To get married in France as a foreigner, you need to hold a civil ceremony at a French town hall (Mairie), and only that ceremony makes the marriage legal. Everything else — the paperwork, the translations, the residency requirement, the banns — exists to get you to that ceremony. Plan on two to three months of lead time before your intended date, because foreign documents move slowly and a birth certificate that ages out mid-process forces you to start over.
Who Can Legally Marry in France
Both people must be at least 18 and legally single: unmarried, divorced, or widowed. A divorce in progress does not count; French law treats you as married until the decree is final. Marriage between close relatives is prohibited. If either of you is currently in a PACS, the marriage automatically dissolves it, with no separate paperwork required.1Service Public. Marriage in France
Foreign nationals may marry in France provided every eligibility and documentation requirement is met. But at least one of you must have a genuine tie to the commune where you want to marry: continuous residence there for at least one month before the banns are published. The residence can be a primary home, a secondary home, or a parent’s home in that commune.1Service Public. Marriage in France You cannot pick a picturesque village at random. You have to live there, or have a parent who does.
The Documents Every Couple Must Provide
Each person’s file must include:
- A valid passport or national identity card, with photocopies.
- Proof of address in the commune dated at least one month before submission. A rental lease, a rent receipt, an electricity, gas, or water bill, a tax notice, or an employer attestation is accepted. Mobile phone bills and bank statements are not.1Service Public. Marriage in France
- A full birth certificate. If issued in France, it must be less than three months old. If issued abroad, it must be less than six months old at the time you submit your marriage file. Some countries that do not update civil records, such as Australia and the UK, may be exempt from the six-month rule; confirm with your Mairie.
- Witness details for each witness: full name, date and place of birth, occupation, address, and a copy of an identity document.
Divorce decrees or a previous spouse’s death certificate go into the file where applicable. If neither of you has direct proof of residence, documentation from a parent living in the commune may be accepted.
Extra Documents for Foreign Nationals
Most French town halls will ask a foreign national for two additional certificates: a certificat de célibat, confirming you are not already married, and a certificat de coutume, explaining your home country’s marriage laws and confirming the marriage will be recognized there. This is where the timeline usually slips, because a number of countries simply do not issue either document.
The United States is one of them. U.S. marriage records are held at the state level, not federally, so the Embassy cannot produce either certificate. Instead, U.S. citizens sign a self-declaration called an Attestation tenant lieu de certificat de coutumes et de célibat, attesting they are free to marry. The form does not require Embassy notarization. If your Mairie insists on notarization anyway, you can book a notary appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Paris or the consulates in Marseille or Strasbourg for $50.2U.S. Embassy & Consulates in France. Marriage and Civil Partnerships (PACS) in France (Guidelines)
British nationals are in the same position. The UK does not issue a certificat de célibat or certificat de capacité matrimoniale, and British consular officials cannot sign or stamp one. UK citizens provide an attestation sur l’honneur, a self-declaration made before the relevant French authority.3GOV.UK. France: Explanatory Note in Place of Certificat de Celibat Australian citizens run into the same gap.
Refugees, stateless persons, and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection in France are exempt from the certificat de coutume requirement as of February 2023. Civil registrars are not permitted to contact the authorities of the refugee’s country of origin, or ask the refugee to do so.4Ofpra. Fin de la Delivrance des Certificats de Coutume
Each Mairie has some discretion in what it will accept. Some are used to foreign files and process a self-declaration without comment. Others have never seen one and will want the explanatory letter your embassy can supply. Contact yours before you finalize anything.
Translations and Apostilles
Every foreign-language document in your file must be translated into French by a sworn translator (traducteur assermenté). France maintains official lists through each court of appeal. A certified translation of a standard document like a birth certificate typically runs €30 to €50 per page, though rates vary by translator and language pair.
Many foreign documents also need an apostille, the standardized certificate that authenticates a public document under the Hague Convention. For U.S. documents, apostilles come from the issuing state’s Secretary of State for state records like birth certificates, or from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentication Services for federal documents. Mailed requests take roughly five weeks from arrival in Washington; walk-in drop-off processing takes seven business days. Same-day service is by appointment only for life-or-death emergencies.5Travel.State.Gov. Requesting Authentication Services
Start the apostille and translation work before anything else. A foreign birth certificate older than six months when it reaches the Mairie will likely be rejected, and you will have to order a fresh one and repeat every step that used it.
Submitting the File and the Publication of Banns
Once the dossier is complete, submit it to the Mairie of the commune where one of you established residency. Most Mairies want an appointment; some accept walk-ins. Call ahead to confirm what they expect.
After the Mairie accepts your file, it publishes the banns: a formal announcement of the marriage posted at the town hall for at least ten days.1Service Public. Marriage in France The ceremony cannot take place until that period ends, and in practice most Mairies schedule the wedding two to three weeks after publication.
An interview with the Mayor or a registrar may also be required. It confirms that both parties are marrying freely and neither is being coerced. Some Mairies waive it when both of you appeared in person to submit the dossier, but that call is theirs.
The Civil Ceremony
The Mayor or a Deputy Mayor conducts the ceremony in a public room at the Mairie. The ceremony itself is free in the commune where you live, though some town halls charge a facility fee for weddings held outside normal hours or for non-residents.
During the ceremony, the officiant reads aloud the Civil Code articles setting out the mutual obligations of marriage: mutual respect, fidelity, assistance, and shared responsibility for the family’s moral and material well-being. You exchange vows and sign the marriage register alongside the Mayor and the witnesses.
Witnesses
You need at least two witnesses and may have up to four. Each must be at least 18 or legally emancipated. There are no restrictions based on nationality, sex, or family relationship: friends, relatives, or a French acquaintance you met during your stay all qualify. Witnesses must be present through the entire ceremony, including the signing of the register.6Service Public. Witnesses to a Marriage: What Are the Rules?
If You Do Not Speak French
If either spouse or any witness does not understand French, they may bring an interpreter of their choice.6Service Public. Witnesses to a Marriage: What Are the Rules? Tell the Mairie in advance so the officiant can plan. Court certification is not required for the ceremony, but some Mairies have their own preferences; ask when you submit the dossier.
Deciding on a Marital Property Regime Before the Wedding
If you marry in France without signing a prenuptial contract before a French notary, you fall automatically under communauté réduite aux acquêts, the community-of-acquisitions regime. Anything either spouse earns or buys during the marriage — salaries, investments, property purchased with marital income — belongs equally to both. What you owned before the marriage, and anything received by gift or inheritance during it, stays your separate property.7Service Public. Marriage Without a Contract: Regime of the Community Reduced to Acquisitions
If you want something different, whether full separation of property, universal community, or a customized mix, a notary must draft a contrat de mariage before the wedding. For estates up to €30,800, the notary’s fixed fee is €188.68 excluding taxes; above that, fees are proportional to the value of the property listed.8Service Public. Marriage Contract The contract must be finalized and registered before the ceremony date. Couples with property in more than one country, or significant separate assets, should see a notary early. Changing regimes after marriage is possible but costs more and requires court approval.
After the Ceremony
Immediately after the ceremony you receive the Livret de Famille, an ongoing family record book, and the acte de mariage, your marriage certificate.9Service Public. Marriage in France Additional copies of the marriage certificate can be requested from the Mairie where the marriage took place at no charge. A religious ceremony can only follow the civil marriage, and the religious officiant will ask for the certificat de célébration civile as proof.2U.S. Embassy & Consulates in France. Marriage and Civil Partnerships (PACS) in France (Guidelines)
Getting the Marriage Recognized in Your Home Country
If you plan to live outside France, your French marriage certificate will likely need an apostille for official use back home. Since May 2025, French notaries handle apostille formalities for public documents issued in mainland France. Requests go through the Apostille and Legalization Center of one of 15 regional notarial councils.10Service Public. Legalization or Apostille of a Public Act Drawn Up by a French Authority The U.S. Embassy in France cannot apostille French-issued documents.11U.S. Embassy & Consulates in France. Apostille for Documents Issued in France
Countries not party to the Hague Apostille Convention require full legalization through their consulate instead. Check your home country’s rules before you leave France; handling the paperwork in-country is much simpler than doing it from abroad.
Marrying in France Does Not Give You the Right to Stay
A wedding certificate is not a residence permit. Non-European foreign nationals who marry a French citizen generally need a long-stay visa (VLS-TS) to remain in France after the ceremony. One exception: if you entered France legally on a short-stay visa, or you are exempt from tourist visa requirements, married a French citizen while in France, and have been living with your spouse for more than six months, you can apply for a “private and family life” residence card during your first year of stay without the long-stay visa.12Service Public. Can the Foreigner Husband of a Frenchman Stay in France?
If both spouses are non-EU nationals, the marriage has no effect on immigration status. You would need to qualify for a residence permit some other way: employment, study, or a separate family reunification process. Talk to the local préfecture or an immigration attorney well before the wedding, because overstaying a short-stay visa creates problems that a French marriage certificate will not solve on its own.