Claiming asylum from Calais: where it starts

The legal drop-ins, the SPADA in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, the appointment at the GUDA in Lille, and the 90-day limit that changes everything.

August 11, 2026

Nobody has to claim asylum. But if you want to do it in France, there is an order to follow, and a deadline that counts.

Start at a legal drop-in. They are held in the “Bus de l'Accès aux Droits”, in front of the Secours Catholique day centre: La Cimade on Monday, 14:00 to 17:00, except the third Monday of the month, and lawyers on the first and third Friday of the month, 14:00 to 17:00. It is free, and you can come without an appointment.

The claim is registered at the SPADA, run by COALLIA, at 1 allée du Chargement, 59650 Villeneuve-d'Ascq. It is open Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 12:00, with no appointment, and you can ask for an interpreter there.

The SPADA then gives you an appointment at the GUDA, at the Lille prefecture. Be on time: a missed appointment is hard to recover from. Your fingerprints are taken, you are asked which language you want to be interviewed in by OFPRA, you are given a brochure and then an asylum claim certificate, and you go straight on to the OFII.

The deadline to remember: if you register your claim more than 90 days after entering France, it is examined under the accelerated procedure, and you are entitled to neither accommodation nor the allowance. The 90 days are not a formality.

From Calais, the simplest route often runs through a CAES: buses leave Monday to Friday from rue des Huttes, and someone there explains the procedure to you. Be aware that if you claim asylum from a CAES and then leave of your own accord, you lose the asylum seeker's allowance.

The OFII office in Calais answers on +33 3 61 11 70 20, or by email at asile.lille@ofii.fr and maraudes@ofii.fr. A team also comes to Roundabout 2 on Tuesday mornings.

If you want to work out which procedure applies to you — normal, accelerated, or Dublin — and what happens after the file goes to OFPRA, follow the guide “Claiming asylum in France” on this site: it asks the questions one at a time.

Factual owner: InfoKit

Last reviewed: August 11, 2026