Tying the knot in France

France offers two different ways of tying the knot; one is a traditional marriage contract while the other allows a legally-recognized union, including for same-xxx couples.

A church ceremony can only take place after a civil marriage.
Foreigners can marry in France, either with a French spouse or between each other, or they can engage in a legally recognized union open to couples of the same or different xxx.

All marriages in France must first be performed by a French civil authority before any religious ceremony can take place. The civil ceremony is held in a village, town or city hall, called la mairie, in front of the mayor. The completion of the civil ceremony establishes the couple as husband and wife before the law.

The choice of mairie must be one where one or both of the couple to be married has resided for at least 40 days. Under French law, marriage banns must be posted at the mairie no less than ten days before the date of the marriage ceremony. For a marriage involving one or more non-French nationals, they can only be posted after one of the aspiring spouses has resided at least 30 days in France.

It is the civil marriage ceremony which establishes a couple before the law. The mayor can be substituted to perform the ceremony by the deputy-mayor, or a city councilor.
If they so choose, they may then go on to celebrate a religious ceremony, and this is quite common in France. The clergyman performing the ceremony will require a certificate of civil marriage before it can take place.

Couples married in France receive a livret de famille. This is a legal booklet which records the marriage and subsequent events in the family such as births, deaths, divorce or name changes. It is often required for official purposes, not least during a child's progress through school. A marriage certificate can be obtained from the mairie where the marriage was performed.

What you need before you marry
* A valid passport or a French residence permit
* Proof of a French home address (such as a phone bill)
* A birth certificate (less than three months old)
* A certificate of celibacy (less than three months old) which can be established in France at your country's consular office.
* A statement by a lawyer or equivalent certifying that the non-French national concerned is free to marry in France.
* A medical certificate (less than three months old)
* A certificate by a French solicitor, called a Certificat du notaire, if the marriage is to include a a prenuptial legal contract.

The Pacs
The Pacs is an alternative legal union for heterosexuals and homosexuals.
There is an alternative legal union in France for both heterosexual and homosexual couples, which is called Le Pacte civil de solidarité, commonly known as Le Pacs. While it falls well short of conferring the legal rights which marriage spouses enjoy, it has a legal status which offers both official recognition of the union and a number of rights for both individuals. It does not have any legal bearing over questions such as the adoption of children.

The Pacs is established before a local magistrates' court for civil cases, called a tribunal d'instance. The parties can draw up a document specific to themselves which defines their engagement concerning financial matters, such as the equal share of household finances. The Pacs can be signed between two unmarried people, regardless of nationality or xxx, who are aged 18 or over.

Article submitted by Tara Tilley

You may also be required to produce a certificat de célibat (which doesn’t mean that you promise to be celibate but that you aren’t already married!) no more than three months old, provided by your embassy and a notarised ‘affidavit of law’ ( certificat de coutume), drawn up by a lawyer in your home country, to confirm that you’re free to marry. For a church ceremony, you may be asked to produce other documents, such as a baptism certificate. All documents must be ‘legalised’ in your home country and translated into French by an approved translator.
No more than two months before marrying, a couple must undergo a medical examination ( certificat d’examen médical prénuptial), including a blood test and chest X-ray. The cost is reimbursed by social security. The medical was originally intended to check compatibility between the blood groups of a couple, although with the advent of AIDS it has taken on a new significance. The results are confidential and cannot prevent a wedding from taking place. If a divorced or widowed woman wishes to remarry within 300 days of the divorce or death, she must provide a medical certificate verifying that she isn’t pregnant. For a church wedding, you may be required to attend a day’s préparation de mariage course.

You will then be issued with a pre-marital certificate. Notification of an impending wedding ( bans) must be published ten days before the ceremony at the town hall where the wedding is to take place.

A civil ceremony, presided over by the mayor or one of his deputies, must be performed in France to legalise a wedding. Although around 50 per cent of couples choose to undergo a church ‘blessing’ ceremony, it has no legal significance and must take place after the civil ceremony. There’s no fee for a marriage in France, although most town halls make a collection in aid of local charities.

Copies of the marriage certificate can be obtained at the mairie. Married couples are given a ‘family book’ ( livret de famille) in which all official family events such as the birth of children, divorce or deaths are recorded.


Also might I add that you will not get your carte d'identité Française immediately (in the case of marrying a French national) you must be married for 4 years and be able to speak the language.