# French in the UK, getting married...



## KissedAFrog (May 9, 2011)

Hi All,

I'm writing on behalf of my fiancee who is a French girl living in the UK. We're getting married in the UK (as it's considerably simpler than getting married in Franch) and that brought up the questions of registering with the French authorities. (I'm British)

She's never registered with the consulate, although she's been over here for around 6 years.

It seems that registering means a trip, in person, down to London. And it seems that to register the marriage with them means much of the same hassle as getting married there.

Is there any point in registering with the consulate at all? If so, what?!

My fiancee currently has a French passport, but in the long run says she'd be happy to become a British citizen as it would make the admin easier.

We don't plan on moving to France, but at some point she'll need to change her passport to her new surname (mine). So I guess we don't have much choice unless we can get her British citizenship before July - "The" Date!

Any advice for this rather messy situation gladly accepted!

Cheers,
Andy


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Since she's still within the EU, I don't think the issue of registering with the consulate is quite as big a deal as it is for those living elsewhere in the world. But just registering with the consulate as being a French person overseas can be done by mail.

The French update your birth record with marriages, divorces and your death - so if you ever are thinking of living in or retiring to France, it could be handy to have your marriage recorded (or you'll have to do so at the time). It would also give you a livret de famille which, again, might come in handy some time in the future.

I do see that you can get an appointment at the consulate to handle multiple formalities at the same time, so maybe when her French passport comes up for renewal she could schedule an appointment to take care of all the formalities at once (carte d'identité renewal, passport renewal and registering the marriage)? 
Cheers,
Bev


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## KissedAFrog (May 9, 2011)

Thanks for the reply Bev!

I guess we could do it all in one big hit, but we'd need to do it once we're back from honeymoon as the trip is based on her current surname.

Her Dad is actually a British Citizen so that would make a transition to British Citizenship more easy, but not really necessary depending on how complicated the Consulate is - we've been through a few admin nightmares already!

Cheers,
Andy


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