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May 31, 2005

Nationalité & citizenship

Christopher explained the difference between nationalité and citoyenneté this morning over coffee. (Coffee is a faux ami of café, by the way.) Based on an official answer, he seems to have overdone it, but perhaps I simply misunderstood.

The question came up because Nathalie's friends had asked me Sunday whether I'd acquired French nationality. Christopher says that while in France I benefit from the same obligations and protections as other French citizens, namely I'm subject to rule by the same laws. But I'm not a citizen. Nor am I a national. If I were in trouble in some other country, I'd have to rely on help from the USA, not France.

After being a guest here for 12 1/2 years, why not ask for nationality? I'm not sure how to answer that question. Woody Allen joked about it saying he wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have him as a member. For a while, I figured I'd wait at least until I feel I belong. Like Kafka.

There are lots of little things I do not understand. If I went back to live in the US, though, I might have the same problem.

Maybe I should ask the administration if I can acquire French citizenship, which might be done without relinquishing US citizenship. Don't think about it, just do it. See belonging as an instrument, rather than an inherent quality. In fact if I were truly coherent, I'd have to give up my US citizenship, since I don't belong there any more than I do here.

Posted by Mark at May 31, 2005 08:53 PM

Comments

Here's what I found out about Americans requesting French citizenship (nationalité in French) when I looked into it 4 years ago:

  • Nominally, the US forbids acquiring dual citizenship (being born that way is different). It used to be that simply obtaining foreign citizenship was a repudiation of US citizenship. But the situation has evolved and it is now tolerated for most European countries. Of course, you remain an American citizen to the US administration, and you become French to the French one. For third parties, say obtaining a visa to Syria, you get to choose. Note that once you have a new citizenship, you may repudiate your American one in front of any US consular agent--you would then only be French and not have to file taxes in the US anymore, for example.

  • You may request French citizenship after 5 years of continuous legal residence in France (3 years if you have a French university degree). This does not mean it will automatically be granted. Your motivations will be reviewed and ultimately the Prefet will decide, based on some unknowable criteria. There are certain conditions which do grant citizenship and marriage to a French citizen might be one--you'll have to ask at the Prefecture.

  • There is a form to obtain from the Prefecture. In true bureaucratic fashion it has to be filled out in triplicate by hand. You must provide a "lettre de motivation" and certified copies of all relevant documents, diplomas, etc. They require a copy of your criminal record: I had my fingerprints taken at the Gendarmerie and sent a form to the FBI in the US for a background check.

    • This is as far I got in my application, I never did submit it. It takes a few months to get all the documents together.

  • After submitting your application, you (and probably your spouse) will be interviewed one or more times at the Prefecture. They are looking to see how you fit in and how genuinely French you want to be. Your level of French is certainly more than adequate. Apparently, your neighbors will also be contacted, you might want to casually let them know. After that, the procedure can probably take up to a year. But as far as I know, there are no civics classes to take. And by now you're old enough to not have to worry about being drafted for military service (that was one of my concerns at the time).

  • The benefits of gaining citizenship are being able to vote in France, not having to deal with a visa, and traveling on a French passport (outside of the US--you could still carry it for faster reentry to France).

    • Posted by: Andy at June 1, 2005 12:19 AM

    Thanks for the tips. I suppose there's a need to figure out what to say when asked, "Why have you applied for citizenship?"

    When you go to a job interview, you must go in the right frame of mind. I'm not in that frame of mind right now.

    Posted by: Mark at June 1, 2005 11:17 AM

    Like a job interview, your responses can be more or less genunine, you just have to do a bit of acting to make them appear so.

    So yes, you do need to figure out plausible and appropriate answers to potential questions, but you don't actually have to believe in them. For example, you can say "pour participer a la gloire de la francophonie dans tous les domaines, poursuivre le grand reve de Charles de Gaulle, et voter pour la constitution Europeene" (oops, too late), when you're really thinking "to get through immigration at CDG faster" (I knew he had something to do with it).

    Seriously though, I think answers such as "to legalize my de facto residency status, to have a say in the government which rules 99% of my life, because after 12 years I feel more French than American, etc." are all legitimate and acceptable. You could even go so far as to say you want "to participate in the democratic process" and maybe they'll get the sous-entendre that you currently cannot (in the US).

    Of course, that all requires you to go through the paperwork and be willing to do the acting, which I can understand may take some muster. Hey, it was daunting enough for me to let it slip and never completed the process by the time I decided to leave.

    Posted by: Andy at June 2, 2005 12:25 AM