To mention a divorce, grabted in a foreign country, on French Vital Statistics registers, you have to make a request to the Procureur de la République du Tribunal de Grande Instance (county court's public prosecutor).

General information

Who to apply to if you married in France ?

You hace to apply to the Procureur de la République du Tribunal de Grande Instance of the place where you married. To find out which Tribunal de Grande Instance your place of marriage refers to, check the pages "Justice dans votre région" (Justice in your area) on Ministry of Justice's web site www.justice.gouv.fr

Who to apply to if you married in a foreign country ?

Apply to the

Procureur de la République du Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nantes
Etat-Civil - BP 1012
44 035 Nantes Cedex
France

And ask to the Procureur de la République to notify it to the

Service central de l’Etat-Civil
11, rue de la Maison Blanche
44 941 Nantes Cedex 9
France

Documents required

A letter from the applying spouse asking for the validation of the divorce

Complete photocopy of the divorce judgement (indicating identities and address of the spouses at the moment of the divorce and including motives for the decision and clauses such as custody of the children, sharing of the joint estate, alimony etc...) and its translation by an expert-translator (send the original of this translation).

 

Divorce certificate (testifying that it's a final judgement and that the non-applying spouse knows of the decision) and its translation (send the original of this translation).

 

Complete photocopy of the two spouses' birth certificate

 

Complete photocopy of the French marriage certificate

 

Documents (originals) sent for the registration will be kept by the Consulate.

Time process

This procedure usually takes 6 to 8 months.

Fees

The divorce registration is free of charge from the French administration. However, you will need to pay some fees to the Canadian Provincial administration. To find out the exact amount, please contact Canadian Vital Statistics directly.