Immigrating to France by decent- tourist vs long stay visa

I'm planning on immigrating to France by decent (French citizenship/EU passport). Can I travel there now on a long stay visa and complete the process in France? Is this the typical decision to make?
Thank you in advance.

I know nothing about French immigration rules .... but if you are a French citizen why don't you apply for a passport through the embassy or consulate, similar to how it works for British citizens by descent. Appreciate French law is probably more complicated.

alterhase58 wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:38 pm

I know nothing about French immigration rules .... but if you are a French citizen why don't you apply for a passport through the embassy or consulate, similar to how it works for British citizens by descent. Appreciate French law is probably more complicated.

I am not personally familiar with it, either, but I have repeatedly read elsewhere that claiming citizenship by descent is quite the lengthy and involved process, especially if one was not registered with the authorities at birth, there is no existing livre de famille, etc.

A 'dossier' needs to be compiled and I hear that even getting this accepted can take several tries and many months, then the process itself can take about two years or so if I remember right.

I also seem to remember that 'fresh' documents (like birth certificate) that can't be older than a specific number of months are needed, which can also be tricky if those documents need to be apostilled or similar and that process could take the document over the allowed timeline.

Maybe somebody on here has experience, otherwise, OP might want to look for a platform specifically dedicated to French matters.