Recent data on new HIV/AIDS diagnoses highlight the growing proportion of people from sub-Saharan Africa. The ANRS-Vespa survey, conducted among a statistically representative sample of people living with HIV, also underscores the significance of the foreign-born population and, within that group, of people from sub-Saharan Africa. While research efforts have largely focused on other groups affected by HIV, this population has not yet received comparable attention from social science and public health research. The Retard survey, conducted as part of the programs of the ANRS (French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis), provides information on people from sub-Saharan Africa who experience delayed access to care. By linking this delayed access to their lifestyle, it highlights the precarious situations that characterize them.