Gaining French Citizenship

[Paul Henri]

I am an American citizen living in California.  I have travelled many time to France, particularly the Dordogne Region.  I am interested in the possibility of gaining French citizenship.  My ancestry on my mother's side goes back to 1700's France when a great, great, great, great, great (I think 5 back) grandfather came over to Canada to fight in the wars here.  Is it possible for me as an American to move to, live in, work in and become a citizen of France with this information.  I have family tree info to validate this as well.

 

Paul Henri

[maureen]

Why not try your French Consulate in California.I am sure they would be able to give you details.

It is fairly easy for British citizens to become French because we are part of Europe, but the same rules do not I think apply to you. Most people who post on this site are in fact british, so we do not necessarily know American rules.

[Paul Henri]

thanks for your reply maureen and i am going to try and locate the french consulate here.

 

PH

[Benjamin]

Welcome to the forum Paul.

Just Google French Consulate California...........it's all there.

There is actually a section on the forum for people originating outside of the EU. Try a trawl through that section as well.

 

[Tony F Dordogne]

Hi Paul Henri

The quick and easy answer is not you can't.  I also have French ancestors and I went to the French Embassy in London prior to moving here.

There was a system for doing this if you could prove your ancestry but it was stopped shortly after WWII.  My family can be traced, straight line back to the late 16th century, all the genealogy and proofs in place but it's doesn't mean anything here now.

As far as I know you have to resident here and pass the tests to become a French citizen.

By the way, if you are Paul Henri the photographer and you're going to be at the Gallery Momuciarpo on Friday evening, I can speak to you about it then.

 

[samdebretagne]

No, sorry, it is not possible.  French citizenship can only be passed on from a parent to a child.  If you don't have a French parent or a French spouse, you would need five years of continuous residency in France before you would be able to apply, and unfortunately for an American in your position, this is extremely difficult to do.

[Paul Henri]

Thanks to all who have replied to this post.  If any of this ever changes maybe I will have some chance to reside there if I get sick enough of the USA.

 

PH

[jc]

Join the French Foreign Legion-on completion of service you be offered the option of becoming a citizen.

[Will]

If you want to move to France, and you can prove that you are a decent citizen who is eligible for a long-stay visa, with valid health insurance etc and able to support yourself, you should be able to apply for titre de sejour, which will enable you to live in France. This will need to be renewed periodically, and like most things in France will involve quite a bit of bureaucracy, but it can be done.

If an American wants to work in France then there are even more potential hurdles to jump over, unless you are being sent there by an employer, then it should be simple.

[maureen]

Don't give up that easily !!!  I know of several Americans that live here most of the year. There is obviously a limit to how much time you can spend in the country, but surely it would be worth "popping out" of France every once in a while to enjoy la douce vie !!

[mart-p]

Hi Paul Henri,

 

Have you tried this site  http://www.americansintoulouse.com/  ?  As it is run by Americans, they may have relevent information.

 

Martin

[Paul Henri]

Thanks for the tip.  I'll keep the site handy for future reference however, I am not ready to spend $75 for a membership in a forum to get a few bits of info.  In the future if I am ready to really consider making a move to France(talking my wife into it)I would spend the money.

 

PH

[samdebretagne]

[quote user="Paul Henri"]

Thanks for the tip.  I'll keep the site handy for future reference however, I am not ready to spend $75 for a membership in a forum to get a few bits of info.  In the future if I am ready to really consider making a move to France(talking my wife into it)I would spend the money.

 

PH

[/quote]

The forum itself is free, you don't need to be a member to sign up for it.  That said, it's not very active though.

[Paul Henri]

This is what the site shows as far as trying to join the forum and in order to become an AIT member, it costs 60 Euros.

 

Registration to the forum is now limited to active AIT members. This seems to be the only way we can avoid spam on the forum. So, please sign up here to the forum with one of the e-mail addresses you signed up in AIT with. If you can't do that, or you don't remember, send a message to membership -at- americansintoulouse.com (with @ instead of -at) and let us know which address you'd like to use, and we'll add it to your account.

PH

[maureen]

A case of wires getting crossed there regarding two different Forums.

I can see no reason why one cannot take out French nationality if one goes through the right channels - past family members being French or not. But I fear that it is not automatic even with French descendants. If you look at the spectrum of "colours" of the "French", it is certain that they weren't all born here!! Go for it, Paul; Get onto that Consulate and find out the rules.

PS I know of an English woman who is now French having taken out French nationality.  However, she will never be taken for French as she can hardly speak the language and even if she declares everywhere that she is French, people are bound to question her !

[Tony F Dordogne]

The reason is Maureen that the French have laws about becoming French citizens and how you qualify to become a French citizen!

I went into all this (a) before I moved to France and (b) twice since moving to France (locally and at the Prefecture) and there is definately a residential qualification period and an examination to become a French citizen.

If you have any information to the contrary, anything from your Mairie, the French Embassy in the UK or the French government, please post it and those of us wanting to become citizens will let you know whether it works or not.

[samdebretagne]

[quote user="maureen"]

PS I know of an English woman who is now French having taken out French nationality.  However, she will never be taken for French as she can hardly speak the language and even if she declares everywhere that she is French, people are bound to question her !

[/quote]

Maureen, what you're forgetting here is that your English friend would have been able to live in France the five required years before applying without needing a visa/carte de séjour like an American would, making the whole process 100 times easier.  If you do not have a French spouse or a company with a branch in France, it is very difficult for an American to come and live in France for five years.  It is possible if you have a lot of money though and can prove that you won't need to work at all during that time, but how many of us can do that, especially if you're not retired and have a family to support?

[maureen]

I am not forgetting my English friend had to prove residency,. I was simply remarking on the fact that even after she got her French nationality, she would never be taken for French!

I have NO idea of the proceedure for Americans which is why I have stipulated what has happened to English people.

One thing I find hard to understand is, that now there is no need for a European to have a Carte de Sejour, how can the length of residency be truthfully calcualted. People come and go over frontiers & back all the time, not always fulfilling the residency qualifications, or showing a passport.

Go to your local Mairie, that is where my friend started on her quest to get French Nationality, for which she waited exactly 2 years, the time given by the Mairie.

I still think that if one has a dream, as Henri Paul, one shouldn't give up on it, and I would phone or visit every authority to find a  possible route to the end. Us girls are goers don't forget !!!

[samdebretagne]

[quote user="maureen"]I am not forgetting my English friend had to prove residency,. I was simply remarking on the fact that even after she got her French nationality, she would never be taken for French!

I have NO idea of the proceedure for Americans which is why I have stipulated what has happened to English people.

One thing I find hard to understand is, that now there is no need for a European to have a Carte de Sejour, how can the length of residency be truthfully calcualted. People come and go over frontiers & back all the time, not always fulfilling the residency qualifications, or showing a passport.

Go to your local Mairie, that is where my friend started on her quest to get French Nationality, for which she waited exactly 2 years, the time given by the Mairie.

I still think that if one has a dream, as Henri Paul, one shouldn't give up on it, and I would phone or visit every authority to find a  possible route to the end. Us girls are goers don't forget !!!

[/quote]

You seem to have misunderstood my post.  I was not talking about your friend having to prove residency - just that it was a lot easier for her to move to France than it would be for an American.  As an EU citizen, she did not need a visa, nor a carte de séjour, which Paul Henri would.  And because he does not have French spouse, parent, or a company willing to transfer him, it is almost impossible for him to obtain these and live in France the five years required before being able to apply for citizenship...

And proof of residency is easily calculated by showing utility bills, rent bills, bank statements, etc.

[martin_B]

[quote user="samdebretagne"]No, sorry, it is not possible.  French citizenship can only be passed on from a parent to a child.

[/quote]

If you can prove your ancestry back to two consecutive generations of french, born in France (no matter how long ago), and you have enough "assimilation" to French culture, there's indeed a combination of certain articles of the French civil code through which, if you are within the "window" provided by those articles, you could eventually claim to be reintegrated to French nationality.

Cheers,

Martin