My French residence permit has expired: what do I do?
If you applied to renew on time and your file is complete, ANEF, the online portal, issues an attestation de prolongation d’instruction (extension certificate). With your old card, it proves your stay is still legal. It lasts up to 3 months and is renewed until the decision. Two questions to find out what to do in your case.
As long as your card is valid, you keep the rights it gives you. What matters is applying on time: between 4 and 2 months before expiry for permits applied for on ANEF, and no later than 2 months before for applications made at the préfecture.
For workFine
Your valid card is enough for your employer until its end date. Apply on time so you then receive an attestation de prolongation d’instruction (extension certificate).
For travelWith conditions
You can travel with your valid card and a valid passport. Check that it will still be valid on the day you come back, and that you meet the conditions for entering the Schengen area.
For your benefitsFine
Your valid card proves your legal residence to the CAF (family benefits), Assurance maladie (health insurance) or France Travail (job centre).
For other mattersFine
Your valid card proves your legal residence for other matters: bank, housing, administration.
What to do now
Find your filing window: 4 to 2 months before expiry on ANEF (for example the carte de résident for a spouse of a French citizen, or a student carte pluriannuelle), and no later than 2 months before at the préfecture (for example an employee carte pluriannuelle). The page for your permit on service-public.gouv.fr says which.
Get your documents ready and apply within that window.
If you apply late, a €180 regularisation visa fee (droit de visa de régularisation) is added to the price of the card, unless there was force majeure or you hold a valid visa.
I applied on ANEF and only have an attestation de dépôt (filing certificate)
The attestation de dépôt only proves that you applied: it does not prove that you are legally resident. If your file is complete and was filed on time, ANEF issues an attestation de prolongation d’instruction (extension certificate). While your card is still valid, the card is what counts.
For workWith conditions
Before expiry, your card is enough. After that, the attestation de dépôt alone does not prove legal residence: you need the attestation de prolongation d’instruction to show your employer.
For travelBlocked
If your card has expired, the attestation de dépôt is not enough to come back: you need a return visa from the consulate. Avoid leaving before you have the attestation de prolongation d’instruction.
For your benefitsWith conditions
The attestation de dépôt does not prove legal residence. Once your card has expired, an agency may ask for another document: get the attestation de prolongation d’instruction.
For other mattersWith conditions
For anything that requires a valid permit, the attestation de dépôt is not enough once your card has expired. Keep it with your card and wait for the extension certificate.
What to do now
Check your ANEF account: the attestation de prolongation d’instruction is issued there if your file is complete and was filed on time.
If ANEF asks you for documents, send them quickly: an incomplete file does not entitle you to the certificate.
Keep the attestation de dépôt with your card. If nothing moves, go to the point d’accueil numérique (digital help desk) at your préfecture.
I have an attestation de prolongation d’instruction or a récépissé
Together with your expired permit, the attestation de prolongation d’instruction (extension certificate) proves that you are legally resident. It lasts 3 months at most and is renewed until the decision. A récépissé (receipt) for a renewal, issued by the préfecture, extends the rights attached to your previous permit.
For workFine
For a renewal, the extension certificate lets you work if your previous permit did, and the récépissé extends the rights of that permit. For a first application, it depends on the permit: the list is on page F36206.
For travelWith conditions
For a renewal, you can come back with the extension certificate or the récépissé, your expired permit and a valid passport. For a first application, the extension certificate does not let you come back, and the récépissé requires a return visa. You must also meet the conditions for entering the Schengen area. Check page F12189 or ask the préfecture before you leave.
For your benefitsWith conditions
A récépissé for a renewal extends the rights attached to your previous permit. For the extension certificate, no official source sets out your rights with the CAF or Assurance maladie: show it together with your expired permit, and if it is refused, show them page F36206.
For other mattersFine
Always show the certificate or récépissé together with your expired permit: it is the two together that prove your legal residence.
What to do now
Note the end date of your certificate (3 months at most).
Before that date, check on ANEF that a new certificate is available.
Always keep it with your expired permit, and keep your passport valid.
Without a valid permit or an application in progress, your stay becomes irregular and you risk an OQTF (obligation de quitter le territoire français, an order to leave France). A late application is still possible: a €180 regularisation visa fee (droit de visa de régularisation) is added to the price of the card, unless there was force majeure or you hold a valid visa.
For workBlocked
Without a valid permit or a temporary document, you can no longer prove to your employer that you are legally resident. Apply as soon as possible.
For travelBlocked
Do not travel: without a valid permit or a temporary document, you may not be able to come back to France.
For your benefitsBlocked
Without a valid permit or a temporary document, you cannot prove legal residence to the agencies. Apply, then ask them which document to show.
For other mattersBlocked
Anything that requires a valid residence permit may be blocked. The priority: apply.
What to do now
Apply as soon as possible, on ANEF or at the préfecture depending on your permit.
Budget for the €180 regularisation visa fee on top of the price of the card (unless there was force majeure or you hold a valid visa).
Get help: an association that supports foreign nationals, a lawyer, or the digital help desk at the préfecture. How a late application is handled depends on the préfecture.
For permits you apply for on ANEF, such as the carte de résident (resident card) for a spouse of a French citizen or a student carte pluriannuelle (multi-year permit), apply no earlier than 4 months and no later than 2 months before expiry. For applications made at the préfecture, such as an employee carte pluriannuelle, apply no later than 2 months before.
If you apply late, a €180 regularisation visa fee (droit de visa de régularisation) is added to the price of the card, unless there was force majeure or you hold a valid visa. The civic exam is not required to renew a carte pluriannuelle or a carte de résident; it is required to get a first carte pluriannuelle or a first carte de résident.
Not always. It depends on which document you have and on your procedure (renewal or first application):
Attestation de prolongation d’instruction (extension certificate) for a renewal: you can come back with your expired permit (or your expired VLS-TS long-stay visa, unless it says “dispense temporaire de carte de séjour”) and a valid passport.
Attestation de prolongation d’instruction for a first application: it does not let you come back.
Attestation de dépôt (filing certificate): you need a return visa from the consulate.
Récépissé (receipt) for a renewal: you can come back with your expired permit and a valid passport.
Récépissé for a first application: you need a return visa.
Attestation de décision favorable (approval certificate): you can come back with a valid passport.
In every case, you must meet the conditions for entering the Schengen area. These rules come from page F12189: check it, or ask your préfecture, before you leave.