Can foreigners grandchildren obtain French nationality from their grandparents?

Ms D..., born on 17 June 1992 in Algeria, to whom a certificate of French nationality is refused, instituted legal proceedings claiming to be the descendant, by filiation, of a French grandfather.

The Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris held that Ms D... was not entitled to prove her French nationality by filiation in view of the application of the rules on obsolescence laid down in Article 30(3) of the Civil Code and that she had lost French nationality.

Ms D... appealed against that judgment and the Cour d’appel de Paris held, on the contrary, that the conditions for obsolescence had not been met and that Ms D. D. could prove her French nationality. Analyzing the evidence adduced by Ms. D..., the Court finds that Ms. D... is French.

The public prosecutor then brought the case before the Court of Cassation, as he criticized the Court of Appeal for having taken into consideration the situation of the woman’s paternal grandmother when the condition of 50 years’ residence abroad was met by Ms D’s father...

The Cour de cassation dismisses the appeal: it considers that the concept of ‘ascendants’ referred to in Article 30(3) of the Civil Code is broader than that of ‘father and mother’, and that the fixation of ‘ascendants’ abroad for more than half a century is not assessed solely in relation to the father and mother; it approved the Cour d’appel for having taken into account the residence in France of Ms D’s grandmother ... and not only the fact that Ms D’s father had lived abroad for 50 years.

In that judgment, the Court of Cassation clarified, for the first time, that the concept of ascendant of Article 30(3) of the Civil Code includes grandparents. However, the applicant must always provide proof that the grandparent has established his habitual residence in France during the 50-year period. In addition, the other conditions of Article 30(3) of the Civil Code are not amended.