Tracking your application on ANEF: where to look and what to do if it's stuck

Updated 23 October 2026

ANEF (the online administration for foreign nationals in France) is where most residence permit and naturalisation applications are filed. Your personal account there is the main channel between you and the administration.

What you’ll find there

the status of your application and its history;
requests for additional documents, with a deadline;
your certificates: filing, extension, favourable decision (residence permits), receipt (naturalisation);
messages and invitations.

Good habits

Log in regularly and check your spam folder: email notifications can be missed.
Answer document requests quickly: missing a deadline can get the file closed.
Download and keep every certificate. For a residence permit, the filing certificate does not prove lawful residence; the extension certificate does (see our guide).
Write down your dates: application, receipt, interview, decision. They help if you appeal, and they help other applicants on Dossiermap.

When it’s stuck

Use the contact form of ANEF or your prefecture with your file number.
The Défenseur des droits (rights ombudsman) can be contacted free of charge about difficulties with a public service.
For a residence permit, no answer for more than four months is in principle an implicit refusal; for naturalisation, the legal deadline is 18 months from the receipt. In both cases a lawyer or an association can advise you on remedies.

Compare with others

Feel like your file is slow? Compare with times shared for your prefecture: residence permit · naturalisation. With a free account, My dossier compares your wait with your office’s median.

Sources

This guide is for information only and does not replace official texts or legal advice. Check your situation on service-public.gouv.fr or with your prefecture.

Something wrong or out of date? Let us know