Certificat de Celibat

[jacynta]

Hi,

I am Malaysian and my partner and I would like to get PACS en France.
One of the documents required for foreigners involving in PACS is the certificat de celibat and certificat de coutume.
I rang the Malaysian embassy in Paris and they said that as MAlaysia government does not recognise PACS ,hence they are unable to issue me the certificat de celibat.
Is they any Malaysians out who has encounter such problems?
Please enlighten me.

Thank you

[frogblogger]

There is this Word document on the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

The relevant passage says:

4. What is the procedure if I wish to get married to a French citizen?

What is needed to apply for Authorization to Marry a French Citizen:

• Birth Certificate (translated to French)
• Statutory Declaration
• Marital Status Letter
• Certificate de Celibat
• Certificate de Coutume

Procedure:

1. Before the Embassy of Malaysia can deliver you a Certificate de Celibat and the Certificate de Coutume, you will need to obtain a Statutory Declaration.

2. The Statutory Declaration can be obtained from the Commissioner of Oath in Malaysia or at the Embassy of Malaysia in Paris.

3. Once the Statutory Declaration has been acquired, the original copy has to be sent to the Marriage and Divorce Department in Putrajaya in order to obtain the Marital Status Letter. If he/she is Muslim, he/she or his/her member of the family will have to go to the Islamic Department at his/her country to get the “Application for Permission to Marry”.

4. After receiving the Marital Status Letter, it has to be legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Putrajaya.

5. After that, you can send the document by post or in person to the Embassy of Malaysia in Paris. There will be a charge of EUR10 for the Certificate de Celibat and Certificate de Coutume. If you prefer to send by post, please include postal charges.

6. When all these steps have been achieved, the Embassy will be able to issue the Certificat of Celibat and the Certificat of Coutume.


5. Can I request the Embassy to translate my birth certificate? What are the charges?

Yes. For the translation of birth certificate, kindly send the original copy of your birth certificate, fees of EUR5.00 and a self-address envelope and stamp.

The translation process will take two (2) working days.


6. What are the requirements to request for a Letter of Good Conduct? What are the charges?

For the application of Letter of Good Conduct, the following documents are required:

i) 2 completed forms (website : Official Website for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia)
ii) 2 recent passport-sized photographs
iii) 2 copy of Malaysian passport
iv) 2 copy of Malaysian identity card
v) Fees of EUR5.00
vi) Self-address enveloped and stamp

Your application of Letter of Good Conduct will be sent to Malaysia and the process may take about two (2) months.

So can't you just tell your Embassy that you intend to get married instead?

[jacynta]

Hi frogblogger,

Wouldn't it be stated on the document why I wanted to declare my single status? eg for PACS or Marriage purpose?

[frogblogger]

Even if it was - and I don't see why, as it's just a statement of fact about your single status - I would have thought that all the French are interested in is evidence that you are unmarried, and free to enter a PACS (or marriage) contract.

It sounds as if your embassy is being awkward over the living together but not married thing. If they won't issue the documents because they don't like the PACS idea, then in your shoes I would tell them what they want to hear.

[jacynta]

Hi frogblogger,

Does this means that the certificat de celibat will only states that I am single, unmarried etc and will not state whether it's for marriage or pacs?

[frogblogger]

The French consulate in Los Angeles has this example of a certificat de célibat on its website:

CERTIFICAT DE CELIBAT


Before me, « name of the lawyer », « title », duly commissioned and qualified, personally comes :

“first, middle, last name”

who, being duly sworn, deposes and certifies that my client said the following :

“I, first, middle, last name at birth”

was born on “date” in “city of birth, state, country”

My father’s full name is : “first, middle, last name”

My mother’s full maiden name is : “first, middle, maiden name”

Passport number : “number” issued on “date, month, year” at “city and country where passport was issued”

I have never been married or I have been married and divorced of (name of the ex-spouse) by the Superior Court of “city, state, country where spouse was divorced”.

Subscribed and sworn to before me on (date)

“Name of the lawyer”

But different countries issuing the document may have different formats. Why not just pay the 10 euros to your embassy and find out? Malaysia is a special case because of the differences in procedure that apply to Muslims (going by the first document I quoted above), so I have no idea what format the Malaysian declaration will have.