InfoMigrants

In France, transgender identity has been recognized since 1997 as grounds for asylum if you face persecution because of it. Here is an overview of some useful and practical information if you are in this situation.

There are no precise state figures for the number of trans applicants each year in France, but ARDHIS, an NGO helping LGBTQI+ people in France prepare their asylum applications, reports having assisted 66 trans people in 2024.

Preparing the asylum application

The asylum application procedure for a transgender person is the same as for everyone else. However, it is helpful to contact specialized organizations on these issues to support you and help you prepare for your meeting with the OFPRA (French asylum agency), which will hear your asylum request. There are several organizations that can help:

L’Association pour la reconnaissance des droits des personnes homosexuelles et trans à l’immigration et au séjour (The Association for the Recognition of the Rights of Homosexual and Trans People for Immigration and Residence), ARDHIS, is one of the best known. ARDHIS organizes LGBTQI+ outreach sessions three Saturdays a month at La Bulle, at 22 rue Malher, 75004, in Paris, at Saint-Paul metro station (metro line 1), from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. "The sessions are intended for people who are not familiar with the organization or for emergencies. Those deemed a priority will be received for individual interviews, and others may be redirected to group sessions," their website explains.

"We welcome people at all stages of their transgender journey," Anna, ARDHIS' asylum coordinator, explained to InfoMigrants. "We receive people who come and identify as gay men or lesbian women, and as the support progresses, we realize that there's also a trans identity issue that is verbalized later, as people perhaps feel more settled. There are some for whom the word and the concept are present before the trip, and others for whom it is not, and who 'discover,' so to speak, this possibility," she explained.

ARDHIS specializes in asylum applications from LGBTQI+ people, but they work with other organizations too. The ARDHIS is located within the Bulle (La Bulle), a space that brings together several associations to which they can more easily redirect people according to their needs: Espace Santé Trans (EST) and Front Transfem (FLIRT), for questions about medical transition, Wassla and Ankh for people from the Arab world, and OUTrans, which organizes support groups against daily transphobia. Outside of the Bulle, the ARDHIS also recommends ACCEPTESS-T to get help with medical transitions in particular.

Interviews at OFPRA

Since 2023, OFPRA has trained several hundred of its staff on the specific issues of gender identity and sexual orientation. The training raises staff awareness around the fact that each transition is unique, that there are multiple trajectories, and that they are not limited to surgical transitions. "We also emphasized the importance of providing information to asylum seekers and transgender asylum seekers, because these people have specific needs in terms of administrative status," Adrienne Cruz, head of the OFPRA group on sexual orientation and gender identity, told InfoMigrants. Officers also have access to support documents and internal OFPRA events to assist them.

Translators are also expected to be trained on LGBTQI+ issues, and they are committed to doing so through a charter they sign. This training is done by the service provider OFPRA hires to recruit the translators, not OFPRA itself. OFPRA also told InfoMigrants that it is working on training reception agents for 2025. Although they do not have access to asylum seekers' files, they must consult applicants' documents that may indicate a transgender person's former gender or first name. This is a welcome development for trans migrant advocacy organizations. "We believe that when people are at OFPRA, they should not be misgendered [referring to someone by the wrong gender, editor's note] by OFPRA staff. For example, they can say "Hello" without adding "Madam" or "Sir," Laura, an expert on trans migrant support at ARDHIS, explained to InfoMigrants.

Like any asylum seeker, a person can come to the interview with a third party, an association authorized by OFPRA, such as ARDHIS, or a lawyer. The length of the OFPRA investigation can be adjusted, including slowed down, and an applicant can request a second interview. This can be particularly important for a trans person who needs a little time to verbalize their trans identity. This adaptation can be requested by all stakeholders in the procedure, "at any point during the asylum application review," Coralie Capdeboscq, vulnerability and quality officer at OFPRA, told InfoMigrants.

Housing

Since 2022, the French government has implemented a system to train certain asylum seeker shelters (CADA) to support LGBTQI+ asylum seekers, with the aim of creating 200 places for this group, spread across France. No center is restricted to LGBTQI+ people only, but several shelters in Paris and other cities have a few specialized spots. Julie*, who works in one of these shelters in Paris, told InfoMigrants that her center was trained "to support trans asylum seekers with their legal, social, medical, and administrative procedures." Her center actually accommodates almost three times more LGBTQI+ people than the official number of designated places. People are referred there either during their interview with the OFII (French Office for Immigration and Integration) during their asylum application, or through organizations they reach out to, such as ACCEPTESS-T, FLIRT, or ARDHIS, for example. She points out, however, that once refugee status is recognized, it can be difficult to move these people to the general shelter system due to the lack of facilities adapted for trans people there. "[Staff at] general shelter centers are less trained and often prefer to refuse rather than accommodate in facilities where the risk of discrimination is too high," she explained.

Access to transgender care

After three months in France, a person becomes eligible for social security. But this period can be complicated for transgender people who are currently undergoing hormone treatment. "They are forced to go through informal networks and use homemade hormones," Charlie, the co-founder of FLIRT, an association that supports trans asylum seekers, told InfoMigrants. After three months, associations like FLIRT help trans migrants obtain coverage through the medical diagnosis of a long-term condition known as "ALD," which allows for 100 percent coverage of certain treatments related to transition. Associations like Espace Santé Trans also assist people with their healthcare journeys.

Changing your first name and gender marker on administrative documents

Everyone can provide the name and gender they wish during the asylum application process. However, associations like FLIRT recommend that trans asylum seekers use their name and gender they were assigned at birth during the procedure, rather than their current name and gender, despite the discomfort this causes. Charlie explained to InfoMigrants that the association reluctantly gives this advice because of what happened to applicants who did not do so. "They were entitled to social security benefits with their chosen name and gender, and when OFPRA issued a birth certificate with their deadname and gender at birth [when they granted asylum], the person lost their social security benefits." It can then be recovered but only after some more administrative back and forth.

This is due to the fact that when asylum is granted, the French administration creates a new French birth certificate for the refugee, using the name registered at birth in their country. If this name is not the same as the one used during the procedure, this creates a disconnection between the person's identity and their right to access social rights. This is particularly complicated for trans people, who often rely on their social security benefits to cover the cost of their hormonal care, for example.

It is then necessary to apply for a change of administrative status (gender and first name) at a later stage, which adds further administrative procedures. "This obligation significantly lengthens amdinistrative procedures for trans refugees, who must wait for the outcome of their asylum application, the issuance of civil status documents by OFPRA, and the outcome of the court proceedings to obtain full correction of their documents," four associations—ARDHIS, FLIRT, Acceptess-T, and Wassla— spoke out in a 2023 op-ed calling for the merger of asylum and civil status change procedures for transgender asylum seekers.

For OFPRA, this would require "changing the civil code," Coralie Capdeboscq explained to InfoMigrants. Under current legislation, OFPRA only has the power to change the first name of beneficiaries of international protection. They do not have the power to change the gender marker, which only courts can do.

Administrative status change is therefore possible once asylum or international protection has been obtained. The change of first name can be done at the town hall for anyone. Only beneficiaries of international protection have the option of doing so with OFPRA. The procedure can be lengthy and lasts at least several months. To change the administrative gender marker, this requires going to the judicial court, which also takes at least several months. It is possible to complete both procedures simultaneously, but only before a court. WikiTrans details the process here, and Fransgenre also lists several useful resources (both in French).

*Name has been changed to protect the person’s anonymity.