Moroccan seasonal worker’s bid for employee status rejected over expired visa
A Moroccan man who legally entered France as a seasonal worker sought employee status through an employment contract. The prefecture cited the absence of a valid visa, then issued an order requiring him to leave France and barring him from returning for six months.
Originally from Taroudant, the man arrived in France on February 1, 2024, with a long-stay “seasonal worker” visa valid until March 30 of that year. He then obtained a multi-year residence permit under the same status, which expired on April 30, 2025.
On September 15, 2025, he applied for an “employee” residence permit. His application included an employment contract, according to the ruling handed down on September 17, 2026, by the Montpellier Administrative Court.
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On December 24, 2025, the Hérault prefecture refused the change of status. It gave him thirty days to leave France and barred him from returning for six months.
His former seasonal work visa did not allow him to change status
The employment contract did not resolve the main obstacle. In the court’s view, moving from seasonal worker status to employee status amounted to a first-time application for an “employee” residence permit, which required a valid long-stay visa.
The 1987 Franco-Moroccan agreement does provide for a one-year residence permit for Moroccans with an employment contract approved by the competent authorities. But general French rules still require a long-stay visa on matters not covered by the agreement.
However, the seasonal work visa he presented on arrival had expired in March 2024. When he submitted his new application, the Moroccan man therefore no longer had the visa required to obtain employee status directly. The prefecture was also not required to rule on the application for work authorization accompanying his contract. In another case, the absence of the necessary professional steps had already led to the rejection of an application for an employee residence permit.
The prefecture also accused him of staying in France beyond the six cumulative months allowed under his seasonal worker status. His integration into the workforce did not make up for these two difficulties.
On Bladi.net : His contract ran until September 30, but this Moroccan seasonal worker remains under an OQTF
The court noted that he had lived in Morocco until the age of 45 and had provided no evidence that the center of his private and family life was now in France. His recent arrival was also enough to uphold the six-month ban on returning, even though he had never previously received an order to leave France and posed no threat to public order.
The Moroccan man sought an “employee” or “private and family life” residence permit, or at the very least a review of his application subject to a penalty of 100 euros per day. The court rejected all his claims, as well as his request for 1,500 euros from the state to cover his legal costs.
