France’s top court orders work permit for Moroccan man left without pay despite winning residency case
The court had ordered the prefecture to issue him a residence permit. Yet just a few weeks later, the father of two French children found himself without work authorization or a salary. He had to turn to the Council of State to enforce the ruling.
Born in Morocco in 1987, the man arrived in France with his family at the age of one. He has lived there ever since, shares his life with a French woman and is the father of two French children, born in 2017 and 2018.
On October 5, 2024, he applied to renew his residence permit with the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture. The administration initially issued an implicit refusal, then expressly rejected his applications twice, with the latest decisions accompanied by orders to leave French territory (OQTF).
After several appeals, the Marseille Administrative Court ruled in his favor on December 18, 2025. It overturned the refusals to grant him residence and ordered the prefect to issue him a two-year “private and family life” residence card within one month. No appeal was filed against the ruling.
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But the document never arrived. On January 6, 2026, the prefecture asked the Moroccan man for additional documents to renew his temporary residence permit. He submitted them on January 8. Despite this, his permit expired on January 27, and no new document was issued to him.
His employer suspends his pay
Without a valid work permit, the Moroccan man had his employment contract suspended by his employer. His salary also stopped being paid. He has no other source of income to help cover household expenses and support his two children.
On January 30, the Marseille Administrative Court rejected his request for urgent intervention, finding that the prefecture had taken sufficient steps. The man appealed to the Council of State.
In its ruling of February 19, 2026, the highest administrative court instead found that the administration had shown “persistent failure to act.” The prefecture had requested documents but still had not enforced the final ruling.
The Interior Ministry said it had started producing the residence permit on February 9. The judge was not persuaded: ten days later, the Moroccan man had still received neither his residence card nor a temporary permit allowing him to return to work.
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The Council of State found that the situation constituted a serious and manifestly unlawful violation of his rights, particularly his right to work. It ordered the Interior Ministry to issue him a temporary residence permit with work authorization within 48 hours, followed by his two-year residence card within one month.
The state was also ordered to pay him 2,000 euros in legal costs.
