France - Getting Married

Advertisement

Procedure

Civil ceremony

• In France, only a civil ceremony is legally binding. Civil ceremonies take place at the Mairie (Town Hall) and will be performed by the mayor or his legally authorised representative.
• The ceremony will be conducted in French, and you are not required to have a translator present. However, if you wish to have your ceremony translated into English, it is recommended to speak with the mayor to make the necessary arrangements.

Religious ceremony

• In France, a religious wedding ceremony is not legally binding. If you would like to have a religious ceremony, you must first have a civil ceremony. The religious official performing your ceremony must be given your marriage certificate, as proof that your civil ceremony has taken place, before they can conduct your ceremony.
• Guide to getting married in FranceMany couples choose to have their civil ceremony the day before their religious ceremony, or have their civil ceremony in their home country of residence prior to arriving in France.

Alternative ceremony

• Because of France's residency requirements, many couples choose to get legally married in their home country and have a blessing in France. A very popular type of blessing is a Humanist wedding ceremony. The advantage is that you can have it at any location of your choice, and take advantage of the many beautiful settings that France has to offer.

Advertisement

Required Documents

• A valid passport.
• Long form birth certificate, fully translated into French by a sworn translator and issued within three months of your marriage date.
• Certificat de Celibat, a certificate that states you are not already married. This certificate does not exist under British law, so you need to obtain an official attestation from the consulate.
• Certificat de Coutume, an affidavit of law which is a notarised statement by an attorney who is licensed to practice in both France and your home country. The Certificate de Coutume certifes that you are both free to marry and your marriage will be recognised in your country of residence.
• Medical certificate. Blood tests and a medical examination must be undertaken by a French doctor or by a doctor who is approved by your local French Embassy or Consulate. Your marriage application cannot be published until you have submitted your medical certificates to your local Mairie.
• Justificatifs de Domicile - Proof of Domicile. You will need to show proof of residence. This can take the form of two documents, such as gas and electricity bills.
• Certificat du Notaire Prenupital agreement. If you are planning to have a prenuptial agreement this must be presented to the Mairie.

Office Locations & Contacts

Ministre des Affaires trangres et Europennes

Service Central de lEtat Civil
11, rue de la Maison blanche
44941 NANTES CEDEX 9
France

Mairie du 18e/Lamarck, 18me

74 rue Lamarck
75018 Paris
France
Phone number +33 8 00 00 70 46

Barbs/Goutte d'Or, 18me

39 bis bd Barbs
75018 Paris
France
Phone number +33 8 00 00 70 46

The 20 district town halls in Paris

Eligibility

One of the couple getting married must have been resident in a commune in France for a minimum of one month prior to the civil marriage. The civil marriage must take place in that commune. If both parties have been resident for over 30 days in different communes, the application for the civil marriage may be made to the mairie (Town Hall) of either commune.

Fees

Explain the fees structure which is required for obtaining the certificate/document.

Validity

Marriage is valid until divorce or death

Documents to Use

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Sample Documents

MARRIAGE IN FRANCE

Processing Time

Please explain processing time taken in obtaining the document/certificate.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Instructions

France has specific laws concerning marriage. These must be followed by both French citizens and foreign nationals. A marriage in France is recognised as valid in most other countries.

French law only recognises civil marriage. This must be performed by a French Civil Authority (officier de l'tat civil), which includes the mayor (maire), their legally authorised replacement - the deputy mayor (adjoint) - or a city councillor (conseiller municipal).

Required Information

• The date and place of your marriage.
• Your full names (including maiden name).
• Religious ceremonies.

Need for the Document

To be legally recognized, a marriage in France must take place at a Town Hall (Mairie). The Town Hall must be either the Town Hall where one of the applicants was born, or the Town Hall of the district where one of the applicants is currently registered as a resident.

France is one of the most romantic places to get married, and despite all the documentation many people still tie the knot with a civil ceremony. Sure, some people still wish to have a religious ceremony after their civil ceremony, however, some choose the alternative ceremony (also a legitimate one).

Information which might help

The mairie should provide an explanatory brochure (in French) about the documents and certificates to be provided. Only original documents or authenticated photocopies will be accepted. Documents not in French should be translated by a sworn translator (traducteur asserment). (Names of sworn translators are available from the mairie or local police station). French law requires the publication of Banns at the mairie of the commune of residence 10 days prior to the civil marriage. Certain documents must be received and approved by the mairie before Banns may be posted. A mairie may require a complete marriage file 10 or more days prior to the publication of Banns.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

After a couple gets married they can apply for a marriage certificate.

External Links

http://www.france.embassy.gov.au/pari/marriage.html

http://paris.angloinfo.com/information/family/marriage-partnerships/marriage-requirements/

http://www.consulfrance-newyork.org/Marriage

http://www.expatica.com/fr/essentials_moving_to/essentials/a-guide-to-getting-married-in-france-3600_10434.html

https://www.acte-naissance.fr/

Others

If either of the couple has been divorced or widowed they should supply proof in the form of an Acte de mariage (certified copy of the final divorce decree) or an Acte de dcs (in the case of widowhood)

A child born prior to the marriage may be legitimised. The town hall must be notified and a copy of the birth certificate provided (in particular indicating the fact of recognition).