Published on: January 28, 2025 | Article No: 295 | By: @rprasanth_kumar
Discover the essential documents required for French naturalization and ensure a smooth application process. From identity verification and proof of residency to language proficiency tests, we’ve outlined everything to help you prepare your application for French nationality efficiently.
This checklist covers the various documents required for Naturalisation par décret, based on residency in France. If you are applying via the Declaration mode based on your relation to a French citizen (married, ascendant, brother or sister), the documents required and the application procedure are completely different. To avoid any misunderstandings, I will cover the documents for declaration in a separate article.
Identity Proofs
Scanned photocopies of the following documents,
- Your valid official identity document: e.g., Passport. Create a single PDF of the front, back pages with your identity information and all the pages with immigration stamps.
- Electronic tax stamp: Accès à la nationalité française for €55. It is required only when you are completely ready to start the online application on ANEF and submit it.
- Your valid French residence permit (front and back), except if you are a citizen of the European Union, Switzerland, or a country in the European Economic Area.
Family Situation & Civil Documents
Scanned photocopies of the following documents,
- Your apostilled & translated birth certificate. It must include your full name, date and place of birth, and your parents’ full names.
- Proof of your parents’ birth and marriage: Documents confirming your father’s and mother’s date and place of birth, and their marriage if applicable. If these official documents are not available, an alternative option is Affidavit for Indian Birth Certificate Issues – An Example
- If you are married, your apostilled & translated marriage certificate
- Your husband’s/wife’s authorization to enter France
- Your husband’s/wife’s valid residence permit or national identity card (front and back).
- Past unions: If you were previously married, divorced, or in a civil partnership (PACS), include all documents related to these unions.
For more information, please refer to Naturalisation française: quels justificatifs d’état civil et de nationalité ?.
Residence Proofs and Police Clearance Certificates
Scanned photocopies of the following documents proving your address in France,
Case A: If you are a tenant renting a place,
- Rental agreement (contrat de location).
- Last 3 rent receipts (quittances de loyer).
- Most recent utility bill (electricity, gas) or telephone/internet bill.
Case B: If you are a landlord owning your home,
- Deed of ownership (Acte de propriété) of your residence issued by a notary. You can also add a recent utility bill.
Case C: If you are being hosted by someone free-of-charge,
- Copy of an identity document of the person hosting you (ID card, passport, etc.)
- Attestation d’hébergement dated & signed by the host.
If you have lived in France for less than 10 years, you must submit a foreign criminal record (casier judiciaire étranger) or equivalent document from all the countries where you have lived in the last 10 years.
- It must be issued by a competent authority in the country or countries where you have lived, or failing that, in the country of your nationality.
- This document is required for countries where you have lived for more than six consecutive months.
- If you cannot provide these documents, you must submit a criminal record extract from your country of nationality.
- Legalization or apostille of the foreign criminal record extract is not required.
- This document is not required for refugees, stateless persons protected by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA), or individuals who entered France as minors.
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Financial Resources
Scanned photocopies of the following required documents based on your Professional and Financial situations,
1. General Documents applicable to most people
- French income tax notice (Avis d’imposition) or income tax situation report (ASDIR: Avis de situation déclarative à l’impôt sur le revenu) for the last 3 years.
- Tax situation form P237 (Bordereau de situation fiscale P237) for the past 3 years. It can be easily obtained by sending a message via your Impots account.
- If applicable, Certificate of payment of family benefits (Attestation de paiement des prestations familiales). For example: family allowances from CAF, RSA, etc.
- Signed and dated statement outlining the nature, origin, and value of your movable and immovable financial assets (patrimoine). Please refer to the example template in the image below.
- Bank attestation confirming your financial assets, income from these assets and their frequency. You can contact your bank and obtain these attestations.
- Attestation bancaire précisant le montant des revenus de votre patrimoine.
- Attestation bancaire précisant le montant et la périodicité des versements de ces revenus.
2. Specific Documents based on your Profession
Case A: Salaried Employee
- Employment certificate (certificat de travail) or career statement (relevé de carrière), ideally for the last 3 years. The relevé de carrière can be downloaded from your info-retraite.fr account.
- Employment contract (contrat de travail) specifying salary, start date, and job title.
- Last 3 payslips and payslips for November and December of the last 3 years.
- If married, in a PACS, or cohabiting (concubinage): last 3 payslips and last 3 tax notices (avis d’imposition) of your partner.
Case B: Unemployed/Job Seeker (Demandeur d’emploi)
- Proof of registration with France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi).
- Last 3 payment statements for unemployment benefits (bordereaux de versement des indemnités).
- Any proof of previous professional activity over the last 3 years (if possible).
Case C: Intern (Stagiaire de la formation professionnelle)
- Certificate from the training organization (organisme de formation) indicating start and end dates.
- Last remuneration slip (bulletin de rémunération).
- Any proof of professional activity over the last 3 years (if applicable).
Case D: Self-Employed (Artisan, Commerçant, Exploitant Agricole, Gérant)
- Business registration extract (extrait d’immatriculation) from the trade or business register.
- Company statutes (statuts de la société) for managers or partners.
- Financial statements (bilans financiers) for the last 3 years.
- Company tax status document (bordereau de situation fiscale).
Case E: Profession libérale
- Proof of registration with the relevant professional body (ordre professionnel).
- Proof of income for the last 3 years.
- Potential registration with the SIRENE business directory.
Case F: High School or University Student (Lycéen ou Étudiant)
- Certificate of enrollment (certificat de scolarité) or student ID for the current academic year.
- Proof of higher education diplomas obtained in France.
- If applicable, a Scholarship certificate (attestation de bourse).
- If financially dependent on your parents: copies of their valid residence permit/national ID and last tax notice (avis d’imposition). If parents reside abroad: proof of financial support received from them.
- If working as a contractual teacher (contractuel de l’enseignement): employment contracts for the last 3 years.
For more information, please refer to Naturalisation française: quels justificatifs de revenus et d’impôts?.
French Language Proficiency
Applicants must demonstrate a certain level of written and oral proficiency in the French language. This level is defined by the written and oral level B1 (soon B2 level) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
To prove your level of written and oral knowledge of French, you must submit scanned photocopies one of the following documents:
Case A: If you have obtained a degree in France
- A diploma issued by a French authority, in France or abroad, sanctioning a level of French at least equal to the level 3 of the national nomenclature of training levels (Brevet, CAP, BEP, BTM or higher levels). Please refer to this non-exhaustive list of accepted diplomas equal to level 3 or above, Liste indicative des diplômes de niveau 3 et plus
- For example: I did my Master’s (2 years) degree in France, so I’m exempted from submitting a separate certificate to prove my French language level.
Case B: Certificate of a language test (digital, printed, and less than 2 years old) confirming B1 level (soon B2 level) in both spoken and written French:
- Certificate of success in the French language knowledge test (TCF: Test de connaissance du français) issued by France Éducation International
- Or Certificate of success in the French language assessment test (TEF: Test d’évaluation du français) from the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP).
- Or a DELF/DALF diploma attesting to a level of knowledge of French.
Case C: People with disabilities
- You can provide a medical certificate stating that your disability or chronic health condition makes it impossible for you to be assessed.
- If the medical certificate, drawn up according to the regulatory model available at Certificat médical, states that you can submit to a language test by arranging tests but that the certifying body has not been able to implement these arrangements, you must produce the medical certificate and a certificate from that body stating that it is impossible to arrange the tests.
- Official notice about this exception, Arrêté du 17 juillet 2020 fixant le modèle de certificat médical prévu.
Case D: If you are a refugee or stateless person, are over 70 years of age and have been living in France for 15 years, you are exempt from the requirement to produce a French diploma or language certificate.
Note: OFII attestations or FLEX language level tests are not accepted as proof of proficiency in French. For more information, please refer to Naturalisation française: comment justifier de son niveau en français?.
Apostille & Translation
- Legalization or apostille of foreign public documents: Contact your country’s embassy, consulate, or the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) if you are a refugee or stateless person. For example: I had apostilled my Birth Certificate and Affidavit for my parents in India. For more details, Apostille Process of Indian Birth and Marriage Certificates.
- Official translation of documents in foreign languages: This must be done by an official translator in France (except for multilingual birth certificates in French). For more information, Traducteur Assermenté: List of official translators in France.
- French civil status documents: Must be issued within the last 3 months. For example: marriage, death, or birth certificates. Fortunately, This rule does not apply to foreign documents.
Note: Ensure that your apostille is done properly as explained in the above article. For example – Indian documents: Without the state government’s attestation from the concerned local City/District authority, the apostille document will not be accepted for naturalization. So, many people were asked to resubmit their Birth and marriage certificates with the correct attestation and apostille stickers.
Miscellaneous Notes
- You can also use an online simulator to create a custom list of documents that are required according to your situation.
- Upload scanned copies during the online application and present the original documents during the physical interview at the Prefecture.
- Keep track of your online application regularly.
- If any additional documents or corrections in uploaded documents are required, they must be submitted within the deadline mentioned in the ANEF notification. If not, the application will be refused and you will be asked to wait for 2 years and only then you will be able to reapply.
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If you’ve found my articles helpful and you want to say thanks, a cup of coffee or two is very much appreciated!. Please help keep it going!
Question: Hi everyone. If someone’s (CDI) salary is changed (increased) within the same company after the nationality appliation is sent online, should we bring an avenant au contrat de travail during the interview?
I don’t get an avenant au contrat de travail from my company: the raise was just effectively shown in the next month payroll after I was notified by the company.
Don’t know if it would be better & safe to ask the company to provide me an avenant . Any of you has an idea about this ?
Thank you in advance!
Answer: Salary increases don’t need an avenant du contrat. They are simply reflected in the payslips. Some employers just give a simple letter as a mark of appreciation but it’s not mandatory. For the interview, you are supposed to carry the latest versions. So, it’s not a problem.
Cheers,
Prasanth
Question: My concern is more about if they (interviewer/administration) would wonder why my payroll doesn’t match my CDI contract’s salary (if no formal document is provided like avenant ), and think my file has some problem
Answer: No one expects the salary to remain the same as per the original contract. For example: If you had started working in 2020, will you be receiving the same salary in 2025?. Exactly why the Nationality application requires last 3 payslips & the last 3 year Nov-Dec payslips. So, there is nothing to worry about.
Cheers,
Prasanth
Hi, i arrived in France when I was 9 years old and applied for naturalization in 2024 just before I turned 19 years old . My mother is French (by Décret ) and my dad has permenant residency (10 years card) . Since I am a student studying in University.. could you advice what should I attach on impots/financial resources .(I had attached my parents financial resources )
Hello Advait,
If you have submitted your application already, I don’t understand your question. Did they ask for additional documents?
Cheers,
Prasanth
Hi Prashanth,
Thanks for the post. Much appreciated.
My question is : my wife is indian and she arrived in France in 2024. How can I submit 3 payslips or tax declarations of her’s if she had not worked here? One of the requirements was to submit this if we were married.
Thanks in advance,
Sai
Hello Sai,
You can submit the available documents, as long as you satisfy all the eligibility criteria for naturalization. So, submit her proofs including passport and resident permit.
Your spouse living with you in France is actually a very positive thing. If she was in India, your naturalisation application would have been rejected.