You depend on the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture in Marseille for your residence permit, its renewal, collecting your card, or a naturalization application, and you are looking for an appointment. Here, specifically, is where to go, what can now be done online, what still requires a visit to the counter, and what to do when no slots are available.
The Bouches-du-Rhône is among the departments where appointments for foreigners are the hardest to obtain; slots are released in waves and disappear within minutes.
Contact details for the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture in Marseille
- Address: 1 rue Edmond Rostand, 13006 Marseille
- Phone: 04 84 35 40 00
- Official website: www.bouches-du-rhone.gouv.fr
- Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 08:30-12:15, 13:15-16:30
Hours and addresses change; check them on the official website before you go, especially for the foreigner services which often have their own time slots.
Prefecture or sub-prefecture: where to file based on your municipality
The department has 3 sub-prefectures:
- Sub-prefecture of Aix-en-Provence (Monday to Friday: 08:30-12:00)
- Sub-prefecture of Istres
- Sub-prefecture of Arles
Your municipality of residence determines the district, and thus the competent site. For foreigner procedures, many departments have centralized processing at the prefecture; the sub-prefecture only handles certain formalities, or none at all. The department's website specifies, step by step, where to file and where to collect.
To find the competent site based on your address, see which prefecture my municipality depends on and the map of prefectures.
Making an appointment at the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture in Marseille: the procedure to follow
- Identify the procedure. First application for a permit (student, employee, private and family life…), renewal, duplicate, address change, collection of a produced permit, naturalization: each has its own channel.
- Start with the ANEF (administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr) for anything that is dematerialized: most renewals, first applications for certain categories, address changes, extension of instruction certificates. No appointment is necessary to file.
- For what remains at the counter (fingerprints, permit delivery, non-digital filings), open the "Make an appointment" section of www.bouches-du-rhone.gouv.fr and choose the relevant service. Slots are released in waves, often in the morning or at the beginning of the week.
- Keep a record of each unsuccessful attempt (dated screenshot of the message indicating that no slots are available). This evidence is useful if you need to write to the prefecture or contact the judge.
- Get notified rather than refreshing the page: the Marseille page on rendezvousprefecture.com allows you to receive an alert by email or SMS as soon as a slot opens for your procedure (see the Marseille page).
For special cases, see making a new appointment at the prefecture, modifying an appointment, and cancelling an appointment.
Residence permit: first application, renewal, and collection
The first application is filed on the ANEF for dematerialized categories (students, talent passport, certain "employee" cards), and by appointment or by mail for others, depending on what the department has planned. The renewal is done on the ANEF for the vast majority of permits, between four and two months before expiration. The collection of the produced permit is always done in person, by summons or by appointment, with the tax stamp paid and the old permit or receipt; fingerprinting, when required, is subject to a separate appointment (see why the prefecture requests your fingerprints). The main site guides detail each step: residence permit, renewal, naturalization.
Documents to prepare
Prepare the file before looking for a slot: an incomplete file at the counter results in a new appointment. The common base:
- valid passport (identity pages, visa, entry stamps);
- proof of residence less than six months old, or accommodation certificate accompanied by the host's ID and proof of residence;
- three compliant identity photos, or the e-photo code for online submissions;
- the current permit or receipt for a renewal;
- documents specific to your situation: employment contract and pay slips, school certificate, marriage or birth certificate, resources;
- the tax stamp, the amount of which varies depending on the permit, to be purchased online at the time of delivery.
The details by type of permit are in our list of required documents, and for the accommodation certificate, see how to establish it correctly.
Deadlines to know and recourse if nothing progresses
Two deadlines frame your procedures, regardless of the department. For a residence permit, the silence of the prefecture for four months after a complete file constitutes implicit refusal, which opens a recourse. For naturalization, the processing cannot exceed eighteen months from the receipt, twelve if you have been residing in France for ten years. The renewal should be requested between four and two months before the expiration of the permit: within this window, the receipt or extension certificate maintains your rights.
If nothing progresses: check the status of the file, then follow up in writing. When no slots are offered for weeks, the Council of State requires the prefecture to provide an alternative (decision of June 10, 2020), and the emergency "useful measures" allows for an injunction; our guide on deadlines by prefecture details these recourses. The observed deadlines in the department are compared to those of other departments on the prefectures barometer.
Frequently asked questions
Should I go to the prefecture or the sub-prefecture?
It depends on your municipality and the procedure. Municipalities attached to a sub-prefecture carry out certain formalities there, but foreigner procedures are often centralized in Marseille. The department's website specifies this procedure by procedure.
Can I go to the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture in Marseille without an appointment?
For foreigner procedures, no, unless otherwise stated on the department's website: reception is by summons or by appointment made online. Some general receptions remain accessible freely during the indicated hours, but they do not handle residence files.
What should I do if my permit expires before the appointment?
File the renewal application on the ANEF within the four to two months window before expiration: you will receive a receipt, and if necessary, an extension certificate, which proves the regularity of your stay and the maintenance of your rights during the wait.
How do I know when a slot becomes available?
Slots are released in waves, without an announced calendar. An alert by email or SMS on the Marseille page notifies you as soon as an appointment appears for your procedure, which avoids having to monitor the site multiple times a day.
