I am not sure this is the appropriate forum to ask this question, but here goes (if you can recommend another forum I would appreciate it). My wife and I are going to apply for a visa de long sejour, and then once we are in France we need to provide various documents to the police. I believe that one of the documents necessary is a birth certificate, as well as our passport, in order for them to check us out. we may have a problem with the fact that my wife's name on the birth certificate is substantially different than her name on her passport (and it is not only that she assumed my last name when we married). Is that going to cause a problem with the French authorities? If it is, we may have to do something here in the US such as having a court modify her birth certificate. Thanks for any suggestions. Peter
Posted by
PA, USA
87 posts
I'm pretty sure you have to have all your ducks in line when you go to your visa interview in the US.
I just read about this (having several names) on another website. It may have been on Survive France or Expat Forum France. Or it may have been on Allison Lounes's February 3 2025 Q&A, which is available on YouTube. There is a transcript of the Q&A, so you can search there rather than listen to the whole hour or so. Though I think it's worth it for all the information she gives.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10849 posts
Try the private Facebook group Applying for a French CdS (Carte de Séjour) and/or visa https://www.facebook.com/groups/248686685795058/
It is a serious group and has experts answering. BTW, I picked up the URL from my computer, so if it doesn't work, you have the title and can do a search.
Edit: In general, France administrations are sticklers for accuracy. It will be easier to take action in the US than deal with the French administration. When we needed one letter in a name corrected, it took three years. If we had known about a certain document, it would have shortened the time.
Posted by
France Southwest
2624 posts
Have you consulted the French government website dedicated to the visas de long sejour requested from the USA?
At the bottom of this page there is an assistance section with telephone numbers and email addresse
Posted by
Panguitch, Utah
2790 posts
That will be addressed when you apply for a visa, long before your eventual arrival in France. Visa applications are made in your home country. If there is a concern, it will be resolved at your initial application.
Posted by
Normandie
368 posts
If the name changes occurred in the same state, a step that may help reduce delays would be to contact the Secretary of State's office in the state where this occurred, explain the situation, and then ask that they issue an apostilled birth certificate with a signed letter from the Sec. of State, also apostilled, confirming that the differing names are the same person.
The married name difference is routine and is addressed by your marriage license. If our experience is representative, in many official documents, your wife will be addressed by her maiden name with the married name following in parentheses, or by a list:
- Nom de naissance : maiden last name
- Nom d'usage : married last name
- Prénom : first name middle name
If you don't use it immediately, chances are you will benefit from having it later on in another context.