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My grandfather worked as a policeman in Pondicherry, India, during the French rule. Recently I found a document in his cupboard. It's titled as Application to register to French consulate and he stated that he is a French national.

Does it help me to get the French nationality? enter image description here

Relaxed
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Sharmily Sharu
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1 Answers1

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It might help you document possession d'état, i.e. the fact that your grandfather continued to make use of his citizenship. Beyond that the rules are complex and it's difficult to determine whether you are a French citizen or not with so little information.

Do note however that the main obstacle to having your French citizenship recognized is the fact that French citizenship effectively lapses for people born abroad whose French parents have lived abroad for more than 50 years without making use of their citizenship. Since 1970 is almost 50 years ago, it's probably advisable to look into this swiftly.

Importantly, as explained in the comments, your grand-father's citizenship isn't terribly relevant. Your parents' citizenship is what matters. If one of them was French when you were born, continued to use their French citizenship and you can prove all that, then you are French yourself. If they did not, your grand-father's citizenship is not enough and you first need one of your parents to establish their citizenship before you can do anything.

Either way, when applying for a “certificat de nationalité française”, you only need to submit documentation regarding your parents' citizenship and prove that you are indeed their child. You would not typically go back to your grand-parents.

Relaxed
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  • If I may add: the father or mother should also have possession d'état for the past 50 years, as French citizenship can only be passed down from the parent (and not the grandparent). Based on the document, the grandfaher had three children who are all in their 60s. If OP cannot prove that, then s/he would probabmy not be recognized as a French citizen. – ar5975 May 23 '19 at 19:33
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    @ar5975 Yes, that's the rules I alluded to but didn't want to get into as we don't have nearly enough info and would have to consider many different scenarios. For example, if the father/mother is still alive, they could apply for a passport or certificat de nationalité ASAP and reset the 50-year clock for their children. – Relaxed May 23 '19 at 19:38
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    you are right. To the OP, we definitely need more details, particularly for your parent who is the child of our grandfather. – ar5975 May 24 '19 at 11:38
  • I have birth certificate marriage certificate of my parents and grandparents. I also have death certificate of my grand parents...everything is in french. I went to french conslate with those document but they allowed only my mother.can i get french nationality for my mother using this? – Sharmily Sharu May 25 '19 at 12:17
  • And they gave me an address and asked me to send those documets to that address but they didnt told me anything in detail.i had no clue what is going on. Please guide me – Sharmily Sharu May 25 '19 at 12:19
  • Can anyone tell me actually what this form is. When i asked the officials in conslate they gone through their computer and asked me to send those to france by giving me the address. They never told my mom anything. – Sharmily Sharu May 25 '19 at 12:32
  • @SharmilySharu Your comment are not very clear and deserve to be asked in a separate question but I think what you might be looking for is a “certificat de nationalité française”. It's the strongest evidence of French citizenship and once you have that it should be easy to get a passport. In your situation, it's indeed required to apply for it by mail. See https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/services-aux-citoyens/etat-civil-et-nationalite-francaise/nationalite-francaise/article/la-delivrance-de-certificat-de-nationalite-francaise and https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1051 – Relaxed May 25 '19 at 14:03
  • Importantly, what do you mean by “they allowed only my mother”? Did she get a certificate? A passport? It could be very important for you to send a copy of these documents together with the rest of the evidence when requesting your own citizenship certificate. If she has that, your grand-parents' status is not relevant. If she doesn't, you need to establish her “possession d'état“ and your grand-father's citizenship is not enough. – Relaxed May 25 '19 at 14:04
  • Thank you so much for sending the mail. Can i get my grandfather's nationality certificate through this? Actualy my mother tried to get french nationality. So she is the applicant so that conslate officials didnt allowed me. – Sharmily Sharu May 25 '19 at 14:15
  • @SharmilySharu Is your grand father alive? Are you trying to get a certificate for him or for yourself? If that's the latter you need to stop worrying about your grand-father's citizenship and focus on your mother's. Once she has a certificate and/or a passport, you can use that. Also, it's important to understand that nobody is trying to “get” French citizenship in this scenario, you already have it and are trying to get it recognized. You cannot possibly apply for any of this if your mother (or your father) hasn't been French since before you were born. – Relaxed May 25 '19 at 14:18
  • Okay sir...i was confused actually. Let me tell u in detail. My grandfather was dead, and he didn't told anyone that he had french nationality all we know is he did something to go to france. – Sharmily Sharu May 25 '19 at 14:33
  • So my mom was not aware whether she is eligible to get recognized as french citizen, to know that only we approached conslate.after listening to you all i need to do is to get my mom recognized not to seek french nationality. Am i correct sir? Thank u for spending your valuable time sir. – Sharmily Sharu May 25 '19 at 14:36
  • @SharmilySharu Basically, yes, once she got all the documents (ideally a “certificat de nationalité française”), you can start your own application and it should be fine. If your mother's application is denied, you cannot do anything yourself, you need her to appeal that decision. – Relaxed May 25 '19 at 14:37
  • Thank you so much for your assistance – Sharmily Sharu May 25 '19 at 14:50
  • Somethig that might help: your grandfather was born in 1913, when did he pass away? And when was your mother born? I ask because it could help in the counting of the 50-year time limit (knowing that the document you posted is dated 1970. – ar5975 May 25 '19 at 18:52
  • @ar5975 I am not sure I see how that's relevant. – Relaxed May 25 '19 at 21:44
  • My grand father died at 1974. And my mom was born in 1959 – Sharmily Sharu May 26 '19 at 02:33
  • I think its 5 months to finish 50 years – Sharmily Sharu May 26 '19 at 02:35
  • @Relaxed: I asked that because the 50-year deadline (of the document in question) is fast approaching. For the grandfather to ask to be listed at the consulate, he would have had proof of citizenship (passport, carte d'identité or certificat de nationalité française). I think that if OPs mother didn't have possession d'état since birth, and the last proof they have of French nationality is from the grandfather, then the year of his death could be considered as the last year that they have proof of French nationality in the family. – ar5975 May 26 '19 at 04:00
  • Ohhhhh...what i am suppose to do now? – Sharmily Sharu May 26 '19 at 04:11
  • @relaxed: sir i have sent all the documents to france seeking french nationality by post. I asked them to give french nationality instead of seeking recognition. Should i wait for the reply or else should i send the documents and ask for french nationality certificate by mail via the link u provided. – Sharmily Sharu May 26 '19 at 05:35
  • @ar5975 It only matters if the grandfather effectively used his citizenship since this document was issued. The year of death in itself doesn't matter. Same thing for the year of birth of the mother: it matters if the family tried to get the birth registered with the French authorities at the time, but not in itself. – Relaxed May 26 '19 at 09:56
  • @SharmilySharu Your mother needs to do that first (or has she already?). You might want to use registered mail to be able to prove when you sent the application and to retain a French attorney to navigate the process. In parallel, your mother could simply try to apply for a passport (it's faster and easier and if it works, it establishes possession d'état so it buys you time to figure out the rest). – Relaxed May 26 '19 at 09:57
  • Thank you so much sir. I will proceed as you directed. – Sharmily Sharu May 26 '19 at 12:09
  • @Relaxed I stand corrected. I can delete if deemed unnecessary. – ar5975 May 26 '19 at 20:13