How many years do you need to be married to a French citizen to get French nationality?

Checked on 2026-10-25

Service-public.fr says a foreign spouse can declare French nationality after four years of marriage if they lived in France continuously for more than three years since the wedding, or the French spouse was registered with a consulate abroad. Otherwise five years are needed. Shared life must be continuous, and French at B2 is required.

Key facts

What	The ministry’s guidance says	Source
Procedure	Declaration of French nationality by marriage	Service-public.fr F2726
4 years of marriage	If you have lived in France continuously since the marriage, or for more than 3 years since it, or your French spouse was on the consular register while you lived abroad	Service-public.fr F2726, step 1 “Durée du mariage”
5 years of marriage	All other cases	Service-public.fr F2726, step 1
Your spouse	French on the wedding day and since then	Service-public.fr F2726, step 1
Marriage abroad	Must be transcribed in the French civil registers	Service-public.fr F2726, step 1 “Lieu du mariage”
Shared life	Continuous since the wedding, both material and emotional	Service-public.fr F2726, step 1 “Communauté de vie”
French	At least B2, spoken and written	Service-public.fr F11926
Fee	255 € tax stamp (127.50 € in French Guiana)	Service-public.fr F2726, step 2

How long you must be married

The marriage duration is counted at the date you make the declaration. Service-public.fr gives these rules:

Four years if you have lived in France without interruption since the marriage.
Four years if, since the marriage, you have lived in France continuously for more than three years.
Four years if you lived in France for less than three years but your French spouse was registered with the French consulate (registre des Français établis hors de France) while you lived abroad.
Five years otherwise.

The other conditions

Your spouse must have been French on the day of the wedding and kept French nationality since.
A marriage celebrated abroad must first be transcribed in the French civil registers.
You must hold a valid residence permit when you file, unless you are an EEA or Swiss national, and have no expulsion order or ban still in force.
Your shared life (communauté de vie), material and emotional, must have been continuous since the marriage.
You must prove French at B2 level.
You must not have been sentenced in France to six months or more of unsuspended prison, or convicted of an offence against the fundamental interests of the Nation or of terrorism, unless rehabilitated or the conviction was removed from bulletin no. 2.

The procedure

You file form cerfa 15277 (signed by both spouses) with the naturalisation platform for where you live, with the 255 € tax stamp. You and your spouse are then interviewed together; the interview checks your shared life and assimilation, and you sign a sworn statement that your shared life has not stopped. A receipt is handed to you at the end. If accepted, your nationality takes effect on the date you subscribed the declaration.

The ministry has 1 year from the receipt to refuse registration, 2 years if an opposition procedure is started.
The civic exam doesn’t apply to declarations by marriage.

Sources

Change history

2026-10-25: Page created

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