She lived in Morocco for 30 years: France ordered her to leave, but the judge ruled exactly the opposite
A Moroccan woman subject to an OQTF has just won her appeal. Despite having lived in Morocco for thirty years and having family ties there, the court has now ordered the French authorities to issue her a residence permit.
The Moroccan national says she last entered France on August 12, 2017, at the age of 26, holding a Schengen visa. The court nevertheless considers that her continuous presence on French territory has only been established since July 2021.
Since at least January 1, 2022, she has been living with a Moroccan national legally residing in France. He successively held temporary and then multi-year residence cards bearing the designation “private and family life” and works under a permanent employment contract. The couple have a daughter, born on August 3, 2022, and then married on March 11, 2023.
On Bladi.net : She Was Already Living with Her Husband in France, Moroccan Woman Receives an OQTF
The Moroccan woman applied for exceptional admission to residence. On August 13, 2024, however, the prefect of Haute-Garonne refused to issue her a permit, ordered her to leave France within thirty days, and designated the country to which she could be returned.
She challenged this order before the Toulouse administrative court, without success. On June 17, 2025, the judges dismissed her application. She then decided to appeal.
Her husband and their daughter tip the scales
In its ruling issued on September 17, 2026, the Toulouse administrative court of appeal adopted a completely different position. The judges took into account the Moroccan woman’s life with her husband, his lawful and professional situation, and the birth of their daughter in France, more than two years before the prefectural decision.
The court nevertheless noted several factors that could weigh against her. She had lived in Morocco for thirty years, retained family ties there, and could benefit from a family reunification procedure.
These factors were nevertheless insufficient to justify her removal. In the judges’ view, the center of her private and family interests is now in France. The refusal of residence and the OQTF therefore constitute a disproportionate interference with her right to respect for family life, guaranteed by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
On Bladi.net : Her husband has a ten-year residence card, but France grants her only one year: court orders the same residence permit
The court annulled both the judgment delivered at first instance and the prefectural order in its entirety: the refusal of residence, the obligation to leave France, and the designation of the country of return.
Above all, the judges did not simply ask the prefecture to reconsider the case. They found that no new factual or legal element could justify another refusal. The prefect of Haute-Garonne, or the authority with jurisdiction based on her current place of residence, will therefore have to issue her a temporary residence card marked “private and family life” within two months.
The state must also pay 500 euros to her lawyer for legal costs, as the Moroccan woman is receiving partial legal aid. The decision thus completely reverses her situation: after giving her thirty days to leave France, the authorities must now provide her with the permit allowing her to remain there legally.
