Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides

What Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides does

Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (Ofpra) is a French public administrative establishment (établissement public administratif) under the Ministry of the Interior, founded in 1952 and headquartered in Fontenay-sous-Bois. It is, by statutory mandate, the sole French body authorized to examine asylum applications and to recognize refugee status under the 1951 Geneva Convention, subsidiary protection, and stateless status. Ofpra's core product is the formal asylum determination procedure: it registers applications, conducts substantive interviews, and issues legally binding protection decisions, with a workload of 145,210 applications examined in 2025 (153,600 in 2024; 131,000 in 2022). It also adjudicates stateless status claims, issues travel documents to recognized beneficiaries, and produces country-of-origin information used both internally and shared with partner jurisdictions.

Its underlying technology stack is principally an internal IT estate rather than a customer-facing platform. The FLORA portal handles online application intake; Inerec is the case-management and decision-support database; TéléOfpra enables teletransmission of documents between Ofpra, the 38 GUDA one-stop centers, the OFII, and the CNDA appeal court. The agency formally published data-processing regulations for Inerec and TéléOfpra in November 2024 and rolled out a consolidated single asylum application form in June 2026, with the legacy family reference form abolished in January 2025. It opened an outpost in Mayotte to extend territorial coverage, and publishes aggregated open data since July 2024, with current digital accessibility compliance at 61% RGAA. Operational scale is anchored by 1,001–5,000 civil servants and a national reception ecosystem of 38 GUDA one-stop centers, 34 PADAs (asylum-seeker reception platforms), and 25 CRAs (reception and orientation centers).

Ofpra does not operate on a commercial business model. Services are free of charge to asylum seekers and stateless persons, and the agency is resourced through the French state budget, supplemented by European AMIF (Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund) co-funding. Its governance partners include the Ministry of the Interior, the CNDA appellate court, OFII (for material reception), UNHCR and EUAA (for international cooperation and doctrine), Forum Réfugiés (for legal aid), and the European Commission. The Director General post, held by Julien Boucher from April 2019 to April 2025, became vacant in April 2025 pending a successor appointment.

Name

Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides

Legal name

Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides

Website

https://www.ofpra.gouv.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1952

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Ofpra is the sole French public agency authorized to examine asylum applications and grant refugee or stateless protection status, serving approximately 145,000 applicants annually under the Ministry of the Interior.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Asylum and Refugee Protection Services

NAICS

International Affairs (92812), Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922)

SIC

International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Asylum & Refugee Status Determination (RSD) Support (BPADAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI), Refugee Reception & Registration (BPADAHAA), Migrant & Refugee Legal Aid and Documentation Services (BPADAHAE), Refugee & Humanitarian Newcomer Orientation (Resettlement Support) (EDAAADAI)

Keywords

• Asylum application processing
• Refugee status determination
• Stateless person recognition
• International protection services
• Civil status documentation

Headquarters

HQ city

Fontenay-sous-bois

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ofpra is the sole French public body responsible for examining asylum applications lodged in France, deciding on the granting of refugee status and subsidiary protection, and recognizing stateless persons. It also issues civil-status documents to beneficiaries of international protection and processes family-reunification files for recognized refugees. All services are delivered free of charge through digital channels, regional offices, and out-of-office missions.

Product overview

Ofpra operates as France's government asylum agency offering a digital service platform centered on the personal digital space (Espace numérique) for asylum seekers to track their applications and access documents. The service portfolio includes online procedural tools for both applicants and protected persons, educational video content explaining the asylum process, and institutional publications including annual reports and cohort studies. The organization maintains internal systems (FLORA portal for case officers, Inerec/TélémOfpra for data processing) and publishes open data through the French government data portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Asylum application examination Statutory examination of asylum applications lodged in France to determine refugee status or subsidiary protection. Targeted at asylum seekers present in France.

Quantifiable outcome

• 145,210 international protection requests processed in 2025
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024UNHCR works with OFPRA on asylum procedures and refugee protection; jointly organizes conferences such as the 2024 conference on statelessness marking the 70th anniversary of the New York Convention
• Forum RéfugiéscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Forum Réfugiés co-organized the 2024 conference on statelessness with OFPRA and UNHCR
• EUAA (European Union Agency for Asylum)coreTechnology or IntegrationEUAA provides training curriculum for asylum practitioners including 13 modules on examination techniques, country of origin information, and interviewing vulnerable individuals; OFPRA protection officers receive training through these modules
• OFII (French Office for Immigration and Integration)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOFII manages the national asylum seekers reception system, operates PADAs (34 platforms), handles the ADA (asylum seeker allowance), and works with OFPRA at GUDA one-stop counters
• CNDA (National Asylum Court)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCNDA is the specialized court that rules on appeals against OFPRA decisions; has full jurisdiction to grant refugee status or subsidiary protection
• SpécinovminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConducted accessibility compliance audit of OFPRA website revealing 61% compliance with RGAA version 4.1 criteria

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF): Germany's federal agency for migration and refugees, responsible for asylum application processing and refugee status determination. It is OFPRA's closest functional peer in Europe, with comparable volume (hundreds of thousands of annual applications) and a similar monopoly mandate.
• UK Home Office (Visas and Immigration): The UK government directorate that decides asylum and protection claims and issues documentation. Comparable to OFPRA in statutory function (status determination, documentation) although operating under a separate legal framework post-Brexit.
• Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND): The Netherlands' Immigration and Naturalisation Service, the agency responsible for asylum adjudication and refugee status decisions. Closely comparable to OFPRA in mission, process design, and EU-context operating environment.
• State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) Switzerland: Switzerland's federal migration authority, handling asylum procedures and status decisions. Comparable in scope and regulatory function, though operating outside the EU asylum framework.
• Commissariat général aux réfugiés et aux apatrides (CGRS): Belgium's asylum determination agency, which examines protection applications and grants refugee/stateless status. Closely comparable mission, structure, and statutory mandate to OFPRA.
• Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket): Sweden's national agency examining asylum applications and granting protection. Comparable in statutory function, EU regulatory environment, and the use of digital case-processing tools.

Regional players

• Office français de l'immigration et de l'intégration (OFII): France's Office for Immigration and Integration, which manages reception platforms (PADAs) and operates jointly with OFPRA at GUDA counters. Same national geography and overlapping refugee/migrant remit, though focused on reception rather than status determination.
• Cour nationale du droit d'asile (CNDA): France's specialized asylum appeal court that reviews OFPRA decisions. Operates within the same national asylum ecosystem as OFPRA and directly downstream of its determinations.

Broad incumbents

• European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA): The EU's regulatory and operational agency for asylum, providing training, country-of-origin information, and operational support to member-state agencies including OFPRA. A coordinating incumbent rather than a direct status-determining competitor.
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): The U.S. federal agency that adjudicates immigration benefit requests including refugee status and asylum. Comparable in statutory adjudication function and operational scale, though operating under a different legal regime.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCPyk_bqvJQ7NH7kLCn8Vikg
• Facebookfacebook.com/Ofpra
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ofpra-office-fran-ais-de-protection-des-r-fugi-s-et-apatrides
• Xx.com/ofpra

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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