It is still rainy in North of France. We had rain 2 weeks in a row, luckily météo France predicts more sun for the rest of the week. Other than that, nothing much around here on the Farm.
On another subject, I just read that the Interior Ministry has facilitated naturalization process. As I said on a prior post, I may want to apply for it but there are too many papers to provide:
-criminal record from your home country (not needed if you can proof that you have been living in France for more than 10 years)
- the applicant must understand/speak French and has to take a test, that is around 100 euros!
-Birth certificates for the applicant and his parents (documents must be translated in French by sworn translator, 80 euros a sheet). Not easy to provide when in Canada, we never had to use it because we were refugees.
-and so on....
I'm still not certain wherther or not I want to be naturalized. I have a few obstacles. As of today, I have not yet received my criminal record from Canada. I have sent it 2-3 months ago. Of course, the cheque has been cashed in already.
My major concern is that I have some great difficulties to have my father's birth certificate. I was born during the war in C.a.m.b.o.d.i.a and my father was "naturalized" Cambodian, since he was born in Vietnam and left during childhood. (A part of Cambodia was annexed to Vietnam, and Cambodians minority are still there). My birth certificate and my mother's were not too hard to obtain, but the Cambodian authorities did not want to issue one for my father. So, I only have a bad photocopy of an old Birth certificate for my father that was from the '70, when he was studying in France. Of course, all the civil records have been destroyed during war.
There are breakthroughs for the naturalization process:
-Foreigners who have studied in French from a francophone country do not have to take the French proficiency test. (still to be verified).
-documents like Birth certificates are not needed to be less than 3 months-old and we can give a photocopy
I'm not in a hurry to be French, but my life can be a little easier when traveling in Europe or for
Hi Vad,
ReplyDeleteWhy will it be easier for retirement pension if you become French? I thought the only difference between a French and a PR holder is the right to vote.
Of course you get your retirement pension like anyone else. It would be just easier you deal with Administration. For instance, my "birth certificate" would be issued in Nantes. Then again, I'm not sure how long I will stay in France and it's not a necessity to be French. In Canada though most immigrants become Canadians because it will be easier to visit the U.S. or travel, and to access to government jobs. Becoming French here is not a great necessity, one employee was born in France but from Belgian parents. He was not granted citizenship and remains Belgian.
ReplyDeleteI've thought about asking for French nationality too, but I probably won't go through the process now because I just don't want to go through the hassle of gathering the paperwork.
ReplyDeleteYou say that you need to provide a criminal record check from your home country. I think that you actually need to provide criminal record checks from all the countries you've lived in in the past 10 years (correct me if I'm wrong). Does the criminal record check have to be less than 3/6 months old? So I've dug myself into a hole here because I've lived in numerous European countries over the past 10 years.
I wonder what people do when their parents were born in Africa, specifically those who were born into village tribes in the middle of nowhere. A lot of these people don't even know how old they are and when they were born. Do you know what happens in a case like that?
Even though he was born within what was then Cambodia's borders at the time, could the Vietnamese authorities issue your father a birth certificate?
Good luck with your application whatever you decide to do.
Hum for the criminal record check, it must be from the last countries you've been :
Delete"Un extrait de casier judiciaire étranger original ou un document équivalent délivré par une
autorité judiciaire ou administrative compétente du ou des pays où vous avez résidé au cours des dix dernières années."
http://www.nord.pref.gouv.fr/Vos-demarches-en-ligne/Naturalisation/Naturalisation-par-mariage
Maybe you should wait until until you reach your 10 yrs residency. lol
I honestly don't know what to do if we can't provide a birth certificate for my father. When I called at the préfecture about my situation, the fonctionnaire just said : you must provide a birth certificate for you and your parents, otherwise your dossier will be rejected period.
My uncle and aunt, immigrated in France as refugees 30 years go. They have been naturalized and got a "fake" birth certificate from Nantes.
For the ones who don't have Birth certificate, the Administration should be more flexible and understanding, but this is not the case.
Asking for a birth certificate in Vietnam or Cambodia is a task. Maybe if he would go in Vietnam in person they would issue one. Then again, those countries are corrupted, we can probably obtain one if the price is right.