Tino

Hi all,

I've been struggling to nail down a concrete answer to my scenario.

I plan to marry my French fiancee in France next year and we currently both live in UK.

When trying to find residence requirements online, I can only find the scenario of two non-French citizens or residents marrying in France, which states at least one of the couple must be reside in France for 40 days prior to the ceremony (for clarify, I refer to the civil ceremony by the mairie).

Since she is a French citizen and all her family still live in the town, is the 40 day requirement still applicable?

If so, she still has her French bank account registered at her parents address and could provide statements as proof. How would the mairie check or know otherwise whether she has been there for 40 days or not?

Thanks!

EuroTrash

If it's a small town the mayor will know who lives there and who doesn't because he'll see them around town, or not.
If it's a large town the mairie won't know.
Either way, it's up to them how much of a blind eye they turn, most will.
But, why not get married in the UK and have a blessing in France if you want to be romantic? If you both live in the UK, would a UK marriage certificate not be more useful? It would certainly be simpler from the admin point of view.

petitefrancaise

Bear with me... I have a friend near Perpignan who is a wedding organiser - most of her clients are well-heeled foreigners who just want to get married in France and don't live there. I'll ask her about it but it might be a day or two before she replies.

Tino

So your understanding is that the 40 days applies to citizens as well?

The reason really is that the better half wants to follow her tradition of civil ceremony in the morning/early afternoon, then straight onto the wedding.

Tino

Thanks! No rush, we have 18 months

dmu

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...e-in-france.fr

which I've deliberately left in French for the vocabulary, lists all the bureaucratic hassle for a UK citizen to marry in France, which some of us have gone through, and, for me, it almost put me off getting married here! It might be worth your fiancée accepting to get married in the UK (if the documents to be submitted are less complicated), and then have a Church ceremony in France. Which is what French OH and I did in the other direction (Mairie here and Church Blessing in the UK a couple of months later). Wherever, make sure you get a multilingual Marriage Certificate, useful for the unknown future.
The link says that one of you must show proof of 40-day domicile by Utility bill or payslip, and this applies to all citizens. It also says that "in certain cases", your (fiancée's) parents can provide this. Find out from the Mairie what the "certain cases" are, and whether a Bank Statement is acceptable.
If you still want to get married in France, you've got plenty of time to prepare, but don't start collecting the documents too early, as they'll no longer be valid when you take your dossier to the Mairie.
Hope this helps!
P.S. According to
https://www.service-public.fr/partic...vosdroits/F930
your fiancée won't have to supply all the quirky documents that foreigners must provide. Her matrimonial status will be clear from her recently issued Birth Certificate. This link also indicates that "lasting ties via a parent" are valid as far as domicile is concerned. But check with the Mairie all the same....

Tino

Many thanks for the help! I hope based on the last link, the fact it's a small town and her parents are quite prominent within (close ties in politics, lots of property etc) will mean a favourable opinion from the Mairie

petitefrancaise

My friend got back to me....
I'm just going to copy/paste what she wrote..
"I always advice my future brides/grooms to arrange the legal/civil part of their union in their country of residence, and to have a symbolic ceremony here following. In France, by law they need to get married at the Marie's office first, then move to the church, or onsite (venue) for the symbolic part of the wedding. So why not do the bureaucratic/Mairie part of their union together at home before or after their wedding here in France. Now, often the French arrange the Mairie 2/3 weeks before their actual wedding day, rather than do it all on the same day. Everybody cramming into the Mairie's office isn't always fun, and the bride is unable to walk down the isle for the first time, as their guests have already seen the bride's dress at the Mairie.
However, should your friend decide they'd like to legally get married in France via the Mairie, they need 40 days residence in France, the couple, or their parents need to have a property here in France, and have good ties with their Mairie. I do know of couples, whereby the Mairie have been very flexible, as they know their parents well, and haven't insisted the couple complete the 40 days residence. All depends really on their Mayor I guess.
According to this article it's either/OR - 30 days plus residence OR the parents have a residence here.
https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/france/family/marriage-partnerships/marriage-requirements"

dmu

Reassuring that a professional adviser says the same as a lay-person on a forum!
Could this thread possibly be made into a Sticky??

petitefrancaise

Yes. Indeed!

Tino

Excellent, thanks for the confirmation!