I filed my residence permit renewal this morning at the Préfecture de Police, Centre de Réception des Étrangers (CRE) of the 17th arrondissement, rue Truffaut. A few field notes to spare you the stress and wasted time when your own appointment comes up.
Timing: block out the whole day
My appointment was scheduled for 11:00 AM. My file was actually processed at 1:30 PM. This is normal — standard practice. Plan to spend the whole day, bring something to do (book, laptop, phone battery), and do not schedule anything else for the afternoon.
Bring a pen
Trivial detail but a lifesaver: bring a black-ink pen in your bag. You will have to fill out a two-sided form on the spot, titled "Délégation à l'immigration — Partie à remplir par l'étranger (à l'encre noire)". Without a pen, you will have to borrow one from someone in the queue, which is more awkward than it sounds, and staff will not lend you theirs.
The first field on the form: "Titre de séjour demandé"
The most important line, right under the form title. Common mistake: applicants write the administrative code of their permit (CST 1, CST 2, PT, etc.), because that is what appears on their appointment letter.
Do not write the code. Write the name of the category. Examples:
- Vie privée et familiale (spouse of French citizen, parent of French child, private ties, etc.)
- Salarié (employee)
- Commerçant (manager of a commercial company)
- Étudiant (student)
- Passeport talent
The agent receiving your file does not decode an internal reference like CST2 without context. Write in plain words what you are asking for.
Documents: copy or original?
Main rule, counter-intuitive but confirmed by experience:
Only the passport (and the previous residence permit if renewing) must be presented as an original.
For everything else — proof of address, civil status documents, payslips, certificates, company registration, invoices, tax notices, etc. — a photocopy is enough.
In practice:
- You may bring all originals as a safety net (marriage certificate, children's birth certificates, lease, etc.), but the agent will not look at them and will not keep them.
- However, each document must be accompanied by a photocopy which you leave with the file. The photocopy stays at the Préfecture, not the original.
Practical consequence: always prepare a photocopy of everything, including the passport (ID page + visa page or entry stamp) and the expiring residence permit. Originals go back home with you.
The form is two-sided
The front side is filled in by you (personal info: name, first names, date and place of birth, nationality, address, marital status, parents, spouse, children).
The back side is filled in by the agent. Do not touch it, do not pre-fill it, leave it blank.
In summary
- Allow 2 to 3 hours of waiting after the scheduled time.
- Bring a black-ink pen.
- On the form, write the category name of the requested permit in plain words, never the code (CST 2 → "Vie privée et familiale" or whichever real category).
- Originals: passport + previous residence permit only.
- Photocopies: everything else, every time.
- The back of the form is reserved for the administration.
Good luck with your application.