Moroccan man’s OQTF overturned after prefecture fails to consider his job offer
A Moroccan man had told the prefecture that he had just found a job and wanted to switch to employee status. The administration replied that it had taken his request into account. Four days later, however, he received a residence permit refusal and an OQTF.
Arriving in France on 18 September 2022 on a student visa, the young Moroccan, born in 1998, later obtained a residence permit valid until 13 March 2025. On that day, he applied for a new permit bearing the designation “job seeker or business creator.”
On Bladi.net : His employer tries four times to regularize his status, but this Moroccan man ultimately receives an OQTF
His situation changed a few months later. On 18 December 2025, he wrote to the Vaucluse prefecture to report that he had “found a job.” He then asked to change his status so that his residence permit would reflect his new employment situation, and said he was ready to provide his employment contract and the necessary documents.
The reply came the same day. A prefecture official told him that the new information had been taken into account and “forwarded to the official in charge of reviewing” his case, according to the ruling by the Nîmes administrative court.
Four days later, on 22 December, the decision came down. The prefect refused his “job seeker or business creator” residence permit, ordered him to leave France within thirty days and named the country to which he could be deported.
The employee-status request had disappeared from the file
In court, the Moroccan man argued that his new employment situation had not been examined. The court reviewed the sequence of exchanges and found that his 18 December email did indeed constitute an additional application for an “employee” residence permit.
Yet the order signed four days later made no mention of that application. The prefecture had considered only his earlier application for a “job seeker or business creator” permit, even though one of its officials had confirmed that the new information had been forwarded.
The judges concluded that the administration had therefore failed to conduct a full review of his case. That error alone was enough to overturn the residence permit refusal. The OQTF, the thirty-day voluntary departure period and the decision naming the country of destination were also annulled.
On Bladi.net : Having come to France as a volunteer, this Moroccan woman lands a permanent contract… then receives an OQTF
The court has now ordered the Vaucluse prefect to reconsider the Moroccan man’s application within two months. While it is being reviewed, the administration must issue him a temporary residence permit allowing him to work.
The state must also pay him 1,000 euros toward his legal costs. The ruling was issued on 2 October 2026, nearly ten months after the OQTF.
