US Citizen to marry French Citizen in US but move and live in France

[tkdtkdtkd]

It might not take that long!

I was married in June 2011 in New Hampshire to my French husband. We worked with the Consulate in Boston. I submitted the paperwork in person for the Publication of the Bans two months before our wedding.

Two days after our wedding, we brought our own signed wedding license to city hall for an official marriage certificate, then drove directly to the state house for the apostille. Fast. cheap, and easy! We then mailed in the request for the Livret de Famille and Traduction d'Acte de Mariage. It only took 2 1/2 weeks. The papers were mailed to my address in the US.

A week after our wedding, I left for France on the 90-day tourist visa (I hadn't been there for over 90 days, to plan the wedding and organize my move). Six weeks before returning to the States, I booked my visa appointment on the Consulate's website. I had everything ready, so I booked it for two days after my arrival. I did not book my ticket back to France as I had no idea how long the process would take. It was ready in two weeks (definitely not a day or two!), but I stayed in the States for four weeks total. I found a reasonable one-way flight back to France and considered the rest of my stay a vacation.

If didn't go to France right after the wedding, my visa would've been ready within about five weeks. However, I really didn't want to spend our first few married months apart, impatiently waiting for paperwork.

Hope this is encouraging to those just embarking on the process. It feels never-ending, but it's not so bad. Just keep track of what is needed for every step of the process and stay organized. Hope you work with efficient and helpful Consulate employees!

Also, I've documented my whole process from the Bans to finishing my OFII requirements - with notes for which documents were submitted where, when, and how. I'm happy to share if anyone is confused about the requirements.

T

[tkdtkdtkd]

Also, we decided to get married, planned a backyard wedding, organized my move to France, and dealt with the French paperwork - all in less than three months. So September is more than possible. Good luck!

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by tkdtkdtkd

Also, we decided to get married, planned a backyard wedding, organized my move to France, and dealt with the French paperwork - all in less than three months. So September is more than possible. Good luck!

Like so many things in France, your mileage may vary. (Or should I say "your kilometrage may vary"?)

Each consulate has its own ways, which may take longer or shorter. And with the livret de famille, one big unknown tends to be how long it takes for the mairie back in France to update the French spouse's birth record. Some mairies are just more on top of these things than others. (We had to wait - in a slightly different context - for the mairie in my husband's birthplace to update his birth record for his divorce when we were getting married here in France.)

Net-net, don't count on any particular time table. These things take as long as they take, but with any kind of luck you may be pleasantly surprised.
Cheers,
Bev

[Forthegoodknight]

So, just to chronicle my process to let anyone else know how things might possibly go dealing with the Atlanta Consulate...

December 3rd we mailed our paperwork to the Atlanta Consulate to request the Publication de Bans, and by December 9th, it had been posted at the Mairie in Tourcoing, France. Which means that it was completed 10 days later on the 19th. Although it sounds like both the consulate and the mairie in Tourcoing were on the ball, it took until January 18th for the paperwork to be returned to us officially. While we could have possibly been married any time after the 19th of December, we could not get anyone to actually tell us on the phone either through the consulate or at his Mairie in France that the Bans had been posted....

At any rate, we were married on the January 20th, I went to Raleigh and dropped off the Marriage certificate on the 25th, had my Apostille on the 26th, and mailed it overnight to the consulate with the request for the Livret and other paperwork, which was actually less than I had expected....

Just a note, I had, during November, applied for an Apostille for my birth certificate through the mail from Greensboro, NC to Raleigh, NC and it took over a month to be returned. Please, if at all possible, spare yourself and go get the Apostille in person.

Anyway, after mailing the paperwork on January 26th I've heard nothing else from the consulate, as expected. My husband called them around January 30th just to ask for an estimate of how long it would take, and they told him it would be between 3-6 months. Great.

But, we're hoping that because they were so quick about posting the Bans, maybe they will be a bit faster about publishing the records and getting the Livret under way.

We've got our fingers crossed!

[regis]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Having the wedding in the US is actually fairly easy. Check with your local town hall for any "special" requirements for a foreigner to get married there (probably not much more than a passport so they can notify the consulate).

It's after the wedding that the fun starts. You should contact the French consulate now to check on whether or not they want you to "publish the banns" before the wedding takes place. (Some consulates insist on it - others don't).

Once you're married, you'll need to get a certified marriage certificate. This usually involves getting the state you're married in to "apostille" your marriage license (which validates it as genuine). You then submit that, along with some other documents, to the French consulate to get a "livret de famille" - the French document that proves that you're married. This can take a while because the information has to be sent back to France and entered into the birth record of your now-spouse.

Once you have the livret de famille, you just have to make an appointment at the consulate and show up there in person with the requested documents. They should issue a spouse visa within a day or two and you're ready to make your move to France.
Cheers,
Bev

i found this is VERY useful !! i have a small question , i am in a J1 VISA in USA ,hold republic of china 's passport, it is way too complicated to travel back to china and get married with my french fiancé, may i also get married in Unite-States? do i require the same documents as american citizens ? i appreciate your help !

[Bevdeforges]

The requirements for getting married in the US should be the same for you as for anyone else. Check with your local city hall or wherever they do the marriage licenses where you're living.

As far as getting the livret de famille and a French spouse visa, you need to check with the Houston consulate if you're living in Texas.
Cheers,
Bev

[regis]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

The requirements for getting married in the US should be the same for you as for anyone else. Check with your local city hall or wherever they do the marriage licenses where you're living.

As far as getting the livret de famille and a French spouse visa, you need to check with the Houston consulate if you're living in Texas.
Cheers,
Bev

thank you Bev, i live in texas, but can i get married in las vegas ?

[Adowee]

hello everyone...thank you all so much! you've been a great help...but i have more questions! =D

first of all...if anyone has the answer...how do we get a Livret de Famille?...what process do i need to go thru to get that....

second....do i need to get a new ID and Passport with my new married last name?...or am i just supposed to live with the old last name being on my passport for the rest of my life? heehee....

and third...after i get to France...after all of this processing...how do i go about staying there for longer than 12 months? do i need to renew my visa every year and just simply live with it...or is there something i can do once i'm there that makes it ok for me to be there forever so to speak?....

if anyone can answer any of these it would be greatly appreciated...thank you so much!!!!


Adowee

[_Sarah_]

Originally Posted by Adowee

first of all...if anyone has the answer...how do we get a Livret de Famille?...what process do i need to go thru to get that....

second....do i need to get a new ID and Passport with my new married last name?...or am i just supposed to live with the old last name being on my passport for the rest of my life? heehee....

and third...after i get to France...after all of this processing...how do i go about staying there for longer than 12 months? do i need to renew my visa every year and just simply live with it...or is there something i can do once i'm there that makes it ok for me to be there forever so to speak?....

The first question was already answered:

Once you're married, you'll need to get a certified marriage certificate. This usually involves getting the state you're married in to "apostille" your marriage license (which validates it as genuine). You then submit that, along with some other documents, to the French consulate to get a "livret de famille" - the French document that proves that you're married. This can take a while because the information has to be sent back to France and entered into the birth record of your now-spouse.

- Once you have the apostilled marriage certificate you apply at the consulate for a "Transcription d'acte de mariage", and they will issue you with a Livret de Famille.

The second questions is a matter of choice, you can do what you want to do.

Third question: before going to France you apply for a long stay visa for the spouse of a French national. For your first year in France you only have a titre de sejour, but before the end of your first year you apply for a resident permit (carte de sejour). At the end of each year you renew your Carte de Sejour, until you are granted a more-permanent 10-year carte de resident (after 4 years of being married you can get this).

A visa does not get renewed, a visa allows you inital entry into France. France uses a system of residency permits (carte de sejour) for people to remain in the country.

[Bevdeforges]

Just to amplify a bit on Sarah's remarks:

For the livret de famille - check the details on the website of your local French Consulate. If you're in Alabama, you'll use the French Consulate in Atlanta. Normally, you have to appear in person to submit the paperwork for a Livret de Famille and then again for the visa application. (But check the website - sometimes they will allow you to mail in some applications.)

As far as your passport goes, if you change it into your married name after you've had it for a year or more, you wind up having to just get a new passport (i.e. full fees and everything). In France, your legal name is ALWAYS your given name (i.e. your maiden name). You add your husband's name as a "nom d'usage" but all your medical and other legal records remain in your maiden name. The only trick to not changing your passport is that you have to remember to book flights (especially overseas flights) in the name on your passport, as passport and ticket must match these days. You can always change your US passport next time it's up for renewal.

When you first get to France on your spouse visa, you need to report your arrival to the OFII (the Consulate will explain this to you when you get your visa) so they can make an appointment for your medical exam and "contract of integration" - i.e. set you up with language lessons (if you need them) and the "civics" lectures you'll need to have completed before you can apply for your carte de séjour at the end of your first year in France.

The carte de séjour (as well as the "titre de séjour" you get in your passport at the OFII appointment) is actually a "residence permit" that allows you to live and work in France.
Cheers,
Bev