MSF and French nationality applications

In theory, a Multilingual Standard Form (MSF) does away with a need for legalised translations for birth, death or marriage certificates from other EU countries. The forms were introduced in 2019 to reduce complications for residents of EU states.

UK certificates are issued by the General Registry office (gro.gov.uk).

You can specify you need an MSF with French.

It cannot be guaranteed that British MSFs will be acceptable in France after the Brexit transition period but they are acceptable currently.

A note on the UK government site reads: “Individuals should contact relevant authorities in EU member states to check whether they will accept MSFs post-Brexit.”

This official French site refers to extraits plurilingues being acceptable: tinyurl.com/v5ftrbo.

It is, however, possible that news of the change might not have filtered to the official dealing with your application.

Send your queries about life in France by email to news@connexionfrance.com