House arrest instead of detention: conditions, reporting, appeals (2026)

Article L. 743-13 of the CESEDA provides that "the judge of the judicial court may order the house arrest of the foreign national where he has effective guarantees that he will remain available", that it "may be ordered by the judge only after the original passport and any document proving identity have been handed over to a police or gendarmerie service, in exchange for a receipt serving as proof of identity", and that a person who has evaded a removal measure "is the subject of specific reasons".

1. Effective guarantees that the person will remain available

The word "effective" is decisive: there must be a stable, known and verifiable address at which the person can be reached. Accommodation with a third party is accepted if it is documented; Article L. 743-14 allows the judge to require evidence of the place proposed.

2. Handing over the original passport

The judge cannot order house arrest until the original has been handed over to a police or gendarmerie service; a photocopy is not enough. If the passport is at the family home, a relative must bring it.

3. Specific reasons where the person has previously evaded removal

If the person has already escaped a removal measure, the judge may still order house arrest, but must give specific reasons for his decision. What has changed since must therefore be established: a job, a birth, a marriage, a course of treatment.

Reporting. Article L. 733-1 requires a foreign national under house arrest ordered by the prefect to report periodically to the police or gendarmerie, at the frequency set by the order, and to attend the consular authorities if the administration asks. Where the judge has ordered house arrest instead of detention, reporting is daily (Article L. 743-15).

The time slot at home. Article L. 733-2 allows a requirement to be present at home: three consecutive hours at most per twenty-four hours, raised to ten hours in an exhaustive list of cases (expulsion, ban from the territory, threat to public order).

The area and the documents. The order sets the place and, where applicable, the geographical area; the judge sets the places of house arrest (Article L. 743-14). Leaving it without authorisation is a breach. Article L. 733-4 allows the passport to be required to be handed over against a receipt.

The electronic tag. Ordinary house arrest does not involve one. The CESEDA provides for mobile electronic monitoring only for a foreign national whose conduct is linked to terrorist activities, and with his agreement.

House arrest ordered by the prefect is challenged before the administrative judge, together with the OQTF and the decisions accompanying it. Where the foreign national is placed under house arrest under Article L. 731-1, Article L. 614-2 of the CESEDA refers to the procedure of Article L. 921-1: the administrative court may be seised within seven days of notification and rules within fifteen days.

That time limit cannot be extended and an application for legal aid does not interrupt it: it is filed at the same time as the appeal.

A placement in detention ordered before those seven days expire interrupts the time limit: Article R. 921-1 of the CESEDA then starts the time limit of Article R. 921-2-1 running, that is forty-eight hours from notification, the court ruling within ninety-six hours. See the removal order in detention.

The grounds most often relate to the concrete examination of the situation: the absence of a reasonable prospect of removal, the failure to give reasons, an error as to the conditions of Article L. 731-1, obligations that are disproportionate having regard to family life or to the state of health, an area that excludes the children's school or the place of treatment. Annulment of the OQTF brings the house arrest down with it.

Challenging house arrest that has already been notified is decided before the administrative court of Bordeaux; a request for house arrest is argued before the detention judge, at the judicial court. See immigration detention.

Many house arrests arise from a deadlock: for want of a travel document, the administration orders house arrest while waiting for the consulate's reply. If the laissez-passer arrives, removal may be carried out, and a new placement in detention may be decided on the basis of Article L. 731-2. If nothing arrives, house arrest ends at its term: the person remains subject to the OQTF, with no right to stay.

For carrying out one and the same removal measure, Article L. 741-7 caps the aggregate duration of detention and limits to five the number of successive placements. Each new placement is challenged before the judge of the judicial court, who reviews the steps taken by the administration and the reasonable prospect of removal. See extension of detention and appeal against the order.