Please go to Ministry of foreign affairs website to verify whether you need a visa to enter France.
If you need to have a visa to enter France, you will be directed to a page where you will see the list of documents necessary and also the application form.
If you are going to study in France more than 3 months, most likely you will need a student visa. Here is a list of documents that you need to prepare:
Once you decide to get married, you need to go to the Town Hall (Mairie) where you are going to have the wedding for a list of documents to prepare.
Each Town Hall might request a different set of documents. Here are documents required by the Town Hall in Queven:
You will need to go to the Embassy of Malaysia in Paris. Make sure you call them and make an appointment before going. You will fill in the form and swear in front of them that you have never married. They will issue you a "surat akuan" with some forms. You will need to send all these along with a photocopy of your IC and RM5 to:
Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara Malaysia (Attention Puan Nor)Once they receive your application, it will take them 7 days to issue you an English version of "Pengesahan Taraf Perkahwinan", where you should ask them to send it to:
Kementerian Luar NegeriKementerian Luar Negeri will certify and sign that this "Surat Pengesahan Taraf Perkahwinan" is actually signed by the right person. You need to pay RM10 for that. They will then send this letter to you in France.
You can then send this letter to the Embassy in Malaysia in Paris:
Ambassade de Malaisie (Consular Department)Once the Embassy receive this, they will translate the "Pengesahan Taraf Perkahwinan" to the required certificate of single status (Item 8) and issue you a certificite of custom (Item 7). You will need to pay 5 euros for Item 7. This can usually be done within 2 weeks.
I did mine in Malaysia May 2006. My family got me the form from Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara Malaysia. I then went to see a commissioner of oath, he signed and I paid RM4. Then, I went to Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara Malaysia in Putrajaya to submit the application (RM5) with a photocopy of IC. Service was nice and fast. One week later, I went to collect the "Sijil Pengesahan Taraf Perkahwinan", then go to Kementerian Luar Negeri to get it sign (RM10). Service was nice but slow due to the crowd. I then sent it by poslaju to Embassy of Malaysia in Paris. They sent me Item 6 and 7 to my address in France within 2 weeks.
Once the town hall receive all the necessary documents, they will make an announcement of the marriage. Your wedding day will have to be 2 weeks or one month after the application, depending on the city you live.
On the wedding day, the ceremony will last for around 10 minutes. The mayor will ask the bride first for the consent of marriage follow by the gloom. You will be given a "livret de famille" and several extract of the marriage for future administrative purposes.
As soon as you are married, you can go to your prefecture to process your carte de séjour. In Nantes, I need my passport and the livret de famille to get an appointment to process the carte. The prefecture only open from 1.30pm to 4pm, so people were queueing to fight for the 20-25 numbers available for the day. My appointment was scheduled to 2 months after. That means I can only work when I get my temporarily carte de séjour on the appointment day.
On the appointment day, you need to provide these documents and your French spouse has to come with you:
If you are student, you are allowed to use your Malaysian driving license to drive around France. However, as soon as you change your status, say for example you got married to a French, within the first year of your marriage (count from the day you got issued a carte de séjour due to the marriage), you can exchange your Malaysian driving license with a French one without having to take a driving test. You can have this exchange done in your local prefecture. You will need to give away your Malaysian driving license. If you decide to move back to Malaysia, you will need to exchange your French driving license with the Malaysian driving license in Malaysia.
To do the exchange, you need to go to your prefecture for a list of documents required. These are the documents required in the prefecture de la loire Atlantique:
If you can prove that you have been living with your French partner, you can go to CPAM to get your "carte d'assurance maladie vitale". You will be using your partner's account and it's free on your part. If not, you will need to buy the student insurance recommend by your school (if you are a student under 28 years old), or you have to buy it yourself (for student more than 28 years old). Once you are married to a French, you will have your own medical account.This card will usually cover 70% of your medical expenses. Most of the French buy a supplimentary insurance to cover the remaining 30%.
The translation must be prepared by a recognised translator in France. To translate from Malay (not sure about English) version to French version, you can contact Ms Rogayah Decombredetfrom the Consular department in Embassy of Malaysia in Paris. Here is a list of the fees:
| Type of Service | Fee (euro) |
|---|---|
| Translate Birth Certificate | 5 |
| Translate School Diploma | 5 |
| Translate Driver License | 5 |
| Issue Certificate of Custom | 5 |
| Certify Document | 5 |
Note: You should send along with a prepaid envelope for the return mail from the Embassy.
This is quite common among the French. You need to sign this with a notary. It costed us 355 euros for this service. If you sign it, it means that whatever properties, debts, heritage etc the couple own before the marriage will remain his/her in the case of a divorce. You need to sign this before the civil wedding, and have to send the document to the town hall. If you sign this after the civil wedding, it will cost more from the notary.
For more information, please visit Notaire de France.
Reference: Text written by Bee Ean based on her experience.