Talent passport, OQTF and a three-year ban for 300 euros: this Moroccan gets everything annulled

Born in 1995 in Agadir, the Moroccan national entered France legally with a long-stay visa. Most recently, he held a residence permit bearing the designation “talent passport – qualified employee,” which he had applied to renew.

On July 8, 2026, however, the prefect of Hauts-de-Seine refused to renew his permit. The administration also ordered him to leave France immediately, designated his country of destination and imposed a thirty-six-month ban on returning to French territory.

On Bladi.net : France: Talent passport withdrawn on weak grounds, Moroccan national has State condemned

A second order placed the Moroccan under house arrest in Hauts-de-Seine. To justify all these measures, the prefecture considered that his presence represented a threat to public order.

The administration relied on a conviction handed down on October 21, 2019, by the Nancy Criminal Court. The Moroccan had been sentenced to a suspended 300-euro fine for fraud committed in 2015, eleven years before the prefectural decision.

A conviction is not enough to establish a threat

Seized by the Moroccan national, the court recalled that a criminal conviction is not, by itself, enough to establish a threat to public order. The administration must notably take into account the nature of the acts, their seriousness, how long ago they occurred and the conduct of the person concerned.

In its judgment issued on August 17, 2026, the Cergy-Pontoise Administrative Court held that the fraud committed in 2015, given its nature and how long ago it occurred, did not make it possible to consider the Moroccan a current threat to public order.

The courts had recently adopted a similar line of reasoning regarding a report dating from 2012 used to impose an OQTF on another Moroccan. They had also annulled the postponement of a naturalization application based on two cases dating back ten and fifteen years.

The prefecture’s assessment having been deemed erroneous, the refusal of residence was annulled. The OQTF without a grace period, the designation of the country of removal, the three-year re-entry ban and the order to remain at a designated residence were also overturned.

On Bladi.net : The prefecture forces him to report to the police station every day, but this Moroccan man gets the entire procedure annulled

The Moroccan does not, however, automatically recover his talent passport. The prefect of Hauts-de-Seine will have to reconsider his application within two months. In the meantime, the prefect will have to issue him a temporary residence permit allowing him to work. Finally, the State will have to pay him 1,200 euros toward his legal costs.