Certificat de Coutume in English: What It Is, How to Get It

Certificat de Coutume Explained: US, UK & Canadian Brides

A certificat de coutume is a document that explains your country’s marriage law to the French mairie and confirms you are free to marry. Who provides it depends on your passport: Australia’s embassy in Paris issues one, Canada’s issues a statement in its place, and the United States and the United Kingdom give you a free self-declaration form instead. Here is what each nationality needs, what it costs and how long to allow.

It is the document that causes the most confusion in a French marriage file, largely because so much advice online describes a world that no longer exists. Couples still lose weeks looking for a lawyer to draft a certificate their own government has replaced with a two-page form. This guide sets out what the French authorities actually ask for, what each country actually provides, and how to avoid paying for something you do not need. Every rule links to its official source.

In short

The certificat de coutume sets out the marriage rules of your country and confirms your civil status and that you are not already married. Service Public says it is usually provided by your embassy or consulate.
You only need it for a legal (civil) marriage at a French mairie, and only if the mairie asks. A symbolic ceremony in France needs none of this.
US and UK citizens cannot get one: both governments publish a free self-declaration form that the mairie accepts in its place.
Canadians get a “statement in lieu” from the Embassy of Canada in Paris (CAD 50, about three working days plus post). Australians get a certificat de coutume from their embassy in Paris (AUD 181, up to ten working days, valid 90 days).
It is not the same as the certificat de capacité à mariage, which French consulates issue to French citizens marrying abroad.

Updated October 2026.

What is a certificat de coutume?

The French government’s guide to marriage in France (Service Public, checked in September 2026) describes it as a document that sets out three things:

the foreign rules that apply to marriage in your country;
the document that proves your civil status;
the document that proves you are not already married.

In plain English, it is a certificate of custom law. It is not a wedding certificate, not a permission to marry and not a French document. It is your country telling a French registrar, in terms the registrar can use, what your own law requires.

A typical certificat de coutume covers points such as the age at which you may marry without anyone’s consent, whether banns must be published in your home country, and whether marriage affects nationality. The FCDO’s note for French registrars, for instance, explains that under UK law, British citizens aged 18 or over may marry without the consent of their parents or anyone else, that no banns need to be published in the UK for a British citizen to marry abroad, and that under the British Nationality Act 1981, marrying a foreigner neither gives nor removes British nationality.

Why French mairies ask for it

When a foreign national marries in France, some rules of their own country can apply, within the limits of French public policy. The registrar therefore needs to know those rules, and that you meet them. Service Public adds a practical warning: if you cannot provide the information required, the registrar must tell you that your marriage risks not being recognised in your country of origin. The certificat de coutume, or the document that replaces it, is how the mairie closes that gap.

Do you actually need one?

For a legal marriage at a French mairie: possibly

Service Public says the mairie may ask a foreign national for two documents specific to their nationality: a certificat de coutume and a certificat de célibat. Paris, for example, lists both as required for foreign nationals, so it pays to have your country’s version ready. Refugees do not have to provide one.

Remember the condition that comes before any document: you can only marry in a commune where one of you, or one of your parents, has a home or a residence (established by at least one month of continuous living when the banns are published). Two foreign nationals who do not live in France cannot marry at a mainland French mairie at all. Our guides for UK citizens and US citizens explain the residence rule and the full marriage file step by step.

For a symbolic ceremony only: no

If you marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in France, you have no dealings with the mairie, so none of this applies. This is the route many international couples choose, and the reason a venue can host your ceremony in its gardens rather than in a town hall.

Four documents not to mix up

Older articles, including the earlier version of this one, blurred these together. Here is how they differ.

Document	What it proves	Who issues it	Who needs it
Certificat de coutume	Your country’s marriage rules, your civil status, that you are not already married	Usually your embassy or consulate, or a replacement form where your country issues none	A foreign national marrying in France, if the mairie asks
Certificat de célibat (also called certificat de capacité matrimoniale)	That you are not already married	Usually your embassy or consulate, or your civil registry at home	A foreign national whose country cannot provide up-to-date civil status records
Certificat de capacité à mariage (CCAM)	That a French citizen meets French marriage conditions	The French embassy or consulate where the wedding takes place, after banns	A French citizen marrying abroad, for example a French partner marrying in London or New York
Certificate of No Impediment (CNI)	That there is no legal barrier to the marriage	Some governments; for France, Australia’s embassy issues it as the certificat de coutume	Depends on nationality. British nationals do not need one for France.

So if you are a foreign couple marrying in France, the certificat de capacité à mariage is not your document: it only concerns a French partner who marries outside France. The Service Public page on French citizens marrying abroad explains that procedure.

Country by country: what you get, what it costs, how long it takes

Country	Who provides it	What you get	Cost	Time	Good to know
United States	No US authority issues a certificat de coutume (the US Embassy in France says so)	The Embassy’s “attestation tenant lieu de certificat de coutume et de célibat”, which you complete and sign yourself	Free. If the mairie insists on Embassy notarisation: $50 per seal	Immediate (download)	No Embassy notarisation needed. Your signature can be legalised at the mairie with your US passport.
United Kingdom	No UK authority issues it (the FCDO says so)	The FCDO self-declaration form and explanatory note, in French and English	Free. A notaire’s fee only if the mairie wants the signature legalised	Immediate (download)	No Certificate of No Impediment needed. Fill in, sign at the mairie.
Canada	Embassy of Canada in Paris	Statement in lieu of certificate of non-impediment to marriage abroad, which replaces the certificat de coutume and the certificat de capacité matrimoniale	CAD 50	About 3 working days after a complete file, plus post	Needs a statutory declaration in French, signed before a lawyer, notary or commissioner of oaths.
Australia	Australian Embassy in Paris	Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage, issued in French as the certificat de coutume	AUD 181 (2026 fee)	Up to 10 working days	Valid 90 days from issue. The certificat de célibat comes from your state registry.

Fees and procedures are those published by each government at the time of writing. Check the linked pages before you apply.

United States: the Embassy attestation

The US Embassy in France is explicit: because marriage records in the United States are kept by individual states, neither the Embassy nor any other federal authority can deliver a certificat de coutume or a certificat de célibat for US citizens. Instead, you sign the Embassy’s attestation tenant lieu de certificat de coutume et de célibat, a form stating that you are free to marry.

No lawyer needed. For Americans, the certificate is not something you commission: you download the form from the Embassy website and complete it yourself.
No Embassy notarisation needed. If you want your signature legalised, the mairie can do it when you show a valid US passport. The Embassy also publishes a letter for mairies explaining the position, worth printing for your file.
If a mairie still insists on Embassy notarisation, you can book a notarial appointment at the Embassy in Paris or the Consulates General in Marseille or Strasbourg. The consular fee is $50 per seal.
Your birth certificate comes from the vital records office of the state where you were born (the Embassy cannot supply it). If the mairie wants it authenticated, the apostille is issued by the competent authority of that state.
The age of your birth certificate: French rules set a maximum of six months for foreign birth certificates, counted from the day you file. If a mairie asks for one under three months old, the Embassy publishes a statement on the validity of US records that you can show.
After the wedding, you do not need to register your French marriage with the Embassy. To use the French certificate in the US, ask for an apostille on the certificate and its certified translation. Since 1 May 2025, apostilles on French public documents are issued by the regional apostille centres of the French notaries, no longer by the courts of appeal.

The full US marriage file, from residence to banns, is in our guide to getting married in France as an American. You can also read stories of US couples who married at French vineyards.

United Kingdom: the FCDO self-declaration

The FCDO’s guidance for British nationals marrying in France settles the question that older guides get wrong: you do not need a Certificate of No Impediment from the UK government. The mairie may ask for a certificat de célibat or a certificat de coutume, British nationals cannot obtain either, and you submit a self-declaration form with an explanatory note instead. The British Embassy in Paris has published this declaration since 1 August 2021, and it applies to all British nationals, whether you live in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Print the self-declaration form and the explanatory note in place of a certificat de célibat or certificat de capacité matrimoniale. If you are both British, you each submit a set.
Complete the form, but do not sign it.
Ask the mairie whether the signature must be legalised. If yes, sign before a French notaire. If not, sign at your appointment.
If the name on your passport differs from your birth certificate, add the FCDO informative note on British birth certificates and change of name, with your deed poll or other evidence.

The form is already in French and English, so it needs no translation. It also helps with a common sticking point: the FCDO note tells French registrars that British civil status certificates carry no marginal notes and are valid whatever their issue date. Many mairies still prefer a recently issued birth certificate, so the safest course is to order a fresh full copy (£12.50 from the General Register Office in England and Wales) and bring the note too.

If the mairie wants an apostille on a UK birth certificate or divorce order, it comes from the FCDO Legalisation Office: £45 per document for the paper service, usually up to 25 working days plus postage. The quicker e-Apostille is not available for General Register Office certificates.

Everything else UK couples need (residence, witnesses, banns, timeline, recognition in the UK) is in our guide to getting married in France as a UK citizen, and our UK couple’s guide to French vineyard weddings covers the celebration side.

Canada: the statement in lieu, from the Embassy in Paris

Canada does not issue certificates of non-impediment to marriage. As travel.gc.ca explains, it issues instead a statement in lieu of certificate of non-impediment to marriage abroad. For a wedding in France, the Embassy of Canada in Paris states that this statement replaces both the certificat de coutume and the certificat de capacité matrimoniale requested by the mairie, and it handles requests by post.

The Embassy asks for:

a photocopy of your valid Canadian passport (pages 2 and 3);
a photocopy of your Canadian birth certificate, or of both sides of your citizenship certificate if you were born outside Canada;
an original statutory declaration, written in French and dated, giving your name, address and current marital status and the name, nationality and address of your future spouse, signed before a lawyer, notary public or commissioner of oaths in Canada, or before a notary or authorised official at a mairie in France (the Embassy page gives sample wording);
if you were married before, a photocopy of the divorce certificate or of your late spouse’s death certificate;
payment of CAD 50 with the credit card authorisation form, and a short covering letter with your return address, email and telephone number.

Processing takes three working days once the file is complete, not counting post and holidays. The Embassy can also apostille your original Canadian long-form birth certificate for the mairie, for an additional CAD 50 per document. Canada has been a party to the Apostille Convention since 11 January 2024, so apostilles have replaced the old authentication process for Canadian documents.

Two caveats from travel.gc.ca: some foreign governments may not consider the statement sufficient proof, and some will only accept it if it was issued in Canada. Show your mairie the Embassy page if it hesitates. Once married, there is no national procedure to register a French marriage in Canada, although some provincial vital statistics offices have their own, so check with your province.

Australia: a certificat de coutume from the Embassy

Australians are the exception: the Australian Embassy in Paris issues a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage, drawn up in French as the certificat de coutume. You can apply by post (with your application signed before a French notaire if you are in France, or before an authorised person if you are in Australia) or at an appointment at the Embassy.

Cost: AUD 181 per certificate, under the fees applicable from 1 January 2026.
Time: up to ten working days.
Validity: the Embassy states the certificate is valid for 90 days after its date of issue, so time your application to your filing date.
Certificat de célibat: the Embassy does not issue it. Ask your state registry of births, deaths and marriages for a “no record of marriage” certificate.
Apostille: the Embassy can apostille original documents issued by your state registry, for AUD 105 per document.
Already have an English CNI from DFAT in Australia? Have it translated by a sworn translator instead of applying again in Paris.

The Embassy’s page also states that at least one of you must be a French citizen or a legal resident of France to marry at a mairie. Under French law, a parent’s home in the commune can also give you the right to marry there, so if that is your situation, check it with the mairie.

Translations: who can translate, and what

Any document in a foreign language must be translated into French by a traducteur assermenté, a sworn translator registered with a French court. A bilingual friend or a standard translation agency does not qualify. Every mairie keeps a list, and the Cour de cassation publishes the national directory of court experts, translators included.

Some documents arrive already in French and need no translation: the UK self-declaration form (bilingual), the Australian certificat de coutume (issued in French) and the Canadian statutory declaration (written in French). Birth certificates, divorce orders and death certificates from English-speaking countries do need translating. Ask your mairie whether the apostille itself must be translated as well, and if so, have the translator work from the apostilled document. Book early, especially for a spring or summer wedding, and leave time to check every name and place spelling.

Apostille: when you need one

An apostille is a certificate attached to a public document so that it can be used abroad. As Service Public puts it, it certifies the origin and the signature of the document, but not its content. France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia are all parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille is the form of authentication a mairie will ask for on documents from those countries.

Whether you need one depends on the document and on the mairie: Service Public lists apostille or legalisation as possibly necessary “depending on the country of origin”. Ask the mairie in writing which documents it wants apostilled. The usual candidates are the birth certificate and any divorce order. Where they come from:

United States: the competent authority of the state that issued the document.
United Kingdom: the FCDO Legalisation Office (£45 per document, paper service).
Canada: Global Affairs Canada, or the Embassy in Paris for provincial vital records (CAD 50 per document).
Australia: DFAT, or the Embassy in Paris for state registry originals (AUD 105 per document).

Validity and timing: getting the dates right

The trap is not getting the documents. It is getting them at the right moment.

Birth certificates issued abroad must be six months old at most, counted from the day you file your marriage file at the mairie, not from the wedding day.
The certificat de coutume has no single validity rule on Service Public, but many mairies want recent documents, and the Australian certificate is valid for 90 days. The UK and US forms are completed for your file and, for the UK, signed at the appointment, which sidesteps the question.
Filing: the FCDO advises British nationals to book the appointment to submit and sign their documents at least six weeks before the ceremony. In Paris, at least four weeks must separate filing and ceremony, banns included.
Banns are posted for ten days, and the wedding can take place from the tenth day after publication.

A practical rule of thumb: email the mairie as soon as you know your commune and your date, get its list in writing, then work backwards from the filing date. Order birth certificates four to five months before filing, apostilles straight away, translations next. Australians should request their certificat de coutume last, no more than about two months before filing, so that it is still within its 90 days.

If the mairie asks for something your country does not issue

It happens, usually because the registrar is applying a standard list. Service Public provides the answer: if your country does not issue a certificat de coutume, you provide a statement from your country’s competent authorities saying so, together with a statement from a lawyer or legal expert setting out the marriage rules of your country. If that is not possible, you provide a sworn statement that you are of age, single and legally capable.

For US and UK citizens, the Embassy and FCDO pages are exactly that official statement, which is why printing them, along with the forms, usually settles the matter. If a mairie still wants a lawyer’s certificate, the FCDO’s directory of lawyers in France is a starting point, and fees are set by each lawyer, so ask for a written quote.

Sample email to the mairie (in French)

Send it as soon as you have chosen the commune. Adapt the nationality line, and attach the official page for your country.

The words in italics are the parts to replace.

Objet : Dossier de mariage, documents demandés aux ressortissants américains, britanniques, canadiens ou australiens

Bonjour Madame, Monsieur,

Nous souhaitons nous marier à la mairie de nom de la commune le date souhaitée. Je suis de nationalité américaine, britannique, canadienne ou australienne et mon futur époux (ma future épouse) est de nationalité nationalité. L’un de nous, ou le père ou la mère de l’un de nous, a son domicile (ou sa résidence) au adresse dans la commune depuis le date.

Pourriez-vous nous indiquer la liste des pièces à fournir, et en particulier :

Demandez-vous un certificat de coutume et un certificat de célibat ? Acceptez-vous à leur place l’attestation de l’ambassade des États-Unis, la déclaration sur l’honneur du gouvernement britannique, la déclaration de l’ambassade du Canada ou le certificat de l’ambassade d’Australie ?
Faut-il une apostille sur l’acte de naissance et, le cas échéant, sur le jugement de divorce ?
Les traductions doivent-elles être faites par un traducteur assermenté, y compris pour l’apostille ?
Faut-il prendre rendez-vous pour déposer le dossier, et à quelle date au plus tard ?

Avec nos remerciements,

Prénoms et noms, téléphone, adresse électronique

A simple checklist for US, UK, Canadian and Australian couples

Decide whether you marry legally in France or at home, with a symbolic ceremony in France.
If in France, identify the commune where one of you, or a parent, lives, and check the residence rule.
Email the mairie for its written list (use the sample above).
Get your country’s certificat de coutume or its replacement: US attestation, UK self-declaration, Canadian statement in lieu, Australian certificate.
Order recent birth certificates and gather divorce or death certificates if relevant.
Arrange apostilles where the mairie asks for them.
Have everything translated by a sworn translator, except documents already in French.
File the dossier on time, attend the interview, and wait the ten days of banns.
Then go back to menus, music and the seating plan.

Common mistakes

1) Paying for a certificate your country has replaced

US and UK citizens do not need a lawyer to draft a certificat de coutume: their governments publish a free form for exactly this purpose. Start there, and only look further if the mairie refuses it in writing.

2) Confusing the place of the legal marriage with the place of the celebration

You can celebrate anywhere. You can only marry legally at the mairie of a commune where one of you, or a parent, lives. That is rarely the commune of your venue.

3) Chasing the wrong document

The certificat de capacité à mariage is for French citizens marrying abroad. A UK Certificate of No Impediment is not needed for France. Ask for the document by its exact name.

4) Ordering documents too early

Birth certificates over six months old at filing, or an Australian certificate past its 90 days, mean starting again. Work backwards from the filing date.

5) Assuming what worked elsewhere will work here

Mairies apply the same law but not always the same list. Get yours in writing.

6) Underestimating translation time

Ask sworn translators for their turnaround before you order your documents, book as soon as you know what needs translating, and leave time to check the result.

A note for couples celebrating at Domaine de Vavril

Couples sometimes assume the venue will take care of the legal paperwork. In France it cannot: the marriage file is between you and the mairie, and the civil ceremony takes place at the town hall of the commune where you qualify. What a venue offers is the rest of the wedding.

At Domaine de Vavril, an 18th-century manor house above Beaujeu in the Beaujolais, north of Lyon, the Domaine hosts the celebration and the symbolic ceremony, in the gardens facing the vines or in the stone reception rooms. From April to October, one wedding at a time has the whole estate for three nights and four days (Thursday to Sunday or Friday to Monday), with dinner for up to 150 seated guests (120 with a dance floor), 41 beds on site and a heated pool. Many international couples marry legally at home first, then come for the weekend.

The Domaine selects and negotiates its suppliers (partner caterers, music and DJ, photography, video, hair and make-up, flowers and decoration) and brings them together in one quote, with one contact, Adeline, who looks after events at the estate. Turnkey weddings start from €17,700 including VAT, accommodation not included (the venue for four days, drinks reception and dinner for 70 guests, DJ and photographer), and from November to March the venue alone starts from €8,800 including VAT, accommodation included. You can estimate your wedding online in a few minutes, with that month’s availability checked in real time and no commitment. If you are planning from abroad, our destination wedding page explains how it works.

FAQ

Is the certificat de coutume mandatory everywhere in France?

No. Service Public says the mairie may ask a foreign national for it, along with a certificat de célibat, and most do. Refugees are exempt. It is only relevant to a legal marriage at a French mairie, never to a symbolic ceremony.

Is a certificat de coutume the same as a Certificate of No Impediment?

They overlap, but they are not the same. For Australians, the CNI issued by the Embassy in Paris is the certificat de coutume, written in French. British nationals do not need a CNI for France at all: the FCDO’s self-declaration form replaces the certificat de coutume and the certificat de célibat.

Does the US or UK embassy issue a certificat de coutume?

No. The US Embassy states that no federal authority can issue one, and provides an attestation form you sign yourself. The FCDO states that British nationals cannot obtain one, and provides a self-declaration form with an explanatory note. Both are free.

How long is a certificat de coutume valid?

There is no single rule on Service Public. The Australian Embassy states its certificate is valid for 90 days from issue, and many mairies want documents that are recent on the day you file. Foreign birth certificates must be six months old at most at filing.

Can I write my own certificat de coutume?

US and UK citizens effectively do, using their government’s official form. Otherwise, Service Public’s fallback is a statement from your country’s authorities that no certificate exists, plus a lawyer’s or legal expert’s statement of your country’s marriage rules, or failing that a sworn statement. A homemade letter with no official backing is unlikely to be accepted.

If we are already legally married at home, do we need any of this?

No. A symbolic ceremony in France involves no mairie and no marriage file, so you need no certificat de coutume, translations or apostilles. Your marriage certificate from home remains your legal record.