French citizenship, mother is French citizen

French citizenship, mother is French citizen

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ScotHill

Original Poster:

3,438 posts

115 months

Tuesday 5th June 2018
quotequote all
Mrs Hill has a French mother, was born and always lived in the UK but wants to register her French citizenship. From what I've read such a person is automatically French, but certain conditions might need to be proved/evidenced to get it formally recognised, and while a lot of websites talk about how you might go about it I've never seen 'fill in this form, attach these documents and send to this address'.

Can anyone help?

citizensm1th

8,371 posts

143 months

Tuesday 5th June 2018
quotequote all
Just call the french embassy

Philippo

107 posts

225 months

Thursday 7th June 2018
quotequote all
Also born and raised in the UK with French mother. Was Mrs's Hill's birth registered at the French consulate? Mine was and I was able to obtain a French passport fairly easily when I was 20 in 1979.

On moving to France in 1994 I decided to ask for a French ID card and was advised that holding a French passport was not proof of nationality. I therefore had to apply for a document confirming my French nationality and this required the provision of many documents including translated UK marriage certificates and birth certificates. Copies of livret de familles for grand-parents in France (living at the time) and countless other documents. It all ended with a visit to the Grand Tribunal d'Instance in Toulouse and some months later I received the precious document.

What we call in French "le parcours du combattant". It's all possible and would think the French Consulate would be the best place to start.

Good luck.

Philip

ScotHill

Original Poster:

3,438 posts

115 months

Thursday 7th June 2018
quotequote all
Thanks for that perspective, not as easy as it might be then!

What's the practical difference between having a French passport and being a French citizen, in terms of living/working/retiring there? Realise there are a lot of people looking into nationality options due to Brexit but this might not be even for a few decades down the line for us yet.

PhilipRM

107 posts

225 months

Friday 8th June 2018
quotequote all
That's a good question.

I was happy with living in France and having a French passport until i wanted to obtain ID cars for my daughters, then 10 & 8. That's when I was advised I'd need to get my own French ID card first before my children could. So being perhaps over-clinical, my daughters whilst only having a 25% French blood line have French IDs as well as retaining their UK nationality.

Don't confuse though nationality with country of domicile when it comes to pros and cons. I am French domiciled and have a French ID though also retain my UK citizenship though as my English wife reminds me we couldn't vote in the referendum since we had been out of the UK for more than 15 years

In current uncertain times my advise would be try to go for maximum flexibility. So Mrs Hill should start the process now of obtaining her French nationality document.

It's a huge topic, not easily covered in a few lines, so if you're interested in my own personal experience drop me a PM and we can set up a telephone call.

Cheers

Philip