A couple of months ago my wife started out as an AE. I am helping her with some of the admin stuff as she is still coming to grips with the language (I am only slightly ahead of her!).
All appeared to be going well, with RSI issuing a numero d'immatriculation and an attestation that she, and I were covered under the RSI social security scheme.
Then a letter arrived last week asking for an acte de naissance, and that the birth certificate issued by the hospital where she was born (in the USA) was insufficient.
It appears to me that this document (the acte) relates to French citizens and there is no such equivalent in the USA (or anywhere else?).
Has anyone else been requested to provide this acte de naissance and is there a way around the requirement? Do we just state that no such document exists for my wife?
Any advice would be welcome.
Paul Milburn
Thanks for your advice Marie-Claire.
Thanks for the reply Elaine. I have received the Washington State BC and apostille and have sent them to RSI-still waiting for a response!
Paul, the RSI accepts to cover my husband with my carte vitale, but will only issue him one of his own if his birth certificate is translated by an accredited translator (certifié par la cour d'appel), we actually fussed and protested as they SHOULD accept the translation and apostille we had, but have not been able to get them to see things our way.
Most important thing on your birthcert (besides the PERTINENT info) is the names of your parents.
I had the LONG version, and was able to get a short version from Ireland where I come from. If the Birth Cert is in English, RSI do not require a translation - if you can get an international birthcert from USA it may be in 3 languages (including French).
I agree with Alison, write the french version on top of a copy and provide this as a second copy or add a note - what you sent originally should suffice provided it contains the extra info.
Good luck!
You have to get the "Long' format. Most US birth certifcates are the short form. Mine from Indiana was pretty much a copy of the page from the register. You will also next be told it will need an Apostille. Then it will need to be translated as the folks at RSI are too stupid to know what mother and father translate to in French.
Just note the date she registered as AE and then 18 months from that date she might get her Carte Vitale.
I think that's cracked it. Just help them to understand what they have been sent. Brilliant Alison
Thanks for the feedback Alison.
I will ensure that they have seen both sides-including the one with the parents' names.
Thanks Peter
I might try using Barack Obama's as see if anyone notices!
Thanks Steve
I may just call them as you suggested.
In the cases of both my hubby and our neighbours the first birth certificate sent to the French authorities was not sufficient (both UK certificates) because in one case the name on the birth certificate (acte de naissance) did not match that on the passport - it was eventually resolved - and in the second case because the birth certificate was a very old UK one and did not have the parents' names on it. This too was resolved simply by getting a new one from the UK which included parents' names. So your wife's US birth certificate should be fine as long as it has parents' names on it. We've never needed to have one translated.....i sometimes just highlight the important bits in the margin in French and write 'Acte de Naissance' at the top of the copies I've had to send out.
Hello Paul,
If you Google "Birth Certificate" you should find that they exist practically everywhere.The French authorities have to accept that other countries don't use their system of Etat Civil, but do expect some form of government-issued documentation. They would like something like this with stamps and crests etc. On the other hand, you may have provided something more like this, which was fine at the time but probably can't be re-issued.
In order to correspond to the way things are done in France, they expect a government-issued document which was produced recently, often in the last 3 months. It may seem crazy to you, but a recently produced document seems to say more about you to them than the old document which has been kept carefully since just after your birth. Don't fight it - that's the way it is.
I would definitely attempt to stick to your guns. There are things called apostilles but they will be costly and might easily not be recognised anyway. Phone them maybe?
An "acte de naissance" is a birth certificate, and I imagine that world wide, everyone gets issued with something when they are born, except maybe primitive tribes in the Amazon jungle or similar! If in the USA the only official docucment that is given is from the hospital, then that is the birth certificate. However if the parents are required to officially register the birth (maybe at city/county hall), then that would be the document. Maybe getting the document she has translated by an official translator would solve the problem. Bonne chance.