France can refuse your Moroccan driving licence even if it is perfectly valid
A Moroccan driving licence cannot always be exchanged for a French licence. The Conseil d’État has just upheld a refusal concerning a driver who had not sufficiently proved that he was actually residing in Morocco when he obtained his licence.
The man obtained his driving entitlements in Morocco in 2020. He subsequently moved to France and requested that his Moroccan licence be exchanged for a French licence so that he could ride motorised two-wheelers.
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In February 2023, the Loire-Atlantique prefecture refused. The driver brought the case before the Toulouse administrative court and won in June 2025. The judges annulled the refusal and even ordered the administration to issue him a French licence.
However, the Ministry of the Interior brought the case before the Conseil d’État.
According to the decision handed down by the Conseil d’État on 24 April 2026, the holder of a licence issued outside the European Union must demonstrate that he had his “normal residence” in the country that issued the licence when he obtained the right to drive.
185 days of presence must be proven
This normal residence generally corresponds to a presence of at least 185 days during the calendar year.
In this case, the driver had presented a Moroccan registration card bearing the mention “business”, an old lease, rent receipts and certain pages of his passport.
These documents did not convince the Conseil d’État. The lease and rent receipts ended in February 2018, two years before the licence was obtained. As for the passport, it showed entry into Morocco on 19 February 2020 and departure on 1 November, without making it possible to establish that he had not travelled in the meantime.
For the judges, these documents were therefore insufficient to prove that he had actually had his normal residence in Morocco in 2020.
The Conseil d’État thus annulled the favourable judgment obtained at first instance and upheld the refusal to exchange the licence.
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The decision recalls an important rule for holders of a Moroccan driving licence living in France: possessing an authentic licence is not enough. They must also be able to prove that they were actually living in Morocco when it was obtained.
