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French Passport by Birth, Problem

648 Views 9 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Bevdeforges, 
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I was born in Australia, previously had a French passport and French National identity card & lost them about 18 years ago when I moved house. (As most of my family live in France I would like to be able to spend as much time there as I want).

So I am applying for replacement ones. My issue is My Father (deceased) was French but born in Italy, Mother is Australian. On first approach the French Embassy here said I may have a few problems as Father born in Italy, I have to prove I am French

I have provided them with,

My French Birth certificate (parents registered my birth)

Certificate of inscription, in the Register of French citizens established outside France with my photo and number on it (expired 12 months ago)

What looks like an identity card with my Fathers photo, saying he is under the protection of the French consulate here (he passed away and card expired about 6 years ago)

An old French Passport of his, saying he is a French citizen. This passport is marked canceled and it mentions the number of the new one.

Problem I have is I cannot find much of his stuff including his last passport and National Identity Cardand he did not talk much about his past, other than growing up in France since a small child and serving in the French Army around 1948, I don't know why he was born in Italy his younger brothers and sisters were born in France.

Should this be enough, is there anything else I can do?
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Bevdeforges
Not sure how far back the records go, but you should at least ask the office in Nantes for a "French birth certificate" for your father. https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/R1405

If your father was registered as being French at birth, he should have a birth certificate in Nantes - which would be the "A ticket" as far as proving that he was a French citizen.
Cheers,
Bev
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Francis 1210 said:
I was born in Australia, previously had a French passport and French National identity card & lost them about 18 years ago when I moved house. (As most of my family live in France I would like to be able to spend as much time there as I want).

So I am applying for replacement ones. My issue is My Father (deceased) was French but born in Italy, Mother is Australian. On first approach the French Embassy here said I may have a few problems as Father born in Italy, I have to prove I am French

I have provided them with,

My French Birth certificate (parents registered my birth)

Certificate of inscription, in the Register of French citizens established outside France with my photo and number on it (expired 12 months ago)

What looks like an identity card with my Fathers photo, saying he is under the protection of the French consulate here (he passed away and card expired about 6 years ago)

An old French Passport of his, saying he is a French citizen. This passport is marked canceled and it mentions the number of the new one.

Problem I have is I cannot find much of his stuff including his last passport and National Identity Cardand he did not talk much about his past, other than growing up in France since a small child and serving in the French Army around 1948, I don't know why he was born in Italy his younger brothers and sisters were born in France.

Should this be enough, is there anything else I can do?
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TBH you should not have a problem, at least not if you provided a recent copy of your birth certificate from Nantes. I think in mentioning that there could be a problem because your father was born in Italy is just a case of the French Embassy in Australia covering their backs - my experience is they seem to do that and they are not particularly helpful. If you have provided the documentation you state, everything should be fine. Alternatively you could go through the process whilst on a visit to France - it's much easier here (my circumstances re nationality are a little different, but I found it much easier to get my nationality sorted here in France than in Australia).

Moral of the story, though, is NOT to wait 18 years should your ID card or passport get stolen or lost.

If you've submitted the documentation you say you have, just wait and see what they advise. Be prepared to have to wait a while, as the Embassy in Canberra does seem to be somewhat slow in these matters. (Don't know where you live, but an alternative way forward would be go to into the Sydney Consulate, or even your State Consulate.) But, honestly, I don't believe you should have a problem.
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Bevdeforges said:
Not sure how far back the records go, but you should at least ask the office in Nantes for a "French birth certificate" for your father. https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/R1405

If your father was registered as being French at birth, he should have a birth certificate in Nantes - which would be the "A ticket" as far as proving that he was a French citizen.
Cheers,
Bev
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To the OP - I don't believe that it's the French Embassy that will be responsible for processing your request, rather it is the French Consulate in Sydney which has responsibility for matters relating to French civil status - have a look here https://au.ambafrance.org/-Formalites-administratives-. Also have a look at this page https://au.ambafrance.org/Justificatifs-de-la-nationalite-francaise

You will need to provide both a recent copy of your father's birth certificate and of your own, both of which can be obtained from Nantes. You can make both requests online at this site https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/R1405 and there is no charge. You need to request the copie intégrale of both.

Cheers
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Problem is he was born in Italy, however I do have a reference number for my Father that I think is his Birth Certificate from Nandes. I have not requested one for him but I have requested a new one for me as my old one is out of date...needs to be within 3 months of issue. Lot different to Aussie ones.

Don't know a lot but he was conscripted into the French Army.
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Bevdeforges
Everyone born outside of France who has or who takes French nationality is supposed to have a birth certificate at Nantes. Since the demand is a freebie, just fill in the form and request his (use that number if you think it might help). It may go quicker than you think.
Cheers,
Bev
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A great many French people were born outside France :) All their birth certificates are held by Nantes - you should have no problem whatsoever obtaining your father's birth certificate and the online set-up makes it really easy :)
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Bevdeforges said:
Everyone born outside of France who has or who takes French nationality is supposed to have a birth certificate at Nantes. Since the demand is a freebie, just fill in the form and request his (use that number if you think it might help). It may go quicker than you think.
Cheers,
Bev
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Does it not help that I had a passeport before as well as a french identity card do they keep records of these?

They asked me to send a copy of a police report as to the lost items, which I have done.
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Francis 1210 said:
Does it not help that I had a passeport before as well as a french identity card do they keep records of these?

They asked me to send a copy of a police report as to the lost items, which I have done.
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If you have the police report that is really helpful. However, given you lost the passport and identity card so long ago and both are presumably long expired, they might well want some additional documentation. You will notice that the police report is a standard requirement for replacing a lost/stolen passport as per one of the links I gave you, but also that the requirements for renewing talk about timeframes which I assume are no longer applicable to you. It might help that you previously has a passport and ID card, especially if you have the numbers, but it's impossible to be certain given the considerable time that has elapsed and the fact that those documents have presumably long since expired. (That said, I 'renewed' my UK passport that was over 30 years expired - I still had it - that required more supporting documentation and took longer; so it's more than likely that it will make some difference, just hard to say to what extent.) Irrespective, you should be able to get it sorted relatively easily - and requesting your father's birth certificate online is hardly an onerous task and costs nothing. Don't sweat it.
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Bevdeforges
Francis 1210 said:
Does it not help that I had a passeport before as well as a french identity card do they keep records of these?

They asked me to send a copy of a police report as to the lost items, which I have done.
Click to expand...
EH beat me to saying it, but most countries have a "renewal" procedure if you are renewing a passport that has expired "recently" and can provide the expiring or expired passport. That is limited, however, to passports that have expired within the last 5 or so years. To request a passport after that time, whether you have the old passport or not, is in essence a brand new passport request and is treated more or less like you never had a passport before. You have to prove all your citizenship and identity stuff from scratch.

I'm sure this is done to prevent people from finding an old passport and then "renewing" it in order to change their identity or for other nefarious purposes.

They may check on your prior passport and/or identity card. But as far as they are concerned, they are issuing them anew and require all the documents you had to provide originally.
Cheers,
Bev
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