaWand editorial team edits and checks this guidance.
