Regaining French nationality (réintégration): by declaration or by decree?

Updated 29 October 2026

If you were French and lost that nationality, you do not go through ordinary naturalisation but through reintegration (réintégration). There are two routes, depending on how the nationality was lost.

Route 1: declaration

This mainly concerns people who lost French nationality:

• through marriage to a foreign national;
• or by voluntarily acquiring a foreign nationality while living abroad (loss by declaration).

Main conditions: you have kept or built clear ties with France (cultural, professional, economic or family), you are not subject to an expulsion order or entry ban, you are lawfully resident if you live in France, and you have no sentence of 6 months or more of prison (not suspended) or conviction for a serious crime or terrorism.

Where to file: the judicial court (tribunal judiciaire) for your home in France, in person or by post, or the French consulate if you live abroad.

Deadline: the administration has 6 months to decide. Without a reply in that time, the declaration is registered. Keep the second original stamped as registered: no other copy is issued. A refusal can be challenged within 6 months, and a lawyer is required.

Route 2: decree

In every other situation, reintegration is requested by decree, through a procedure almost identical to naturalisation:

• no minimum period of residence, but you must live in France when the decree is signed (with some exceptions);
• a valid residence permit (except EU, EEA, Swiss nationals);
• the civic exam, a prefecture interview and sufficient French;
• stable and sufficient income, and the same criminal record conditions.

You apply online through the naturalisation and reintegration service, or by post (cerfa no. 12753). It costs €255 (€127.50 in French Guiana). The administration has 18 months from the receipt, or 12 months after 10 years of residence. Appeals against a refusal follow the same rules as for naturalisation.

Proving you were French

On both routes, you must establish your former French nationality: for example an old nationality certificate, a French ID card or passport, or the civil status records that prove it. Foreign records are translated and, where needed, legalised or apostilled.

How long in practice?

The decree route goes through the same platforms as naturalisation. Their real waiting times are on Dossiermap.

See times by platform · Share my dates

Sources

• Service-Public: reintegration into French nationality by decree (checked 16 July 2026)
• Service-Public: reintegration into French nationality by declaration (checked 28 May 2025)

This guide is for information only and does not replace official texts or legal advice. Check your situation on service-public.gouv.fr or with your prefecture.

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