Moroccan Restaurant Worker Wins Right to Stay After Employer Warns of Closure
A Moroccan man employed at a restaurant in Trouville-sur-Mer has had his removal order overturned and been granted a residence permit. His employer had warned that he would struggle to replace him and might have to close the restaurant.
Losing this employee could have put the business at risk. In court, the owner of a restaurant in Trouville-sur-Mer defended the work of his Moroccan employee, who was facing deportation. The Nantes Administrative Court of Appeal ruled in his favor on his application for legal status: in a judgment dated September 11, 2026, it ordered the prefecture to issue him a residence permit.
On Bladi.net : Moroccan Worker in France Loses Pay After Residence Permit Expires
The employee worked at the “Chez Gringo” restaurant as a kitchen prep worker. His permanent contract, signed on February 1, 2024, with Jetmiel, provided for twenty-four hours of work per week. He submitted his pay slips to establish that he was indeed employed there, according to the judgment of the Nantes Administrative Court of Appeal.
His employer confirmed that he had been working there since January 23, 2024, as a kebab chef. He described him as “beyond reproach” and “very popular with customers.” Above all, he explained that he had great difficulty recruiting for this specialty and said he might have to close if the Moroccan man left his job. This support gave the employment documents concrete significance.
The court orders the authorities to issue his papers
The employee’s work history was not limited to this restaurant. His pay slips showed several periods of employment at an establishment in Le Havre in 2021 and 2022. The court also took into account a France Travail survey confirming recruitment needs in the hospitality industry in Normandy, along with numerous letters from friends attesting to his integration.
This evidence convinced the judges that the Calvados prefect had made a manifest error of judgment by refusing to regularize his status as an employee. The Moroccan man’s professional integration, his employer’s detailed support and his personal ties all weighed in the review of his case.
The Moroccan man had initially lost his case before the Caen Administrative Court on April 25, 2025. On appeal, he secured the overturning of that judgment and the prefectural order of September 18, 2024, which denied him the right to stay, gave him thirty days to leave France and barred him from returning for one year.
The prefect must now issue him a temporary “employee” residence permit within two months of notification of the judgment. In the meantime, the prefect must provide him with temporary residence authorization allowing him to work.
