French Nationality for Dummies

From what is written there, you just need an informal assessment during your interview with the powers that be if you are over 60/disabled/have final qualifications from a course done in a Fr speaking country;
otherwise yes, you do you need a certificate to show what level you have attained.

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we are all doomed
:slight_smile:

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I have written several blogposts on the naturalisation process in clear detail.





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Yup that’s what I thought.

I’m really sorry if this has already been answered, because I know it is annoying, I thought it had been but having searched again through 103 posts I am not finding it.

Do we know precisely what they mean by “traducteur agréé” (for birth certificates) - presumably less than “assermenté”, but what proof of competence, if any, is required?

As a translator autopreneur for some years myself, I have done many documents for clients - for mairie, préfecture, even courts, and although I have never pretended any status other than my logo and my SIREN nothing has ever been rejected. I am reluctant, however, to try this for my own Nationality application, with the attendant risk of it being bounced back for this reason after a further 10 months’ delay.

Better still, can anyone supply the details for a good translator who has already done some of these applications. I am in Ariège, although that scarcely matters when documents can be exchanged by post or electronically.

Arthur, AFAIK agréé and assermenté are two words for the same thing.

Anna, you may well be right and I confused, but I notice that more than one official government site includes the words “traducteur agrée ou assermenté”, which seems to suggest they are not exactly the same thing. I had always believed, perhaps wrongly, that “agréé” means “registered as a competent translator” and “assermenté” means “registered as competent and approved to appear before a court of law”.

That makes perfect sense but I think that if a translator is “registered” in France it will always mean that they are registered with a court because AFAIK there is no other body in France that holds an official register of approved translators. A translator assermenté may well be more specialised and be a notch higher as you say but I think both are by definition court approved and can stamp translations as officially certified which is all you need for état civile documents.
https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F12956

@Arthur_Groves - here’s the current list of agreed experts issued by the courts of appeal throughout France. Go to page 226 of the Toulouse edition and you’ll find a couple of agreed translators based in or near Foix (09). I’ve used the services of Elizabeth Freeman for a mate - she was just great!

Cour de Cassation - Listes Des Experts

Thank you Simon, that’s exactly the sort of personal recommendation I was hoping for - so much better than just sticking a pin into a published list.

Hello James and Catherine,
I am just starting the procss of applying for nationalisation. Thank you for all the information which has been very useful. My question relates to the provision of tax information. I have all my tax returns available but as I have a micro enterprise for running the maison d’hote and so am effectively self employed, I do not have any bulletins de salaire… only the figures relating to money transferred from the business acount to my personal account, which counts as my income… which is what my accountant told me to do. So I am wondering where I stand in relation to obtaining the ‘bordereau de situation fiscale’.
On reflection I suppose I should go and ask the local tax office, but thought perhaps you might have the answer and save me that nightmare!
Thank you in advance for any helpful information you can give.

Lynda - you can get one for any of your taxes via your personal online account. Just follow the steps here:

J’AI BESOIN D’UN BORDEREAU DE SITUATION FISCALE, COMMENT L’OBTENIR ?

Infact I have just found the answer… here it is for anyone else who needs the same information:

’extrait d’immatriculation au registre du commerce ou des métiers ;
les statuts de la société pour les dirigeants ou associés ;
le bilan financier des 3 derniers exercices ;
le bordereau de situation fiscale de la société dont vous êtes soit actionnaire, soit gérant.

Thankyou Simon… that should save me a visit to the tax office!

Having just been through this process of nationality by marriage, I can confirm that although the requirement in the guidelines is for either the parents’ marriage certificate OR their birth certificates, the latter are in any case needed at the point where nationality is actually accorded. Your first official document as a French citizen will be a French birth certificate, and because that contains your parents’ dates of birth, official proof of those dates (with translation) is needed by the prefecture. They will not accept death certificates, but UK birth certificates are easily obtainable from the UK Government Records Office.

On the subject of translation, this has to be done by sworn translators. Your local French consulate will provide you with a useful list of approved translators in your area and you should feel free to call around and ask for their rates and estimated time required to produce the translation.

Good luck!

Sorry that should have been your local British consulate of course.

Surely for someone living in France… their local Prefecture will provide a list of approved translators…???

Limoges and Perigueux have both done so, when requested…

I have never tried asking the prefecture for that, but not a bad idea to ask. I do know that the British consulates keep lists of local approved translators. Important though to shop around for a price estimate and delivery date. It can make a significant difference!

Marine Le Pen talks a good talk but she won’t win. If she does, expect endless riots by people from “les cités” leading to possible civil war. You think I’m joking? My French husband works for a famous French airline company & his colleagues are sick of certain people causing problems in France & many have bought hunting guns legally & have been training at gun clubs so they are ready to protect their families. And these are ordinary working men with no political or fascist agenda, they just care deeply about their children and are worried about the state of their country.

Melanchon hates the British & has vowed to make us suffer for our Brexit sins. He’s just as dangerous as Marine if he wins BUT it’s not looking likely.

Here is the official list of Official Court-Sworn translators:
https://www.directory-sworn-translator.com/

You can use some online services but check their names are on the list: http://traducteurs-assermentes.fr/5627/index.html

We advise our foreign students to get their own country to provide a legally translated Birth Certificate because it’s cheaper having it done in Italy or Mexico for example, than it is in France.