VisaFrance grants temporary permission to qualifying parents of seriously ill foreign children
Parents need their own APS application, confidential medical evidence and a separate renewal timetable.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
Last verified against linked sources:
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Identify the permission for the accompanying parent
Non-European foreign parents living in France with a seriously ill non-European foreign minor should distinguish their own temporary permission from a residence card issued to an adult receiving treatment. Article L425-10 provides an autorisation provisoire de séjour, or APS, for parents or a person given parental authority by a court. They must habitually live with the child in France and support the child’s maintenance and education.
The provision gives a maximum six-month authorisation and permits professional activity. Renewal depends on medical care continuing and the original conditions remaining satisfied. It requires an administrative decision following advice from OFII’s medical college. A child’s treatment appointment is therefore not itself a residence document for the accompanying adult. The parent needs the appropriate application and decision.
Understand what the medical assessment must establish
Article L425-10 refers to the medical conditions in Article L425-9. That separate provision concerns care whose absence could have exceptionally serious consequences and the inability to obtain appropriate treatment effectively in the country of origin, considering its healthcare provision and system. These are specific legal conditions, rather than a general permission for every family preferring treatment in France.
OFII’s medical assessment and the administrative decision serve different functions. The legislation allows OFII doctors to seek necessary medical information from treating professionals with consent and under medical confidentiality rules. Prepare the requested clinical evidence through the treating practitioner; an applicant’s own statement that treatment is better in France does not establish those conditions. This guide explains the application process and makes no assessment of a particular child’s diagnosis or eligibility.
Separate identity and family evidence from clinical records
A Haute-Vienne prefecture checklist illustrates the administrative evidence: the applicant’s identity and nationality, recent address evidence, the child’s identity, the relationship or court order granting parental authority, and evidence of maintenance and education. For shared private accommodation it asks for a signed hosting statement, the host’s identity document and supporting housing evidence. Its examples of support include food, schooling and care expenses.
That checklist is dated February 2024, so use it as a local document illustration rather than a national checklist for every prefecture. It requests French translations where needed and an explanation of missing documents; additional evidence may be requested. Its printed €50 fee is older than the current national fee guidance below. Confirm the responsible prefecture’s present document and submission instructions before relying on an old downloaded form.
Send the child’s medical file through the confidential channel
OFII’s explanatory notice says clinical information and medical certificates must not be given to the prefecture. The supplied envelope is addressed to OFII’s doctor and marked for medical confidentiality. For a child’s application, the certificate must be in the child’s name and accompanied by medical evidence about the child, rather than the accompanying parent’s condition.
The notice describes a certificate completed, dated, signed and stamped by the treating doctor, the applicant’s signature and consent for medical information exchange. It lists recent clinical supporting records and asks for originals, saying they will be returned. This is an older notice with old code references, so follow the current personalised instructions supplied with the file. Its confidential handling sequence remains consistent with the current national procedure; do not replace the supplied forms with an unsolicited medical letter.
Track the medical deadline and the renewal date separately
Service Public directs applications to the prefecture or sub-prefecture for the home address and says to check that prefecture’s filing procedure. In the general case, the completed medical certificate must reach OFII within one month after the prefecture provides it. For an asylum applicant, the stated deadline is three months from asylum-application registration. Record the correct starting event rather than counting from a doctor’s appointment.
The national procedure says OFII may request further information, generally within 15 days, and its advice does not bind the prefect. If continued care requires renewal, submit the renewal application at least two months before APS expiry. Keep those dates alongside the medical correspondence; neither an ongoing course of care nor an unanswered enquiry automatically renews the document.
Use the current national tax rather than the old local amount
Service Public’s May 2026 tax announcement sets €100 for issue and renewal of an APS, explicitly including parents of seriously ill minors. It identifies limited exemptions for other specified categories, not a blanket exemption for these parents. The parent-specific procedure also states €100 and requires payment evidence when the APS is handed over.
Budget using that current national amount and ask the prefecture to resolve any conflicting payment demand before buying the fiscal stamp. The old local checklist’s figure should not silently override the newer national instruction. Confirm the amount and collection instructions in the individual notification.
