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Marriage and Births
by David Applefield
To get married in France, inquire both at your own consulate and at the Mairie in the arrondissement in which you live. At the very best, it will take a minimum of three weeks to satisfy the administrative work. If you or your partner are not en rgle (legal) you may have difficulty marrying in France.
The office of Etat Civil in the hospital or clinic in which the child is born will handle the paperwork for declaring the birth of the child to the local mairie. You have two days, following the birth of the child to go to the mairie yourself and sign the extrait d´act de naissance, or official birth certificate. You will be given copies which you will need for the Securité Sociale, local creche and school, etc.
Americans will also need this when requesting a birth certificate from the US consular services. You should also request several fiche d´etat civil at the Mairie at the same time, in that these are very useful for all sorts of administrative tasks, like passport requests.
When recording the child´s name on the forms in the hospital, indicate precisely how you want the name composed. If the parents are not married, but the child is recognized by the father, the child automatically takes the father´s last name. French law since the mid-80s allows the child to take the name of both parents, but many administrators and clerks refuse to apply the law. Insist if you want the child to have both names.
The US consular office recognizes the child´s name according to what is written on the French extrait de naissance. European countries differ greatly as to nationality laws and the naming of children. Germany, for example, recognizes only the mother´s name if the parents are not married, even if the child is recognized by the father and takes the father´s last name on his or her French birth certificate. American law grants US citizenship to children born outside the US as long as at least one parent is a US citizen and can prove that he or she was physically present in the US for five years before the age of 18.
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