REQUIREMENTS FOR GETTING MARRIED IN FRANCE
If you are a Filipina living in France marrying a French national, this is article is for you.
To be legally married in France, it is only possible through a civil ceremony held at the town hall (mairie) of your commune. If you wish to have a church wedding, it must be performed only after the civil ceremony.
In the summer of 2018, I married my fiance in a civil ceremony at the mairie of our place of residence. Here is a guide on our wedding preparation:
To be legally married in France, it is only possible through a civil ceremony held at the town hall (mairie) of your commune. If you wish to have a church wedding, it must be performed only after the civil ceremony.
In the summer of 2018, I married my fiance in a civil ceremony at the mairie of our place of residence. Here is a guide on our wedding preparation:
VISIT THE MAIRIE
First thing we did was to go to the mairie of our town to inquire about the legal requirements in getting married. We were assisted by the secretary of the mairie, she gave us a booklet called “Guides des Futurs Epoux” that contains legal information about French weddings, forms that you need to fill out, and the checklist of the required documents. She also briefly discussed the documents to be provided and informed us about the required 10 days publication of Banns.
DOCUMENTS PROVIDED
First thing we did was to go to the mairie of our town to inquire about the legal requirements in getting married. We were assisted by the secretary of the mairie, she gave us a booklet called “Guides des Futurs Epoux” that contains legal information about French weddings, forms that you need to fill out, and the checklist of the required documents. She also briefly discussed the documents to be provided and informed us about the required 10 days publication of Banns.
DOCUMENTS PROVIDED
👨 Futur epoux
☑ Copie Intégrale d’Acte de Naissance: Birth Certificate issued less than 3 months
☑ Copie Intégrale d’Acte de Naissance: Birth Certificate issued less than 3 months
☑ Preuve de l’Identité: Photocopy of passport data page
👩 Futur epouse
☑ Copie Intégrale d’Acte de Naissance: DFA authenticated Birth Certificate issued less than 6 months, translated by the Philippine Embassy in Paris
☑ Copie Intégrale d’Acte de Naissance: DFA authenticated Birth Certificate issued less than 6 months, translated by the Philippine Embassy in Paris
☑ Preuve de l’Identité: Photocopy of my passport data page and long stay visit visa
☑ Certificat de Capacité Matrimoniale: DFA authenticated Certificate of No Marriage Record (CENOMAR) issued less than 6 months, translated by the Philippine Embassy in Paris
☑ Certificat de Coutume issued by the Philippine Embassy in Paris (If you have any questions about the Certificat de Coutume, you can contact the Philippine Embassy in France on their official Facebook page)
👫 Des futurs epoux
☑ Justificatifs de domicile: Recent rent receipt
☑ Liste des Témoins: Information about our 2 witnesses such as personal and professional details and photocopy of their IDs (Please note that you must have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 witnesses)
Additional documents might be asked of you depending on your circumstances such as Livret de Famille for those who already have children, Copie Du Jugement De Divorce ou Act De Deces if one of the parties is divorced or widower, or Prenuptial Agreement if you have.
☑ Justificatifs de domicile: Recent rent receipt
☑ Liste des Témoins: Information about our 2 witnesses such as personal and professional details and photocopy of their IDs (Please note that you must have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 witnesses)
Additional documents might be asked of you depending on your circumstances such as Livret de Famille for those who already have children, Copie Du Jugement De Divorce ou Act De Deces if one of the parties is divorced or widower, or Prenuptial Agreement if you have.
We also fill out the personal details page of the booklet and after we have completed the above documents, we ticked each document on the checklist.
process requests for translations to the French language of Philippine government-
issued documents.
SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS
We took an appointment for the submission of the documents. On the day of the appointment, the secretary of the mairie verified and received all our documents. The marriage banns was posted afterwards.
PRE-MARRIAGE INTERVIEW
We were interviewed by the mayor of our town few days after we submitted our documents. We were asked with questions like "Do you work?", "How long have you known each other?", "How did you meet?", "Do you plan to remain in our town after you marry?", "What are your hobbies?", etc. The interview is generally in French and I tried my best to confidently reply in French as well. He also asked how many guests we have, if we need a big room for the civil ceremony, if we will put decorations and all. At the end of the interview we were asked to set the date and time of the wedding.
VERIFICATION
A day before our wedding, my fiance was called by the mayor to verify all the details on the marriage documents that will be presented on the wedding ceremony.
WEDDING DAY
Our wedding ceremony was set late in the afternoon and it was held in a small but pretty room in the mairie. The mayor and the secretary were there, with our witnesses, family, and friends. The ceremony was quick and it was conducted in French language. After signing all the documents, we were issued a Livrette de Famille and a copy of the Acte de mariage.
WEDDING DAY
Our wedding ceremony was set late in the afternoon and it was held in a small but pretty room in the mairie. The mayor and the secretary were there, with our witnesses, family, and friends. The ceremony was quick and it was conducted in French language. After signing all the documents, we were issued a Livrette de Famille and a copy of the Acte de mariage.
We celebrated the lovely event with our dear family and friends at our home and enjoyed good appetizers and cocktails until midnight .
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Very nice to read your blog..i am glad that i get some information about marriage as we are also preparing for it�� Now i already have ideas and knew some important things that we need to do.Thank you so much����bonne soirée
ReplyDeleteMerci 🤗💋 Happy to know that you appreciate my writings, happy to help as well. Congratulations in advance girl! 👰🤵💐
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