The hack to find out early about your French citizenship application
There are two places that might be able to tell you whether or not you gained French nationality, even before you receive any official documentation from your local préfecture.
Applying for French nationality can be a long process, involving lots of documents. Once you have finished the interview step, it is a waiting game to find out whether or not you have been approved.
Eventually you should receive a letter, as well as an email from SDANF, informing you that you have gained French nationality, and in most places you will also be invited to a ceremony to receive your certificate of naturalisation.
The ceremony is not compulsory, and whether you choose to go or not you can start doing things like voting in a French election or applying for a French passport before the ceremony (which might only be held a couple of times a year, depending on where in France you are).
But while you're waiting for the letter you can check two places - depending on how you applied for citizenship - and find out early whether the decision went your way.
It's not always quicker - sometimes the letter arrives first, while if you live in a small village the mayor may even pop round and tell you in person if they spot your name on the list of new citizens - for many people, these two websites offer a speedier answer.
Liste Électorale
Everyone who become a naturalised French citizen since 2018 has benefited from automatic voter registration, regardless of whether you are applying par décret or par déclaration.
READ MORE: The ultimate guide for how to get French citizenship
As such, new French citizens are automatically put into the liste électorale, which is sometimes done several days prior to the official letter being sent out.
In order to see this, you can check your status via the Service-Public website.
Service-Public website
The exciting news is that once you are registered on the liste électorale, you should be able to vote almost immediately (though you should also verify you are on the annual voter rolls).
Journal Officiel
Foreigners who have gained French citizenship have their names listed in the Journal Officiel - the French government circular that lists all new laws and decrees.
However, this is only the case for those getting citizenship par décret, so it is not in place for those declaring French nationality by marriage or ancestry.
When looking for a specific naturalisation decree, you must know the date of publication in the JO (the date on which you received a favourable notification from French authorities).
READ MORE: What is France’s Journal Officiel?
Then, you can access the JO by going to the Légifrance website, clicking the correct date, and looking for the heading 'Naturalisations et réintégrations'. This will take you to a protected page, where you will need to prove you are not a robot by a quick verification test (usually a maths question).
At this point, you should be able to download the pdf file of the JO. You can scroll down and search for your name.
Due to privacy laws, the JO is a protected document so you cannot simply Google search your name plus 'Journal Officiel' - you need to go onto the site and download the document.
For anyone going through the citizenship process, it is a good idea to hold onto this document as you may need it for future administrative processes.
READ ALSO
- How soon after gaining citizenship can you get a French passport?
- How soon can you vote after gaining French citizenship?
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See Also
Applying for French nationality can be a long process, involving lots of documents. Once you have finished the interview step, it is a waiting game to find out whether or not you have been approved.
Eventually you should receive a letter, as well as an email from SDANF, informing you that you have gained French nationality, and in most places you will also be invited to a ceremony to receive your certificate of naturalisation.
The ceremony is not compulsory, and whether you choose to go or not you can start doing things like voting in a French election or applying for a French passport before the ceremony (which might only be held a couple of times a year, depending on where in France you are).
But while you're waiting for the letter you can check two places - depending on how you applied for citizenship - and find out early whether the decision went your way.
It's not always quicker - sometimes the letter arrives first, while if you live in a small village the mayor may even pop round and tell you in person if they spot your name on the list of new citizens - for many people, these two websites offer a speedier answer.
Liste Électorale
Everyone who become a naturalised French citizen since 2018 has benefited from automatic voter registration, regardless of whether you are applying par décret or par déclaration.
READ MORE: The ultimate guide for how to get French citizenship
As such, new French citizens are automatically put into the liste électorale, which is sometimes done several days prior to the official letter being sent out.
In order to see this, you can check your status via the Service-Public website.
The exciting news is that once you are registered on the liste électorale, you should be able to vote almost immediately (though you should also verify you are on the annual voter rolls).
Journal Officiel
Foreigners who have gained French citizenship have their names listed in the Journal Officiel - the French government circular that lists all new laws and decrees.
However, this is only the case for those getting citizenship par décret, so it is not in place for those declaring French nationality by marriage or ancestry.
When looking for a specific naturalisation decree, you must know the date of publication in the JO (the date on which you received a favourable notification from French authorities).
READ MORE: What is France’s Journal Officiel?
Then, you can access the JO by going to the Légifrance website, clicking the correct date, and looking for the heading 'Naturalisations et réintégrations'. This will take you to a protected page, where you will need to prove you are not a robot by a quick verification test (usually a maths question).
At this point, you should be able to download the pdf file of the JO. You can scroll down and search for your name.
Due to privacy laws, the JO is a protected document so you cannot simply Google search your name plus 'Journal Officiel' - you need to go onto the site and download the document.
For anyone going through the citizenship process, it is a good idea to hold onto this document as you may need it for future administrative processes.
READ ALSO
- How soon after gaining citizenship can you get a French passport?
- How soon can you vote after gaining French citizenship?
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