You are British, you live in France or you are planning a French wedding, and you want the marriage itself to be valid under French law. Since Brexit ended free movement, the questions British couples ask at the mairie (the town hall) have changed: which papers prove you are free to marry when the United Kingdom issues no certificat de c\u00e9libat (certificate of single status) and no certificat de coutume (certificate explaining your national marriage law), how long the bans take, whether the mayor can refuse you, and what happens if the procureur de la R\u00e9publique (the public prosecutor) suspects a sham. This guide answers in practical order: the file two British citizens must lodge, the timetable from the bans to the ceremony, the audition (the interview) and the prosecutor’s opposition, and the court remedies that unblock a wedding. Every decisive statement below is anchored in the current wording of the Code civil (the Civil Code) as in force on 14 September 2026, in the official service-public.fr guidance, in the British government’s self-declaration procedure of May 2024, and in seven court decisions whose reasoning is quoted word for word: four judgments of the Cour de cassation (France’s highest civil court), a 2025 mainlev\u00e9e (lifting of an opposition) judgment from B\u00e9thune, and a 2020 Versailles appeal decision. If you are marrying in Paris or elsewhere in the \u00cele-de-France region, a dedicated passage tells you where your file is handled and what local practice to expect.<\/p>\n
Start with the two golden rules. First, French law sets no residence or nationality condition for getting married: the substantive conditions are age and consent. Article 144 of the Civil Code provides: “Le mariage ne peut \u00eatre contract\u00e9 avant dix-huit ans r\u00e9volus.” (article 144, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) Marriage cannot be contracted before eighteen years of age. Article 146 adds the second pillar: “Il n’y a pas de mariage, lorsqu’il n’y a point de consentement.” (article 146, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) There is no marriage where there is no consent. Everything the mairie asks you for serves these two checks: are you old enough, are you free, and do you genuinely consent.<\/p>\n Second, for everything else, each of you is governed by your own national law. Article 202-1 of the Civil Code states the conflict rule, and the Cour de cassation repeated it word for word on 18 May 2022 (First Civil Chamber, no. 21-11.106, published in the Bulletin, full judgment on courdecassation.fr<\/a>): “les qualit\u00e9s et conditions requises pour pouvoir contracter mariage sont r\u00e9gies, pour chacun des \u00e9poux, par sa loi personnelle. Quelle que soit la loi personnelle applicable, le mariage requiert le consentement des \u00e9poux, au sens de l’article 146 et du premier alin\u00e9a de l’article 180.” The qualities and conditions required to contract marriage are governed, for each spouse, by his or her personal law; whatever personal law applies, marriage requires the consent of the spouses within the meaning of article 146 and the first paragraph of article 180. For two British citizens, that means English law decides whether you have capacity to marry, while French consent law applies regardless. The same judgment drew the practical consequence for couples where one spouse later claims the other never wanted a real marriage: “Il en r\u00e9sulte que l’action \u00e9tait en r\u00e9alit\u00e9 fond\u00e9e sur l’article 146 du code civil, de sorte que la loi fran\u00e7aise \u00e9tait applicable.” The action was in reality founded on article 146 of the Civil Code, so French law applied. Keep that sentence in mind, because it governs every sham-marriage dispute examined in Part II.<\/p>\n In concrete terms, the mairie will ask each of you for a valid passport, proof of address, a full birth certificate issued recently (British certificates normally need an apostille, the international stamp that authenticates a public document for use abroad, plus a certified translation by a traducteur asserment\u00e9, a sworn translator), the names and details of your witnesses (t\u00e9moins, at least two and no more than four), and, where you sign one, the notaire’s certificate for your marriage contract (examined below). Foreign civil-status documents are in principle accepted: the Code provides that records drawn up abroad in local forms carry evidential weight unless verification shows irregularity, which is why the apostille and the sworn translation matter so much in practice (article 47, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>).<\/p>\n The specifically British difficulty is the certificat de coutume and the certificat de c\u00e9libat. The service-public.fr guidance states that the mairie may require these nationality-specific documents: the certificat de coutume, generally supplied by your embassy or consulate, setting out the foreign rules applicable to the marriage, and the certificat de c\u00e9libat (also called certificat de capacit\u00e9 matrimoniale, certificate of capacity to marry), proving you are not already married (Mariage en France, service-public.fr<\/a>). The United Kingdom issues neither. The British answer, published by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on 3 May 2024, is a a self-declaration form with accompanying notes for British nationals marrying or registering a civil partnership (PACS) in France, designed to stand in for the certificates of single status and custom (Self declaration form for marriage in France, gov.uk<\/a>) You swear a d\u00e9claration sur l’honneur (a sworn statement on your honour) that you are major, single and legally capable, using the FCDO form with its explanatory note that stands in for the missing certificates. Where a mairie has never seen the form, present the gov.uk page together with the service-public.fr passage explaining that, where the country of origin issues no certificat de coutume, the file may instead contain an attestation from the competent foreign authorities plus a statement of the applicable foreign law drawn up by a lawyer, or failing that, an attestation on honour that you are of age, single and legally capable. Ask the mairie early which version it wants, and get the answer in writing before you book anything.<\/p>\n Two further papers deserve attention before the file is lodged. If you sign a contrat de mariage (a marriage contract settling your property regime), it must be drawn up by a French notaire (a public officer with a monopoly on authentic instruments) before the wedding, with both parties present or represented: “Toutes les conventions matrimoniales seront r\u00e9dig\u00e9es par acte devant notaire, en la pr\u00e9sence et avec le consentement simultan\u00e9s de toutes les personnes qui y sont parties ou de leurs mandataires.” (article 1394, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) And “Les conventions matrimoniales doivent \u00eatre r\u00e9dig\u00e9es avant la c\u00e9l\u00e9bration du mariage et ne peuvent prendre effet qu’au jour de cette c\u00e9l\u00e9bration.” (article 1395, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) Marriage contracts must be drawn up before the celebration and take effect only on the wedding day. For British couples who already own a French house together, this appointment is the moment to align the contract with the ownership structure rather than discovering the mismatch years later. The notaire then issues the certificate the mairie requires. Finally, remember where you may marry: “Le mariage sera c\u00e9l\u00e9br\u00e9, au choix des \u00e9poux, dans la commune o\u00f9 l’un d’eux, ou l’un de leurs parents, aura son domicile ou sa r\u00e9sidence \u00e9tablie par un mois au moins d’habitation continue \u00e0 la date de la publication pr\u00e9vue par la loi.” (article 74, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) The wedding takes place, at the couple’s choice, in the commune where one of them, or one of their parents, has domicile or one month’s continuous residence. A ch\u00e2teau wedding is legally possible only if that link exists; the fairy-tale venue without any local anchor cannot host the civil ceremony.<\/p>\n Once the file is complete, the officier de l’\u00e9tat civil (the civil registrar, in practice the mayor or a deputy) publishes the bans. Article 63 of the Civil Code opens the sequence: “Avant la c\u00e9l\u00e9bration du mariage, l’officier de l’\u00e9tat civil fera une publication par voie d’affiche appos\u00e9e \u00e0 la porte de la maison commune. Cette publication \u00e9noncera les pr\u00e9noms, noms, professions, domiciles et r\u00e9sidences des futurs \u00e9poux, ainsi que le lieu o\u00f9 le mariage devra \u00eatre c\u00e9l\u00e9br\u00e9.” (article 63, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) Before the celebration, the registrar publishes by affiche (notice) on the town-hall door, stating both spouses’ first names, surnames, occupations, domiciles and residences, and the place of celebration. The service-public.fr guidance gives the working timetable (Mariage en France, service-public.fr<\/a>): the notices stay displayed for ten days, and the wedding cannot take place before the tenth day after publication of the bans. If the bans go up on 4 June, the earliest wedding date is 14 June. The marriage must then be celebrated within the year following expiry of the ten-day period, and the date itself is fixed by agreement with the mairie once the file is complete and current.<\/p>\n Where one of you is in a genuine hurry, for serious reasons (a dying parent, a posting abroad, a medical emergency), the prosecutor can waive publication: “Le procureur de la R\u00e9publique dans l’arrondissement duquel sera c\u00e9l\u00e9br\u00e9 le mariage peut dispenser, pour des causes graves, de la publication et de tout d\u00e9lai ou de l’affichage de la publication seulement.” (article 169, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) The prosecutor of the district where the wedding will be celebrated may, for serious cause, dispense with publication and every time limit, or with display of the publication only. Ask through the mairie, evidence the grave cause in writing, and do not treat the waiver as automatic.<\/p>\n The ceremony itself follows a fixed ritual. “Le mariage sera c\u00e9l\u00e9br\u00e9 publiquement lors d’une c\u00e9r\u00e9monie r\u00e9publicaine par l’officier de l’\u00e9tat civil de la commune dans laquelle l’un des \u00e9poux, ou l’un de leurs parents, aura son domicile ou sa r\u00e9sidence \u00e0 la date de la publication pr\u00e9vue par l’article 63 , et, en cas de dispense de publication, \u00e0 la date de la dispense pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l’article 169 ci-apr\u00e8s.” (article 165, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) The wedding is celebrated publicly, in a republican ceremony, by the commune’s registrar. “Le jour d\u00e9sign\u00e9 par les parties, apr\u00e8s le d\u00e9lai de publication, l’officier de l’\u00e9tat civil, \u00e0 la mairie, en pr\u00e9sence d’au moins deux t\u00e9moins, ou de quatre au plus, parents ou non des parties, fera lecture aux futurs \u00e9poux des articles 212 et 213 , du premier alin\u00e9a des articles 214 et 215 , et de l’article 371-1 du pr\u00e9sent code.” (article 75, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) On the appointed day, at the mairie, with two to four witnesses, the registrar reads aloud the spouses’ core duties (respect, fidelity, support, assistance, joint direction of the family, children’s maintenance and education) and takes each consent. Two practical points British couples often miss: the civil ceremony must come first, since celebrating a religious marriage before the civil one is prohibited, and the registrar acts as the mayor in that capacity because “Le maire et les adjoints sont officiers d’\u00e9tat civil.” (article L. 2122-32, General Code of Local Authorities, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) The mayor and deputies are civil registrars.<\/p>\n In Paris and the \u00cele-de-France, the mechanics are the same but the counters differ. In Paris, the file goes to the mairie of the arrondissement of domicile or residence (the one-month rule of article 74 applies street by street), the bans are displayed at that mairie, and the ceremony takes place there or in another municipal building the mayor designates. Because Paris mairies handle heavy volumes, lodge the file at least two to three months before the target date, keep every receipt, and identify early whether the prosecutor’s office of the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris will need to see anything unusual in your file (a recent divorce, a complex name history, documents from a third country). Elsewhere in the \u00cele-de-France, the same applies at the commune’s mairie, with the local prosecutor (Nanterre, Bobigny, Cr\u00e9teil, \u00c9vry, Meaux, Melun, Pontoise, Versailles) competent for waivers and oppositions. A wedding in a ch\u00e2teau in the Yvelines or Seine-et-Marne is lawful only through the commune’s mairie for the civil act; the ch\u00e2teau hosts the party, the mairie makes the marriage.<\/p>\n Many British couples fear a refusal at the counter. The reassuring rule first: before or after the audition, the registrar cannot simply throw out your file. The service-public.fr guidance is explicit that the audition (the interview) is mandatory \u2014 The registrar hears you both together, adding individual interviews where needed and an interpreter at your expense where French is an issue \u2014 yet Before or after the hearing, the registrar cannot refuse a marriage file. Before or after the hearing, the registrar cannot refuse a marriage file. What the registrar can do, where serious indications of fraud appear (a fictitious or forced marriage, absence of consent, a wedding contracted for another purpose such as obtaining a residence permit), is alert the prosecutor. The prosecutor then has fifteen days to let the wedding proceed or oppose it, and may extend the inquiry by a reasoned decision of up to one renewable month: The prosecutor has fifteen days to let the wedding proceed or oppose it, The decision must be reasoned and communicated to you, and an opposition is challenged by a demande de mainlev\u00e9e (an application to lift the opposition) before the tribunal judiciaire (the ordinary civil court), where representation by an avocat (a lawyer admitted to a French bar) is compulsory.<\/p>\n The statutory machinery behind that summary is article 175-2 of the Civil Code: “Lorsqu’il existe des indices s\u00e9rieux laissant pr\u00e9sumer, le cas \u00e9ch\u00e9ant au vu de l’audition ou des entretiens individuels mentionn\u00e9s \u00e0 l’article 63 , que le mariage envisag\u00e9 est susceptible d’\u00eatre annul\u00e9 au titre de l’article 146 ou de l’article 180 , l’officier de l’\u00e9tat civil saisit sans d\u00e9lai le procureur de la R\u00e9publique.” (article 175-2, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) Where serious indications suggest the planned wedding could be annulled for lack of consent or for coerced consent, the registrar refers the matter to the prosecutor without delay. The prosecutor’s own power to oppose mirrors the nullity cases: “Le minist\u00e8re public peut former opposition pour les cas o\u00f9 il pourrait demander la nullit\u00e9 du mariage.” (article 175-1, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) The public prosecution may oppose in any case where it could seek annulment. Opposition is not reserved to the prosecutor: the first right belongs to a current spouse \u2014 “Le droit de former opposition \u00e0 la c\u00e9l\u00e9bration du mariage appartient \u00e0 la personne engag\u00e9e par mariage avec l’une des deux parties contractantes.” (article 172, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) \u2014 which is why a British divorce that is not yet final in England can paralyse a French wedding until the decree absolute (the final divorce order) is produced, translated and understood.<\/p>\n Courts regularly test this machinery, and three recent decisions show how. On 25 March 2026 the First Civil Chamber (no. 24-12.863, full judgment on courdecassation.fr<\/a>) approved a prosecutor who, alerted by consular authorities to signs of a consent defect, gathered further information before deciding, quoting the governing text: “Lorsque des indices s\u00e9rieux laissent pr\u00e9sumer que le mariage envisag\u00e9 encourt la nullit\u00e9 au titre des articles 144, 146, 146-1, 147, 161, 162, 163, 180 ou 191, l’autorit\u00e9 diplomatique ou consulaire saisit sans d\u00e9lai le procureur de la R\u00e9publique comp\u00e9tent et en informe les int\u00e9ress\u00e9s. Le procureur de la R\u00e9publique peut, dans le d\u00e9lai de deux mois \u00e0 compter de la saisine, faire conna\u00eetre par une d\u00e9cision motiv\u00e9e, \u00e0 l’autorit\u00e9 diplomatique ou consulaire du lieu o\u00f9 la c\u00e9l\u00e9bration du mariage est envisag\u00e9e et aux int\u00e9ress\u00e9s, qu’il s’oppose \u00e0 cette c\u00e9l\u00e9bration. La mainlev\u00e9e de l’opposition peut \u00eatre demand\u00e9e, \u00e0 tout moment, devant le tribunal judiciaire conform\u00e9ment aux dispositions des articles 177 et 178 par les futurs \u00e9poux, m\u00eame mineurs.” The Court then validated the investigation itself: “la validit\u00e9 de l’audition de Mme [T], seule domicili\u00e9e en France, confi\u00e9e \u00e0 des enqu\u00eateurs relevant de l’autorit\u00e9 du procureur de la R\u00e9publique, ne pouvait \u00eatre remise en cause.” The validity of the hearing, entrusted to investigators acting under the prosecutor’s authority, could not be challenged. The lesson for British couples is direct: an audition by police or gendarmerie investigators at the prosecutor’s request is lawful, so attend it, answer consistently, and keep copies of everything you hand over.<\/p>\n The two other decisions concern timing and outcome. On 5 April 2023 (First Civil Chamber, no. 21-15.196, full judgment on courdecassation.fr<\/a>), the Court recalled that where spouses seek mainlev\u00e9e, “le tribunal judiciaire statue dans le mois. En cas d’appel, la cour statue dans le m\u00eame d\u00e9lai”, the court decides within one month, and on appeal the appeal court decides within the same period, but “Le non-respect de ces d\u00e9lais n’est assorti d’aucune sanction et ne saurait entra\u00eener de plein droit la mainlev\u00e9e de l’opposition.” Missing those deadlines carries no sanction and cannot automatically lift the opposition. Do not read judicial delay as victory; only a judgment lifts the bar. And opposition is not destiny: on 8 October 2025 the Tribunal judiciaire de B\u00e9thune (judgment no. RG 25\/01336) ordered the lifting of the marriage opposition entered on 16 December 2024 by the B\u00e9thune public prosecutor against the planned union of the two applicants. Couples facing an opposition should therefore file for mainlev\u00e9e promptly \u2014 the statute gives the court ten days: “Le tribunal judiciaire prononcera dans les dix jours sur la demande en mainlev\u00e9e form\u00e9e par les futurs \u00e9poux, m\u00eame mineurs.” (article 177, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) On appeal, “S’il y a appel, il y sera statu\u00e9 dans les dix jours et, si le jugement dont est appel a donn\u00e9 mainlev\u00e9e de l’opposition, la cour devra statuer m\u00eame d’office.” (article 178, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) \u2014 and assemble the consent evidence described in the next section.<\/p>\n Suspicion usually takes one of two shapes: the prosecutor believes one of you is marrying only for a residence permit or another advantage (a mariage blanc, a sham marriage with no matrimonial intent on either side, or a mariage gris, where one spouse is sincere and the other is not), or a spouse later claims the marriage was contracted under coercion. Article 180 of the Civil Code governs the second case: “Le mariage qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 contract\u00e9 sans le consentement libre des deux \u00e9poux, ou de l’un d’eux, ne peut \u00eatre attaqu\u00e9 que par les \u00e9poux, ou par celui des deux dont le consentement n’a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 libre, ou par le minist\u00e8re public.” (article 180, Civil Code, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>) A wedding contracted without the free consent of both spouses, or of one of them, can be attacked only by the spouses, by the one whose consent was not free, or by the prosecution. For the first case, the Cour de cassation set the benchmark on 11 July 2019 (First Civil Chamber, no. 18-17.574, full judgment on courdecassation.fr<\/a>): the appeal court had found it certain that the wife had wanted to meet a French man and live in France, yet still refused annulment because she projected a shared future. The Court quashed, holding: “alors qu’elle avait relev\u00e9 qu’il \u00e9tait certain que Mme L… souhaitait rencontrer un homme fran\u00e7ais et vivre en France, ce dont il r\u00e9sultait qu’il n’existait pas d’intention matrimoniale sp\u00e9cifique \u00e0 l’\u00e9gard de M. Y…, la cour d’appel n’a pas tir\u00e9 les cons\u00e9quences l\u00e9gales de ses propres constatations et viol\u00e9 le texte susvis\u00e9”, deciding under visa of “Vu l’article 146 du code civil”, and it “CASSE ET ANNULE, en toutes ses dispositions, l’arr\u00eat rendu le 26 septembre 2017, entre les parties, par la cour d’appel de Toulouse”. Wanting to live in France, without a specific matrimonial intent towards the actual spouse, is not consent within the meaning of article 146. British couples should read this as a warning in both directions: never marry to manufacture residence, and if your genuine relationship is questioned, evidence the specifically matrimonial bond \u2014 shared home, shared finances, shared plans, testimony from both families \u2014 not merely the wish to settle in France.<\/p>\n Courts do not annul lightly, and the counterweight matters as much as the warning. On 17 November 2020 the Cour d’appel de Versailles (RG no. 19\/02014) refused to follow a husband who sought to have his own 2014 marriage annulled: it confirmed in full the 9 November 2018 judgment of the former Tribunal de grande instance de Pontoise, which had dismissed the annulment claim, and ordered the claimant to pay appeal costs. A spouse who celebrated the wedding and lived the marriage will struggle to have it erased afterwards. The same balance appears in the presence rule clarified on 18 March 2020 (First Civil Chamber, no. 19-11.573, full judgment on courdecassation.fr<\/a>): “Aux termes de l’article 146-1 du m\u00eame code, le mariage d’un Fran\u00e7ais, m\u00eame contract\u00e9 \u00e0 l’\u00e9tranger, requiert sa pr\u00e9sence”, and that provision “requiert la pr\u00e9sence des seuls fran\u00e7ais lors de leur mariage contract\u00e9 \u00e0 l’\u00e9tranger”. Presence is a personal-law condition imposed on French nationals; each spouse’s national law governs the rest. For two Brits marrying in France, both must of course attend the ceremony in person, but the validity of each spouse’s consent and capacity is judged under English law for capacity and under French consent law for reality \u2014 the exact split of article 202-1 examined in Part I.<\/p>\n Where the blockage is not an opposition but the mairie itself refusing to celebrate or to publish the bans, the remedy changes court. The refusal is an administrative decision challengeable before the tribunal administratif (the administrative court) within two months, and urgency can be met through the emergency judge: article L. 521-1 of the Code de justice administrative allows the r\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9 judge, hearing a suspension application alongside an annulment claim, to suspend execution of an administrative decision, even a rejection, where urgency justifies it and a serious ground exists (article L. 521-1, Code of administrative justice, on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>). In practice, assemble a dated bundle \u2014 complete file receipts, the FCDO self-declaration, the sworn translations, the audition record, proof of the one-month residence link, the wedding-venue booking showing time pressure \u2014 then file the annulment claim with a r\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9-suspension (the emergency application asking the judge to suspend the refusal within days or weeks) and expressly request an injunction setting a celebration deadline. Never invent a document to force the file through: a forged certificat de c\u00e9libat or a backdated lease converts a winnable delay dispute into a fraud case, and fraud findings poison residence applications long after the wedding. If the prosecutor opposed, use the mainlev\u00e9e route of articles 177 and 178 before the tribunal judiciaire; if the mayor refuses, use the administrative route; if both pile up, run both in parallel with the same exhibits, because each judge decides only the decision before them.<\/p>\n Two British citizens can marry in France after Brexit through a marked path: prove eighteen years and freedom to marry with recent birth certificates, apostilles and sworn translations; replace the unobtainable British certificates of custom and single status with the FCDO self-declaration of May 2024 plus the explanatory note, backed by the service-public.fr fallback attestations; sign any marriage contract before a notaire before the day; publish the bans for ten days in the commune of domicile or one month’s residence; and celebrate publicly at the mairie with two to four witnesses, the religious ceremony always second. Where suspicion arises, the registrar must hear you but cannot bin your file; only the prosecutor can oppose, by a reasoned decision, after an audition you must attend; and only a court can keep the bar in place, with mainlev\u00e9e available at any time before the tribunal judiciaire deciding within ten days. Behind every stage stands the same sentence of article 146 \u2014 no consent, no marriage \u2014 applied by courts that annul weddings contracted to obtain residence and protect weddings lived as marriages. Build the file early, evidence the specifically matrimonial bond from the first appointment, challenge oppositions and refusals within their short time limits with an express request for a deadline, and treat the bans, the audition and the witnesses as seriously as the wedding itself. Do that, and the French system, which is demanding but bound by its own rules, will give you the wedding it owes you.<\/p>\n Our firm offers a telephone consultation within 48 hours with a lawyer of the firm, to review your wedding file, your bans timetable and any opposition or refusal before your booked date passes. Call +33 6 46 60 58 22<\/a> or write through our contact page<\/a>. We receive British couples in Paris and across the \u00cele-de-France, and handle wedding files from every mairie in France.<\/p>\n Statutory references: article 63 Civil Code<\/a>, article 74 Civil Code<\/a>, article 75 Civil Code<\/a>, article 144 Civil Code<\/a>, article 146 Civil Code<\/a>, article 146-1 Civil Code<\/a>, article 165 Civil Code<\/a>, article 169 Civil Code<\/a>, article 172 Civil Code<\/a>, article 175-2 Civil Code<\/a>, article 175-1 Civil Code<\/a>, article 177 Civil Code<\/a>, article 178 Civil Code<\/a>, article 180 Civil Code<\/a>, article 1394 Civil Code<\/a>, article 1395 Civil Code<\/a>, article 202-1 Civil Code<\/a>, article 47 Civil Code<\/a>, article L. 2122-32 CGCT<\/a>, article L. 521-1 CJA<\/a>, Cass. 1st civ., 18 May 2022, no. 21-11.106<\/a>, Cass. 1st civ., 25 Mar. 2026, no. 24-12.863<\/a>, Cass. 1st civ., 5 Apr. 2023, no. 21-15.196<\/a>, Cass. 1st civ., 18 Mar. 2020, no. 19-11.573<\/a>, Cass. 1st civ., 11 July 2019, no. 18-17.574<\/a>, TJ B\u00e9thune, 8 Oct. 2025, RG 25\/01336, CA Versailles, 17 Nov. 2020, RG 19\/02014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two British citizens marrying in France after Brexit: the FCDO self-declaration replacing the certificat de coutume, the bans timetable, the prosecutor’s opposition and how to challenge a refusal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251031309,"featured_media":16298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kj_source_type":"","_kj_official_id":"","_kj_official_url":"","_kj_judilibre_id":"","_kj_jur":"","_kj_lieu":"","_kj_chambre":"","_kj_rg":"","_kj_date":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[80312,80314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2121394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-british-desk","category-decryptage"],"yoast_head":"\nB. How do the bans, the timetable and the ceremony work, and where does Paris fit in?<\/h3>\n
II. What happens when the mairie or the prosecutor blocks the wedding, and how do you challenge it?<\/h2>\n
A. Audition, investigation and opposition: what if the procureur blocks your wedding?<\/h3>\n
B. Sham-marriage suspicion, annulment after the wedding, and your remedies against a refusal to celebrate<\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
Need a quick opinion on your case<\/h2>\n