French Court Overturns Moroccan Woman’s Deportation After Prefecture Misdates Her Degree by 23 Days

She had a master’s-level degree, an employment contract and even a job offer. That did not stop the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture from denying her a residence permit and ordering her to leave France, with a one-year ban on returning. The decision stemmed from a 23-day error in the date she earned her degree.

On Bladi.net : She earns a level 7 qualification at Kedge, yet this Moroccan woman receives an OQTF

Born in Morocco in September 2001, the young woman arrived in France in September 2021 on a student visa. She pursued training in human resources and, on 27 September 2024, earned a master’s-level professional qualification as a human resources director. At the same time, she was completing a paid work-study placement earning 1 413,53 euros gross per month.

Her difficulties began even before she finished her studies. In November 2024, she applied to renew her student residence permit so she could complete her training. The prefecture did not respond. From March 2025, its silence amounted to a refusal. After an urgent application, the court suspended the decision in October and ordered the prefecture to review her case, subject to a penalty of 100 euros for each day of delay.

In the meantime, on 24 September 2025, the Moroccan woman had submitted a new application, this time for a “job-seeker or business-creation” residence permit. This scheme allows some foreign graduates to remain in France for a year to gain their first professional experience. One important condition is that they apply within twelve months of earning their degree.

Three days early, but the prefecture gets the date wrong

The young woman had met the deadline, with just three days to spare. Her degree was dated 27 September 2024, and she had submitted her application on 24 September 2025. But the prefecture used a different date: 4 September 2024. By that calculation, the twelve-month deadline had passed. On 22 April 2026, it denied her permission to stay, issued a deportation order with a one-year ban on returning and planned to flag her in the Schengen Information System.

But the documents presented to the court told a very different story. The judges found that the qualification had indeed been awarded on 27 September. They also found that, when the prefecture made its decision, the Moroccan woman had a fixed-term contract with Albea Cosmetics Services and a job offer from Adecco for a recruitment consultant position. Both confirmed that she was genuinely entering the workforce.

In its ruling of 13 October 2026, the Cergy-Pontoise administrative court found that the prefecture had made a factual error about the date of her degree, as well as a manifest error in its assessment of the young woman’s situation. It overturned the 22 April refusal of a residence permit, the deportation order, the return ban and the decision setting her country of removal. The implicit refusal to renew her previous student residence permit was also overturned.

On Bladi.net : Her permanent contract suspended for lack of a valid permit: this Moroccan woman with a “talent passport” gets the state condemned

This time, the court went further than simply ordering a review. It directed the prefecture to issue the Moroccan woman a “job-seeker or business-creation” residence permit within two months of being notified of the ruling. The authorities must also remove her from the Schengen Information System within the same period.

The state must also pay her 2 000 euros toward her legal costs, divided between the two cases considered. It is another legal victory for the young graduate, who had already secured the suspension of the first refusal of her residence permit a year earlier.