COPY LINK

For members

AMERICAN

How Americans can become French citizens

The road US citizens must take towards French citizenship is a long and arduous one but still far from impossible. Here’s what you need to do.

Published: 31 January 2019 10:25 CET

How Americans can become French citizens

Photos: AFP

If you’re an American who woke up wanting to become a French citizen as quickly as you can, chances are that won’t be possible.

For starters, you would’ve had to have lived in France for five years already, be married to a French national or have close French heritage.

If you haven’t spent that much time in l’Héxagone or aren’t even in the country yet, start by reading this other article to find out what the stages that come before applying for French citizenship are.

If you’re an American retiree planning to gain French citizenship, you can also find information more specific to your case here.

If you have lived for five consecutive years in France, you’re married to a French national or have French lineage, read on!

Fortunately for US citizens, the possibility of holding dual American-French nationality is also an option.

For Americans residing in France for five years who want French citizenship:

The good news is that you’ll be familiar with a lot of the paperwork and processes we’re going to list as you've probably already had to handle them during previous residency applications.

First of all it’s important to define what ‘living in France’ is understood as being by French authorities.

At this stage (or earlier in your residency) you may be asked to prove that you've lived in France uninterruptedly or for no less than six months per year.

In order to get French citizenship through naturalization, you’ll need to prove this with the documents they require at your local prefecture.

Although these may vary between town halls, they tend to include a valid residency permit, rental and work contracts, bank statements and other official documents sent to your French address.

(Unfortunately there’s a load of other paperwork you’ll also have to provide with your application, listed below)

They want you to prove that France is “the centre of your material interests and family ties”, to quote the country’s public service website.

If you have had to leave France for a longer period of time than six months in a year, there are some exemptions relating to serious illness, maternity, military service, research or study.

For US citizens who are married to French nationals:

If you’re an American who’s married to a French person, residency requirements to apply for French citizenship are slightly more lenient.

However, the first thing authorities will take into account is how long you two have been married, as you can’t apply for naturalization until you’ve been married for four years.

If that’s the case and you’ve lived in France for three years, you can go ahead and apply (there are documents specific to your case listed below).

And if your nuptials are four years old but you’ve lived in France for fewer than three years, the timeframe will depend on whether your spouse was included on the consular registry or not, four or five years respectively.

Other conditions include being a legal resident in France, actually living as a couple under the same roof and a number of other requirements listed further down.

For US citizens with French family ties:

If you’re the parent or grandparent of a French national, you’re over the age of 65 and you’ve lived in France for over 25 years, you can apply for French nationality.

Likewise if you are the American brother or sister of a person who has acquired French nationality or has it through birth, you may also apply.

There are few citizenship requests of this sort from American applicants, and the conditions are rather complex, so visit France’s official site for more detailed information specific to your case.

What if I don’t fit into any of those categories? Are there any exceptions?

US citizens who have successfully completed a diploma from a French higher education institution can apply for French citizenship after two years of residency.

Other exceptions to the five-year rule include exceptional contributions to France, be it through sport, finance, military, science or civic services.

Children

American children born in France with parents from the US can also become French but not automatically – unless one of the parents is of French nationality.

But the children are also required to have lived in France for five years depending on how old they are and they also need to be living in France at the time they apply.

Parents can apply on behalf of their child aged between 13 and 16 of that child has lived in France since the age of 8 and is born here. For teenagers aged 16 they need to have lived in France from the age of 11.

Find out more on the rules here.

There are also some very specific loopholes relating to not having French residency.

That’s if you’re engaged in a public or private professional activity on behalf of the French State or an organization that’s of particular interest to France’s economy or culture.

Otherwise, there’s living in Monaco.

It may seem bizarre but France actually allows residents of the principality to apply for French citizenship without time constraints, presumably under the guise that if you can afford to make the glitzy city-state on the French Riviera your home, you’re unlikely to be a burden to the French State.

So what other paperwork do I have to submit?

Brace yourself because there are a lot of documents to submit and applicants can wait up to two years for an answer.

Bear in mind that the greater the attachment to France you seek the more scrutiny you're likely to face from French authorities.

French police, your town hall and numerous other governmental departments will assess your citizenship application, and there’s also the chance you’ll be called for an interview.

Firstly, you will need to submit a declaration request (demande d’acquisition par declaration) with copies of the following documents if they apply to your situation:

– Two signed and dated copies of the French nationality application form

– Copies of ID of both the applicant and spouse

– Your birth certificate (with certified translation if not in French);

– Proof of your address with your full name on it

– A marriage certificate no older than three months

– A document of “declaration of honour”, called an attestation sur l’honneur des 2 époux, which you and your spouse need to sign in person at your local préfecture or consulate

– Extra proof of your life as married couple including birth certificates of your children, a mortgage contract, title deeds, a joint tax document, or a shared bank account.

– Proof of your spouse being a French citizen at the time of marriage

– Marriage certificates from any previous marriages and official divorce papers

– A criminal record certificate from your country of residence for the last ten years.

– Proof that you’ve resided in France for at least 3 years since your marriage (if you’ve lived abroad, a document proving you’ve resided in France for at least 3 years after your marriage or a document proving your spouse was registered in the French registry during your time abroad)

– Proof of employment or financial resources that show you won’t be a burden to the state.

Wow! Anything else?

One more important thing: you will need to prove your level of French through an official language certificate or in an interview, to be held in French of course.

Authorities will also assess how well integrated you are into French society and your knowledge of French culture. They make some exceptions for those over the age of 60 or who have a disability.

For those applying for citizenship through marriage, French language requirements have been relaxed to a B1 level of the European Reference Framework for Languages. of the Council of Europe (CEFR).

And if all of the above goes according to plan?

If your citizenship application is approved you will become a French citizen in an official ceremony in which you’ll be handed a French national ID card and a French passport.

That will mark the end of a tough and drawn out process but one which will allow you to live indefinitely in France, vote in French elections, move freely within the EU and even hold public office.

And you don’t have to give up your American nationality either.

by Alex Dunham

Member comments

Anonymous - 1 February 2019 at 11:39 CET

Or, intervene during an attempted terrorist attack.
https://www.thelocal.fr/20190201/us-train-attack-heroes-given-french-citizenship

Become a Member to leave a comment.

French citizenship: How long does it take for your application to be dealt with?

Applying to become French is a complicated and lengthy process and the first step is gathering together a huge dossier of documents in order to make your application.

But once you have made your request to become French, what next? And how long can you expect to wait?

Make the application

Exactly how you make the application depends on whether you are applying for citizenship through residency, marriage or ancestry.

A recent change to the citizenship process means that those who are applying through residency (par décret) now make their application online – full details here.

Explained: How to use France’s new citizenship portal

Meanwhile those applying through marriage to a French person or through ancestry (par déclaration) continue to use the paper system. It seems likely that eventually those applications will also be brought online, but at present the process is different.

If you have a child who was born in France you can make an application on their behalf once they reach 13, and that is a different process again – full details here.

However you make the application, you will need to put together a big dossier of documents and it’s well worth taking some time over this to make sure that you supply exactly what is being asked for (with certified translations if applicable) as any requests for extra documents will slow down the whole process.

What next?

If you are applying online, you can follow your application through the various stages via your account on the ANEF website.

If you are applying on paper then you cannot track it as closely, but the steps described are broadly the same.

Document check – the first stage is checking your documents, but they are only being checked to ensure that they are ‘legible, usable and conform to what was requested’ – this is not a check on your application itself. You might be asked to resubmit documents if the scan is out of focus, for example, or if the document is not what was requested – for example you sent a short-form copy of your birth certificate rather than the long-form one.

Birth certificate: When you need it in France and how to request one

You may also be asked for extra documents if you were not able to supply exactly the document requested. At this stage you may also be requested to provide extra translations of documents that are not in French – take careful note of whether a certified translation by an approved translator is required.

Request accepted – once the documents have been checked, your request for citizenship will then be officially ‘déposé’ or accepted. This is the official start date of your application. It also means that any new laws that subsequently come into force – for example changing the qualifications for citizenship – cannot be applied to your application.

Application check – once the request is accepted, staff at the préfecture then begin checking the application itself. It is at this stage that you may again be asked for extra documents, this time relating to the application itself – common examples are people being asked to supply extra documents relating to their financial status such as tax declarations or proof of income in another country.

Récépissé – once your dossier has been fully examined it will then be accepted or rejected. Rejection is much more common for people applying by residency and common reasons include not having spent the full qualifying period in France, not being able to show that your ‘main financial and family centre’ is in France (eg having a spouse or minor children who live abroad or having all your work in another country) or inability to show that you have ‘sufficient and stable income’ to support yourself in France.

Citizenship via marriage or ancestry is a right, so it should be granted as long as you can supply all the documentation required, but citizenship by residency is at the discretion of officials and can be refused. Roughly one third of all citizenship applications are refused and the most common reasons are having a criminal record or insufficient finances.

If your dossier is approved, you will be sent a récépissé de complétude – this only means that your dossier is acceptable, it doesn’t mean that you will definitely get citizenship.

Interview – once your dossier is accepted you will be sent a date for your interview. This is an in-person interview that takes place at the préfecture that is handling your application. Exactly how much notice you get for the interview varies, most people are sent the notice some weeks or even months in advance, but it can happen that people get only a few days’ notice so it’s a good idea to start revising in advance.

At the interview you will be asked questions about how well you know France – from its history and culture to political and democratic structures via popular culture. Exactly what people are asked varies widely, some people report being grilled on every aspect of France and French life while others report just a quick and friendly chat.

It’s a good idea to revise the Livret du Citoyen, which can be downloaded for free here.

If you’re applying through marriage expect a few questions on how you met, in-laws and how you structure your family life.

One question you will certainly be asked is why you want to become French – and here you will need to show that you truly value France and French values. Mumbling that you want a shorter passport queue is unlikely to cut it.

Phone calls and emails – some people report getting phone calls from their préfecture during the process to request extra documents, which is more common for people who have applied on paper. These usually come from a withheld or private number so if you regularly screen your calls it might be a good idea to start picking up once your application is live. Likewise it’s a good idea to regularly check your spam or junk folder for any emails that accidentally got filtered while people who applied online should regularly check the portal for messages.

Police visit – this usually only applies to people requesting citizenship through marriage, but sometimes local police visit you at home. In most cases this is basically to check that you’re really married, not just officially married for citizenship purposes. They are checking out that your home looks like two (or more) people live there and that you appear to know each other. The police visit doesn’t happen to everyone and is generally more common in smaller towns and villages but it can be part of the process.

Decision – you won’t be told at the interview whether you have passed or not – although some of the friendlier interviewers do sometimes tip applicants the wink that it will probably be OK – but the next stage is the final decision and (if you are approved) being added to the electoral roll and the decree being published in the Journal Officiel (for those applying via residency).

Exactly what order these happen in varies – some people get the letter or email from the préfecture first, others find out when they see their name in the JO or check the electoral register.

The hack to find out early about your French citizenship application

Ceremony – at some point, you will be invited to an official ceremony at the préfecture. This often happens many months after your application is approved. The ceremony is optional and you don’t need to wait for the ceremony begin doing official things like applying for a French passport or ID card, or voting in an election.

Whether you go to the ceremony is up to you, it’s not necessary from a practical point of view but many people report that the ceremonies are quite moving as groups of people from all over the world are officially welcomed to the French republic.

How long?

And now the €1 million question – how long does all this take? And the answer, as so often in France, is ça dépend – in this case it depends on both how you applied and where you live.

The shortest process of all is usually applying on behalf of a child born in France to non-French parents – that is a completely different process that just requires examination of a few documents and a quick chat with both child and parents. The whole thing can be wrapped up in less than six months.

Applying via marriage is generally quicker than applying by residency, this is because citizenship through marriage is a right so you only need to provide documents to prove that you fulfil the conditions, then do the interview. The general rule is that applying through marriage takes roughly half the time of applying through residency.

But the big difference is where you live – applications are dealt with on a local level and some préfectures are just faster than others.

The very broad average is that it takes between 18 months and two years between submitting your dossier and being accepted, but expect wide variations between different préfectures. If you get the process completed in less than a year you are doing well while in some places you could be waiting up to three years.

Facebook groups for naturalisation applications can be helpful to gain more localised time estimates – but make sure that your situation is comparable; ie that you are applying at the same préfecture and through the same method.

SHOW COMMENTS

Url copied to clipboard!