The prefecture wants to deport a Moroccan man, yet his Spanish wife earns €2,000
A Moroccan man was refused renewal of his residence permit and issued an OQTF. The prefecture notably considered that his Spanish wife had neither an employment contract nor her own resources. Yet she had been working for several months, with an income of around 2,000 euros.
Born on 12 January 1986 in Bni Gmil, Morocco, the Moroccan national entered France legally on 22 October 2021 with his wife, who is a Spanish national, and their two children, who are also Spanish.
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As the spouse of a citizen of the European Union, he had obtained a residence card bearing the designation “family member of a citizen of the European Union,” valid from 31 July 2024 to 30 July 2025. He applied for its renewal on 13 June 2025.
But on 18 June 2026, the prefect of Tarn-et-Garonne refused to renew his permit and ordered him to leave France within thirty days. Among the elements considered by the administration: his wife allegedly had neither an employment contract nor her own resources.
His wife had been working since April
The reality presented to the court was quite different. The Spanish woman had signed a fixed-term contract with an unspecified end date beginning on 8 April 2026 for seasonal work packing and packaging fruit.
The Moroccan man argued that she earned a monthly income of approximately 2,000 euros from this activity. The payslips submitted to the court confirmed the existence of this work and of earnings which, according to the court, did not allow her employment to be considered “purely marginal or ancillary.”
This point is decisive. The Moroccan man’s right to reside as the spouse of a European citizen depends in particular on his wife’s situation. A Union citizen who is engaged in professional activity in France meets one of the conditions allowing her to stay there for more than three months.
In its order of 22 July 2026, the Toulouse Administrative Court therefore considered that the argument that the prefecture had relied on materially inaccurate facts was sufficiently serious to cast doubt on the legality of its refusal. The judge also found serious doubt as to compliance with the rules protecting the residence of family members of a European citizen.
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The court suspended the refusal to renew the permit pending the ruling on the merits. The prefect of Tarn-et-Garonne must issue the Moroccan man, within fifteen days, with a provisional residence permit authorizing him to work. The state must also pay him 1,000 euros for his legal costs. The OQTF, however, was not directly suspended by this order, as the application for interim relief concerned the refusal to renew the residence permit.
