WHY DO SOME PREFECTURES REQUIRE FINGERPRINTS WHEN YOU APPLY FOR A CARTE DE SÉJOUR ? MINE DID NOT. K.M. Normally this is a routine part of the process, at least if it is the first time that

you apply for a card, the Interior Ministry says. To be clear about this, we are not talking about you having to press your fingers on an ink pad - it simply involves putting your fingers

under a small scanner on the desktop and it takes a few seconds. A spokesman for the ministry department dealing with foreign people, the DGEF, said: “This is an obligation, motivated by the

wish to fight against fraud and to avoid non-EU citizens passing themselves off as Europeans, who benefit from more advantageous rules than non-EU citizens. “The problem often arises with