VisaComorian children visiting home from France need documents for the return journey
Families should distinguish a child’s passport, parental travel authorisation and French return document before departure for the Comoros.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Plan the outward and return journeys separately
Families taking a Comorian child who lives in France to visit the Comoros should establish the return documents before leaving. This current-rule guide concerns children who remain foreign nationals, rather than children holding French nationality. Service Public’s guidance for foreign minors distinguishes the passport used to travel from the document allowing return to France without a return visa. Accompanying a parent does not remove that distinction.
The guidance says a non-European child needs a passport, with any visa required for the destination, and a document de circulation pour étranger mineur, or DCEM, to return without requesting a return visa. It also warns that a destination may require the other parent’s consent when only one parent accompanies the child. The French pages do not establish a universal Comorian consent checklist. Confirm that part with the relevant Comorian authority, particularly where custody or parental authority is disputed.
Prepare the DCEM application before the holiday
The dedicated Service Public DCEM page requires evidence of the applicant’s regular stay, identity documents for parent and child, parentage, parental authority, habitual residence and an electronic photograph. Foreign-language civil-status records need an approved French translation. The published tax is 50 euros at collection, with exemptions for children of European parents or beneficiaries of the UK withdrawal agreement.
The parent applies online. A submission confirmation does not allow readmission to France or the Schengen area: it is not the issued document. Processing varies by prefecture, and the parent must collect the DCEM with the child. Check the expiry before booking. Most importantly for travel between the Comoros and nearby Mayotte, the page expressly says a DCEM issued in Mayotte allows return only to Mayotte. It does not establish permission to continue to mainland France.
A grandparent accompanying the child may need additional papers
French Customs explains that a minor habitually resident in France travelling abroad without a person holding parental authority needs an autorisation de sortie du territoire, or AST. The rule covers foreign as well as French children and applies overseas too. An accompanying adult’s family relationship does not by itself establish parental authority. For example, an illustrative journey with a grandparent requires checking who legally holds that authority, rather than assuming the surname resolves it.
The Customs checklist for foreign children lists a passport, return document, signed AST and copies of the signing parent’s passport and residence document. The AST uses Cerfa 15646 and does not require registration at a town hall or prefecture. Customs still mentions the older republican identity document, TIR, alongside DCEM; the current DCEM procedure is the relevant resource for a new application. Keep the distinct permissions together rather than presenting the AST as a replacement passport.
If the return document is missing, identify the exceptional visa route
France-Visas describes a return visa as an exceptional long-stay visa requiring authorisation from the competent prefecture. Its examples include minors regularly resident in France who departed without obtaining a DCEM, and holders who lost their document abroad. It is not an automatic solution available at airline check-in, and the page does not promise a decision before the family’s booked return flight.
The published supporting file includes three long-stay forms, three identity photographs, a valid passport, the applicable long-stay application fee, a detailed explanation and evidence of habitual residence in France. For loss or theft, retain the local report and ask the receiving visa service which evidence is required for the child’s particular situation. The FAQ still refers to TIR in its examples; that historical wording should not be read as an instruction to apply for a new TIR.
Use Moroni’s local instructions for an application made there
The France-Visas Comoros page identifies the embassy visa service in Moroni for applicants resident in Grande Comore. It publishes a separate appointment link for cases other than students and the telephone +269 773 06 15. Families stranded temporarily after a visit should ask whether that office can receive their exceptional return-visa file; its ordinary residence wording does not establish every temporary visitor’s filing entitlement.
The local page requires visa-application charges in cash, in Comorian francs, with the exact amount, and provides a receipt. Cheques and bank cards are not accepted, and refusal does not trigger a refund. The applicable return-visa amount was not established from this page, so obtain the correct category and amount before attending. These local payment instructions concern a consular application in the Comoros, separate from the French tax paid when collecting a DCEM.
