# French citizenship by descent



## Amelia F

Hi, we are in the process of trying to apply for french citizenship for the kids aged 24 and 21yrs. We have all the paperwork as father is french but are stuck on points:-

1) Paris consulate request original ID but have said it can take 12-36 months. Is there an alternative to sending passport or driving license as they need both in next 3 years?

2 where can we find an application link / form to complete to send along with the documents?

3) do we need to have birth cert etc translated into French?

We live in the UK but have family living in France if an address is needed.

Any help gratefully received 🤞
Thanks in advance. Amelia


----------



## Poloss

If you can provide proof of an address in France then you can apply in person in your "département" of residence for a "certificat de nationalité française"; an important first step in claiming French citizenship
Proof of residence in France would be a utility bill in the applicant's name 
or more likely to suit your situation, a "certificat d'hébergement" 
which is established by someone who declares that the person concerned resides at their domicile.

Of course the process is faster in France than via a consulate in the UK.
Applications for a certificat de nationalité française must be made at the greffe du tribunal de justice (court)
of your French residence address.

Your birth certifs must be translated to French by a recognised translator. (Traducteur assermenté auprès de la cour d'appel). Many work via internet - you send a email in English, when you agree on the tarif you send scans of the documents, you pay then receive digital versions of your translations and finally by post the authentic translations you'll need. There's no expiry date on these documents 

However all French documents must imperatvely date from less than 3 months when you present them, 
that's birth certificates, marriage certifs etc.

The secretary at the court may ask you for other stuff - just be prepared!


----------



## PinkUnicorn

Poloss said:


> Your birth certifs must be translated to French by a recognised translator.


When I got married I was able to request a multilingual copy of my British birth certificate directly which was accepted in France.


----------



## Amelia F

unfortunately we don’t have an address in France we can use as we live in the UK. 

its the ID which is difficult for us.


----------



## ARPC

You’ve said you have family living in France. I think the concept is to get an attestation d’hébergement from your family and use that address as your point of contact in order to do this process in France. The ID question confuses me a bit, I’ve done heritage citizenship work for other countries and many things immigration in France, and copies are always acceptable. As they will all be translated anyway, you’ll be submitting certified translation copies.


----------



## BackinFrance

I believe that they do not keep the same passport for the entire period of the application but check it, take a copy which they certify as verified for their own records and return it. I will look up the link to the process and form when I have a spare moment. 

The CNF process is far more onerous than immigration or even naturalisation, in part because a successful application means that you have been French since birth and can pass citizenship on to your children, including those already born.


----------



## Amelia F

BackinFrance said:


> I believe that they do not keep the same passport for the entire period of the application but check it, take a copy which they certify as verified for their own records and return it. I will look up the link to the process and form when I have a spare moment.
> 
> The CNF process is far more onerous than immigration or even naturalisation, in part because a successful application means that you have been French since birth and can pass citizenship on to your children, including those already born.


----------



## Amelia F

Amelia F said:


> aah that makes sense, thank you.
> if you could send the link, thatvwould be amazing as i can’t find it anywhere. thank you


----------



## Poloss

Amelia F said:


> unfortunately we don’t have an address in France we can use as we live in the UK.
> 
> its the ID which is difficult for us.


OK, I misinterpreted your statement in your initial post:


Amelia F said:


> We live in the UK *but have family living in France if an address is needed*.


I imagine that to claim an address in France you'll surely need some sort of residence card - so that complicates matters ...


----------



## balthy

The French consulate London website gives instructions on how to register children in the civil register even if they are adults. That is going to be my starting point for trying to get citizenship for my own daughter. There is a whole raft of documents that are needed plus apostilles, translations etc.


----------



## BackinFrance

Dans quels cas un enfant est-il Français ?


La nationalité française d'un enfant, qu'il soit né en France ou non, dépend principalement de la nationalité de ses parents.




www.service-public.fr





OP, sorry I haven't had time, but work your way through through the link and you should find all the information you need if you click on tout déplier.


----------

