French citizenship by naturalisation: what the file actually asks

The baseline on service-public.fr is a minimum of 5 years of residence in France before the application. No minimum period is required at all if you hold refugee status, if you come from a francophone country and French is your mother tongue, if you were schooled five years or more in a French-language institution, or if you served in the French army (or an allied army in wartime).

Residence means more than an address: you must reside in France at the moment the naturalisation decree is signed, with the centre of your material interests — notably professional — and your family ties in France. An applicant whose spouse and children live abroad will find that condition examined closely.

Source: service-public.fr — Naturalisation française par décret (fiche F2213), read 6 September 2026.

France checks assimilation into the French community through two gates: passing the civic exam (examen civique) and an interview at the prefecture. On top of that, you must justify a sufficient knowledge of the French language — the file asks for a diploma or attestation proving your level — and an attestation of having passed the civic exam goes into the dossier alongside your identity, tax and family documents.

Source: service-public.fr — fiche F2213, assimilation et pièces du dossier, read 6 September 2026.

Two more pillars carry the file:

• Professional insertion. The fiche calls it an essential condition of assimilation and integration: stable and sufficient income to support yourself and your tax household.
• Good conduct. You must be of bonnes vie et mœurs, with no acts contrary to public order. Among the hard disqualifiers: a conviction in France to a prison sentence of six months or more without suspension, or convictions for crimes or offences against the fundamental interests of the state.

Source: service-public.fr — fiche F2213, conditions de recevabilité, read 6 September 2026.