Bureaucratic Nightmare: Elderly Immigrants in France Face Months-Long Wait for Residence Permits

The delay in the issuance of residence permits is observed in all prefectures in France. But the phenomenon is glaring in the Meurthe-et-Moselle prefecture, where the "administrative and social situation is alarming," according to Malika Allouchi, deputy mayor of Toul, who warns against "a breach of equal access to public service." To support her point, the official recounts the case of her mother, Fadoula, a Moroccan woman of 78 years old residing in France for more than 50 years.

The Moroccan expatriate filed an application to renew her residence permit 10 months ago, without any follow-up, explains Allouchi to L’Est Républicain, specifying that the septuagenarian thus found herself in an irregular situation. The deputy mayor adds that she had to "use her connections" to renew her mother’s residence permit.

But not all applicants are that lucky. This is the case of a 74-year-old woman who, despite her disability (she wears a knee and hip prosthesis), "has to queue, standing, for hours" to get an appointment. Since the implementation of the dematerialized procedure, obtaining an appointment has become almost mission impossible, confides Gulcan, the daughter of the disabled septuagenarian.

Yet, without a residence permit, foreigners risk finding themselves in an irregular situation, and therefore "unable to work, receive benefits (illness, unemployment), sign a lease or access healthcare, or enroll their children in school in some cases," notes the deputy mayor, who recalls that the legal deadline is 4 months for the issuance of a residence permit, 6 months for family reunification, and 18 months for naturalization. Unfortunately, "the reality is quite different."