can i get a eu passport ? my husband is french and i'm jamaican?

Question

living and working in the uk

Answer 1

I'm not 100% sure, I'm from Spain, but being Spain a EU member just like France, things must be very similar. If you got married in France, or your marriage is officially registered in France, you can apply for French nationality and will get it automatically, only it takes a while for the paperwork to go through. Then you get a French (EU) passport, of course!

Answer 2

You can only get a different passport when you become a citizen of a different country. Acquiring citizenship by marriage is never automatic.

If the couple has been living in France for a year, after a period of two year's marriage to a French citizen, it is possible to make a declaration of French citizenship by marriage. If the couple is living outside of France, a three year waiting period is required. In addition to the many documents required to prove both the applicants nationality and the spouse's french nationality, there is a requirement for competency in the French language. The declaration of citizenship is made by the couple to the local court, or the French consulate if overseas. The declaration is accepted or rejected by decision of the Ministry of Justice.

Answer 3

What dognhorsemom has written is absolutely correct. I will add my own anecdote on this: Some years ago when I had left a job in Abidjan and come to London, our Filipina nanny told us she wanted to visit her boyfriend in France, to meet his parents. She had been refused a visa at the French consulate in London. I went over to the consulate and spoke to the head of the visa section. He said that it was inappropriate for her to apply in London, that she should go back to Abidjan and apply there, or go to Manila since she only had a visitor's visa in Britain. I answered that I was going to France on important business and needed the nanny to look after our children. He was unmoved. For awhile. And then suddenly, when I continued arguing politely and respectfully, his demeanor changed and he said (in French of course): "All right. I'm going to issue the visa. But only because you speak French."

Say that again?

P.S.: She married the boyfriend, had two very French sons, and got a French passport (Filipinos have the highest proclivity to naturalise abroad of any nationality.) I saw her the other day; her sister came to work for us afterwards and we attended the sister's 50th birthday party recently (her sister now has a British passport; the sister's 10-y.o. son an Irish one).

Second anecdote: I attended a parent-teacher conference with our son's elementary school teacher in Abidjan in the mid-1970s. Because in those days there were very few Ivorian teachers in the better (private) schools and because she was black asked her if she was Ivorian. She stood stiffy upright and said, «Monsieur, je suis Française!» She was from Martinique.

The moral: all that matters is that you speak proper French. Read this book: http://www.femail.com.au/almostfrench.htm My daughter is marrying a French man next month. One can be exempt from the French bureaucracy's worst aspect (official discretion) by virtue of an EU/EEA/Swiss passport. But never from its disdain if your French is not correct. The «beur» and African "problem" in France tends to go away for those who speak high-class French, dress BCBG («bon chic bon genre») and went to the right schools (un doctorat, c'est bien).

The French nationality laws are part of the Code civil, and you can find them (also in English translation) at Legifrance: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/code_civil_textA.htm
beginning at Article 17. The best guides to French nationality are those by Prof. Paul Lagarde (legal and theoretical) and the practitioner's manual by Pâquerette Thuilier («Guide pratique de la nationalité française», 2e éd.) Also see «Vosdroits» at http://www.service-public.fr/

A FURTHER NOTE: You are living and working in the UK, presumably with an EEA permit. By applying for a residence permit http://www.workpermit.com/uk/eea_swiss.htm , your husband protects your interests, assures (once he is granted "unlimited leave to remain") that any children born to the marriage in the UK are British citizens: http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/nationality/advice/bn1

Naturalisation as a British citizen might be easier for you if you are still living in the UK after 5 years than naturalisation as a French one: http://www.workpermit.com/uk/naturalisation.htm