loga1988

My grandfather worked for french army in the second world war and he got "CARTE DE COMBATTANT " card and now my father and myself are trying to get the french nationality .My grandfather enjoyed french benefits like old age pension and other pensions and he did claim for the injury which happened to him during second world war but before the claim amount arrived my grandfather passed away .

till 1979 he enjoyed all the french government benefits so that "50 years law (loss of nationality by disuse)" will not impact us I guess . Is my guessing right .We already consulted one french nationality consultant he said ok to get nationality for us before but due to the above said law he said some problems are there.This 50 years count will start from 1979 or when ? that is my confusion

I guess the person who hold the nationality should use it in the past fifty years otherwise it will expire Am I right .Please clarify this ?

Please guide can i get the french nationality

Gretchen

How could a travel board answer this question? You need to go to a French consulate and ask. What is your nationality now.

nytraveler

Agree this is an arcane legal question, not a travel one. (I very much doubt anyone here has knowledge of this issue.)

I would start with the nearest French consulate. If they say this does not apply to you, you would need to find an attorney expert in this area to advise if there is a chance of doing this.

And you need to consider that the 50 year time limit may run from when the carte was issued.

hetismij2

Do either of you understand French? There is information in French on the government websites.
If you don't then you need to contact your nearest French Consulate for advice, or consult an expert lawyer. I very much doubt anyone here has the legal knowledge you seek, and if they do they should probably be charging you for their advice.

kerouac

The best thing to do is just walking into your nearest French consulate and say "I'm here to claim my French nationality." This will get the ball Rolling, and you will certainly be provided with a list of about 30 items to provide, starting with newly issued birth certificates (dated less than 2 months ago) for yourself, your father and his parents.

loga1988

feeling sorry that i posted this query here

nytraveler,I need to clarify a doubt with you as you said the count of 50 years should start from the issue of card(1962) which my grand pa got but he utilised it in the last 50 years that is till 1979 so we will not stuck up with that law Am I right?

bilboburgler

Loga, I think everyone is saying "we don't know", hence we are the wrong people to ask. But the French do know, so ask them. Hope that helps?

flanneruk

You also need to be clear why you want French nationality.

You seem very preoccupied with benefits like pensions. As a general rule in Europe, citizenship no longer entitles you to social benefits like healthcare or pensions: you need to have contributed to the relevant insurance fund in any EU country for the appropriate time.

If you go to a French consulate and discover you are eligible to apply for citizenship, but you want that status for benefits, you need to understand your position before committing the cost and time that getting full citizenship might involve

Michael

The implication of your posting is that your grandfather was a French citizen. That is not necessarily true. My father was a refugee in France, was in the French army as a <i>prestataire</i> (civilian worker), was demobilized in 1940, lived in France until 1952 but never as a permanent resident, but received pension and medical coverage once retired on the basis of having worked in France for 15 years, benefits that my mother also received after he died; they lived in the U.S. but spent summers in France. But he never was a French citizen.

Receiving French benefits and being eligible for French citizenship are two different things, and descendants are less likely to be considered legitimate claimants.

nytraveler

loga -

You are asking me legal questions. I am not an attorney. And neither are your (apparently). Only the French government can tell you what your options are here if any.

My opinion (or yours) is meaningless.

loga1988

thanks all for your time and reply