French citizenship: naturalisation and marriage, 2026

Citizenship is where the road that starts with a visa and a residence permit ends. It gets you a French passport and EU citizenship. Here we go through the two main legal routes and the requirements that changed in 2026. Every number below comes from service-public and ministry pages, with the card and the date it was checked next to it.

Naturalisation by decree: how many years of residence

This is the classic route for people who live in France legally. According to card F2213 (service-public, checked 16 July 2026), the length depends on your situation:

The length isn’t the only condition. You must be 18 (you can apply from 17). When the decree is signed you have to be living in France: this is the centre of your material interests and family, and if your spouse or children live abroad, citizenship can be refused. When you apply you need a valid titre (except for citizens of EEA countries and Switzerland), a stable and sufficient income, and no prison sentence of 6 months or more without suspension.

Citizenship by marriage: how many years of marriage

This is a separate route for spouses of French citizens, and it works by declaration, not decree. According to card F2726 (checked 1 May 2026):

Your spouse must have been French on the wedding day and stay French since. A marriage held abroad must be entered in the French civil-status registers. The shared life (material and emotional) must be continuous from the marriage, and on the day you file you need a valid titre.

After you file, both spouses are called to an interview: they check that you really live together, and your assimilation. Then you are given a receipt. The ministry has 1 year from the receipt to refuse to register the declaration (2 years if an objection procedure has begun), and a refusal is challenged before the tribunal judiciaire where you live within 6 months. Citizenship by marriage takes effect from the date the declaration is filed.

What level of French you need: B2

Since 1 January 2026 both routes need French at B2 or above, oral and written (service-public, card F11926). According to the Senate report of 24 November 2025, the rise for naturalisation was introduced by article 20 of the law of 26 January 2024; service-public also names, in its legal basis, décret no. 2025-648 of 15 July 2025, which amended décret no. 93-1362.

You prove the level with one of these:

• the diplôme national du brevet;
• a state diploma or a professional certification of level 3 or above;
• any diploma attesting French at B2 or above;
• a TCF (France Éducation international) or TEF (CCI Paris) certificate issued less than 2 years ago.

You can do without a language document if an illness or disability makes the test impossible (you need a medical certificate). For naturalisation by decree there is one more exception: refugees and stateless persons over 70 who have lived in France with a valid titre for at least 15 years.

The civic exam (examen civique): naturalisation by decree only

Since 1 January 2026, anyone going by decree sits a civic exam. With a declaration by marriage (as in other declaration cases: an ancestor or a brother or sister who is a French citizen) there is no exam. What you need to know:

• a test in French with 40 multiple-choice questions, on knowledge and on situations; the topics are French history, the principles, symbols and institutions of the Republic, the exercise of citizenship, and France’s place in Europe and the world;
• you pass with 32 correct answers (80%); it lasts no more than 45 minutes;
• it is taken on a computer or tablet at a centre accredited by CCI Paris Île-de-France or France Éducation international (not online from home);
• the centre sets the price itself, from €60 to €80; you can retake it as many times as you need;
• if you live abroad, ask at the Institut français, the Alliance française or the consulate how it works.

According to the Interior Ministry’s answer of 11 August 2026, as of 26 May 2026 the exam was offered by 444 centres in every département; 71,125 people had taken it, with an average success rate of 81%. These figures cover all kinds of exam, not just naturalisation. If you are caught cheating, you are barred from sitting it for 2 years.

How to apply and what documents you need

You apply for naturalisation online. By post, to the naturalisation platform for where you live, only if you couldn’t apply online, and with proof of that (a letter from the ANTS support centre or a document from the préfecture). There are no other payments to the state: service-public warns that private websites offer paid “help” (for example, booking a préfecture appointment), while the procedure itself, apart from the stamp, is free.

The stamp is €255 since 1 May 2026 (€127.50 in French Guiana); before it was €55. Documents for the online application (F2213):

• the €255 stamp;
• a copy of your valid titre (this doesn’t apply to citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland), and an identity document;
• civil-status and nationality documents;
• documents on housing, income and taxes;
• a diploma or certificate showing French at B2 or above, and a certificate that you passed the civic exam;
• documents on your family;
• if you have lived in France for less than 10 years, a criminal-record certificate from the country (or countries) where you lived.

Documents in a foreign language go in with a translation made by an accredited translator (traducteur agréé), and some documents have to be legalised or carry an apostille. The list of documents is on service-public (card F2213); which body puts on the apostille and in what order the translation is made, we have worked out in the guide Apostille, sworn translation and diploma for France 2026; the service that handles your file can ask for more documents and set a deadline: if you miss it, the file can be closed without being examined.

Timelines and the interview

The administration has a maximum of 18 months from the date you are given the receipt (récépissé) for a complete file; 12 months if, on the date of the receipt, you have lived in France for at least 10 years. The period can be extended once by 3 months, with reasons given.

If the application is admissible, you are called to an interview at the préfecture. They check your assimilation and your commitment to the values of the Republic, and at the end you sign the Charter of the rights and duties of the French citizen. In parallel they check your civic conduct (paying your taxes, for example) and any criminal record in France and abroad.

The decree takes effect on the day it is signed. Minor children living with you become French if they are named in the decree. A decree can be withdrawn within 2 years of publication if the conditions weren’t met, and in the case of fraud within 2 years of its discovery.

If you are refused

A refusal comes either because the application is inadmissible (the legal conditions aren’t met) or because it is inopportune (you can’t be given citizenship yet): the application is then rejected or put off for a set period (ajournement), for example so that you can strengthen your professional integration. A new application less than 5 years after a rejection can be left unexamined.

An appeal on an online file takes two steps. First a mandatory complaint to the minister within 2 months through your personal account. Then, if refused or if there is no answer within 4 months, a claim to the administrative court of Nantes, which you have 2 months to file. For marriage the deadline is different: 6 months and the tribunal judiciaire (see above).

What citizenship gives you

• You can ask for a French identity card (carte nationale d’identité) and a passport.
• A citizen of an EU country automatically becomes a citizen of the EU: you have the right to live and work in another EU country without a visa or permits, and to vote and stand in municipal and European Parliament elections where you live.
• Dual nationality is allowed by France: the law doesn’t require you to give up your previous one. One catch: a French citizen with two nationalities who lives in the country of the second can’t invoke French nationality there. For the rules of the second country, ask its consulate.

If you have questions about citizenship and the exam, you can ask them in our community chat.

The “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram - paperwork, naturalisation and life in the South

See also:

• How to move to France: every legal route
• Titre de séjour: residence permit step by step
• Studying in France
• French for a residence permit and citizenship: A2, B1, B2 and the civic exam