Wedding bells in France? 

Oh well, that’s one of the things that could happen too! You might meet a French national or a European national and fall in love. It is also possible that you eventually think of getting married to him/her. And that would lead you to plan a fun indo-french wedding !

I am going to write this post in the form of FAQs because even after writing long posts, all I receive is a bunch of repeated questions. Hoping it would be simpler for you too ! 🙂

Before you start reading

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Who am I ? 

I am Priyanka and I have been living in France for the last 8 years now. I came here as an English assistant and then did M2 in French Literature at Sorbonne, and then fell in love ( the only thing which wasn’t planned), and now I am working in Monaco ( and living with Emilien – my French husband, in the south of France).

Here we go … 

First things first, whatever they say, an indo-french civil wedding in France is a great idea because the paperwork in India would be too complicated. So in case you’re contemplating the two options – go for a civil wedding in France first.

What we did– We did a civil wedding in France. And then an Indian wedding followed by a church wedding in France. (Your question: Oh I am not catholic, is it still possible to get married in a Church?

My response: Yes it is. Read on! )

How to get a French civil wedding registered in India?

That was one of the concerns from my family. You cannot register a civil wedding in two different countries. If you get married in India, the wedding certificate (translated version) is 100% valid in any other country. If you get married in France, you French marriage certificate would be valid in India, if need be. So no, you do not get your civil wedding registered in India once it is registered in France.

Where to start in order to do a civil wedding in India?

Remember, no government work, in any part of the world, is going to be an easy nut to crack. So be prepared. Start your process at least THREE MONTHS before the expected wedding date. Once you have submitted all the papers, you’ll receive the response in a month’s time. The tricky part is assembling the papers required. The first thing that you need to do is to call / visit the Town Hall of the city you’d be getting married in. In our case, it was Lyon. Walk-in and ask them for a list of documents. List of documents differ from one city to the other.

Documents for your civil wedding in France –

Certificat de celibate and certificat de coutume

In some cases they’ll just ask for one of these, in some other, both the documents will be needed. I had to submit both. You will need to check with your mairie about the exact requirement.

and certificat de coutume I received from Paris. Check the website link here to know more about it – http://www.vfsglobal.com/india/france/certificat_purpose_marriage.html.

You will be required to submit certain documents in order to receive THIS particular certificate. You can go to any of the VFS centers but Paris does it in a day, I guess, that’s why we went there. Other centres are in Marseille and Lyon.

What is Certificat de célibat?
It is a document that you’ll get in India (if you live in India). Certificat de célibat is actually a singlehood certificate. Ask a notary in India, they know it. It’s written on a stamp paper.

Format of this certificate usually goes like :

“I, (name of the applicant), s/o or d/o (parents’ name) born on (D.O.B) in (place of birth), eligible to marry Indian or other national according to law. I am single (for unmarried)/ have no dependent from the previous marriage (for divorcee/widowed). ”

The notary or your Indian advocate would know how to go about it. But remember that this will take time too, and if you’re in France, you’ll have to tell your parents / relatives to do it for you and to send you the ORIGINAL copy by post. Get that copy appostilled, and translated before attaching it along with other documents. If you’re from Delhi, do not hesitate to contact http://anantranslations.com/, they are extremely efficient. I do not get any commission from them for mentioning there name 😀

Certificat de Célibat If you’re in France : https://www.eoiparis.gov.in/page/other-consular-services/

Rest of the documents for your civil wedding in France are common ones –

  • Latest copy of your birth certificate – appostilled and translated.
  • Passport size pictures – French Format
  • Copy of your French Visa / Offi and other documents.
  • and all other documents that your town hall demands.

Aiming an indo-french Church wedding in France?

I will do a separate post on Church Wedding, but remember that the process is much longer and you’d need new copies of some of the documents that you have submitted during your civil wedding. So keep calm and wait for the next post.

Let me know if you found this post helpful 🙂