France interior ministry says it is speeding up processing times for residency cards following backlogs

“A substantial effort” has now been made to clear residency card backlogs at prefectures, according to France’s interior ministry.

Measures ordered by Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez this spring are starting to bear fruit, seeing shorter processing times and more support provided to prefectures, the ministry told The Connexion.

Earlier this year the ministry urged prefectures generally to reduce delays, following several critical reports from the Défenseur des droits. The following month, France's top administrative authority the Conseil d'Etat ordered the state to fix failings in the Anef website within six months.

Anef is used for many residency card applications and renewals.

Mr Nuñez announced an action plan aimed at “fighting effectively against stoppages of rights and drastically reducing processing times for residency card applications”.

Measures included improvements to Anef, automatic renewal for up to 12 months of attestations de prolongation d'instruction (documents prolonging residency rights while an application is processed), an end to requests for documents not included on official lists, and 500 additional staff for residency services.

It comes, however, as a group of lawyers for foreign people has once again shone the spotlight on card renewal delays, with a group legal action against the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture.

Asked how the measures are being applied, the ministry said: “Aware of the consequences that prolonged processing times can entail, the interior minister called for corrective measures to be put in place in spring 2026, making the fight against breaches of legal rights – particularly for employees – a priority.

“Consequently, a substantial effort has been made to clear the backlog and relieve pressure on the prefectures’ processing capacity, involving the mobilisation of significant human resources. 

“At the minister’s request, a highly detailed management framework for the action plan has been put in place, with monthly monitoring at his level.

“The continuation in 2026 of the digital transition to the ANEF information system, coupled with enhanced operational support for the prefectures and greater consideration of digital advances – which are driving a profound modernisation of residency services – is already enabling us to observe a reversal in the upward trend in these processing times, with the trend being positive at national level and in the majority of prefectures despite the summer period.”

The ministry said the average national processing time for residency card procedures fell from 123 days in June to 114 days in July, while the backlog of applications fell by 19% between March 31 and July 31.