Re-entry ban in France (IRTF): duration, SIS, appeal and lifting

An OQTF rarely comes alone. It often carries a re-entry ban, the IRTF, which closes France and the whole Schengen area to you for years. Yet this measure can be challenged, and it can be lifted. A lawyer checks your deadline in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

What is a re-entry ban?

A re-entry ban stops you from coming back to France after you leave. It accompanies an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF). Articles L.612-6 to L.612-11 of the CESEDA, the French immigration code, set out its rules.

Its reach goes beyond France. The prefecture enters you in the Schengen Information System (SIS) for refusal of entry. The other Schengen states therefore turn you away too.

A key point: the ban runs from the enforcement of the OQTF, meaning your departure. As long as you stay in France, the clock does not start.

Re-entry ban: three cases set by law

The law separates mandatory bans from the optional one.

Situation	Type	Maximum length	Article
OQTF with no time to leave	Mandatory	5 years, 10 years for a serious threat to public order	L.612-6
Staying in France after the departure period	Mandatory	5 years	L.612-7
Other cases	Optional	5 years	L.612-8

Even a mandatory re-entry ban gives way to humanitarian circumstances. Your family life, your health or your history can establish them. In addition, article L.612-9 rules out these bans for certain victims of human trafficking, unless they threaten public order.

The ten-year length comes from the law of 26 January 2024. Before that law, the cap was generally three years.

How long a re-entry ban lasts: the criteria

The prefect does not pick the length at random. Article L.612-10 requires four factors to be weighed:

• How long you have been in France.
• The nature and age of your ties with France.
• Any earlier removal measure.
• The threat to public order you pose.

The decision must show that these criteria were examined. Boilerplate reasoning therefore weakens a re-entry ban before the judge.

Extension

Article L.612-11 allows a re-entry ban to be extended by up to two years. Three situations permit it: you stayed despite an OQTF with no time to leave, you overstayed the departure period, or you came back during the ban. Except for a serious threat, the total cannot exceed five years from departure.

Finally, article L.613-9 provides for a review every five years. You can then submit written observations.

EU citizens: a ban on movement

An EU citizen does not receive an IRTF. Article L.251-4 of the CESEDA provides instead for a ban on movement within France, for three years at most. It requires an OQTF based on abuse of rights or a threat to public order. EU free movement law tightly limits this measure.

Re-entry ban and the SIS: the whole Schengen area

Under article L.613-5, the prefecture must tell you about your SIS alert. This shared database serves border checks, consulates and police forces across the Schengen area.

In practice, a re-entry ban recorded in the SIS has three consequences:

• At the border, police can refuse you entry to any Schengen state.
• At the consulate, your Schengen visa application will normally be refused.
• During a check, you can be stopped in another Schengen country.

The alert does not vanish on its own when the measure ends if nobody updates it. So check it before planning any trip.

Challenging a re-entry ban with the OQTF

A re-entry ban is challenged in the same application as the OQTF, before the administrative court. The OQTF deadlines apply: one month in general, seven days under house arrest or in prison, 48 hours in detention. Our guide to the OQTF appeal sets out these deadlines.

Before the judge, several arguments often carry weight:

• No reasoning on the four length criteria.
• Humanitarian circumstances the prefecture ignored.
• A disproportionate length given your private and family life.
• The OQTF itself being unlawful: if it falls, the ban falls with it.

Quite often, it all starts with a card that ran out. Our article on the expired residence permit explains how to avoid getting there.

Lifting a re-entry ban

Once the appeal deadline has passed, lifting (abrogation) remains. Under article L.613-7, the prefecture can lift a re-entry ban at any time.

One condition applies, however: your request is inadmissible if you live in France. The only exceptions: you are serving a prison sentence in France, or you are under house arrest. So you write from your own country, usually to the prefecture that imposed the ban.

Base the request on new facts: marriage, a child born in France, medical reasons, a job offer, a timely departure. Two months of silence generally count as a refusal, which you can challenge before the administrative court.

Automatic lifting after a timely departure

Article L.613-8 provides a favourable case. If your re-entry ban is optional (article L.612-8) and you leave France within the time allowed, it falls automatically.

You must, however, prove it no later than two months after the departure period ends. Send the prefecture a copy of the exit stamp, your ticket or a consular certificate. The prefect can refuse, but only by a reasoned decision and for particular circumstances.

Deleting the SIS alert

Lifting the ban should in principle delete your alert. Do not take it for granted, though: one oversight is enough to block a future visa.

You have a right of access and erasure over your SIS data. According to the CNIL, the French data protection authority, you first write to the Interior Ministry, place Beauvau, in Paris. It has two months to reply. If it refuses or stays silent, you then refer the matter to the CNIL, with a copy of your ID and proof of your first request.

After a re-entry ban: visas and detention

For as long as the measure lasts, a visa for France is normally out of reach. When it ends, check that the SIS alert is gone before applying at the consulate. In addition, an OQTF that was never carried out still weighs on visa applications for five years.

If you are found in France despite a re-entry ban, the prefecture can place you under house arrest or in a detention centre. Our article on administrative detention covers your rights in that case. If the ban follows a residence permit withdrawal, challenge that withdrawal too.

Re-entry ban: mistakes to avoid

Some reactions make things worse. Here are the most common.

• Waiting until the deadline has passed: a late appeal is inadmissible, and the measure becomes final.
• Staying in France after the departure period: you risk a two-year extension and a new mandatory measure.
• Coming back early: the prefecture can extend the re-entry ban and place you in detention.
• Leaving without proof: with no stamp or ticket, you cannot obtain automatic lifting.
• Forgetting the SIS: a ban that was lifted but is still recorded blocks your visa.

So keep a copy of every decision, your passport and your proof of departure. These documents then serve at the consulate as well as at the prefecture.

When to consult a lawyer

As soon as the OQTF and the re-entry ban are served on you. Every day counts, especially in detention. A lawyer identifies your deadline, drafts the appeal and gathers proof of humanitarian circumstances. From abroad, he also prepares the request to lift the ban and follows up the SIS deletion. Depending on your income, legal aid can cover the fees.

A lawyer in immigration law answers you within 20 minutes. The CESEDA articles on the OQTF and the re-entry ban are available on Légifrance.