Getting Married in France as a UK Citizen: The Steps

Getting Married in France as a UK Citizen: Legal Requirements and Practical Tips

Yes, a UK citizen can legally marry in France, but the legal ceremony must take place at the mairie, after the publication of banns, with documents that usually need a certified translation. Below: the steps, the documents and the timeline, plus the simpler option of doing the legal part in the UK.

One rule decides everything else, so it comes first: one of you, or one of your parents, must live in the French town where you marry. Two British citizens who live in the UK, with no parent living in France, cannot marry legally in mainland France, however charming the village or the venue. If you do have that link, the paperwork is perfectly manageable, provided you start early and do things in the right order. This guide walks you through both routes, with the official sources for every rule.

In short

A legal marriage in France is a civil ceremony at the mairie (town hall), led by the mayor or a deputy, in French. Nothing held at a private venue is legally binding.
You need a lasting link to the commune: one of you, or a parent, has a home there, or a residence there of at least one month of continuous living by the time the banns are published. The UK government puts it as 40 days before the ceremony.
British nationals do not need a Certificate of No Impediment for France. A free self-declaration form from GOV.UK replaces the certificat de coutume and the certificat de célibat.
Allow at least three months of paperwork: a full birth certificate no more than six months old on the day you file, sworn translations, an apostille if the mairie asks, filing at least six weeks ahead, then ten days of banns.
Many UK couples marry legally at home (at least 29 days’ notice in England and Wales) and hold a symbolic ceremony in France, with none of the French paperwork.

Updated October 2026.

Can two UK citizens legally marry in France?

Only with a real connection to the commune. French law says the marriage is celebrated in a commune with which at least one of you has a lien durable, a lasting link. According to Service Public, the French government’s official guide to marriage in France (checked by the French administration in September 2026), that link can be any one of these:

Your domicile: one of you has your main home in the commune. No minimum duration applies, but you must prove the address in your name.
Your residence: one of you lives there on a temporary basis, a second home for instance. The residence must be established by at least one month of continuous living on the date the banns are published.
A parent’s home: the domicile or residence of the father or mother of one of you (parents only, not grandparents). The same one-month rule applies to a parent’s residence.

Two details catch people out. Being born in a commune, without living there, is not enough. And if neither of you nor your parents lives in France, Service Public states that two foreign nationals can marry in France only at their own country’s consulate, or in a commune of a French overseas collectivity or New Caledonia. The British Embassy does not offer this: France is not on the FCDO list of countries where consular marriage is available.

The UK government’s own guidance for British nationals marrying in France sums it up in practical terms: you, your partner or one of your parents must have been living in the town for at least 40 days before the ceremony. That is the month of residence plus the ten days of banns.

What counts as proof of address?

Each of you provides a proof of domicile or residence dated more than one month earlier: a lease, a rent receipt, a water, electricity or gas bill, a tax notice or a home insurance certificate, for example. Mobile phone bills and bank details are not accepted. The document must be in your name (or your parent’s name) at an address in that commune, with a date that shows the residence condition is met.

Can we rent a house for a month to qualify?

The law accepts a temporary residence, and Service Public gives a second home as an example. Whether a holiday let and its booking confirmation will satisfy a particular mairie is the registrar’s call, so ask in writing before you sign anything. Bear in mind what it means in practice: one of you living in that commune for five or six weeks before the wedding.

The rules are the same for opposite-sex and same-sex couples: marriage has been open to both in France since 2013.

Where the legal ceremony happens, and why it is never at your venue

The civil ceremony is held at the mairie of the commune where you qualify, in a room open to the public. The mayor may use another municipal building in the same commune, such as the village hall, unless the public prosecutor objects. A private estate, a garden or a chateau that does not belong to the commune cannot host the legal ceremony.

Who officiates: the mayor or one of the deputy mayors, with both of you and your witnesses present. Each of you confirms your commitment to the obligations of marriage. In Paris, the city’s marriage page says the ceremony lasts about 20 minutes, and it is public.
Witnesses: at least two and at most four, aged 18 or over. They must attend in person.
Language: the ceremony is in French. If one of you does not understand French, the registrar can require a translator or interpreter, at your expense if they are paid. Paris makes an interpreter compulsory at the ceremony when there is any difficulty of understanding.
Afterwards: you receive a livret de famille (family record book), and in the following days you can ask the mairie for full copies or extracts of your marriage certificate. Requesting them is free.
Religious ceremonies: French law forbids a religious marriage before the civil one.

The date and time are set by agreement with the mairie once your file is complete. If your celebration is at a venue in another commune, plan the day around that slot: guests’ transport, parking, photographs on the steps, and the drive to the reception.

The documents: a checklist for UK citizens

Each mairie gives you its own list, and it is the only one that counts. The table below brings together what Service Public, the City of Paris and the FCDO say a British national should expect. You must bring originals of every document.

Document	Where it comes from	What to watch
Valid passport (original and photocopy)	HM Passport Office	The name should match your birth certificate, or bring proof of the change.
Full birth certificate (the long form, showing your parents)	The General Register Office (England and Wales), or the registers in Scotland or Northern Ireland	Six months old at most on the day you file. Sworn translation. Apostille if the mairie asks.
FCDO self-declaration form and explanatory note	GOV.UK, free download	Replaces the certificat de coutume and certificat de célibat. Fill it in but do not sign it in advance.
Proof of address in the commune	Lease, bills, tax notice, insurance	Dated more than one month earlier. No mobile phone bills.
If divorced: final order or decree absolute	The court that granted it	Sworn translation. Some mairies also want an apostille.
If widowed: death certificate of your late spouse	Register office	Sworn translation.
If your name has changed: deed poll or other evidence, plus the FCDO note on British birth certificates and names	Your own records, GOV.UK	Needed when your passport and birth certificate show different names.
Details of your witnesses (two to four)	Your witnesses	Full name, date and place of birth, occupation, address and a copy of their ID.
Details of your parents	You	Identity, address and occupation (or date of death) of each parent.
Notary’s certificate, only if you sign a marriage contract	A French notaire	Optional. Which property regime applies to an international couple is a question to put to a notaire.

The birth certificate question

For birth certificates issued outside France, Service Public sets a maximum age of six months, counted from the day you file your dossier, not from the wedding day. The FCDO’s explanatory note for French registrars points out that British certificates never carry marginal notes, so they do not change and are valid whatever their issue date. Some mairies accept that. Many still want a recent copy, and Paris states plainly that foreign birth certificates must be under six months old at filing. The cheapest way to avoid an argument is to order a fresh copy and bring the FCDO note as well. In England and Wales, a certificate from the General Register Office costs £12.50 and is sent four days after you apply when you have the index reference, or the next working day with the £38.50 priority service.

Sworn translations

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, however fluent, does not qualify. Mairies hold lists, and the Cour de cassation publishes the national directory of court experts, translators included. The FCDO self-declaration form is already in French and English, so it does not need translating. Book your translator early, especially for a spring or summer wedding, and leave time to check every name and place spelling before you file.

Apostille: when a UK document needs one

The apostille is the certificate that authenticates a UK public document for use abroad. It confirms the origin and signature of the document, not its content. France and the UK are both parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so when a mairie wants a UK birth certificate or divorce order authenticated, an apostille is the form it takes. Requirements vary, so ask. The FCDO Legalisation Office charges £45 per document for the standard paper service, which usually takes up to 25 working days plus postage. The faster e-Apostille (£35) is not available for birth, marriage or death certificates or any other General Register Office document, so for a birth certificate, the paper apostille and its lead time are the ones to plan for.

Certificat de coutume and CNI: what the British side gives you

This is where most older guides, including the earlier version of this one, are out of date. The FCDO is clear: if you are a British national marrying in France, you do not need a Certificate of No Impediment from the UK government. The mairie may ask for a certificat de célibat (certificate of single status) or a certificat de coutume (certificate of custom law). British nationals cannot obtain either, so the FCDO publishes a self-declaration form and explanatory note to use in their place. The British Embassy in Paris has offered this declaration since 1 August 2021.

Print the self-declaration form and the explanatory note. If you are both British, you each need your own set.
Fill in the form without signing it. Use your names exactly as they appear on your passport and birth certificate.
Ask the mairie whether your signature must be legalised. If it must, sign before a French notaire. If not, you sign at your appointment at the mairie.
If your passport name differs from your birth certificate, bring the FCDO informative note on British birth certificates and names, with your deed poll or other evidence.

The explanatory note also covers what a certificat de coutume normally says: under UK law, British citizens aged 18 or over are free to marry without anyone’s consent, and no banns need to be published in the UK for a British citizen to marry abroad.

What if a mairie still insists on a formal certificat de coutume? Service Public sets out the fallback for countries that do not issue one: a statement from that country’s authorities saying so, plus a statement from a lawyer or legal expert on the marriage rules that apply in your country, or failing that, a sworn statement that you are of age, single and legally capable. The FCDO keeps a list of English-speaking lawyers in France. Our guide to the certificat de coutume in English compares the documents for UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens.

Filing, interview and banns: how the French process runs

Contact the mairie and ask for its written list, whether you need an appointment, and which dates it can offer. The FCDO advises booking the appointment to submit and sign your documents at least six weeks before the ceremony.
File your dossier in person, with originals. In Paris, both of you attend with ID, and filing takes at least 30 minutes. You also choose, at this stage, the order in which you will be named during the ceremony.
The interview (audition): the registrar meets you together and may also see you separately. It is compulsory unless the registrar considers it unnecessary. If there are serious signs that consent is lacking or the marriage is a sham, the registrar alerts the public prosecutor, who has 15 days to let it go ahead or object, and can extend that by up to one month, renewable, for an inquiry.
The banns are posted for ten days at the door of the mairie.
The wedding can take place from the tenth day after publication. If the banns go up on 3 May 2027, the earliest wedding date is 13 May 2027. It must then take place within one year.

Paris gives a useful benchmark: at least four weeks between filing and ceremony, banns included, longer if a file is incomplete or an interview is needed, with May to July heavily booked. Smaller communes vary. Ask yours.

A realistic timeline

Here is a working backwards plan for a couple who qualify through a home in France, whether theirs or a parent’s. Adjust it to your mairie’s answers.

When	What to do	Why
12 to 9 months before	Decide where the legal marriage happens. If in France, confirm which home gives you the link to the commune, and email the mairie for its list and possible dates.	Everything else depends on the residence rule and on the mairie’s calendar.
9 to 6 months before	Book your venue for the celebration. Check that names match across passports and birth certificates. Download the FCDO form. Shortlist sworn translators.	Name mismatches and translator availability cause the most delays.
5 to 4 months before	Order fresh full birth certificates. Request apostilles if the mairie wants them.	Certificates must be six months old at most on filing day. The standard apostille service takes up to 25 working days.
3 months before	Sworn translations. Divorce papers if relevant. Collect witness details and ID copies. Arrange an interpreter if needed.	Leaves time to correct any mistakes before you file.
At least 40 days before	If you qualify through a temporary residence, the resident partner (or parent) is living in the commune.	One month of continuous living by the date the banns are published.
6 to 4 weeks before	File the dossier, sign the FCDO form if no legalisation is needed, attend the interview.	Filing triggers the banns.
About 3 weeks before	Banns posted for ten days.	The wedding can follow from the tenth day.
Wedding week	Originals in a folder, witnesses briefed with their ID, interpreter confirmed.	The registrar checks everyone’s identity on the day.
After the wedding	Request several copies of the marriage certificate, and a translation if you will use it in the UK.	Banks, employers and the passport office may each ask for one.

Will the UK recognise a French marriage?

Yes, if it was done properly. According to GOV.UK, a foreign marriage is recognised in the UK if it was lawful in the country where it took place and would be allowed under UK law. For France specifically, the FCDO says your marriage will be recognised if you follow the correct process under French law.

What surprises many couples is that you cannot register a French marriage in the UK, and you will not receive a UK marriage certificate: only marriages that take place in the UK are registered there. Your French certificate is your proof, so ask the mairie for several copies, and consider a translation if you plan to use it in the UK, for a name change for instance. GOV.UK itself points out that couples who want a UK certificate can hold the legal ceremony in the UK and a commitment ceremony abroad.

If your situation is complex (a previous marriage abroad, immigration questions, dual nationality), take legal advice before you file.

The simpler route: marry in the UK, celebrate in France

For couples with no home in France, this is the only way to have a wedding in France at all. For many others, it is simply the calmer option.

The legal part at home

In England and Wales, you give notice at your local register office at least 29 days before the ceremony, after living in that registration district for the previous seven days, and the ceremony must take place within twelve months. A ceremony with a registrar at the register office costs £62, and you need two witnesses. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own procedures: see mygov.scot and nidirect. Some couples keep it to the two of them and two witnesses a few days before they fly; others invite close family to a short ceremony in their home town.

The ceremony in France

A symbolic ceremony (also called a secular or laïque ceremony) has no legal effect, which is exactly what makes it so free. It can be in English, led by a celebrant or a friend, in a garden facing the vines, on the day and at the hour you choose, with readings, music and vows you write yourselves. There is no file at the mairie, no banns, no translations. One point: if you would like a religious ceremony in France, the minister will ask for proof of your civil marriage, so bring your UK certificate.

What that weekend can look like

Without a mairie slot to fit around, the wedding can spread over several days. At Domaine de Vavril, an 18th-century manor house above Beaujeu in the Beaujolais, north of Lyon, couples have the whole estate to themselves from April to October for three nights and four days (Thursday to Sunday or Friday to Monday). The symbolic ceremony can take place in the gardens facing the vineyards, dinner in the stone reception rooms for up to 150 seated guests (120 with a dance floor), and 41 guests can sleep on site, with a heated pool for the day after. To be clear about roles: the Domaine hosts the celebration and the symbolic ceremony, while any civil ceremony takes place at the mairie of the commune where you qualify.

The Domaine’s suppliers (partner caterers, music and DJ, photography, video, hair and make-up, flowers and decoration) are selected and negotiated by the Domaine and brought together in a single 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. From November to March, the venue alone starts from €8,800 including VAT, accommodation included. You can build an estimate online in a few minutes, with that month’s availability checked in real time and no commitment, and our destination wedding page explains how couples plan from abroad.

Mistakes that cost UK couples time

Booking a date before checking the residence rule. Settle where the legal marriage will happen first, then book.
Ordering birth certificates too early. Six months at most on filing day means ordering about four or five months before you file, not a year ahead.
Names that do not match. “Sarah Jane Smith” on the birth certificate and “Sarah J. Smith” on the passport can stop a file. Bring the FCDO name note and your evidence.
Signing the FCDO form at home. It is signed at the mairie, or before a notaire if the mairie wants the signature legalised.
Chasing a CNI. The FCDO says you do not need one for France. Show the mairie the GOV.UK page if it comes up.
Assuming the ceremony will be in English. It is in French. Arrange an interpreter if either of you would struggle.
Witnesses without paperwork. The mairie needs their details and a copy of their ID with your file, and they must be there in person.

Where to go from here

If one of you is American, our guide to getting married in France as an American covers the US side. For the certificate itself, see the certificat de coutume guide. To compare budgets, read what a wedding in France costs, or how France compares with other destinations for a wedding abroad.

Further reading for UK couples

FAQ

Can two British citizens who live in the UK get legally married in France?

Only if one of them, or one of their parents, has a home or a residence in the French commune where they want to marry. A residence must be established by at least one month of continuous living when the banns are published. Without that link, two foreign nationals who do not live in France cannot marry at a mainland French mairie, and the British Embassy does not offer consular marriages in France.

Do UK citizens need a Certificate of No Impediment to marry in France?

No. The FCDO states that British nationals marrying in France do not need a CNI from the UK government. If the mairie asks for a certificat de coutume or certificat de célibat, you provide the free self-declaration form and explanatory note published on GOV.UK instead.

How long do we need to live in France before the wedding?

If the commune is your main home (or a parent’s), French law sets no minimum period. If it is a temporary residence, such as a second home, it must be established by at least one month of continuous living on the date the banns are published, and the wedding can follow ten days later. The FCDO summarises this as 40 days before the ceremony.

How long does the French paperwork take?

Count roughly three months to gather, apostille and translate your documents, then file at least six weeks before the date. Once the file is complete, the banns are posted for ten days and the wedding can take place from the tenth day. Paris allows at least four weeks between filing and ceremony.

Can the legal ceremony take place at our wedding venue?

No. It must take place at the mairie, or in another municipal building of the same commune if the mayor chooses, in a room open to the public. A private venue can host a symbolic ceremony on the same day or on another day of the weekend.

Is a French marriage valid in the UK?

Yes, if it was lawful in France and would be allowed under UK law. You cannot register it in the UK or obtain a UK marriage certificate: your French marriage certificate is the proof, so ask the mairie for several copies.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules and practice can change and vary from one mairie to another: always confirm the list with the mairie handling your marriage, and check the official pages linked above.