# A follow-up: Applying for French citizenship from within the U.S.



## Slushpup

Just a follow-up from my question about how long you can be outside of France on a 10-year carte de résident…
Could I apply for French citizenship while I am in the U.S. with a carte de resident? My (American) mother recently passed away and my husband and I would like to stay in the U.S. for 2 years and do some work on her house. After that, we would like to move back to France. Could I apply for French citizenship from within the U.S.?


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## pgcfriend2

You can apply for French citizenship through marriage in the US. Here are the two French consulates in the US where you can apply for citizenship and find detailed information about the requirements and the process. If your husband is registered with a US French consulate they can tell you which consulate you need to contact regarding citizenship and ask questions regarding your carte de resident.

Eastern US: Consulat général de France à Washington
Western US : Consulat Général de France à Los Angeles


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## Bevdeforges

pgcfriend2 beat me to it, but I was going to say that I thought your husband was French. If so, you can get your citizenship from outside France once you've been married 4 years, I think it is. Nationalité française par mariage explains the requirements and the process.


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## Slushpup

Wonderful! Thanks, both of you! I know that in France, the gendarmes make a home visit to make sure you have a real marriage. I wonder if they would do that if we’re both in the U.S.? I’ll read and find out!


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## PinkUnicorn

Bevdeforges said:


> I thought your husband was French. If so, you can get your citizenship from outside France once you've been married 4 years, I think it is. Nationalité française par mariage explains the requirements and the process.


I think if you're living outside France it's 5 years.


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## Bevdeforges

PinkUnicorn said:


> I think if you're living outside France it's 5 years.


I think in Slushpup's case, she had lived for a couple of years in France with her French husband. But I have no idea if that will "count" in the final tally. But yes, you're right about the 5 years being the norm.

And in response to Slushpup's question about the gendarmes verifying the validity of your marriage - that's a somewhat recent change. But I think outside of France they leave the verification of such things to the discretion of the local consular officials. 

Friend of mine said that she had her interview at the gendarmerie and then the gendarme she had been speaking with announced that he would have to follow her home to do the home inspection. As she said, he seemed as embarrassed by this as she could have been (though she thought it was kind of funny). Had to check the dresser drawers to see if there was "men's underwear" or other visible signs of a male presence in the house. (They had at least one child by then - but I don't know if that counts.) 

Whereas in my case (quite a few years earlier), the only "check" the gendarmes did was to drive by the house and stick the convocation to my interview at the gendarmerie in our mailbox. Which I think was really only a check to see if I was really living there. Of course, there was another interview (at the prefecture) which my husband had to attend with me and we got some of the standard "green card" questions (like the Gerard Depardieu film of that title).


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## Slushpup

For my carte de résident, the gendarmes checked our bedroom, dresser drawers, and bathroom. I made sure to have the two toothbrushes visible because I had a feeling they might check for them!


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## Slushpup

Bevdeforges said:


> I think in Slushpup's case, she had lived for a couple of years in France with her French husband. But I have no idea if that will "count" in the final tally. But yes, you're right about the 5 years being the norm.
> 
> And in response to Slushpup's question about the gendarmes verifying the validity of your marriage - that's a somewhat recent change. But I think outside of France they leave the verification of such things to the discretion of the local consular officials.
> 
> Friend of mine said that she had her interview at the gendarmerie and then the gendarme she had been speaking with announced that he would have to follow her home to do the home inspection. As she said, he seemed as embarrassed by this as she could have been (though she thought it was kind of funny). Had to check the dresser drawers to see if there was "men's underwear" or other visible signs of a male presence in the house. (They had at least one child by then - but I don't know if that counts.)
> 
> Whereas in my case (quite a few years earlier), the only "check" the gendarmes did was to drive by the house and stick the convocation to my interview at the gendarmerie in our mailbox. Which I think was really only a check to see if I was really living there. Of course, there was another interview (at the prefecture) which my husband had to attend with me and we got some of the standard "green card" questions (like the Gerard Depardieu film of that title).


 Yes, I’ve been married to my husband for 5 years and we’ve lived in France that whole time.👍🏻


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## Crawford

Does your husband (who I understand has French citizenship) have a visa for the US?


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## Slushpup

Crawford said:


> Does your husband (who I understand has French citizenship) have a visa for the US?


Not yet. He is still in France.


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