{"id":2150327,"date":"2026-10-17T08:12:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T06:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T08:12:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T06:12:55","slug":"british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/","title":{"rendered":"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French – Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the end of the Brexit transition period on 1 January 2021, British citizens living in France have been third-country nationals: they need a titre de séjour<\/em> (residence permit) to live here, they queue with other non-EU nationals at the préfecture<\/em> (the local arm of the French state that handles immigration files), and every renewal brings its own paperwork and waiting. For many long-settled Britons, the answer is to go one step further and become French. French nationality ends the cycle of permits altogether, opens full political rights, and secures the right to stay whatever happens to future immigration rules. But the road is demanding: five years of habitual residence for the standard route, proof of assimilation<\/em> (integration into the French community, tested at interview), and a language level set by statute, or four years of marriage to a French spouse with an unbroken shared life. This guide explains, for a British reader, the two routes that matter in practice — naturalisation par décret<\/em> (naturalisation by government decree) and acquisition by declaration through marriage — the refusals the administration can hand down, and how a refusal, an adjournment or an opposition is challenged before the French courts. All French terms are explained at first use, and every decisive rule is tied to the statute or judgment that states it.<\/p>\n

I. How a British resident becomes French after Brexit: naturalisation by decree or declaration through marriage<\/h2>\n

French nationality law sits in the Code civil<\/em> (the Civil Code), and Brexit changed none of its articles: the conditions are the same for a Briton as for any other non-EU national. What Brexit changed is the starting point. Before 2021, an EU citizen could live in France for decades without ever holding a permit; since 2021, British residents hold Withdrawal Agreement permits or ordinary titres de séjour<\/em>, and that documented, lawful residence is exactly what a nationality file must prove. Two routes cover almost every British case: naturalisation by decree for the long-settled resident, and the marriage declaration for the British spouse of a French national. Children born in France have their own route — a minor born in France to foreign parents can claim French nationality from age sixteen, or from thirteen through their parents, where the child resides in France and has had habitual residence here for at least five years since age eleven, or since age eight for the earlier claim, under article 21-11 of the Civil Code<\/a> — but for the adult reader, the choice is between the decree and the marriage declaration.<\/p>\n

A. Naturalisation by decree: five years of residence, assimilation and the language test<\/h3>\n

The standard route is stated in one sentence: article 21-15 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that, outside one special case, acquisition of French nationality by decision of the public authority results from naturalisation granted by decree at the foreigner’s request. Three words matter there. First, it is a decree<\/em>: the government grants nationality, it does not owe it, and the minister enjoys a wide margin of appreciation that the courts review only for legal error. Second, it is granted at the request<\/em> of the foreigner: the file must be built, lodged and documented by the applicant, and a thin file is the most common cause of failure. Third, it is outside one special case<\/em>: the marriage route below, which follows different rules.<\/p>\n

The residence condition has two limbs, and both must be satisfied. At the moment the decree is signed, the applicant must have their residence in France: article 21-16 of the Civil Code<\/a> states, word for word, “Nul ne peut être naturalisé s’il n’a en France sa résidence au moment de la signature du décret de naturalisation.” A Briton who applies from France and then moves back to Kent before the decree is signed fails this test, however long they previously lived here. Behind that sits the duration condition: article 21-17 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that, subject to the exceptions in the following articles, naturalisation can only be granted to a foreigner showing habitual residence in France during the five years before lodging the application. The government’s own guidance confirms the rule in plain terms: a minimum of five years of residence in France is required, with exceptions for specific situations, as the service-public.fr page on naturalisation by decree<\/a> explains. For a British reader, the practical lesson is to count backwards from the filing date, gather proof of continuous lawful presence for the whole period — tax notices (avis d’imposition<\/em>), pay slips, health cover statements — and never file early in the hope that the missing months will pass while the file is examined.<\/p>\n

The five-year period can be shortened to two years in three cases listed in article 21-18 of the Civil Code<\/a>: a foreigner who has successfully completed two years of higher education towards a diploma issued by a French university or higher education establishment, a person who has rendered or can render signal services to France through their abilities and talents, and a foreigner with an exceptional integration record judged on civic, scientific, economic, cultural or sporting activity. The first case is the one that helps young Britons who came to study in France after Brexit on a student permit and stayed on to work. The second and third are genuinely exceptional and call for documented, high-level achievement, not simply a good career.<\/p>\n

Residence alone never suffices. Article 21-24 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that no one may be naturalised without showing assimilation à la communauté française<\/em>, assimilation to the French community, shown in particular through sufficient knowledge, according to their condition, of the French language, history, culture and society, with the level and assessment method fixed by decree in the Conseil d’Etat<\/em> (France’s supreme administrative court, which also vets draft decrees), plus knowledge of the rights and duties of French nationality and adherence to the essential principles and values of the Republic. The statute sets the language bar in its own words: the applicant must show a level allowing at least understanding the essential content of concrete or abstract subjects in a complex text, communicating spontaneously, and expressing themselves clearly and in detail on a wide range of subjects. In practice this is tested at the entretien d’assimilation<\/em>, the individual assimilation interview held at the préfecture<\/em>, where an appointed officer checks the applicant’s knowledge and writes a report recording the degree of assimilation and the level of knowledge of the rights and duties of nationality. The administrative courts take that interview seriously: in a 13 April 2021 ruling (CAA Nantes, No. 20NT01287) the court examined the report of the assimilation interview, verified that the officer had been properly designated by the prefect to conduct it, rejected the unsupported claim that the interview had been irregular, and treated the resulting assessment as a lawful basis for the minister’s decision. Preparation is therefore concrete work — language practice to a genuinely conversational level, real familiarity with French institutions, history and the values of the Republic — not a formality to be winged on the day.<\/p>\n

Finally, some applicants are barred at the threshold whatever their residence or French. Article 21-27 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that no one may acquire French nationality who has been convicted of crimes or offences against the fundamental interests of the Nation or of terrorism, or — whatever the offence — sentenced to imprisonment of six months or more without suspension, or who is subject to an unlifted expulsion order or an unexecuted ban from French territory, or whose stay in France is irregular. A British resident with a suspended sentence below six months is not automatically caught by this article, but any criminal record will colour the minister’s discretionary assessment, and an irregular stay at the date of the decision is fatal. Keep the permit valid throughout the procedure: a file examined while its holder has fallen out of status invites refusal.<\/p>\n

B. The British spouse of a French national: the four-year declaration and the unbroken shared life<\/h3>\n

Where one spouse is French, the route is not a decree but a déclaration<\/em>, a declaration of nationality, and the logic is different: the law rewards a genuine, lasting marriage rather than a long solo residence. Article 21-2 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that a foreigner or stateless person who marries a French national may, after four years from the marriage, acquire French nationality by declaration, provided that on the date of the declaration the communauté de vie<\/em>, the shared life, both emotional and material, has not ceased between the spouses since the marriage, and that the French spouse has kept their nationality. Three extensions of that sentence matter enormously in practice.<\/p>\n

First, the four-year period becomes five where, at the date of the declaration, the foreigner cannot show uninterrupted regular residence in France for at least three years since the marriage, or cannot show that their French spouse was registered for the duration of their shared life abroad on the register of French residents abroad (registre des Français établis hors de France<\/em>). A British-French couple living in London who never registered with the French consulate will therefore wait five years, not four. Second, a marriage celebrated abroad must first have been transcribed onto the French civil-status registers: a wedding at a UK register office produces no French effect until that transcription (transcription<\/em>) is done, so start the consular paperwork long before the declaration. Third, the foreign spouse must show sufficient knowledge of the French language according to their condition, with the level and assessment method fixed by decree — a lighter test than naturalisation, but a real one.<\/p>\n

The heart of the provision is the communauté de vie tant affective que matérielle<\/em>, the shared life both emotional and material, unbroken since the marriage. The courts read this strictly, and the leading judgment deserves quotation at length because it shows exactly how strict. On 4 November 2020 the First Civil Chamber of the Cour de cassation<\/em> (France’s supreme court for civil matters), in a judgment published in its official Bulletin (No. 19-50.027), recalled the rule in these terms: “Selon ce texte, l’étranger ou l’apatride qui contracte mariage avec un conjoint de nationalité française peut, après un délai de quatre ans à compter du mariage, acquérir la nationalité française par déclaration à condition qu’à la date de cette déclaration, la communauté de vie tant affective que matérielle n’ait pas cessé entre les époux depuis le mariage.” It then held: “La situation de bigamie d’un des époux à la date de souscription de la déclaration, qui est exclusive de toute communauté de vie affective, fait obstacle à l’acquisition de la nationalité française par le conjoint étranger.” In that case a woman married since 1998, with nearly twenty years of cohabitation and five children, still lost: her French husband had contracted a second union in 2010, and bigamy at the date of the declaration excludes any emotional shared life as a matter of law. The full judgment is published by the court itself at Cour de cassation, First Civil Chamber, 4 November 2020, No. 19-50.027<\/a>. For a British spouse the message is blunt: separation, even amicable and even with continued co-parenting, ends the shared life and with it the declaration route, and any second marriage contracted anywhere in the world before a divorce is pronounced destroys it.<\/p>\n

Declarations are received by the administrative authority, which issues a receipt (récépissé<\/em>) once the documents proving admissibility are lodged, under article 26 of the Civil Code<\/a>. But registration is not the end of the story. Article 21-4 of the Civil Code<\/a> allows the government to oppose acquisition, by decree in Conseil d’Etat<\/em>, for unworthiness (indignité<\/em>) or lack of assimilation other than linguistic, within two years of the receipt — or, where registration was refused, from the day the court judgment admitting the declaration became final. The same article deems polygamy, and conviction for mutilation of a minor under fifteen, to constitute lack of assimilation. A British spouse with a clean record and a genuine marriage has little to fear here, but the two-year window means the file must stay clean after filing: a conviction or a separation in that period can still sink the acquisition.<\/p>\n

II. Refusals, delays and keeping your status safe: challenging an adverse nationality decision<\/h2>\n

Nationality files fail every week: adjourned naturalisations, rejected declarations, opposed acquisitions. Each outcome has its own remedy, its own judge and its own evidential logic, and confusing them wastes months. The second half of this guide maps the three adverse outcomes a British applicant may face — the minister’s refusal or adjournment of naturalisation, the government’s opposition to a marriage declaration — and the one risk that survives success, deprivation of nationality, before closing on the dual-nationality question every Briton asks first: do I keep my British passport? Readers still on a Withdrawal Agreement permit who are weighing whether to apply at all may first want to check that their current status is secure, as explained in the guide to renewing a WARP residence permit and challenging a refusal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A. Adjournment or rejection of naturalisation: the minister’s discretion and how judges review it<\/h3>\n

Where the minister considers that naturalisation should not be granted, the decree of 30 December 1993 (No. 93-1362) on nationality procedure provides that the minister rejects the application, and may instead adjourn it (ajournement<\/em>), imposing a waiting period or conditions. An adjournment is not a final no: it postpones re-examination for the period it states — two years in the decision examined below — and indicates what must change — stable employment, completed integration, consolidated language. A rejection (rejet<\/em>) closes the file, but a fresh application remains possible once the situation genuinely changes. Both are administrative decisions that can be challenged before the administrative courts (tribunaux administratifs<\/em>, first-instance administrative judges, with appeal to the cours administratives d’appel<\/em>).<\/p>\n

The reviewing judge grants the minister breadth but not carte blanche. In a 26 May 2026 ruling (CAA Nantes, No. 25NT00326, published at CAA Nantes, 5th chamber, 26 May 2026, No. 25NT00326<\/a>), the court restated the framework word for word: it cited article 21-15 of the Civil Code<\/a> and the provision of the 1993 decree allowing the minister to reject or to adjourn “en imposant un délai ou des conditions”, then held: “L’autorité administrative dispose, en matière de naturalisation ou de réintégration dans la nationalité française, d’un large pouvoir d’appréciation. Elle peut, dans l’exercice de ce pouvoir, prendre en considération notamment, pour apprécier l’intérêt que présenterait l’octroi de la nationalité française, l’intégration de l’intéressé dans la société française, révélée notamment par son insertion sociale et professionnelle et le fait qu’il dispose de ressources lui permettant de subvenir durablement à ses besoins en France.” The case concerned an applicant whose adjournment had been justified by allegedly accessory student-era earnings; the minister then asked to substitute a different ground, the recentness of a permanent contract (contrat à durée indéterminée<\/em>) supposedly preventing verification of lasting professional integration and financial autonomy. The court’s approach shows the two questions every challenge must answer: was the ground factually accurate at the date of the decision, and was the assessment of integration manifestly unreasonable on the whole file — qualifications, employment history, family stability, declared income across several years? An applicant who meets both tests has a real case for annulment and an order to re-examine.<\/p>\n

For a British applicant, the evidential lessons are practical. First, professional insertion weighs heavily: successive fixed-term contracts converted into a permanent post, rising declared household income over several tax years, and a clear end to student status all speak for durable integration, while recent arrival in a first job invites an adjournment to prove stability. Second, the file must be coherent on its face: contradictions between the application form, the interview report and the tax notices destroy credibility faster than any single weakness. Third, the assimilation interview report structures the whole decision, as the April 2021 Nantes ruling confirms, so the interview must be prepared as the decisive hearing it is. Where an adjournment or rejection rests on a factual error — earnings misread, a diploma ignored, a period of residence miscounted — the challenge writes itself around the documents. Where it rests on an assessment of insufficient integration, the remedy is usually to serve the waiting period, build the missing element, and reapply with a file that answers the stated ground point by point. Younger Britons who arrived recently under the post-Brexit mobility arrangements, and whose residence history is still short, should read the youth-mobility rules first — see the guide on visas and work permits for Britons under thirty<\/a> — because lawful status during the waiting years is the foundation the later nationality file will stand on.<\/p>\n

B. Opposition, deprivation and dual nationality: what Brexit did and did not change<\/h3>\n

The marriage declaration faces a different weapon: opposition. Within two years of the receipt, the government may, by decree in Conseil d’Etat<\/em>, oppose acquisition for unworthiness or lack of assimilation other than linguistic, under article 21-4 of the Civil Code<\/a>. Opposition is rarer than naturalisation refusals and graver in tone: it brands the applicant unworthy or unassimilated. The two statutory examples — effective polygamy, and conviction for sexual mutilation of a minor under fifteen — show the intended register. But the notion of indignité<\/em> reaches further, into serious criminality and conduct incompatible with French nationality, and the decision, being a decree, is challenged before the administrative judge. A British spouse who keeps a clean record, maintains the shared household, and files a complete, honest declaration will rarely meet this procedure; its importance is as a warning that the two years after the receipt are not the moment to let standards slip.<\/p>\n

Even success is conditional for a decade. Article 25 of the Civil Code<\/a> allows deprivation of nationality (déchéance de nationalité<\/em>), by decree after the conforming opinion of the Conseil d’Etat<\/em>, for convictions for crimes or offences against the Nation’s fundamental interests or terrorism, for the offences in a listed chapter of the Criminal Code, for evading national service obligations, or for acts for a foreign state incompatible with French status and harmful to France — and never where the result would be statelessness. Article 25-1 of the Civil Code<\/a> confines the procedure in time: deprivation is only available where the reproached acts occurred before acquisition or within ten years after it, and it can only be pronounced within ten years of the acts, with both periods extended to fifteen years for the gravest cases under the first head of article 25. Ordinary British applicants will never approach this regime; its function here is reassurance about proportionality. France does not hand nationality out lightly, but once the ten-year window closes, the status is as solid as birthright nationality.<\/p>\n

That leaves the question every British client asks before any other: do I lose my British passport? On the British side the answer is documented and unconditional: the official GOV.UK guidance on dual citizenship<\/a> explains that dual nationality is allowed in the United Kingdom, so a British citizen may acquire French citizenship and keep British citizenship without any separate application, while warning that many other countries do not accept dual nationality and advising applicants to check the other country’s rules. On the French side, none of the nationality articles examined in this guide — neither the decree route nor the marriage declaration — makes renunciation of a prior nationality a condition of acquisition, and naturalised Britons in practice hold both passports, travelling on each where it serves them. Brexit changed nothing here either: it ended free movement, not dual nationality, and no provision of the Withdrawal Agreement requires a choice between allegiances. The one practical consequence of Brexit is evidential, not legal: where an EU citizen once proved residence with a payslip and a shrug, a Briton now proves it with permits, stamps and tax records, so keep every document from the first year.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

For a Briton settled in France, nationality is the end of immigration paperwork: the decree route rewards five years of lawful, stable, integrated life, and the marriage route rewards four years of genuine shared life with a French spouse, each under conditions the statutes state precisely and the courts enforce strictly. The administration’s discretion is wide but reviewable — factual errors can be annulled, assessments of integration must hold together on the whole file — and the two-year opposition window and ten-year deprivation window are bounded risks, not open-ended threats. Dual nationality completes the picture: Britain permits it expressly, France imposes no renunciation, and Brexit took none of this away. The applicants who succeed are the ones who file late enough, document everything, prepare the interview as an examination, and keep their record clean through the waiting periods. Measure your own file against the articles set out above, and where the file has a weakness the decisions describe — recent employment, shaky language, a separation — cure it before filing rather than litigating it afterwards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British resident in France after Brexit? Naturalisation by decree needs five years, the spouse route four; language, shared life and clean record decide. How refusals are challenged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251031309,"featured_media":16398,"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-2150327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-british-desk","category-decryptage"],"yoast_head":"\nBritish in France After Brexit: How to Become French - Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French - Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"British resident in France after Brexit? Naturalisation by decree needs five years, the spouse route four; language, shared life and clean record decide. How refusals are challenged.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-17T06:12:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kohen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kohen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"18 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kohen\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6254a643e6239d803134a01c800381bd\"},\"headline\":\"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French – Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-17T06:12:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3648,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/resource-database-X0ndGue1HFY-unsplash-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"British Desk\",\"D\u00e9cryptage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"citation\":\"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French – Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal\",\"about\":[{\"@type\":\"Thing\",\"name\":\"British Desk\"},{\"@type\":\"Thing\",\"name\":\"D\u00e9cryptage\"}],\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-17T06:12:55+00:00\",\"speakable\":{\"@type\":\"SpeakableSpecification\",\"cssSelector\":[\".article-content > p:first-of-type\"]}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/\",\"name\":\"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French - Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/resource-database-X0ndGue1HFY-unsplash-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-17T06:12:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/resource-database-X0ndGue1HFY-unsplash-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/resource-database-X0ndGue1HFY-unsplash-scaled.webp\",\"width\":5000,\"height\":4000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/17\\\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French – Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kohen Avocats\",\"description\":\"Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, attorney specialized in real estate and business law in Paris, advises and assists companies and individuals in their real estate, commercial and contractual transactions. He also handles real estate litigation and the resolution of complex commercial disputes.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Kohen Avocats\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Logo-2-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Logo-2-1.webp\",\"width\":2114,\"height\":1253,\"caption\":\"Kohen Avocats\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6254a643e6239d803134a01c800381bd\",\"name\":\"Kohen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kohen\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kohenavocats.fr\\\/en\\\/author\\\/kohenmlk\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French - Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French - Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal","og_description":"British resident in France after Brexit? Naturalisation by decree needs five years, the spouse route four; language, shared life and clean record decide. How refusals are challenged.","og_url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/","og_site_name":"Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris","article_published_time":"2026-10-17T06:12:55+00:00","author":"Kohen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kohen","Est. reading time":"18 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/"},"author":{"name":"Kohen","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6254a643e6239d803134a01c800381bd"},"headline":"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French – Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal","datePublished":"2026-10-17T06:12:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/"},"wordCount":3648,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/resource-database-X0ndGue1HFY-unsplash-scaled.webp","articleSection":["British Desk","D\u00e9cryptage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","citation":"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French – Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal","about":[{"@type":"Thing","name":"British Desk"},{"@type":"Thing","name":"D\u00e9cryptage"}],"dateModified":"2026-10-17T06:12:55+00:00","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".article-content > p:first-of-type"]}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/","name":"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French - Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/resource-database-X0ndGue1HFY-unsplash-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-10-17T06:12:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/resource-database-X0ndGue1HFY-unsplash-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/resource-database-X0ndGue1HFY-unsplash-scaled.webp","width":5000,"height":4000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/17\/british-become-french-naturalisation-marriage-declaration-refusal-challenge-brexit\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"British in France After Brexit: How to Become French – Naturalisation, Marriage Declarations and Challenging a Refusal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/","name":"Kohen Avocats","description":"Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, attorney specialized in real estate and business law in Paris, advises and assists companies and individuals in their real estate, commercial and contractual transactions. He also handles real estate litigation and the resolution of complex commercial disputes.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#organization","name":"Kohen Avocats","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Logo-2-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Logo-2-1.webp","width":2114,"height":1253,"caption":"Kohen Avocats"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6254a643e6239d803134a01c800381bd","name":"Kohen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c5e76ef76bbbfdd2b4da984e2bf2fa4056fd51a27d25ce2c332047f1dfd6e00?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Kohen"},"url":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/author\/kohenmlk\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2150327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251031309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2150327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2150327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2150327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2150327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2150327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}