An avis de passage is the slip the postman leaves when nobody could sign for a registered letter (lettre recommandée, often avec accusé de réception, LRAR — with a signed receipt sent back to the sender). The slip names the post office or La Poste relay where the letter waits. It rarely says what the letter is about, so you only learn who wrote and why when you collect it.
15 days to collect it
La Poste keeps the letter for 15 days from the day after the slip was left. Bring the slip and an identity document; someone else can collect it for you with a proxy (procuration) and their own ID. After that the letter goes back to the sender marked as notified and not claimed (pli avisé et non réclamé). Enter the day the slip was left on this page and the site counts the last day.
Not collecting does not make it go away
Senders choose registered post because the date counts. For much administrative and tax mail, a letter you did not collect is treated as delivered on the day it was first presented at your address, and the periods to pay or to object run from then. In court cases it depends on the procedure: in a civil case, when a registered letter from the court is not collected, the document is often served on you by a commissaire de justice instead. A landlord's or a contract partner's notice may also count from its first presentation, depending on the contract and the law behind it. So a missed letter can start a period you do not know about — collect it.
Electronic registered letters
A lettre recommandée électronique can have the same legal value as a paper one. You receive an e-mail inviting you to accept or refuse it, usually within 15 days; ignoring it does not stop the sender from proving it was sent.
Check before you pay
Text messages "from La Poste" about a parcel waiting for a small fee are a common scam: a real slip is on paper in your letterbox, and collecting a registered letter costs nothing. Once you have the letter, read who sent it and the period it gives — this library explains the common ones, such as an ANTAI fine. A lawyer for contract review and advice can read the letter with you and say what it starts.
Prepared by Legal Help Tool. Last updated . General information, not legal advice.
