France curfew: exemption certificate information

New curfew measures are now in effect in nine areas around France. The curfew measures were announced by President Emmanuel Macron on October 14 as the number of coronavirus cases in France rapidly increases.

The curfew applies between 21:00 and 06:00 in: Ile-de-France, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Montpellier, Rouen, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse.

We answer 12 of the most asked questions on the curfew here.

Anyone who needs to go out in these areas during the curfew time will need to have an exemption certificate on them.

All the information regarding the curfew and the exemption certificates can be found on the government website here.

You can download a printable version of the exemption form in English or French from this website. You can also fill out a digital version (in French) here, which can be displayed on your smartphone if necessary.

The exemption certificate (attestation de déplacement dérogatoire) requires you to provide your name, date of birth, place of birth, address and reason for breaking the curfew.

For people without access to a printer or a smartphone, it is possible to write an exemption form by hand on a blank piece of paper, containing this information.

Anyone arriving in or departing from an area where the curfew applies after 21:00 via train or plane can present their ticket as a valid form of exemption, in place of the official exemption form.

Who is exempt from curfew?

On the official government exemption form, it lists the following situations as reasons people may break the curfew:

• Commuting to and from work or university and training place
• Consultations and provision of care that cannot be done remotely or delayed; consultations and provision of care for patients with a chronic disease, medications purchase
• Imperative family reasons, assisting vulnerable persons, persons in a precarious situation or taking care of children.
• Persons with a disability and their accompanying person
• Judicial or administrative summons
• Participating in a mission of general interest upon request from an administrative authority
• Transit related to long distance journeys
• Walking a pet outdoors within 1km of one’s place of residence and for a brief amount of time

There is a €135 fine for anyone caught breaking the curfew without a valid reason.

The curfew will be in place for a minimum of four weeks, but both Mr Macron and Prime Minister Jean Castex have stated that the government will seek to extend it two more weeks, pending parliament approval.

This means it could be in place until December 1.

Read more about the curfew here:

France curfew: 12 of your most asked questions answered

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