Administrative detention in France: duration, rights and appeals

Has someone close to you just been taken to a detention centre, or do you fear it may happen to you? Administrative detention lets the prefect lock up a foreign national while arranging their departure. It is not a criminal sentence, but it can take away your freedom for weeks. The deadlines to react are therefore counted in hours. A lawyer reviews your situation in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

Administrative detention: what does it mean?

The term covers confinement ordered by the administration, not by a criminal court. It targets a foreign national who must leave France. In practice, administrative detention takes place in an administrative detention centre (CRA) or, for a few days, in a detention room.

The prefect may use it to enforce several decisions. Mainly, an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) less than three years old, an expulsion order or a re-entry ban. Our article on the re-entry ban covers that last case in detail. The prefect must also identify a risk of absconding, or a threat to public order.

Administrative detention also often follows release from prison. A convicted foreign national sometimes loses their permit, then receives a removal order. The withdrawal of the residence permit then leads straight to the CRA on the day of release.

The initial order: four days

Everything starts with a written decision by the prefect. Since the law of 26 January 2024, it lasts four days, compared with 48 hours before. The public prosecutor is informed immediately.

You must receive the decision together with your rights, in a language you understand. Keep this document safe. The time of notification starts every appeal deadline.

Before choosing administrative detention, the prefect must consider a lighter measure. House arrest comes first in principle. Detention is only justified if house arrest cannot prevent you from absconding.

The judge's review and extensions

After four days, only a judge can extend the confinement. This judge is now called the "magistrat du siège" of the judicial court, formerly the liberty and custody judge. The judge rules within 48 hours, after a hearing where your lawyer argues your case.

The judge checks the whole procedure: arrest, police custody, notification of rights. An irregularity that harmed you leads to your release. Otherwise, the judge extends administrative detention, or exceptionally orders house arrest instead.

Stage	Maximum length	Running total
Prefect's decision	4 days	4 days
1st extension by the judge	26 days	30 days
2nd extension	30 days	60 days
3rd and 4th extensions, exceptional	15 days each	90 days
Special regime	Periods of 30 days	210 days

The last two extensions require a specific reason. For example, obstruction of removal during the last fifteen days, a late asylum claim, or waiting for a consular travel document.

Preparing for the hearing

The hearing takes place at the court, or in a room near the centre. Your relatives may attend. Above all, they can bring documents that help the judge.

So gather quickly a valid passport, proof of address and a letter from whoever will house you. Add evidence of your ties: lease, payslips, your children's birth certificates. These documents show that you will turn up when required. They make house arrest a credible alternative to detention.

Administrative detention: 90 days or 210 days?

The normal length of administrative detention is capped at 90 days. A special regime already existed for terrorism, up to 210 days. In August 2025, the Constitutional Council struck down a first extension of that cap (decision no. 2025-895 DC).

Law no. 2026-667 of 27 July 2026 reintroduced the measure in a narrower form. This time the Constitutional Council upheld it, in July 2026. Since late July 2026, the 210 days also apply to a foreign national with a final conviction for certain serious offences against persons, punishable by at least five years in prison. That person must also pose a genuine, present and particularly serious threat.

The law also regulates successive placements for the same removal order. It allows at most five placements, with a cumulative ceiling of 360 days, or 540 days under the special regime. These rules are recent: case law will clarify their scope.

Your rights in the detention centre

From arrival, several rights apply:

• A lawyer, of your choice or appointed, with legal aid if your income is low.
• An interpreter for hearings and the notification of rights.
• A doctor, at the centre's medical unit, who can report that your health is incompatible with detention.
• An association working inside the CRA, which helps you draft appeals free of charge.
• Contact with your consulate, family and friends, by phone and visits.

You may also claim asylum in detention. However, the deadline is short: five days in principle after notification of your rights. OFPRA then decides under the accelerated procedure, and the prefect may keep you in the centre meanwhile.

Finally, the law now forbids placing a minor in administrative detention. Only Mayotte keeps a transitional regime, with the ban deferred to 1 January 2027 by the 2024 law.

Challenging the order and appealing

Two separate remedies exist, before two different judges.

First, you challenge the detention order before the magistrat du siège of the judicial court. The deadline is four days from notification. This challenge targets the lawfulness and necessity of confinement.

Next, the judge's ruling can be appealed to the first president of the court of appeal. You have only 24 hours. The first president rules within 48 hours, and the appeal does not suspend the ruling. An appeal on points of law to the Court of Cassation remains possible afterwards.

In parallel, the removal order itself belongs to the administrative court. In administrative detention, the deadline for an appeal against an OQTF drops to 48 hours. The court then rules within 96 hours. You can file this appeal through the centre's registry.

House arrest, the alternative

House arrest avoids confinement. You stay at home, but you report regularly to the police or gendarmerie, sometimes once a day. You cannot leave the set area, often the département.

It lasts 45 days, renewable twice. It requires guarantees that you will appear, such as a stable address and a passport handed to the authorities. However, it cuts the deadline to appeal an OQTF to seven days.

Breaching the reporting obligations is an offence and opens the way to administrative detention. So attend every appointment, and keep a record of each visit.

After administrative detention

There are three possible outcomes. The judge may release you, removal may take place, or the maximum length may expire. In that last case you walk out, but the removal order remains.

Since the 2024 law, an OQTF allows a new placement for three years. A re-entry ban also follows you after departure, recorded in the Schengen Information System. Leaving the CRA therefore does not settle your situation.

When to consult a lawyer

In administrative detention, every hour counts. A lawyer checks the arrest procedure, drafts the 48-hour appeal against the OQTF and argues before the judge. For example, a late notification of rights is sometimes enough to obtain release.

A lawyer specialising in immigration law also prepares the next steps: lifting the re-entry ban, applying for a permit, proving your ties. The official rules appear on the service-public page on detention.