Can you leave France and come back while your residence permit application is pending?

Checked on 2026-10-25

It depends on the document. For a renewal, the récépissé or the ANEF extension certificate, with your expired card and valid passport, lets you come back. For a first application, a récépissé or extension certificate doesn't, and the ANEF filing certificate never does; you'd need a return visa from a French consulate.

Key facts

Document you hold	Can you return to France after leaving Schengen?	Source
Valid residence permit	Yes, with a valid passport	Service-public.fr F12189
Récépissé for a renewal	Yes, with your expired permit and a valid passport	Service-public.fr F12189
Récépissé for a first application	No: you need a return visa from a French consulate	Service-public.fr F12189
ANEF filing certificate (attestation de dépôt)	No: it doesn’t prove legal residence; you need a return visa	CESEDA art. R431-15-1; Service-public.fr F12189
ANEF extension certificate, renewal	Yes, with your expired permit or long-stay visa and a valid passport	Service-public.fr F12189
ANEF extension certificate, first application	No	Service-public.fr F12189
ANEF favourable decision certificate	Yes, with a valid passport	Service-public.fr F12189

The documents you get while you wait

Récépissé: a receipt from the prefecture for a paper application. It authorises your presence in France for the time it states and can be renewed (CESEDA arts. R431-12 and R431-13).
Filing certificate (attestation de dépôt): issued at once when you file online on ANEF. The law says it does not prove legal residence (art. R431-15-1).
Extension certificate (attestation de prolongation d’instruction): issued on ANEF when a complete application filed on time is still being examined after your document expires. Valid up to three months and renewed until a decision (art. R431-15-1).
Favourable decision certificate (attestation de décision favorable): issued on ANEF when the prefecture approves your application.

Coming back to France

The ministry’s guidance on service-public.fr sets out which of these lets you come back from a trip outside the Schengen area (see the table). In short: renewal documents work together with your expired card, first-application documents don’t.

If your document doesn’t let you return, you must apply for a return visa (visa de retour) at the French consulate in the country where you are. In exceptional cases (humanitarian reasons, force majeure) the prefecture may grant a return visa before you leave, at its discretion. It costs 6 € in tax stamps and is valid only for coming back through a French border.

Whatever document you hold, service-public.fr says you must show at the border that you meet the Schengen entry conditions, for example sufficient resources.

Working while you wait

The law says a renewal récépissé for a card that allowed work authorises you to work (CESEDA art. R431-15). For online applications, service-public.fr says the extension certificate from a renewal allows work only if the card being renewed did. A filing certificate never allows work.

When to file so that you get an extension certificate: see “When to apply to renew a French residence permit”.

Sources

Comment un étranger peut revenir en France après être sorti de l'espace Schengen ? (Service-public.fr, DILA) checked 2026-10-25
CESEDA, arts. R431-15-1 to R431-15-2, provisional documents for online applications (Legifrance) checked 2026-10-25
CESEDA, arts. R431-12 to R431-15, receipts for paper applications (Legifrance) checked 2026-10-25
Qu'est-ce qu'une attestation de demande de carte de séjour ? (Service-public.fr, DILA) checked 2026-10-25

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.