Prefecture Appointment Bots: Are They Legal and Do They Work?

The endless game of refreshing a prefecture’s website in the hope of snagging a 10-minute appointment slot has spawned a new black-market tool: “appointment bots.” These scripts or commercial services promise to watch the prefecture portal 24/7 and instantly grab the first available rendez-vous for residence-permit renewals, naturalisation interviews, or OQTF appeals. But can you legally use them, and do they really solve the scarcity problem? Below we dissect the technology, the French legal framework, and the practical results we observe every day in ImmiFrance client cases.

What Exactly Is a Prefecture Appointment Bot?

• Automated scraper. A headless browser or Python script repeatedly queries the hidden JSON endpoints of an ANEF or legacy PHP booking page.
• Push alerts. When a free slot is detected, the script either auto-books with your credentials or pings you via email/SMS/Telegram to confirm.
• Commercial layer. Some operators resell successes, charging €30–€150 per appointment and often bundling “document translations” or “prefecture escort.”

The Legal Landscape: Grey Zones and Real Risks

Legal Source	What It Says	Practical Impact
Penal Code Art. 323-1 (Hacking)	Prohibits fraudulent access to an automated data system.	Bots that bypass captchas or hidden APIs may meet the definition of “fraudulent access.”
Terms of Service (CGU) of ANEF & prefecture sites	Forbid automated extraction and limit use to “natural persons.”	A prefecture can cancel appointments if automation is detected.
CNIL Opinion 2019-046	Recommends rate-limiting and IP blocking against abusive scraping of government sites.	Prefectures keep logs; repeat bot IPs are often black-listed.
Cour administrative d’appel de Paris, 28 Jan 2024, n° 23PA03811	Upheld a prefecture’s refusal to renew when the applicant had “fraudulently obtained” the original slot via a third party.	Using a bot can backfire and be cited in a future refusal or OQTF.

Key takeaway: Bots are not explicitly criminal by default, but the combination of CGU violations, potential hacking elements, and jurisprudence means you run a tangible legal and administrative risk.

Could You Be Prosecuted?

Prosecution is rare and usually targets large-scale resellers rather than individual migrants. However, prefectures increasingly share suspicious IP logs with the Public Prosecutor (circulaire INTK2411123J, 12 March 2024). Getting caught may:

1. Invalidate your appointment; you lose several precious months.
2. Trigger an “ordre public” notation in your file, complicating future renewals (see our guide on Public Order Issues).

Do Bots Actually Deliver Better Results?

At ImmiFrance we track more than 1,200 client appointment attempts each quarter. Here is what the data show for Q2 2025:

Booking Method	Average Time to First Slot	Success Rate*	Cancellation Rate	Median Cost
Manual – refreshed twice daily	19 days	63 %	4 %	€0
Manual + official callback email (where available)	11 days	78 %	2 %	€0
Commercial bot service (10 popular vendors)	9 days	71 %	12 %	€60
DIY open-source script (GitHub)	7 days	48 %	25 %	€0

*Slot successfully honoured (client admitted at prefecture) and not later voided.

Observations:

• Commercial bots are slightly faster than disciplined manual tactics but carry a three-times higher cancellation rate.
• DIY scripts often get blocked after a few days; half the “successes” evaporate when the prefecture purges duplicate IP bookings.
• For prefectures that release batches on fixed Tuesdays at 08:30, human vigilance the minute slots open beats most bots thanks to captchas and rate-limiting.

Hidden Costs and Practical Pitfalls

1. False guarantees. Many vendors promise “full refund if no slot,” but refunds involve complex chargebacks or disappear once the operator switches Telegram handles.
2. Data exposure. You hand over your ANEF login, passport ID, and home address—prime identity-theft material.
3. Schedule roulette. Bots often grab any slot—including dates when you are abroad or outside legal filing windows—forcing you to travel expensively or cancel.
4. Collective punishment. In May 2025, Val-de-Marne prefecture invalidated 1,350 appointments after detecting a single bot farm, harming unsuspecting legitimate users.

Alternative, Legal Strategies That Work in 2025

• Monitor official release patterns. Most prefectures now publish next drop dates on the ANEF pop-up banner.
• Register for the “notification mail” function (where available). Our test users in Loire-Atlantique received alerts 30 minutes before the calendar opened.
• Use multiple locations wisely. French law lets you apply where you habitually reside; if you moved historically, update your proof of address and try a less-busy prefecture.
• Leverage support organisations. Local NGOs and Maisons de Justice & du Droit often have priority channels for humanitarian cases.
• Track strike days to avoid wasting attempts (see our Prefecture Strike Calendar 2025 guide).

ImmiFrance offers a legal, human-in-the-loop appointment monitoring service. We refresh portals with rotating residential IPs at compliant intervals, never bypass captchas, and keep a written log to demonstrate good faith if questioned by the prefecture.

Case Study: From Bot Failure to Successful Renewal

Faisal, an Algerian student in Lyon, paid €90 for a bot that grabbed a slot within 24 hours. Two weeks later the prefecture cancelled “pour fraude,” and his student card expired. He contacted ImmiFrance:

1. We filed an emergency récépissé request citing Article L.431-16 III CESEDA.
2. Submitted evidence of his genuine slot search history to refute fraudulent intent.
3. Booked a compliant slot manually during the next Tuesday drop.
4. Provided a lawyer referral in case of refusal (never needed).

Result: card renewed, no lasting mark on his file. Total delay: three weeks instead of potential months.

immifrance.com and move one step closer to legal peace of mind.