What do you need for a French birth certificate translation?

Which French birth certificate do you have?

A French birth record is an acte de naissance, kept by the mairie of the town where you were born. You never get the register page itself. You get a copy or an extract of it, and the type decides what the translation can show.

Copie intégrale

Everything in the record, with your parents' names, ages, occupations and addresses and the marginal notes[1]

Extrait avec filiation

A summary of the same details about you and your parents, with the marginal notes[1]

Extrait sans filiation

Your name, date and place of birth and the marginal notes, without your parents[1]

Extrait plurilingue

An extract with its fixed headings printed in several languages, issued under CIEC Convention 16[3]

Only you, your spouse or civil partner, your ascendants and descendants, your legal representative or an authorised professional such as a lawyer can order the first two[1]. Anyone can order an extract without parents. The request is free[1]. Ask the mairie of your birthplace, or the Service central d'état civil in Nantes if you are French and were born abroad, which takes about 30 days by post[1].

Can an EU form or a plurilingual extract replace the translation?

Inside the EU, often yes. Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 lets you ask the issuing country for a multilingual standard form, attached to the birth certificate to avoid translation requirements[4]. With the form attached, the receiving office can ask for a translation only in exceptional cases[4]. France treats the form as a certified translation of the French record, and the mairie that issued the record fills it in for free[5].

The plurilingual extract works in the states bound by CIEC Convention 16, where it is accepted without legalisation[3]. France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Turkey are among the 24 states on the list[3].

Neither shortcut reaches the UK or the US. The regulation applies in EU countries[4], and neither country appears on the convention's list[3]. For a British or American office, plan on a translation of the French record. See the guide to the plurilingual extract (in French) for how to order one.

Who certifies the translation for the Home Office?

The Immigration Rules ask for the French original together with a full English translation that the Home Office can verify[2]. The translation is dated and includes:

• a confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original[2]
• the full name and signature of the translator, or of an authorised official of the translation company[2]
• the translator's or the company's contact details[2]
• for leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain, certification by a qualified translator and their credentials[2]

For a US immigration case the rule is similar. USCIS wants a full English translation that the translator certifies as complete and accurate, with a statement that the translator is competent to translate from French into English[6]. The guide to certified translation in the UK covers who can sign.

And when a French office needs an English certificate translated?

The other direction has its own rule. A French authority that asks for a translation wants a traducteur agréé, an expert judiciaire on the list of a cour d'appel or the national list of the Cour de cassation[7]. Even when an EU document arrives with the multilingual form, the French office may still ask for a translation, and then it has to be made by a traducteur agréé[7]. Service-Public links an online search for these translators[7].

How French entries read in English

Acte de naissance

Birth certificate, or birth record when the copie intégrale is meant

Né le, née le

Born on. The ending shows the sex of the child

Domicilié, domiciliée

Residing at, the address of a parent or of the person named

Officier de l'état civil

Civil registrar, the official who signed the record

Mentions marginales

Marginal notes, later events written beside the record, such as a marriage, a divorce or a change of name

Dates in words

Older full copies often write the date out. Translate it in words, and keep any digits exactly as written

Translate the marginal notes as well. The Home Office[2] and USCIS[6] both ask for a full translation, and the notes are part of the document. Keep names, the town and the département in French, with their accents. A town whose name looks like an ordinary word, such as Villeneuve or Bourg, should not turn into English.

How to make an editable English draft

1. Scan or photograph the certificate. A PDF, JPG or PNG works. Include every page and the back if a note is written there.
2. Create a free account. Your first document is free, up to 3 pages and 3 MB.
3. Choose OCR + Translate and pick English. French is detected on its own.
4. Check the Word file against the original. Names, dates and numbers are written as they appear. Compare each one, then the places.
5. Give the file to the translator who signs. They can correct it in Word and add their statement, which can save them typing time.

LoreAI is not a certified translation service and does not sign translations. The draft helps you understand the document and check the certified version you receive.

Questions people ask