# Father naturalized French Citizen, Mother elligible?



## SonOfFrench

Hi all

Thanks to this Forum, I was able to obtain French citizenship via my father and my children also have French citizenship.

I have another question regarding my Mother's eligibility. A few points to help narrow things down:


My parents are both married, registered on an original French Livert de Famille "Extrait de l'acte de Marriage"
Neither resident of France, both living in the US for 40+ years, currently Arizona - covered by French Consulate in LA
My Mom does not speak French (but I think > 70 years old the language test is waived?)
My Dad's French passport and Carte d'identité is valid/current, naturalized in 1969.

Thanks all in advance for the support.

Regards


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## SonOfFrench

Just wondering if anyone has any insight here - or perhaps everyone is on holiday?


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## BackinFrance

No idea but I would think that she could apply. Naturalisation is not a given in any case.


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## Bevdeforges

You may want to take a look at the Service Public site for the details Nationalité française par mariage

Almost everything looks good to go, though one requirement seems to be that the French national of the couple needs to have had their French nationality by the date that the couple was married. (Though from your description, it sounds like this is the case.)

The one possible issue is that of your mother's knowledge of the French language. On Service Public, I don't find any disclaimer about age exempting someone from having to show proof of a certain level of French. But as BiF mentions, it certainly doesn't hurt to submit a dossier and see what they say.


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## BackinFrance

I believe France does not currently give naturisation rights to the the spouse of a naturalized French citizen where the marriage took place prior to the spouse's naturalisation. I could be wrong.

Naturalisation currently takes a long time, usually more than a year.

The question is, though, why the mother would now be considering naturalisation. Perhaps to facilitate an extended visit to her son and grandchildren. The OP lives I believe in Switzerland, so if that is the reason there is at least one other option, ie if coming with her husband to come as the spouse of an EU citizen (surely the son could help re regard to any accommodation issues). Beyond that, it should not be too hard to get a longer term tourist visa, though I have no idea of Switzerland requirements for that.


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## SonOfFrench

Thank you all for the responses!

Yes, Father was french before my parents were married

Looks like from this link here: Nationalité française : comment justifier de son niveau en français ? there are no language requirements if the applicant is over 70 - which she is, so good news here.

@BackinFrance - exactly. I am in Switzerland and always need to have a Plan B in case of any changes in residence. Mom having an French/EU passport would significantly open more options.

Does anyone know if this can all be done online? The main issue here is they are in Arizona - very far to travel to the LA French Consulate, especially given my father's health condition and can no longer travel.


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## Bevdeforges

I'm not sure where you are seeing that there is no language requirement for those over 70 - unless you are referring to the part about getting a medical exemption from the language requirement. But hey, you can at least ask the question and see what they say. 

According to their website, the French Consulate in Los Angeles will take the dossier by postal mail. L’acquisition de la nationalité française à raison du mariage


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## SonOfFrench

Thanks all - was just reviewing the requirements and it was indeed possible previously (over 60 years old) but was recently removed, at least per this article: France removes exemption for over 60s as it toughens language levels for citizenship 

Hence this is a non-starter as she doesn't speak French unfortunately!


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## SPGW

I can confirm the age waiver for the language test ( 60 when I took nationality), but I am pretty sure there is no exemption from the in-person interview at the prefecture or consulate, which is in French. This could be a hurdle.


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## SonOfFrench

SPGW said:


> I can confirm the age waiver for the language test ( 60 when I took nationality), but I am pretty sure there is no exemption from the in-person interview at the prefecture or consulate, which is in French. This could be a hurdle.


Hi SPGW thanks for the insight - when was this? There seems to be recent changes to the requirements, but I am trying to find the official communication.


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## SPGW

For me, the process spanned 2019-21 and the list of documents to provide included certificates of professional training done in French. The gendarmerie and security also conduct a house visit ( involves questioning in French).


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## Bevdeforges

At some point there, the rule was changed so that those over 60 did not have to take a formal test to prove their language abilities, but could simply demonstrate them by conducting all or most of the necessary interviews in the naturalization process in French. It was up to the person conducting the interview to assess the adequacy of the person's language ability. But those under the age of 60 still had to take a formal test and produce a certificate (unless they met one of the exemption criteria). The specifics have been changing rapidly over the last 3 to 5 years.


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## SonOfFrench

Thanks all again for the responses. I received a response from the French Consulate Los Angeles:


> Despite her age, your mother will indeed have to pass the French language test and your parents will have to travel together to Los Angeles for the nationality interview.


Too bad as she doesn't speak French and traveling to LA is a non-starter given my Father's health condition.

Hopefully this may help others in a similar situation. Regards


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