Divorced status

hello, I wonder if anyone has any opinions on this…
many years ago when I arrived in France I had been divorced fairly recently (no kids, no property complications, all amicable). From the beginning I marked ‘célibataire’ on official forms because it seemed simpler and anyway, I didn’t “want” to be divorced, I wanted to be single. The habit continued for 30 or more years. Now I am filling in nationality forms, I come across this choice again. If I now put “divorced”, will there be any come-back regarding previous declarations? As far as I know, this ‘single’ status has never made any difference whatsoever to my life in France. Interested to know your points of view. Thanks.

Célibataire just means single, that covers all sorts of situations. In France nobody cares that you were once married unless you have children. Especially if you are foreign and were married then divorced abroad.
French people have all sorts of information put on their birth certificates as a sort of running record, that isn’t the case for you if you are British. If you are really worried about it ask the fonctionnaire wherever it is you are dealing with.

I think for nationality it is possible that they check a bit more carefully than for run of the mill admin. So personally I wouldn’t jeopardise the position by omitting information. It would probably make no difference either way, but if it did come to light later in the process it could make people have questions. I think they ask for marriage & divorce certificates if you do say you are divorced, which is a pain in the butt, but maybe the effort is worth it?

For Nationalisation absolutely - and for each and every one- AND translated and notarised by an Official Translator - lists available from the Prefecture.

Make no assumptions the French bureaucracy takes no prisoners! In my applocation (successful) I had to list EVERY job I had ever held, plus duration, years and months, PLUS every address in any and all countries.
As an independent international consultant EACH contract was also required. To be honest I doubt these are ever checked as many of the Companies no longer existed. NB what they do check is if there are any time gaps. I understand that a woman having children or not having a paid job can list these to cover the gaps if applicable.

You will also need current and past receipts from Services (Gas electricity, rates etc; although I think these need only cover (and prove) residency over the past five years.

If you have any sort of Criminal Record (not parking tickets!) These must also be noted and appropriate official papers related. To be honest, these would be enough to disqualify the application anyway, so check before you start.

Yes it is a paper chase, and yes it can and usually does take 18 months to 2-years to come through. I was on the so-called ‘fast track’ being married to a French National (NB for more than five years), and it still took the 18 months from start to finish.

Worth it? Absolutely and I should state that my application went in well before Brexit was an issue.

1 Like

Note Military Service counts as a job - and needs the appropriate paperwork of proof.

I’ve never quite worked out whether they can still demand translations of certificates that are in English, as I thought it was no longer legal to ask this. I guess it could be worth checking with your own prefecture.

I’ve just sent in forms for german nationality. The official forms and guide also ask for translations, but I was told by the consulate not to bother for straightforward certificates. However for UK certificates you can get a multi-language certificate from the National archive for only£12.50 on top of certificate cost. Much cheaper than getting one translated here.

Of course this is one of the things that make the ‘EU Dictatorship’ idea nonsense.
Each country retains the undeniable right to choose, select those who want to become Nationals in their country. As far as I am aware there is no Universal EU Law on gaining Nationality.
I really don’t think it is unrealistic or an imposition for the judgement to be made in the country’s own language either.

1 Like

For a document to be valid it must be in French, the language of the French Republic is French.

1 Like

I don’t understand why certain people on this site trumpet their own views in making negative assumptions about other people. Norm, I asked a simple question. What is all this about judgements being made in french? Yes I know, yes I work within the French system, yes my French is excellent. Why bring irrelevancies into the discussion as you seem to have no particular insight into my initial question. Yes we all know French bureaucracy can be excessive and is at least thorough. Good for you mate with your French nationality, but maybe you could keep your pon
tification quiet unless it’s actually helpful.

1 Like

Personally if I was going through the process I would say it as it is. I would worry that the hidden marriage might come back to trip me up.
As you speak excellent French it’s straightforward anyway, pick up the phone and ask for advice.

1 Like

‘Trumpeting my own view’? Someone raised a question that giving gone through the process myself I felt I could help in answering.

Christ I could develop siege mentality on this site for my ‘views’ easily enough, now I have to watch offering some facts?

seems like the common-sense answer. Thanks

I think Norm might have been replying to my wondering whether it was still necessary to translate everything. Somewhere I read that it was no longer necessary to translate and certify original certificates that are in English into french. Of course, all correspondence, forms and so on must be in french since that is the national language as Vero says.

True but I think the EU says original documents in English (and presumably other EU languages) should be acceptable.

Of course, if it is an EU thing it might not survive Brexit

Then i think you will need to have Translations done by an officially recognised Translation service. I would not believe anything a consulate employee says as basically they dont give a damn, they move on in 3 years “nach mir den sinflut” so to say. Just as a matter of interest, how did you get past the 8 years residency requirement or have you just applied to be considered for application.

I am Jewish, and my German mother and grandfather had to flee Germany during the war. There is a special law for descendants of people who were persecuted and stripped of their nationality by the nazis. Unfortunately so e of the essential documents were also destroyed, so may not be successful but worth a try.

1 Like

Yep sure is. I wish you lots of luck in your endeavour. But you do realise that you will have to relinquish the UK nationality except in very special cases. Yours could be one of them.

Well none of my cousins have had to give up UK citizenship. We are seeking for nationality to be reinstated, rather than a new acquisition.

I did write the above specifically. But i think you never had it and as you stated documents have been destroyed, your application could be construed as a new acquisition. And i am not shouting just trying to refer.

Hello,

I have just been granted French nationality and filled out all the necessary forms very recently. It was a 2 year long process from start to finish. I had always put “celibataire” on any admin forms but for the nationality application I told the truth and put divorced. This meant I had to provide a copy of the divorce decree. Simple as that, no other problems caused. I also have not relinquished my British citizenship. If you want any details on the proces as I have just done it pm me.

1 Like