What you need for France
Why people send Canadian documents to France
Each situation has its own requirements. Here are the ones we see most often, with the detail that avoids a refusal.
Marrying in France
To marry at a French town hall (mairie), the Canadian partner provides a birth record showing parentage, issued no more than 6 months before the file is submitted. The mairie also asks for a certificat de coutume, usually issued by the person's embassy or consulate, and sometimes a certificate of single status. Depending on the country, foreign records carry an apostille and, if not in French, a translation by a sworn translator.
Registering a Canadian marriage or birth with French civil status
A French citizen who married or had a child in Canada has the Canadian record transcribed into the French consular civil registers. The Consulate General of France in Montréal handles Québec and the Atlantic provinces; Toronto and Vancouver handle their own districts. Before marrying in Canada, the French partner also asks the competent consulate for a certificate of capacity to marry (CCAM).
Registering a PACS with a Canadian partner
A PACS between a French citizen and a Canadian partner can be registered at the French consulate covering your shared address in Canada, or at a mairie in France. The foreign partner born abroad provides, among other things, a birth record under 6 months old, a certificat de coutume and a certificate of no prior PACS under 3 months old. The PACS is then recorded in a register kept by France's central civil status service in Nantes.
French citizenship through marriage
The foreign spouse of a French citizen living in Canada files a nationality declaration with a French consulate, after four or five years of marriage depending on the circumstances. The file includes the full original birth record with both parents' names, and a criminal record extract from every country where the applicant lived more than 6 months in the past 10 years. For Canada, that generally means an apostilled RCMP check.
Which Canadian authority apostilles your document
The authority depends on where in Canada the document was issued or notarized, never on where you live now or where the document is going. We confirm it at the free pre-check, before you send anything.
| Document | Canadian authority | Notary first? |
|---|---|---|
| Birth, marriage or death certificate | The province that issued it (Québec, Ontario, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan), or Global Affairs Canada for all others | No |
| RCMP criminal record check | Global Affairs Canada | No |
| Degree, diploma, transcript | The province of the institution | Often, depending on the province |
| Power of attorney, statutory declaration, affidavit | The province of the notary or lawyer | Yes, the notarial act is what gets apostilled |
| Corporate documents | The province of the registry, or Global Affairs Canada for Corporations Canada | Sometimes, depending on the document |
Do you need a translation for France?
A document written in French needs no translation in France. That is a real advantage for Québec civil status records, which are issued in French, and for apostilles issued in French. A document in English, such as an Ontario or British Columbia record, generally has to be translated by an approved translator (traducteur agréé), meaning a court expert listed with a French court of appeal or the Cour de cassation.
A translation done outside France can also work when the translator appears on the list published by the French consulate and the consulate certifies the translator's signature. An ordinary Canadian certified translation without that step may be refused by a mairie or a French notary. Our honest advice: ask the French office which form it accepts first. We then arrange a certified translation in that form, only if one is actually needed.
Three mistakes that delay a file for France
Avoid this
A birth record that expires before filing
For a marriage or a PACS, the 6-month limit is counted on the day the file is submitted, not the wedding day. A record ordered too early, then apostilled and shipped, can be stale on arrival. Work backwards from the filing date.
Avoid this
A short-form certificate with no parents
French civil registries want a record that links you to your parents. The Québec birth certificate does not: you need the copy of act. In Ontario, ask for the certified copy of registration, never the wallet-size certificate.
Avoid this
A power of attorney the French notary will not use
To sell property or settle an estate in France, the French notary often drafts the power of attorney, and some deeds require a notarized one. A document you wrote yourself, even apostilled, can be refused. Get the notary's template before signing in front of a Canadian notary.
Useful guides: RCMP fingerprints from abroad · Marrying abroad · Birth certificates · Québec birth certificate from abroad · Powers of attorney
Does France accept Canadian apostilles?
Do my Québec records need a French translation?
How recent must a Canadian birth record be for France?
Do I need an apostille for a French long-stay visa?
Is an apostille on my degree enough to work in France?
I already live in France. Can I get my Canadian documents without flying back?
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