France’s asylum system faces fresh disruption after the two majority unions at the Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (OFPRA) called a one-day strike for **Tuesday 13 October 2026**. In a joint communiqué published late on 12 October, CGT-OFPRA and ASYL urged all 1,200 employees to walk out and rally outside headquarters in Fontenay-sous-Bois. The unions accuse management of maintaining “unrealistic productivity targets” even though asylum applications have fallen since the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into force on 12 June 2026. They want lower individual quotas in the 2027-2029 performance contract, extra hires in support services and an end to what they describe as a culture of “pressure du chiffre”. Previous stoppages on 12 and 18 June led to backlogs of several hundred interview files and delayed decisions for weeks. Why does this matter for mobility teams? OFPRA decisions underpin both refugee status and subsidiary-protection residence permits. When officers strike, interview appointments are cancelled at short notice, biometric enrolments are suspended and case files languish. Employers sponsoring international talent under the passeport-talent scheme increasingly find that family-reunification dossiers stall if a relative has a pending asylum request. Tuesday’s action also coincides with wider public-sector unrest and student demonstrations in Paris, raising the prospect of cumulative service disruptions across immigration, transport and education. The unions say an assembly at noon will decide whether to escalate toward rolling stoppages later in the month. Companies should alert foreign national employees expecting OFPRA interviews this week, monitor prefecture communications for knock-on appointment changes and, where necessary, request récépissé extensions to keep beneficiaries in legal status until decisions resume. Legal advisers expect processing times to lengthen through Q4 unless an agreement is reached quickly.
Source: CGT État
