Detention of third-country nationals in return procedures Figure 1: Maximum length of detention set by law, EU27 Maximum length of detention set by law No maximum length of detention Maximum length of detention set by law only for certain categories Source: FRA, September 2010 All other EU Member States provide for upper time limits ranging from 32 days in France124 or 60 days in Spain125 to 20 months in Latvia126 or two years in Romania127 for deprivation of liberty of aliens who have been issued an expulsion order. Figure 2 provides an overview of existing upper time limits as stipulated by national law in 19 EU Member States. In countries where more than one time limit exists, the longest possible period of detention has been selected. Countries that 124 The law of 26 November 2003 amended the rules governing the retention centres and extended the maximum length of detention from 12 to 32 days (CESEDA, Article 552-7). 125 The upper limit of 40 days foreseen in the 2000 law has been extended to 60 days in 2009 (see Article 62.2 of Law 4/2000). 126 Article 54.4 of the Immigration Law. 127 Emergency Ordinance, Article 97.3. 32 have an upper time limit only for certain situations of pre-removal detention have been included in the list – this is the case of the Netherlands and Romania. As the Figure 2 shows, the national legislation of two countries, Latvia and Romania, have an upper time limit beyond the maximum limit of 18 months foreseen in the Return Directive. About one out of three EU Member States has established in domestic legislation two time limits as regards the maximum length of pre-removal detention. These include a shorter general rule and a longer maximum time frame to be applied in specific circumstances. In these countries, the general time limit