Persons affected by the OQTF

Non-EU nationals (countries outside the EU)

– A person who cannot prove that he or she has entered France legally and has remained in the country without a residence permit;
– A person who has remained in France beyond the validity of his or her visa or, if he or she is not required to have a visa, remained in France beyond the expiry of a period of three months from the date of his or her entry into France;
– A person who has been refused a residence permit or its renewal;
– A person who has been definitively refused refugee status or subsidiary protection, or whose right to remain on French territory has been terminated;
– A person whose behavior represents a threat to public order and who has been residing in France for less than three months;
– A person working without authorization and who has been residing in France for less than three months.

Non-EU nationals (countries outside the EU)

A European person may be subjected to this decision in the following cases:

– His or her stay represents an “abuse of rights”
– His or her presence constitutes a “real, present and sufficiently serious threat” to the society.

Protected individuals?

Before the introduction of the January 26, 2024 law, several categories of people were protected against OQTFs (e.g. foreign nationals in France for more than 20 years, spouses of French nationals, etc.). The January 26, 2024 law abolished these protected categories, except for minors.
Any foreigner of legal age can therefore be issued with an OQTF, regardless of their personal situation (marriage, length of time in France, etc.).

What happens in the case of an Asylum application?

As a principle, an asylum seeker has the right to remain in France until his or her asylum application has been definitively rejected (until the CNDA has reached a decision).
However, there are exceptions in which asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected at first instance (by OFPRA) may be issued with an OQTF :

– Inadmissible asylum application (for example, if the OFPRA considers that the person benefits from protection in another EU member state);
– Decision to close the case;
– Withdrawal of the asylum application;
– Extradition decision;
– Person from a “safe” third country
– Person subject to expulsion or ban from French territory;
– Request for reconsideration deemed inadmissible;

>A significant number of people may therefore be subject to an OQTF and deported even though the CNDA has not yet ruled on their appeal.

OQTF Categories, Appeal Procedures and Deadlines

f you wish to object the OQTF, you can file an appeal with the administrative court. The time allowed for lodging an appeal varies from one procedure to another:

What is the deadline for appeal?

The period to appeal an OQTF is quite short, and depends on the kind of OQTF that you have received.

-> For an OQTF with a period for voluntary departure, you can lodge an appeal before the administrative tribunal (Tribunal Administratif- TA) most of the time within 15 days from the notification of OQTF. This 15-day period starts from the delivery of the OQTF to you or from the day you collect the letter at the post office. If you do not collect the letter within the 15-day period indicated on the delivery notice, the period starts from the date of the delivery notice.

-> In the exceptional case when the OQTF does not come with a period for voluntary departure, you can appeal within the next 48 hours (non-extendable, even if it expires on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday) from the notification.

You can lodge an appeal against some or all of the measures related to the OQTF. Your action for annulment must reach the administrative tribunal before the expiration of the period.

Assistance from a lawyer

Normal procedure (30-day time limit):

You can apply for legal aid at the same time, but no later than when you submit your application.
The appeal period is then interrupted until the legal aid office has made its decision.
A new 30-day time limit will be granted 15 days after you have been notified of the legal aid decision.

In special or urgent proceedings: you may request the assistance of a court-appointed lawyer. It is advisable to specify this request in the appeal.

To help you in the appeal process against an OQTF, you can consult specialised associations such as La Cimade.

If your asylum application has been rejected but you still wish to stay in France, you can:

-> Try to apply for reconsideration of your application. There are specific conditions to apply for reconsideration. Go to section “Je demande le réexamen” of our website to know more about these conditions, and make sure you have all the necessary elements before you begin this process.

->Try to look at other possibilities to apply for a residence permit (work, health, family, etc.), and see if you meet the requirements. You can contact associations that specialise in matters of regularisation of migrants.

If your asylum application has been rejected and you wish to return to your home country, you can be provided with return assistance, which is managed by OFII to facilitate departures from France of foreign nationals in an irregular situation who wish to return to their country.

Return assistance by OFII includes:

-> Material and administrative assistance for preparation of the trip back to your home country, including the material organisation of voluntary departure of the beneficiary and his/her family, namely:
— booking of flight tickets — assistance to obtain travel documents — transportation from the place of residence in France to the airport in France — reception and assistance for the departure at the airport.

-> Management of transportation fees from the place of departure in France to the arrival in the country of return, including luggage (as per the limits determined according to the country of return). 

-> Financial aid provided at once to the foreign national upon his/her departure. The granting of this financial aid takes into account the administrative situation of the beneficiary and of his/her country of return.