OFII explained: What it does, when you'll deal with it, and how it affects your visa

Not all of these apply to every visa type. Talent Passport holders skip the medical visit and the CIR entirely. Visitor visa holders attend the medical visit but are exempt from the CIR. Employees on a CDI sign the CIR and attend the medical visit. Knowing which obligations apply to your specific situation matters, because missing a required step can block your residence card renewal. This article breaks down each OFII touchpoint, who it applies to, what it costs (fees rose in May 2026), and what happens if you miss a deadline.

If you are still planning your move, our guide to moving to France covers the full picture from visa selection to settling in.

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What Is OFII (Office Francais de l'Immigration et de l'Integration)?

OFII is a public agency under the French Ministry of Interior. Its full name is Office Francais de l'Immigration et de l'Integration. It is not a consulate, not a prefecture, and not an embassy. Those three institutions handle different parts of the immigration process. OFII handles what happens after you arrive.

The consulate in your home country grants your visa. The prefecture in your French city of residence issues and renews your residence card (carte de sejour). 

OFII sits between the two: 

• it processes the online validation of your long-stay visa,
• organizes medical screening for certain visa types, 
• administers the integration contract (CIR) including civic training and language assessment. 
• If you are a non-EU national arriving in France for the first time on a long-stay visa, OFII is the first French administration you will interact with after landing.

OFII operates through regional offices called directions territoriales, spread across the country. These are the offices that send your medical visit convocation, schedule your CIR appointment, and process your integration pathway. They are also, by widespread reputation and according to our experience, difficult to reach by phone. The most reliable way to contact your local OFII is by registered letter (lettre recommandee avec accuse de reception). More on that below.

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How does it work?

➡️ Every holder of a VLS-TS (visa de long sejour valant titre de sejour) must validate their visa online within three months of arriving in France. 

Without validation, your visa loses its value as a residence permit, and you are technically in irregular status on French territory. This applies to all VLS-TS categories: employee, visitor, entrepreneur, student, and all others.

The validation process is entirely online, handled through the ANEF portal. You create an account, select "first-arrival validation of a long-stay visa," and enter your visa details exactly as they appear on the sticker in your passport (number, dates, personal information). Any mismatch between what you type and what is printed on the visa will freeze the form. Once your information is accepted, you pay the validation tax electronically and receive a PDF confirmation. That PDF is your proof of validated status.

How much does it cost (Updated June 2026)?

The validation tax (timbre fiscal) rose on May 1, 2026, under the Loi de finances 2026. 

You purchase the timbre fiscal at timbres.impots.gouv.fr. The site generates a reference code that you enter into the ANEF validation form. The code is single-use and valid for a limited period, so purchase it and complete the validation on the same day. Keep the purchase confirmation email alongside your ANEF validation PDF. You will need both at various administrative steps during your first year.

What happens if you miss the three-month deadline?

❌ If you do not validate within three months of arrival, your VLS-TS is no longer valid as a residence permit. You are in irregular status. The consequences cascade: you cannot legally cross Schengen borders, you may face an “obligation de quitter le territoire francais” (OQTF, an order to leave France), and the prefecture can refuse to process your multi-year card renewal.

If you miss the deadline, a late validation penalty of 180 EUR applies on top of the standard tax. There is no automatic grace period and no routine exception. The only defense is force majeure, which is narrowly interpreted. If the ANEF portal was down or your submission was blocked by a technical error, document it immediately with timestamped screenshots and an email to the ANEF support center. That evidence is your proof of good faith if the prefecture questions the delay later.

✅ Practical tip: validate within your first week. There is zero upside to waiting and significant downside. The process takes under an hour, and it removes the single biggest administrative risk of your first months in France.

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The OFII Medical visit

Who gets convoked

After you validate your VLS-TS online, OFII may send you a convocation by mail for a medical visit. Whether you receive one depends on your visa type.

• Visitor visa holders are convoked for the OFII medical visit. 
• Entrepreneur / Profession Liberale visa holders are also convoked. 
• Employee visa holders (salarie) are convoked as well, and the OFII medical certificate (certificat medical delivre par l'OFII) is explicitly listed as a required document for the carte de sejour application.
• Talent Passport Visa holders (all sub-categories: employee, researcher, artist, business creator, innovative project, family) are not convoked for the medical visit.

=> The convocation arrives by postal mail to the French address you provided during your ANEF validation. 

What the visit involves

The medical visit is a public health screening, not a fitness test. It consists of a chest X-ray (radiographie pulmonaire) to screen for tuberculosis, a blood pressure check, a weight and height measurement, and a brief interview with an OFII-approved doctor. The visit takes between 30 minutes and 1 hour. It is free and confidential. Children and pregnant women are typically exempt from the X-ray component. 

➡️ Bring your passport, your VLS-TS validation confirmation, and the convocation letter.

The medical certificate issued at the end of the visit is not just a formality. It will be a required document for certain carte de sejour applications. Without it, the prefecture can refuse to process your residence card. Keep the original and make copies.

Timing and Backlogs

Convocation delays vary widely. In most regions outside Paris, you can expect to be convoked within 4 to 8 weeks after VLS-TS validation. In Ile-de-France (the greater Paris region), delays of 4 to 6 months are regularly reported. These delays do not affect the validity of your VLS-TS, provided you completed the online validation within the three-month window. The delay is on OFII's side, not yours.

If you have not received a convocation within 45 days of validating your VLS-TS, send a registered letter (lettre recommandee avec accuse de reception) to the direction territoriale of OFII in your department. Include copies of your passport (identity pages, visa sticker, entry stamp) and your ANEF validation confirmation. Phone calls to OFII are widely reported as ineffective. The registered letter creates a paper trail, which matters if the delay causes a problem at your carte de sejour renewal.

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The Contrat d'Integration Republicaine (CIR) : Not for every visa

What is CIR?

The CIR (Contrat d'Integration Republicaine) is a formal one-year contract between you and the French state. 

By signing it, you commit to respect the values of the French Republic, attend prescribed civic and linguistic training, and participate in an integration pathway administered by OFII. The state commits to providing that training for free. The CIR replaced the older contrat d'accueil et d'integration (CAI) in 2016, with stricter requirements added progressively since then.

You sign the CIR at your OFII appointment, which typically takes place as half-day sessions at your local OFII direction territoriale. The session includes a language assessment (written and oral test to determine your French level), an orientation interview with an OFII integration officer, and the contract signing itself. If your French level is below A2, OFII prescribes free language training. 

➡️ All signatories attend a civic training program (formation civique) consisting of 4 days (24 hours total), covering republican values, French institutions, rights and duties, and practical life in France (employment, healthcare, housing).

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Who must sign the CIR and who is exempt?

Must sign the CIR:

• Carte de sejour vie privee et familiale (most cases)
• VLS-TS salarie (employee, CDI)
• Entrepreneur / Profession liberale (commercial, artisanal, industrial, and liberal professions)

Exempt from the CIR:

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One distinction worth noting: employees on a CDI (contrat a duree indeterminee, permanent contract) under the salarie visa must sign the CIR. Temporary workers on a CDD (contrat a duree determinee) are exempt. The logic is that the CIR targets people settling in France long-term, and a temporary work contract does not presuppose permanent establishment.

➡️ If you hold an Entrepreneur / Profession Liberale visa, you must sign the CIR. This includes both commercial entrepreneurs (registered via the RCS) and liberal professionals (registered via URSSAF). 

➡️ If you hold a Talent Visa/Passport of any sub-category (including artist, researcher, business creator, or employee of an innovative company), you are exempt. 

➡️ If you hold a Visitor visa, you are exempt.

Additional exemptions apply regardless of visa type: if you completed at least 3 years of secondary education in a French school (in France or abroad), or at least 1 year of higher education in France, you are dispensed from signing the CIR.

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The Loi du 26 janvier 2024, which took full effect on January 1, 2026, transformed the CIR from an obligation of means (attend the training) into an obligation of results (pass the assessments). Two changes matter:

1. The civic exam (examen civique) is now mandatory for anyone seeking a carte de sejour pluriannuelle (multi-year residence card) or a carte de resident (10-year card). The exam is a 40-question multiple-choice test (QCM) in French, covering the five themes of the civic training: republican values, French institutions, rights and duties, French history and culture, and practical life in France. The pass threshold is 80% (32 out of 40). Failing the exam means you cannot obtain a multi-year card.
2. Language requirements have been raised. 
   
   • An A2 French level (basic conversational) is now required for the carte de sejour pluriannuelle.
   • B1 (intermediate) is required for the carte de resident (10-year card). 
   • B2 (upper intermediate) is required for French citizenship. 

These are assessed through certified exams (TCF, TEF, or equivalent), not through the OFII language assessment alone.

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What happens if you do not complete the CIR?

If you are required to sign the CIR and do not complete it (miss training sessions without justification, fail the civic exam, or do not reach the required language level), the consequences affect your renewal path. 

=> The prefecture takes CIR non-compliance into account when evaluating your carte de sejour application. Without a completed CIR, attestation of civic training, and language certificate, you cannot access a multi-year card. Though a one-year renewal is still possible.

✅ Practical tip: do not treat the CIR as a formality. Start French classes during your first month in France, attend every prescribed session, and register for the civic exam as soon as your training is complete. The people who get caught out are the ones who assumed it could wait until renewal time. By then it is too late.

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OFII vs Prefecture vs Consulate: Who does what

Each institution handles a different stage of the immigration process, and none of them does the other's job.

✅ Practical tip: keep a dedicated folder (physical and digital) with every document OFII gives you: the VLS-TS validation PDF, the medical certificate, the CIR attestation, the civic training completion certificate, and the language assessment results. The prefecture will ask for these at renewal, sometimes months after OFII issued them, and replacements are slow to obtain.

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