Is a UK marriage recognised in France?
Certain countries have special rules for French citizens marrying abroad
Marriages between Britons are accepted differently than those between a Briton and a French citizen
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Reader Question: My partner and I are getting married in the UK. Do we need to do anything to register it in France, where our main residency is?
This depends on if either you or your partner are French citizens.
If neither of you are French, then your marriage is just a standard British one, and will be recognised by the French authorities, provided you can show proof of marriage with a certificate.
Note, however, that if you have a UK – or in general, non-French – marriage certificate, for it to be accepted by French authorities for certain formalities you will need to have it officially translated by a traducteur agréé.
Read more: Which documents require an official translator in France?
Rules for marrying in France
If one of you is French – and your main residence is in France, as you have mentioned is the case – then the local French embassy or consulate must transcribe the marriage into consular registers so that it is valid in France.
Publication of marriage banns is also necessary, in the French commune where you live, for 10 days.
The consulate can then issue, on request from the French member of the couple, a certificat de capacité à mariage (certificate of capacity to marry).
Other items required for this include:
A copy of the birth certificate of each spouse (French ones should have been issued fewer than three months before)
Proof of French nationality
Photo ID
Proof of address or residence
Other supporting documents may be requested depending in particular on the situation of one or both spouses.
Read more: What documents are needed by non-residents to marry in France?
Once the marriage has been held, you can then request to the consulate or embassy that it be transcribed into the official registers.
Note, an application has to be made instead to the service central de l’état civil in Nantes, if the marriage took place in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Monaco, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Poland, Switzerland or Liechtenstein.
