What happens if the French prefecture doesn't answer your residence permit application?

Checked on 2026-10-25

In France silence means no. Under the CESEDA, a residence permit application not decided within four months is implicitly refused; some cards have shorter deadlines of 90 or 60 days. The ministry's guidance says you then have two months to ask the prefect or minister to reconsider, or to go to the administrative court.

Key facts

What	The law says	Source
General rule	No decision within four months = implicit refusal	CESEDA art. R432-2
Shorter deadlines	90 days for the permits in arts. R421-43, R421-47, R421-54, R421-60, R422-5, R422-12, R426-14, R426-17; 60 days for the permit in art. R421-26	CESEDA art. R432-2
Time to challenge an implicit refusal	2 months: administrative appeal to the prefect and/or minister, and/or court appeal	Service-public.fr F302, step 4; F17359
Lawyer	Not mandatory for the administrative court	Service-public.fr F302; F17359
Explicit refusal	Notified with reasons, usually with an order to leave France (OQTF); court deadline 48 hours, 15 days or 30 days depending on the OQTF	Service-public.fr F302; F17359
Renewal filed online on time	Extension certificate renewed until the prefect decides	CESEDA art. R431-15-1

Silence means refusal

CESEDA art. R432-2 (as amended in June 2025) says the implicit refusal arises after four months. It sets shorter deadlines for some permits: 90 days for those in the articles listed above and 60 days for the one in art. R421-26. Check which article your card is issued under before counting.

What you can do

The ministry’s guidance on service-public.fr says that when the prefecture hasn’t answered after 4 months, you have 2 months from that implicit refusal to:

file an administrative appeal: a recours gracieux to the prefect and/or a recours hiérarchique to the Minister of the Interior;
and/or file a court appeal (recours contentieux) at the administrative court (tribunal administratif). You don’t have to hire a lawyer.

If the refusal is written

An explicit refusal is notified by a reasoned letter. Service-public.fr says that, save exceptions, it comes with an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF). The deadline to go to the administrative court is then 48 hours, 15 days or 30 days, depending on the type of OQTF. Read the letter for which one applies.

Your status while you wait for a renewal

If you filed a complete renewal online on time, the prefect must give you an extension certificate valid up to three months. It is renewed as long as the prefect hasn’t decided (CESEDA art. R431-15-1).

When to file a renewal: see “When to apply to renew a French residence permit”.

Sources

Change history

2026-10-25: Page created

This is general information, not legal advice, and Lumen is not a law firm. Rules change and offices differ: check the official sources above before you act. Found something wrong or out of date? Write to support@lumen.observer.