France

Adoption plénière breaks original filiation; treated as biological FR child (Art 20 → Art 18). Adoption simple preserves biological filiation. Hague 1993 compliance for international adoptions. Art 21-12 1°/2° taken-in pathway is FR-SPC-03 (separate route).

Foundling presumption rebuttable until proof of foreign parentage. OFPRA statelessness recognition independent administrative status. Distinct from Art 19-3 double droit du sol (FR-BTH-02). 1961 Statelessness Convention compliance.

UNIQUE French signature feature. Principal case-load: Algerian-born parents (pre-1962 Algeria was French) triggering Art 19-3 for FR-born children. Includes DROM-COM coverage. Pasqua suspension 1993 → Guigou restoration Loi 98-170 1998. Loi 98-170 Art 50 transitional rules for pre-1998 births. Automatic and irrevocable at birth.

Pasqua suspension Loi 93-933 → Guigou restoration Loi 98-170 foundational jurisprudence. Génération sacrifiée transitional rule (Art 50 Loi 98-170) actionable in 2026. CC DC 93-321 du 20 juillet 1993 validated Pasqua subject to proportionality. 5 years residence in FR from age 11; non-continuous OK; renunciation per Art 21-8.

Anticipated declaration at TJ; refusal grounds limited to residence-proof failure (Arts 26-26-5). Distinct from Art 21-7 by declaration mechanism + earlier age. 5y residence from age 8 (declaration at 13 with parental consent); 5y from age 11 (declaration at 16 alone).

Cross-cutting framework anchor. Effet collectif Art 21-12: 30-40% of décret beneficiaries are minor children. Perte Arts 23-23-8: 5 mechanisms. Déchéance Arts 25-25-1: post-Loi 2016-731 broadened terrorism scope per CC 2014-439 QPC validation. Loi 2024-42 Art 26 (broadened déchéance) CENSORED by CC 2023-863 DC. Dual nationality 1963 Convention denounced by FR effective 2009-09-05. EU citizenship Rottmann/Tjebbes/JY proportionality. Schengen + ECN signed-not-ratified. Failure to name minor in décret: child does NOT acquire FR — must pursue independent FR-BTH-03/04.

retroactive transmission rules à la naissance (lex tempore actus per Art 17-1) create temporal questions for descendants of pre-1973 parents. Loi 73-42 abolished sex-discriminatory transmission. Effet collectif (Art 21-12) under FR-CBN-01; possession d'état (Art 21-13) under FR-SPC-04. Nationality at birth ipso facto.

most-litigated FR historical-cohort regime. significant unresolved legal question: Article 152 Évian shorthand commonly cited but Évian text consists of government Declarations not numbered articles. Current redress: Art 24-1/24-2 réintégration (FR-RST-01/02) plus Art 19-3 double droit du sol (FR-BTH-02). CE Ass. 1990 N° 78519 GISTI clarifies Accord franco-algérien 27 décembre 1968. Original window 1962-1967 closed.

declaratory + indemnification framework (recognition of State responsibility for non-protection of harkis post-1962), NOT direct nationality-conferring route. Anchors Q16.4 + Q6.6 KCQs. Nationality redress: FR-RST-01 (Art 24-2 déclaration) and FR-BTH-02 (Art 19-3 double droit du sol for FR-born descendants).

This route covers the retention of French nationality by operation of law (de plein droit) upon the transfers of sovereignty concerning the former overseas departments and territories (excluding Algeria). Article 32 of the Code civil provides that French persons originating from the territory of the Republic as constituted on 28 July 1960, domiciled on the day of accession to independence in the territory of a State that was formerly a TOM, retained French nationality — as did their spouses, widows or widowers, and descendants; the status therefore transmits down the family line and remains operative today. Article 32-3 preserves by operation of law the nationality of any French person domiciled at independence in a State that was formerly a DOM or TOM, provided no other nationality was conferred on them by that State's law (an anti-statelessness rule; children under eighteen at independence also benefit). The Cour de cassation applied Article 32-3 in 1re civ. 28 March 2012 n° 10-30.916.

PLACEHOLDER. France does NOT operate any CBI program (FR-A-058). Investors with talent passport (Loi 2016-274) follow FR-NAT-01 5-year timeline; Art 21-18 immédiat stage waiver discretionary on services exceptionnels. Bucket retained for canonical 11-bucket coverage.

Loi 2024-42 Art 25 censorship preserved 4-year baseline. Procureur opposition window 1 year per Art 21-4 (gating). Same-sex marriage parity since Loi 2013-404. PACS does NOT trigger Art 21-2. B2 elevation 2026-01-01 transition. 4y cohabitation post-marriage baseline; 5y if FR spouse not consul-registered.

Since Loi n° 2025-412 of 12 May 2025 entered into force (14 May 2025), access to the jus soli tracks of Article 21-7 (acquisition at majority) and Article 21-11 (early declaration) is conditioned — in Mayotte only — on proof that BOTH parents resided lawfully and continuously in France for at least one year at the date of the child's birth (Article 2493 of the Code civil); where filiation is established with respect to only one parent, the condition is assessed for that parent alone. Article 2495 additionally requires presenting a residence permit and a valid biometric passport to have the annotation entered on the birth record, subject to the Conseil constitutionnel's interpretive reservation (decision 2025-881 DC) for nationals of States that do not issue biometric passports. This derogation rests on Article 73 of the Constitution; it is not a constitutional amendment.

Wounded-in-action triggers automatic right (Art 21-14-1). Loi 99-1141 du 31 décembre 1999. Non-wounded légionnaires after 3+ years pursue Art 21-18 services exceptionnels under FR-NAT-01. unresolved legal question: military services scope, wartime definition, posthumous, psychological injury, self-inflicted wound. Stage exempted — immédiat.

most-applied FR route. Décret 2025-648 B2 elevation 2026-01-01; LF 2026 €55→€255 fee 2026-05-01; Loi 2024-42 Art 24/25/26 censured by CC 2023-863 DC; Circulaire Retailleau 2025-05-02. Stage reductions: Art 21-18 1° (2y FR higher-ed); 2°/3° (immédiat for talent passport, services exceptionnels); Art 21-19 1y refugees and stateless.

New Caledonian citizenship is the only distinct sub-national citizenship in French law. Established by Article 4 of Organic Law n° 99-209 of 19 March 1999 ("Il est institué une citoyenneté de la Nouvelle-Calédonie…") and constitutionalized by Title XIII of the Constitution (arts. 76-77), it is RESERVED to persons of French nationality who meet the conditions of Article 188 (principally ten years of domicile and the 1998 reference roll, "frozen" by the 2007 revision of Article 77). It confers NO nationality — rights without conferring nationality — and preserves the holder's French nationality of origin; not all French residents of New Caledonia hold it. It opens three rights: the restricted electorate for the Congress and provincial assemblies (art. 188), the electorate for self-determination consultations (art. 218, narrower: customary civil status, birth in New Caledonia with the person's center of material and moral interests there, or 20 years of domicile as of 31 December 2014), and local-employment priority (art. 24, upheld by CC 99-410 DC). Organic Law n° 2026-410 of 28 May 2026 PARTIALLY opened only the Article 188 electorate (adding natives, "category d"), upheld by CC 2026-905 DC; Article 4 (citizenship) is unchanged. Sharply distinct from the Mayotte NATIONALITY derogation under Article 73 of the Constitution and from Kanak customary civil status (Article 75, a personal-status regime neutral as to nationality).

Used by women who lost nationality by marriage pre-1973 (Loi 1927). Also extends to harkis and decolonization-affected persons. Distinct from Art 24-1 réintégration par décret (FR-RST-02). CC 2018-737 QPC affirmed retrospective égalité. Unresolved: timeline distinction not statutorily fixed. Manifest attachment to France required (marriage, domicile, military service).

Discretionary; harkis (Loi 87-549/94-488/2022-229) and decolonization-affected (Algeria 1962, AOF/AEF, Indochine, Maroc, Tunisie, Comores). Distinct from Art 24-2 declaration. unresolved legal question: residence-stage status under Art 24-1 not explicitly waived. Discretionary; bonnes vie et mœurs, loyalisme, Art 21-27 incompatibilities.

Article 21-14 of the Code civil allows persons who lost French nationality under Article 23-6 (loss by desuetude) or who were met with the inadmissibility bar of Article 30-3 to reclaim French nationality by declaration made under Articles 26 et seq. The applicant must meet one of two alternative conditions: either having retained or acquired manifest cultural, professional, economic, or family ties with France, or having actually performed military service in a unit of the French army or fought in the French or allied armies in wartime. Surviving spouses of persons who performed such military service may also benefit (third paragraph). The declaration is not discretionary (unlike reinstatement by decree under Article 24-1); it is subject only to the public prosecutor's right of opposition. No residence period is required and no renunciation of a foreign nationality is demanded.

Created by Loi 2016-274 du 7 mars 2016. Direct ascendant (parent/grandparent) of French national with deep France residence ties (25y minimum, 65+ age at declaration). unresolved legal question: 25y continuity during absences, evidentiary standards, indignité grounds, descendant death impact.

Created by Loi 2016-274. Fills gap for FR-raised foreign-parent children whose siblings are French via Art 21-7/21-11. Habitual residence in FR since age 6 + mandatory schooling completed in FR + sibling French via FR-BTH-03/04. Declaration at majority (18+).

Three pathways within Art 21-12 1°/2°. Distinct from FR-ADP-01 (Art 21-12 first paragraph adoption simple) by non-adoption-decree mechanism. unresolved legal question: training body decree criteria, interrupted placement continuity, age dispute. A: 3y taken-in-and-raised by FR national; B: 3y entrusted to ASE; C: 5y FR public/approved-private training. Absolute deadline = 18th birthday.

Two distinct curative/discretionary pathways consolidated. Possession d'état Art 21-13: curative path where Art 18 chain breaks by documentary failure — 10y continuous public exercise of FR nationality status. Francophone MAE Art 21-21: diplomatic-protection variant of stage-waiver naturalisation — service exceptionnel + francophone status + meritorious action.