Your naturalisation file: documents and steps up to the decree
What a complete file contains, how it is sent and what happens between the receipt and the citizenship ceremony.
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A French naturalisation file is filed online through the Interior Ministry’s online service, except in Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia and New Caledonia, and only once the residence period is met: 5 years in general, 2 years after two years of degree-level study in France. It brings together the €255 tax stamp (timbre fiscal), a valid residence permit, civil-status documents, proof of address, income and tax for the last three years with the P. 237 tax-status statement (bordereau de situation fiscale) issued less than three months before filing, a French diploma or test at B2 level and the certificate of passing the civic exam. The receipt (récépissé) is only issued once every document is in; it starts the 18-month legal deadline. For a receipt dated 2 November 2026, the answer is due by 2 May 2028. Next come the assimilation interview at the prefecture, signing the charter of the rights and duties of the French citizen and, if approved, the decree published in the Official Journal and the welcome ceremony.
Before building the file: check the date
A file sent too early is inadmissible, and the documents will have to be gathered again. The mini-calculator above gives the date your residence period is met; the full calculator adds age and the response deadline. Allow time for the two certificates people most often forget: the French diploma or test at B2 level and the pass in the civic exam. A TCF or TEF test certificate is only accepted if it is less than two years old.
The documents
For an online application, the list on the official naturalisation-by-decree page is:
- the €255 tax stamp (€127.50 in French Guiana);
- a two-sided copy of your valid residence permit, unless you are an EU, EEA or Swiss national;
- an official identity document, passport or residence permit;
- proof of civil status and nationality, of address, of income and of tax;
- the French-level diploma or certificate and the civic-exam certificate;
- documents on your relationship, any earlier marriage ended by divorce or death, and your minor children;
- if you have lived in France for less than ten years, a criminal-record extract from each country where you lived, or from your country of nationality;
- for a non-EU national who entered the Schengen area for under three months during the last five years, the passport or an equivalent document.
By post, only possible when the online service cannot be used (shown by an email from the ANTS citizens’ contact centre or a prefecture document), you also send form cerfa 12753 in two copies, two 35 by 45 mm photos, and a stamped addressed envelope plus a blank 500 g tracked letter.
Proof of income for your situation
Professional integration is an essential condition: stable income sufficient for your tax household. The official page on proof of income sets out the documents by situation. Almost every case needs the tax assessments (avis d’imposition) for the last three years and the P. 237 tax-status statement for those years, dated less than three months before filing.
| Situation | Documents specific to it |
|---|---|
| Employee | employment certificates, current contract, last 3 payslips, November and December payslips of the last 3 years |
| Jobseeker | France Travail registration, last 3 benefit statements, proof of past work |
| Craftsperson, trader, company manager | registration extract, accountant’s statement of income, the company’s tax status |
| Liberal profession | membership of the professional order, income for the last 3 years |
| Micro-entrepreneur | registration, income for 3 years, Urssaf returns for the last 12 months |
| Student | enrolment certificate, French higher-education degrees, grant or parents’ resources |
| Retiree | pension certificate, latest payment statement |
Rules on documents
Only civil-status certificates must be originals; other documents can be copies, but keep the originals, as the officer will ask for them at the interview. A French certificate must be less than three months old. Every document in another language comes with an original translation by an approved translator, and some countries require legalisation or an apostille. If something is missing, the case officer sets a deadline; once it passes, the file may be closed without examination (classé sans suite).
After sending: receipt, interview, background checks
The receipt is only issued once every document has been supplied, and its date drives the legal deadline: the administration must answer within 18 months, 12 months if you have lived in France for at least ten years, with one reasoned extension of 3 months (the deadlines in detail). For someone settled since 1 September 2021 whose receipt is dated 2 November 2026, the limit falls on 2 May 2028, or 2 August 2028 with the extension.
If the application is admissible, you are called to an interview at the prefecture. It checks your assimilation into the French community and your commitment to the principles and values of the Republic, those set out in the charter of the rights and duties of the French citizen, which you sign at the end (decree of 30 January 2012 approving the charter). Missing the interview without good reason can lead to the file being closed. Meanwhile, checks cover your civic conduct, such as paying taxes, and your criminal record in France and abroad. The citizen’s booklet (livret du citoyen) helps you prepare.
The decision and the decree
If approved, you are told by email that your name is in a decree published in the Official Journal, which you download from Légifrance. The decree takes effect on the date it is signed. It can be withdrawn within two years of publication, on the Council of State’s binding opinion, if the conditions were not met, and within two years of a fraud being discovered. For a decree published on 1 October 2027, that first window runs until 1 October 2029. A mistake in the decree is corrected through an online rectification service. The procedure is governed by decree no. 93-1362 of 30 December 1993.
A refusal gives reasons. If the file was inadmissible, you can apply again once the reason has gone. If the application was judged inappropriate (inopportune), it is either rejected or postponed: after a rejection, a new application filed less than five years after notification may be closed without examination; after a postponement, you must wait until the set period ends. This is information, not legal advice: an association or a lawyer can help with an appeal.
The citizenship welcome ceremony
According to the official page on the welcome ceremony, the prefect holds the ceremony in principle within six months of the decree’s publication: around 1 April 2028 in our example. An employee, and their spouse, are entitled to at least half a day off to attend, on showing the invitation, without it counting against paid holiday. You receive a welcome pack with the charter, the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, extracts of the Constitution and the national anthem. You can then apply for a French identity card and passport; anyone who becomes French between 16 and 25 must register for national service census (recensement) within the month.