Residency card drop-in clinics available in nice

THE PREFECTURE'S POINT D’INFORMATION ÉTRANGERS CAN HELP WITH CARTE DE SÉJOUR ISSUES WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT Drop-in sessions at a new ‘Point d’information étrangers’ are available in

Nice to allow people to see a prefecture official about their residency cards without an appointment.  The sessions are for people who have a residency document expiring in less than two

months, or people who are unable to complete a required online procedure.  Read more: I have overstayed the 90 day rule in France. What is going to happen? It is open Monday from 13:00 to

14:30 and Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 to 10:00 at the Nice prefecture on 147 Bd du Mercantour. The drop-in clinics will allow you to:  * Check if a card you have applied for is

ready * Find out progress with an application you have made * Register a request for an attestation de prolongation d’instruction (document attesting to legal residency while you wait for an

application to be processed) * Collect a form to carry out a formality by post * Find out more about a procedure. The sessions cannot be used for actually applying for a card and you will

not be able to obtain a récépissé (receipt given when a card is applied for in person); it is also not possible to submit extra documents for an application under way.  Card applications

should still be made at the website of the Administration Numérique des Étrangers en France here. Alternatively, for cards where this is not possible (eg. Brexit Withdrawal Agreement cards),

you can book an appointment at the prefecture here ‘Le Point d’ information étrangers’ should help avoid scenarios that have been criticised at many prefectures in recent years whereby

people have struggled to see a person face to face, which has caused stress especially in cases where the problem cannot be easily resolved via websites. Read more: How does EU's

90/180-day rule work when visiting France? Immigration lawyers and bodies including the official Défenseur des droits and the Cour des comptes (France’s state audit body) have all raised

concerns that, because of such issues, some people have been ending up in ‘irregular’ residency situations – without a valid carte de séjour and sometimes facing OQTF orders to leave France

(see right) – despite integration in France. Some prefectures have long been under pressure due to high demand, including in Nice and the Paris area, but the issue of access has escalated in

recent years.  Firstly in the Covid years, prefecture staffing was reduced, and more recently more and more procedures have gone online.