France refuses to exchange her Moroccan licence: her 214 days in Morocco overturn the decision
A French-Moroccan woman was refused the exchange of her Moroccan driving licence for a French licence. To prove that she was indeed living in Morocco when she obtained it, she produced her plane tickets and passport. The court ruled in her favour.
The young woman, who holds both French and Moroccan nationality, obtained her driving licence in Morocco on 27 June 2023. On 22 March 2024, she applied to exchange it for a French driving licence.
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On 10 June 2024, the prefect of Loire-Atlantique, through the centre of expertise responsible for foreign driving-licence exchanges, refused her application. The French-Moroccan woman then brought the case before the Châlons-en-Champagne Administrative Court.
The issue concerned her residence at the time when the Moroccan licence had been issued to her. For a person holding both French nationality and that of the country that issued the licence, the administration may require proof that the licence was obtained during a period when her normal residence was in that country.
Her plane tickets and passport make the difference
The rule notably requires residence in the issuing country for at least 185 days during the year concerned. To demonstrate that she met this condition, the French-Moroccan woman submitted plane tickets as well as pages from her passport bearing stamps from her trips to Morocco.
The calculation based on these documents worked in her favour. She had stayed in Morocco from 3 April to 18 September 2023, then from 5 November to 21 December 2023. According to the court, this represented 214 days of residence in Morocco during 2023.
Since her Moroccan licence had been issued on 27 June, this period also included the date on which she obtained her right to drive. The threshold of 185 days required to establish her normal residence in Morocco had therefore been exceeded.
In its judgment of 10 July 2026, the Châlons-en-Champagne Administrative Court concluded that the French-Moroccan woman had grounds to challenge the prefecture’s decision. The judges did not even need to examine the other arguments she had put forward.
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The refusal of 10 June 2024 is annulled. However, the court did not expressly order the administration to issue her a French licence or proceed with the exchange: its judgment is limited to annulling the contested decision. The State must also pay the French-Moroccan woman 1,200 euros for her legal costs.
