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Based upon an ethnographic study of five territorial departments of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII), this article questions the practices of the agents of the OFII reception and integration departments. Their practices are indeed by a tension between administrative management and social work. The article starts by showing how this tension structures the professional roles the agents take on. Even though they pretend to be committed to the quality of reception and to appreciate the direct contact with the public, they denounce the repetitive and prescriptive nature of their work. The article then shows how this tension influences the relationship between OFII agents and signatories of the Contract of Reception and Integration (CAI). Although their attitude towards the signatories is generally sympathetic, the relationship is inherently unequal and forced. This article thus looks at the practical exercise of the legal obligation imposed by the CAI.