Naturalisation by marriage (déclaration): language and conditions

If you are married to a French citizen, you can become French by a déclaration de nationalité rather than by naturalisation par décret. If the legal conditions are met, the declaration must be registered unless the government opposes it on limited grounds. It is a separate procedure with its own form (cerfa n°15277), and it does not require the examen civique.

It does require French at level B2 since 1 January 2026, and an interview that checks your shared life as a couple and your assimilation.

You must prove oral and written French at least at level B2, with the same proofs as for naturalisation: the diplôme national du brevet, a State diploma or RNCP certification at level 3 or above, a diploma certifying B2, or a TCF or TEF attestation issued less than 2 years ago. A dispensation exists only when a disability or health condition makes the language assessment impossible (medical certificate required).

The older B1 rule applied to declarations made before 2026. If your file straddles the change, ask the naturalisation platform which rule applies to you.

You file with the plateforme d'accès à la nationalité for your home address (at the counter or by registered post, depending on the platform), with the €255 timbre fiscal (€127.50 in French Guiana). Your French spouse also signs the form. Typical documents include your birth certificate, a marriage certificate less than 3 months old, proof of your spouse's French nationality, proof of shared life (joint tax notice, bills or bank documents in both names), proof of residence, your language diploma or attestation and, if you lived abroad in the last 10 years, foreign criminal record extracts.

You and your spouse are then invited together to an interview. It checks the reality of your shared life and your assimilation; a discriminatory attitude, for example based on sex, race, religion or nationality, counts as a lack of assimilation. You sign a sworn statement that your shared life has not stopped since the marriage and receive a récépissé at the end.

The minister has 1 year from the récépissé to refuse to register the declaration, or 2 years if an opposition procedure is started. If the declaration is registered, you are French from the date you made (subscribed) it, and the préfecture gives you a copy of the registered declaration: keep it, as it proves your nationality.

Between filing and decision, tell the préfecture about any change of situation, such as a move or a divorce.

• Refusal to register (a legal condition is not met): you have 6 months to challenge it before the tribunal judiciaire of your place of residence; a lawyer is compulsory
• Opposition by decree for indignity or lack of assimilation other than linguistic: you have 2 months to challenge it before the Conseil d'État; a lawyer is compulsory
• A file closed without examination (classement sans suite, for missing documents) can be challenged within 6 months before the tribunal judiciaire, and does not stop you from filing a new declaration

This is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, see service-public.gouv.fr (fiche F2726) or the naturalisation platform.