France Took Him Into Care at 17; After Earning a Vocational Diploma With Honours, He Was Ordered to Leave
Taken into care by child welfare services at 17, a Moroccan national earned his CAP with honours but remained blocked by a refusal of residence. The judge handling urgent applications in Montreuil has suspended the decision and ordered a temporary work permit to be issued.
Arriving in France on 12 May 2023 on a short-stay visa, the young man was placed in the care of child welfare services on 27 June that year. Support continued after he turned 18 under a young adult contract signed with the Seine-Saint-Denis département, then renewed in December 2024.
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During this period, he trained as a sanitary installation fitter. His studies culminated on 3 July 2026, when he earned a CAP with honours. Before the court, the seriousness of his studies and the quality of his work placements would weigh in the decision.
He had begun applying for a residence permit two years earlier, in June 2024. He sought a permit marked “temporary worker”. After the administration failed to respond, the prefect refused his application on 1 June 2026 and ordered him to leave France.
The refusal therefore came before he earned his diploma. But it continued to stand in the way of his next steps: continuing his studies or entering the workforce.
A misdirected letter could have blocked his appeal
Before examining the case, the judge had to rule on a dispute over deadlines. The prefecture argued that the appeal had been filed too late: the registered letter containing its decision had been presented in early June, then returned because it had not been collected.
The association housing the young man explained, however, that internal problems handling mail had prevented the postal delivery notice from reaching him. The judge ultimately found that notification took place on 26 August, when his lawyer received the decision by email. The judge therefore dismissed the prefecture’s argument.
In its ruling of 25 September 2026, the court then found that the matter was urgent. The refusal left the Moroccan national without legal status and blocked the opportunities his training could qualify him for. The judge also found serious grounds to question the decision’s legality, particularly in how his personal circumstances had been assessed.
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Enforcement of the refusal of residence has been suspended pending a ruling on the merits. The prefecture must issue him, within 15 days, a temporary residence permit authorising him to work, valid until a new decision is made on his application or appeal.
