Applying for French nationality: 200 readers share their experiences

Thank you to the approximately 200 readers who have taken part in our survey on applying for French nationality and the time it can take.

Below, we summarise some of the findings and the tips you have shared.

How long does nationality take?

Waiting times to obtain nationality vary greatly from one year to five or more, depending on the type of application, prefecture staffing levels, and the department of France.

Some of the longest waits relate to applications made shortly before or during the Covid pandemic, when prefecture services were disrupted and backlogs increased.

The good news is that the most common waiting time is just one year (for 30.8% of respondents), followed by two years (26.7%), three years (19.2%) and four (9.9%). Some 13.4% waited five years or more.

However, this hides differences between people applying by ‘declaration’, typically due to marriage to a French national or other French family links, and those applying via the standard ‘naturalisation’ route, with the latter making up three-quarters of respondents.

From our analysis, around 60% of declaration candidates received citizenship in a year or less, compared to only one in five for naturalisation.

The time taken for the latter was two years (around 30%), followed by three (25%), one (21%), four (14%) and five or more (10%).

So, naturalisation by decree is typically the slower path, reflecting a more complex application and more factors that must be assessed.

At the same time, declaration figures were quite polarised – most were quick, but one in five said it took five years or more.

New requirements

From January 1 this year, the process became more demanding, with naturalisation applicants required to demonstrate B2-level French and pass a civic knowledge exam. The B2 requirement also applies to nationality declarations by marriage.

Since May 2025, naturalisation has also become more difficult for retirees whose income is mainly from abroad, with new government guidance stating that applications should be refused where most of their resources come from outside France.

Who took part in the survey?

The survey, completed mostly by Britons, followed by Americans, shows that citizenship applications were infrequent before 2016 but there was a change after that year’s Brexit vote.

There was a substantial cluster in 2017 to 2019, after article 50 was triggered and amid talks of a possible ‘no-deal’ Brexit. Applications continued strongly through the UK’s departure and transition and have continued since, albeit at a slightly reduced level.

Some 91% of respondents were living in France when they applied and 32% report family ties in France.

Most were aged 40-80, with a significant concentration aged 60-75. A smaller segment applied in their 20s and 30s and there were a few applications from people in their 80s.

The paperwork challenge

Around a third of applicants (36.4%) rated the difficulty of providing documents as three out of five. This compares to 13% who found it very easy and 10.3% who said it was very hard.

Respondents identified obtaining birth, marriage, and divorce certificates for themselves, their spouses and their parents as especially challenging, particularly when these originated from different countries or required international legalisation and/or translation by sworn translators – 89% of respondents made use of sworn translators.

One American said “I can’t get my parents’ birth certificates without a court order from the State of New York”, while a Canadian said “I needed to get my new Canadian birth certificate stamped by the consulate in Toulouse, but they were extremely difficult to contact”.

Other challenges included navigating online application systems, document uploads, and tracking down records for parents or residences.

Obtaining police background checks from countries of residence within the previous 10 years was also found to be complex and, in some cases, expensive. One respondent said: “In my case, this included Vietnam, which would have been impossible if I had not had a friend working at the UK embassy in Hanoi.”

Similarly, providing proof of financial stability, such as tax returns, pension records, or income evidence if self-employed, presented hurdles.

French language requirements

At the time of their application, just over a quarter rated their French as eight out of 10, with the next most common choice being seven.

Very few selected five or less, while 13% chose total fluency (10).

A total of 71% had to provide formal proof that they could speak French, a fairly low figure, probably explained by the fact that, until April 2020, applicants aged 60 or over were exempt from this, with French assessed only at interview.

Waiting in ‘limbo’

While many applicants’ dossiers were processed quickly, others reported prolonged periods of silence or waiting in ‘limbo’.

Despite challenges – including language exams and interviews – many successfully naturalised citizens said the experience was ultimately worthwhile and life-affirming.