# How to apply for a Certificate of French Nationality (CNF) in France



## Benjamin82

Hello Everyone,

Does anyone know if it's possible to visit France on a British passport and apply for a Certificate of French Nationality (CNF) from within France?

My mother is French by descent, born in the UK to a French father. Her birth was registered at the French consulate and she currently has a French passport and ID card.

My birth was never declared to the French authorities hence the reason for a CNF.

I applied for a CNF from South Korea in early 2018 (approx 41+ months ago) and I'm still waiting because of an administrative error caused by the French consulate in Seoul. (In March 2019, the Nationality Service in Paris sent a request for additional documents to the Consulate in Seoul, but the consulate could not be bothered to send this request to my correct address. I've now lost 2.5 years because of their incompetence.)

Please also let me know if it's even possible to apply for a CNF from within France if I have an ongoing application at Paris.

Any advice will be highly appreciated.

Thanks,

B


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## BackinFrance

Benjamin82 said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> Does anyone know if it's possible to visit France on a British passport and apply for a Certificate of French Nationality (CNF) from within France?
> 
> My mother is French by descent, born in the UK to a French father. Her birth was registered at the French consulate and she currently has a French passport and ID card.
> 
> My birth was never declared to the French authorities hence the reason for a CNF.
> 
> I applied for a CNF from South Korea in early 2018 (approx 41+ months ago) and I'm still waiting because of an administrative error caused by the French consulate in Seoul. (In March 2019, the Nationality Service in Paris sent a request for additional documents to the Consulate in Seoul, but the consulate could not be bothered to send this request to my correct address. I've now lost 2.5 years because of their incompetence.)
> 
> Please also let me know if it's even possible to apply for a CNF from within France if I have an ongoing application at Paris.
> 
> Any advice will be highly appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> B


You would need a long stay visa to do this and a residential address in France because you need to be resident here. Then you make the application to the Tribunal d'instance where you are living. 

Some Tribunals process much faster than others, but they are all short staffed and the Covid situation in France could be making the processing time longer. It is highly unlikely you would be able to get it done in 3 months, especially if they request additional documents (and all documents not in English have to be translated by a traducteur assermenté plus some may also need to be apostilled.


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## Benjamin82

BackinFrance said:


> You would need a long stay visa to do this and a residential address in France because you need to be resident here. Then you make the application to the Tribunal d'instance where you are living.
> 
> Some Tribunals process much faster than others, but they are all short staffed and the Covid situation in France could be making the processing time longer. It is highly unlikely you would be able to get it done in 3 months, especially if they request additional documents (and all documents not in English have to be translated by a traducteur assermenté plus some may also need to be apostilled.


Thank you for your reply BackinFrance. 

I had a feeling that I might need a long stay visa for doing something like this. 

Do you have any advice on which Tribunals process applications faster than others?

Cheers,

B


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## BackinFrance

Benjamin82 said:


> Thank you for your reply BackinFrance.
> 
> I had a feeling that I might need a long stay visa for doing something like this.
> 
> Do you have any advice on which Tribunals process applications faster than others?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> B


Unfortunately I have no real advice other than to sug you avoid Paris.


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## BackinFrance

You could perhaps post the documents from within France during a visit and you can visit for 90 days with your British passport provided that France is accepting people entering from South Korea (which I haven't checked).


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## BackinFrance

BackinFrance said:


> You could perhaps post the documents from within France during a visit and you can visit for 90 days with your British passport provided that France is accepting people entering from South Korea (which I haven't checked).


This would be to the address for those applying from overseas, so hardly seems worth the expense and effort


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## BackinFrance

BackinFrance said:


> Unfortunately I have no real advice other than to sug you avoid Paris.


I would however suggest that you try a medium sized town with a Tribunal and where you could either walk or take a local bus from your residence to the Tribunal, not close to a city and perhaps not in the PACA which has a high Covid-19 Delta strain rate.


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## Poloss

In rural depts of France it can be pretty quick: 3 or 4 weeks.
Our local tribunal has a greffier who deals with CNF just one afternoon per week ...
Make sure you have all the necessary paperwork.
You'll need proof of residence which will likely be a utility bill - can you get a water, elec or phone contract without a French bank account?


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## BackinFrance

Poloss said:


> In rural depts of France it can be pretty quick: 3 or 4 weeks.
> Our local tribunal has a greffier who deals with CNF just one afternoon per week ...
> Make sure you have all the necessary paperwork.
> You'll need proof of residence which will likely be a utility bill - can you get a water, elec or phone contract without a French bank account?


A rental leas and/or rent receipts should also be OK.


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## Poloss

BackinFrance said:


> A rental leas and/or rent receipts should also be OK.


our greffière didn't accept a carte grise (car registration certif) nor a property act for our house
she wanted utility bills or a tax receipt


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## BackinFrance

Poloss said:


> our greffière didn't accept a carte grise (car registration certif) nor a property act for our house
> she wanted utility bills or a tax receipt


You weren't renting.


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## Benjamin82

Hi Poloss & BackinFrance,

I really appreciate you both for taking the time to respond to my questions. 

A rural town with a Tribunal that can issue a CNF is something that I'm really hoping to find. 3-4 weeks wait sounds too good to be true . I can't believe I applied at the Paris court from South Korea almost 4 years ago and my application is still ongoing.

Do you know if a short term rental contract will suffice as proof of residence? If yes, how easy/difficult would it be for someone like me to obtain (no credit file in France)? 

I will be moving back to the UK in October so I think I will make that trip to France when I'm in the UK. 

Thanks,

B


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## Poloss

Benjamin82 said:


> Hi Poloss & BackinFrance,
> Do you know if a short term rental contract will suffice as proof of residence? If yes, how easy/difficult would it be for someone like me to obtain (no credit file in France)?


Hi Benjamin,
I looked up the proof of residence requirements on the official French govt website "service-public"
and a rental contract is listed as acceptable.









Certificat de nationalité française (CNF)


Vous avez besoin de prouver votre nationalité française ? Vous pouvez demander un certificat de nationalité française (CNF). Ce document officiel est délivré par le greffe des tribunaux. Le tribunal auquel adresser votre demande dépend de votre lieu de naissance et de votre domicile. La démarche...




www.service-public.fr





Finding a rental can be difficult as landlords/leasing agencies like to have loads of paperwork proving that you have regular income, not just savings.


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## BackinFrance

I don't think a holiday rental would be sufficient, though you could stay in one whilst you are looking for a permanent rental, eg a furnished apartment or house on a standard 1 year lease - you can terminate such a lease by giving one month's formal notice. As Poloss says, it can be difficult to achieve if you can't show regular income of 3 times the rent coming into a French bank account.

What with accommodation issues and the high likelihood of the Tribunal requiring extra documentation, it could easily take you quite a number of months to get your CNF.


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## lettucearticle

any updates @Benjamin82? Did you manage to make it work?


Benjamin82 said:


> Hi Poloss & BackinFrance,
> 
> I really appreciate you both for taking the time to respond to my questions.
> 
> A rural town with a Tribunal that can issue a CNF is something that I'm really hoping to find. 3-4 weeks wait sounds too good to be true . I can't believe I applied at the Paris court from South Korea almost 4 years ago and my application is still ongoing.
> 
> Do you know if a short term rental contract will suffice as proof of residence? If yes, how easy/difficult would it be for someone like me to obtain (no credit file in France)?
> 
> I will be moving back to the UK in October so I think I will make that trip to France when I'm in the UK.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> B


any updates @Benjamin82? Did you manage to make it work?


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