Hello
I've seen several posts in this excellent forum on Fr nationality (Thank you Bev for your hard work and good sense) and they set me thinking.
I'm a Brit, aged 66, living in France with my French wife. I've lived here for 11 years and see France as "home". I consider myself more "European" than British.
If I were to apply for French nationality I have the right to vote in the French Presidential elections, but what else? Is it worth the admin hassle to acquire Fr nationality?
I value your ideas!
DejW
Just to give you a different perspective.
Some years ago I decided to "reintegrate" french nationality from my great-great-grandparents. I had no "immediate need" of becoming a french national. I was born "abroad" (in South America) in a family of descendants of french emigrants. "France" had always been present in my family (language, celebration of french historical dates, admiration of de Gaulle and the french quest on WW2), etc.
In my "real" life, I had no "need" of french nationality, as I usually travelled back and forth to Europe without visa with my other nationality, etc. and had no intention of emigrating to France or the EU.
However, at a given point, in one of my trips to France, I decided "internally" that I was more than a "descendant of French", I felt I was french myself.
Therefore I went through the exact procedure from the civil code, put together all my documents, and went through the (rather long and expensive) process of reintegrating nationality. This process also moved a lot of things inside me, links with my grandparents and great-grandparents, family memories, etc.
Nowadays I'm a very proud "bi-national", I hold my french passport, and when travelling to Europe, I evidently show it at the point of entry into the EU.
I'm also very excited in being able to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, and very proud of being French. Besides that, I take the chance in every opportunity to explore the ways of being a "link" between my two countries, be it business, cultural, etc.
I guess this won't be of much use for your decision, but it's "another perspective", as I usually see non-EU people (in this forum, too) trying to get nationality in order to get into the EU in general (or France in particular). My case was more a matter of personal/family history, emotional links to France, etc.
Cheers,
jacques.