Congratulations ! You are taking steps to sit you French exam or you have just taken it. You are now impatient to get started on your application for French citizenship. BEWARE! here are the 10 steps to follow so you don’t get all muddled up.
You not only need to have passed you exam and received your results, you also need to have received your actual diploma from France. Results will be sent to you two months after your DELF exam and diplomas a further two months after that. The diploma needs to be collected from the exam centre, in person, with proof of ID.
Your British or foreign official documents may take a while to be issued. For some countries, they will also need to be legalised. Foreign birth or marriage certificates are not subject to the three months validity rule imposed on French documents. However the ACRO Police certificate needs to be as recent as possible. It also needs to be sent to the Foreign Office for an Apostille. This can add another three weeks to the process.
So here are 10 steps you need to follow to try and keep it simple .
- Sit your French DELF exam
- Request your Foreign official documents, get them legalised if applicable and translated.
- Request your ACRO Police certificate
- Send your ACRO to the Foreigh office to get the Apostille,
- Request your British official documents and get them translated.
- Request your French official documents
- Make sure you have compiled all the elements of your application according to your specific situation
- Send your application to the Consulate and wait for an appointment
- The appointment is relatively informal. It is all in FRENCH, with the Consul or vice Consul who just wants to check your motivations are genuine and harmless.
- Congratulations ! After a few months, you receive notification that your French birth certificate is available followed by an invitation to collect your “Certificat de nationalité” in person at the Consulate.
Welcome to French citizenship ! Now, are you ready to tackle the French administration ?