Hi, it's Joyce—I’ve got a little issue. I’d like to know if you need a passport to start the CCAM process at the French Embassy in Yaoundé, or if it’s better to do it when registering the birth. Thanks!
Franco-Togolese marriage
by Occeola
Translated into English.
hi there,
using the diplomatic pouch means you need to send this file by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt to the embassy.
the address (MAE French Embassy in Lomé (TOGO) - Consular Section - 13 rue Louveau - 92438 Châtillon cedex) should be written on the registered mail,
the letter will be sent to the address above and then forwarded to the Togolese embassy via the diplomatic pouch.
don’t wait for the receipt confirmation, it’s never sent back.
if you have any other questions, don’t hesitate.
Best regards, Benoit
Hi there,
I’m right in the middle of putting together the CCAM file, and I’m really struggling with my Togolese spouse’s paperwork. Could you help me make sense of it?
It’s mostly about the birth certificate documents:
- Is section 4 the original birth declaration?
- Is section 1 (the stub) the full copy?
- And they’re also asking for “original certified true copy of section 1 of the foreign future spouse’s birth certificate”—what does that mean? What should I ask the town hall for? It seems different from the full copy, which I thought was section 1 🤷🏾♀️
I’m looking for someone who got married recently to help me with the steps because the Togolese embassy never answers my questions, and I can’t find any answers anywhere! Thanks in advance 😅🏾😅🏾😅🏾
I’m looking for someone who got married recently to help me with the steps because the Togolese embassy never answers my questions, and I can’t find any answers anywhere! Thanks in advance 😅🏾😅🏾😅🏾
Hi! For the paperwork, you’ll need to go to the town hall in the place where they were born and request each document—each one is different. They’re usually pretty familiar with the process at the town hall, but you’ll see that for section number 4, they might ask for either 4 or 5. And make sure you send the originals!
Hope that answers your question!
Sorry, this isn't very clear to me, haha! In the file, they say exactly this:
1) original of the certified true copy of section No. 1 of the foreign future spouse’s birth certificate (with translation and possible legalization if issued by a foreign authority)
2) original of the full typed copy (i.e., typed by typewriter or computer) of section No. 1 stub of the foreign future spouse’s birth certificate
3) original of the certified true copy of the original of section No. 4 or 5 of the foreign future spouse’s birth certificate
For (1), do I need to ask the town hall for section No. 1 and get a certified copy? What’s the difference with (2)? For (2), okay, that’s the full copy of the section No. 1 stub from the town hall—no problem with that. For (3), is that the paper they have at birth, the handwritten birth declaration, and we need to submit a certified copy of that?
For (1), do I need to ask the town hall for section No. 1 and get a certified copy? What’s the difference with (2)? For (2), okay, that’s the full copy of the section No. 1 stub from the town hall—no problem with that. For (3), is that the paper they have at birth, the handwritten birth declaration, and we need to submit a certified copy of that?
Okay, for number 1:
- They’ll give you the original of the certified copy of form n1 (it’ll be handwritten). It’s already a certified and legalized copy, which is why you shouldn’t send a copy of this document but the original they issue you.
For number 2:
- It’s the same document, but they’ll give it to you typed (that’s the difference).
For number 3:
- It’s indeed the document they have at birth, form n4 at the town hall. They’ll make you a certified copy (stamped and dated).
So, you hand in the originals of the documents issued by the town hall.
Hope I’m being clear enough!
hi,
for my part, all these steps are done—I got married in August 2019.
As for the documents required, in Togo, they need to be authenticated, certified, and legalized. They’re used to mixed marriages at the civil registry, so your future spouse just has to ask for the documents they need—they’ll give them to him. Which town hall in Lomé?
Yes, I saw that everything needs to be legalized, but for the CCAM, French documents don’t need legalization, right? That’s what I was told about the wedding. For the town hall, he needs to get it from his village specifically because of his birthplace—that’s why I needed clear info in case they’re not used to it. Did you get married at the town hall in Lomé or at the embassy/consulate?
Yes, that's right—you need to pick up the documents from the place of birth. I asked if it was Lomé because I know someone at the civil registry in Lomé.
We got married at the Lomé town hall. Contrary to what you might read on forums, the French embassy doesn’t perform marriages.
If you have any questions about the different steps, don’t hesitate—I’ll be happy to help.
Alright, thanks so much!
I think I’ll get back to you about the deposit to celebrate the wedding and all that. We’re planning to do it at Lomé town hall, so thanks again!
No problem, if I can help you I’d be happy to. Having gone through it myself, I know you’ve got quite a few questions and that embassies, town halls, and others don’t give much info.
Hi Benoît,
My fiancé is Togolese, and we're right in the middle of applying for the CCAM... For the French nationality proof section, do I need to provide all the documents listed, or are they just examples of what can be used? Is an ID card enough? Same question for proof of residence—what’s required?
Thanks in advance for your help!
good evening
Yes, you need to provide all the documents requested on the CCAM list.
Proof of address, a copy of your EDF subscription contract will work just fine.
For proof of French nationality, a copy of your ID card is sufficient.
Don’t hesitate to ask if you need any help.
Best regards
Thanks! It was about the proof of residence and identity documents that I had doubts, so this reassures me! The first step is almost ready to be sent off!
We’ve allowed for a 4-month delay once the application is submitted—I hope that’s enough!
Hello,
Yes, if there are no issues with your application, you should receive a response within about 4 months. Don’t forget that we’re still in a COVID period, and to help others who are in the same process, the embassy has announced delays in processing applications.
Don’t wait for the return of the registered mail after sending your documents—the embassy doesn’t send it back.
Best regards
Hi there, I’m now at the stage of gathering the documents requested by the Lomé city hall. They’re asking for a certificate of single status—does anyone know where I can get this online? All the info out there seems different.
Thanks in advance!
Normally, you don’t need to provide a certificate of single status—the CCAM serves as proof for the French national.
Hi,
In the file for the town hall, they’re asking us for the original marriage capacity certificate?! But I saw we also need it for the transcription, right?! How did you all handle this?
I didn’t do it, but they don’t usually keep your original.
Log in first, then come back to this page.
More discussions
Hello,
my Indian fiancé and I are getting married in France in a few weeks. Like many couples before us, we had extreme difficulties finding out the steps to follow in India to obtain the necessary documents for our marriage. We received no useful information from the Indian Embassy in Paris. It took us hours of research on traveler forums to gather scattered information and piece together the puzzle. I decided to summarize here the steps that allowed my fiancé to obtain the required papers, so other couples can struggle a little less than we did in the future.
I hope this post helps!
Context reminder: the list of documents required for a non-EU national to marry in France (see also www.service-public.fr):
Certificate of Custom: This is an explanation in French of the rules governing marriage eligibility in your country of origin. I read that some countries include proof that the applicant is indeed eligible. This is not the case for India.
Single-status certificate/marital capacity certificate. This is simply proof that you are eligible to marry under the laws of your country of origin.
Birth certificate.
All these documents must be less than 6 months old at the date of the banns publication.
The birth certificate and the single-status certificate must be apostilled. This procedure is linked to the international Hague Convention, of which both France and India are members. The apostille is a kind of stamp affixed to an official document by the authorities of the country where it was issued, giving it legal value in a third country.
How we obtained these documents:
The certificate of custom is very easy to obtain if you already live in France. You just need to go to the Indian Embassy in Paris with the required documents and pay the fees. We received it by mail the next day. The instructions on the Indian Embassy in Paris website are very clear (spring 2019). See also the VFS Global website (the company to which the embassy outsources consular activities).
Obtaining the single-status certificate was much more complicated. In France, a birth certificate is enough to prove whether you are married or not, as annotations are added for every major life event. In contrast, the Indian administration, although it can prove that someone is already married, is unable to prove that someone is still single. The only way to resolve this is to produce an affidavit. It took several trials and errors before we succeeded, as the administrators we dealt with generally did not know the procedure. Here’s what finally worked:
Prepare the affidavit on 100-rupee bond paper (first party: signatory; second party: Sub-Divisional Magistrate) at the Sub-Divisional Magistrate’s office in your place of birth. See Model No. 1 below. It must be signed by you and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. For my fiancé, the latter only agreed to sign after presenting a certificate from the Tahsildar of his birth Taluk stating that he knew my fiancé was still single. If you don’t know the Tahsildar well, it might be useful to first request such a certificate from the "village accountant" before approaching the Tahsildar. We don’t know if the process would be the same in other districts than my fiancé’s. Attestation at the Regional Commissioner’s (RC) office. The Ministry of External Affairs will only apostille documents that have been attested this way. In our case, we found clear information about the procedure on the Regional Commissioner’s website (required documents, cost, bond paper value). The RC asked us to justify why my fiancé needed a single-status certificate. Such certificates are usually requested by people wishing to join the army, in which case the RC receives a request letter. I asked the mayor of my village to sign such a letter (see Model No. 2, which I wrote myself). I come from a very small town, which was lucky here, as the mayor knows both of us personally and immediately agreed to do it. I have no idea if it would be as easy in a larger town. Once the document was submitted to the RC, it was sent back to the administrator who issued it for authentication. This back-and-forth should not take more than 25 days, but it may be useful to follow the progress of the procedure by calling or visiting the offices of both administrations regularly. Send the attested documents to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for apostille. In 2019, the Indian MEA only accepts apostille requests through private operators, whose list is available on the MEA website.
The birth certificate, once obtained from the municipality of your place of birth, follows the same procedure as the single-status certificate: attestation by the Regional Commissioner, then apostille at the Ministry of External Affairs.
Note: The Indian Embassy in Paris offers to issue a birth certificate. We recommend NOT GOING THROUGH THEM. The procedure is expensive, and they simply copy the information available on your passport. We seriously doubt the validity of such a document for marriage.
A few tips:
Obtaining these documents in India will require a lot of time, patience, and creativity! For us, more than 4 months passed between the moment my fiancé signed his single-status certificate and the day we had it apostilled in hand. In the meantime, there were dozens of phone calls and visits to various local administrations, a lot of brainstorming, and money wasted on canceled flights due to the monsoon.
If you have contacts in the local administration, don’t hesitate to use them. Also, if possible, closely monitor the progress of the procedures by calling or visiting the offices regularly, as mistakes are very common.
I recommend only requesting the certificate of custom once you’re close to having the other documents in hand, as it’s expensive, its issuance is very quick (at least if you both live in France; otherwise, I don’t know), and it’s only valid for 6 months.
All the steps for the birth certificate and the single-status certificate must be done in person, which can be complicated if you already live outside India. Some companies offer to handle it for you if you’re willing to pay. My fiancé bypassed the problem by designating his brother as an "Authorised representative" (a step taken at the notary of his birth Taluk). Once the single-status certificate was established in person, my fiancé’s brother was able to take over and complete the rest of the steps on his behalf. Finally, we asked the service provider handling the apostille to send the documents to our address in France via DHL (we don’t trust the postal service, as we’ve had mail stuck at customs for several weeks before).
My fiancé first tried to establish his single-status certificate at the notary of his birth Taluk. It didn’t work because the Regional Commissioner categorically refused to attest it. Indeed, it is generally forbidden to make any modifications to a document signed by a notary.
Once the birth certificate and the single-status certificate arrive in France, you must have them translated by a sworn translator registered with the Court of Appeal in your area. You can find the list on your Court of Appeal’s website. There are no sworn translators for all Indian languages! So, check beforehand if one exists for the language in which your certificates will be issued, or ensure they are issued in English.
Model No. 1 - Single-status certificate, affidavit
I, (name of applicant), son of (name of father) and (name of mother), with permanent address (address in India), solemnly affirm and declare as follows: 1. That I am a citizen of India 2. That I was born in (place of birth) on the (date of birth) 3. That I am holding a valid Indian passport bearing the number (passport number) issued at (place of issue) and valid from (date of issue) to (date of expiry). 4. That I am unmarried (single) and have no living spouse at present either in India or abroad 5. That I am eligible to marry an Indian or a person of any other nationality according to law. 6. That I am of sound health and in mentally fit condition 7. I further state that whatever stated therein is correct to the best of my knowledge.
I am aware that suppression of facts or furnishing false/misleading information is punishable under Indian law, under section 193(2), 199, 200 of the Indian Penal Code.
Solemnly declared at (place of signature) on (date of signature).
(your signature) (the subdivisional magistrate’s signature)
Model No. 2 – Request letter from the French mayor to the Indian Regional Commissioner
Dear Sir/Madam, (English version below) I, the undersigned (Mayor’s name), Mayor of the Commune of xxx, department of xxx, France, certify as follows. Firstly, that Mr./Ms. (Name of the Indian future spouse), citizen of India, passport No. xxx, issued in xxx on xxx, valid until xxx, residing at (address), INDIA, and Ms./Mr. (Name of the French future spouse), citizen of France, passport No. xxx, residing at (address), FRANCE, have requested that I solemnize their marriage in my Commune under French law.
Secondly, that French law requires me to request from Mr./Ms. (Name of the Indian future spouse) a certificate attesting to their single status.
Issued for all legal purposes.
(Place, date, stamp, and signature of the mayor)
Note: Prepared on the town hall’s letterhead, directly in both French AND English to avoid needing a translator.
Context reminder: the list of documents required for a non-EU national to marry in France (see also www.service-public.fr):
Certificate of Custom: This is an explanation in French of the rules governing marriage eligibility in your country of origin. I read that some countries include proof that the applicant is indeed eligible. This is not the case for India.
Single-status certificate/marital capacity certificate. This is simply proof that you are eligible to marry under the laws of your country of origin.
Birth certificate.
All these documents must be less than 6 months old at the date of the banns publication.
The birth certificate and the single-status certificate must be apostilled. This procedure is linked to the international Hague Convention, of which both France and India are members. The apostille is a kind of stamp affixed to an official document by the authorities of the country where it was issued, giving it legal value in a third country.
How we obtained these documents:
The certificate of custom is very easy to obtain if you already live in France. You just need to go to the Indian Embassy in Paris with the required documents and pay the fees. We received it by mail the next day. The instructions on the Indian Embassy in Paris website are very clear (spring 2019). See also the VFS Global website (the company to which the embassy outsources consular activities).
Obtaining the single-status certificate was much more complicated. In France, a birth certificate is enough to prove whether you are married or not, as annotations are added for every major life event. In contrast, the Indian administration, although it can prove that someone is already married, is unable to prove that someone is still single. The only way to resolve this is to produce an affidavit. It took several trials and errors before we succeeded, as the administrators we dealt with generally did not know the procedure. Here’s what finally worked:
Prepare the affidavit on 100-rupee bond paper (first party: signatory; second party: Sub-Divisional Magistrate) at the Sub-Divisional Magistrate’s office in your place of birth. See Model No. 1 below. It must be signed by you and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. For my fiancé, the latter only agreed to sign after presenting a certificate from the Tahsildar of his birth Taluk stating that he knew my fiancé was still single. If you don’t know the Tahsildar well, it might be useful to first request such a certificate from the "village accountant" before approaching the Tahsildar. We don’t know if the process would be the same in other districts than my fiancé’s. Attestation at the Regional Commissioner’s (RC) office. The Ministry of External Affairs will only apostille documents that have been attested this way. In our case, we found clear information about the procedure on the Regional Commissioner’s website (required documents, cost, bond paper value). The RC asked us to justify why my fiancé needed a single-status certificate. Such certificates are usually requested by people wishing to join the army, in which case the RC receives a request letter. I asked the mayor of my village to sign such a letter (see Model No. 2, which I wrote myself). I come from a very small town, which was lucky here, as the mayor knows both of us personally and immediately agreed to do it. I have no idea if it would be as easy in a larger town. Once the document was submitted to the RC, it was sent back to the administrator who issued it for authentication. This back-and-forth should not take more than 25 days, but it may be useful to follow the progress of the procedure by calling or visiting the offices of both administrations regularly. Send the attested documents to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for apostille. In 2019, the Indian MEA only accepts apostille requests through private operators, whose list is available on the MEA website.
The birth certificate, once obtained from the municipality of your place of birth, follows the same procedure as the single-status certificate: attestation by the Regional Commissioner, then apostille at the Ministry of External Affairs.
Note: The Indian Embassy in Paris offers to issue a birth certificate. We recommend NOT GOING THROUGH THEM. The procedure is expensive, and they simply copy the information available on your passport. We seriously doubt the validity of such a document for marriage.
A few tips:
Obtaining these documents in India will require a lot of time, patience, and creativity! For us, more than 4 months passed between the moment my fiancé signed his single-status certificate and the day we had it apostilled in hand. In the meantime, there were dozens of phone calls and visits to various local administrations, a lot of brainstorming, and money wasted on canceled flights due to the monsoon.
If you have contacts in the local administration, don’t hesitate to use them. Also, if possible, closely monitor the progress of the procedures by calling or visiting the offices regularly, as mistakes are very common.
I recommend only requesting the certificate of custom once you’re close to having the other documents in hand, as it’s expensive, its issuance is very quick (at least if you both live in France; otherwise, I don’t know), and it’s only valid for 6 months.
All the steps for the birth certificate and the single-status certificate must be done in person, which can be complicated if you already live outside India. Some companies offer to handle it for you if you’re willing to pay. My fiancé bypassed the problem by designating his brother as an "Authorised representative" (a step taken at the notary of his birth Taluk). Once the single-status certificate was established in person, my fiancé’s brother was able to take over and complete the rest of the steps on his behalf. Finally, we asked the service provider handling the apostille to send the documents to our address in France via DHL (we don’t trust the postal service, as we’ve had mail stuck at customs for several weeks before).
My fiancé first tried to establish his single-status certificate at the notary of his birth Taluk. It didn’t work because the Regional Commissioner categorically refused to attest it. Indeed, it is generally forbidden to make any modifications to a document signed by a notary.
Once the birth certificate and the single-status certificate arrive in France, you must have them translated by a sworn translator registered with the Court of Appeal in your area. You can find the list on your Court of Appeal’s website. There are no sworn translators for all Indian languages! So, check beforehand if one exists for the language in which your certificates will be issued, or ensure they are issued in English.
Model No. 1 - Single-status certificate, affidavit
I, (name of applicant), son of (name of father) and (name of mother), with permanent address (address in India), solemnly affirm and declare as follows: 1. That I am a citizen of India 2. That I was born in (place of birth) on the (date of birth) 3. That I am holding a valid Indian passport bearing the number (passport number) issued at (place of issue) and valid from (date of issue) to (date of expiry). 4. That I am unmarried (single) and have no living spouse at present either in India or abroad 5. That I am eligible to marry an Indian or a person of any other nationality according to law. 6. That I am of sound health and in mentally fit condition 7. I further state that whatever stated therein is correct to the best of my knowledge.
I am aware that suppression of facts or furnishing false/misleading information is punishable under Indian law, under section 193(2), 199, 200 of the Indian Penal Code.
Solemnly declared at (place of signature) on (date of signature).
(your signature) (the subdivisional magistrate’s signature)
Model No. 2 – Request letter from the French mayor to the Indian Regional Commissioner
Dear Sir/Madam, (English version below) I, the undersigned (Mayor’s name), Mayor of the Commune of xxx, department of xxx, France, certify as follows. Firstly, that Mr./Ms. (Name of the Indian future spouse), citizen of India, passport No. xxx, issued in xxx on xxx, valid until xxx, residing at (address), INDIA, and Ms./Mr. (Name of the French future spouse), citizen of France, passport No. xxx, residing at (address), FRANCE, have requested that I solemnize their marriage in my Commune under French law.
Secondly, that French law requires me to request from Mr./Ms. (Name of the Indian future spouse) a certificate attesting to their single status.
Issued for all legal purposes.
(Place, date, stamp, and signature of the mayor)
Note: Prepared on the town hall’s letterhead, directly in both French AND English to avoid needing a translator.
Hi there, please could you tell me how to arrange a marriage interview at the embassy? My fiancé has already been interviewed. Thanks to anyone who can help me out!
hi everyone,
I’m new to this site. Here’s my issue: I just got married in Cameroon to my wife, and I’m waiting for our family record book. After that, I’m trying to figure out what I need to do to apply for her visa. But I’d like her to apply for visas for her children at the same time so they can come with her—is that possible?! Do we need to get passports for her children, or is just the visa application enough? They’re 8 and 15 years old. Thanks!
Otherwise, I’d have to apply for family reunification, but she’d have to stay in France for 18 months before she can apply for her children’s visas—that’s way too long!!!
If anyone can give me some advice or help with this complicated situation, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks so much for your help. Best regards,
Otherwise, I’d have to apply for family reunification, but she’d have to stay in France for 18 months before she can apply for her children’s visas—that’s way too long!!!
If anyone can give me some advice or help with this complicated situation, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks so much for your help. Best regards,
Hi, the situation is complicated...
My son would like to marry his girlfriend (married to a Filipino in the Philippines but separated for 14 years), who is from the Philippines... but... what complicates things is that she lives in Switzerland illegally—her visa expired after a divorce from a Swiss national, and she received a deportation order in 2022 but never left.
Just to clarify, she’s been working in Switzerland for 10 years and pays Swiss taxes...
Recently, she reapplied for a work visa to request residency rights so she could marry my son, but they refused, and she’s already received an order to leave the country... What can we do? We don’t know who to turn to
I was interviewed at the town hall of my place of residence on March 7, 2025. My fiancée still hasn’t been interviewed by the consulate. The question is whether I need to schedule an appointment for her interview or wait for the consulate to call. Thanks for your reply
Hi everyone, I need some help, please. My partner wants to send our CCAM file to the embassy in Yaoundé from France. We’re wondering if, with the pandemic, the file will even arrive and how long it’ll take. Would it be better to send it directly to the address in Cameroon? We’d planned to drop it off in March but couldn’t, and my interview is next month (even though I know it’ll probably be postponed). I’d really like the file to be in their hands before my interview date. Please help—what should I do?
Hi everyone,
Please, I need your expert advice. I’m Cameroonian, married to a Frenchman of Cameroonian origin. My husband just received a message saying our marriage certificate has been properly transcribed and that copies will be sent to his local town hall via diplomatic pouch.
I’d like to know the details of what comes next so I can apply for my long-stay visa. Also, I’m about to get a passport—can I use my ID that still has my maiden name, or do I have to get a new ID with my married name before applying for a passport? Basically, will getting a passport with my maiden name now cause problems later in the process? I really don’t want to deal with the hassle of getting a new ID right now.
Thanks
Please, I need your expert advice. I’m Cameroonian, married to a Frenchman of Cameroonian origin. My husband just received a message saying our marriage certificate has been properly transcribed and that copies will be sent to his local town hall via diplomatic pouch.
I’d like to know the details of what comes next so I can apply for my long-stay visa. Also, I’m about to get a passport—can I use my ID that still has my maiden name, or do I have to get a new ID with my married name before applying for a passport? Basically, will getting a passport with my maiden name now cause problems later in the process? I really don’t want to deal with the hassle of getting a new ID right now.
Thanks
Hi, I'd like to know how long it takes for the Cameroon embassy (Yaoundé) to send the acknowledgment of receipt after receiving the application?
Hi there,
Hopefully I can find some answers here!
Our best friend, who is Moroccan/French, wants to marry an Algerian woman. They’ve already met, and the first steps have been taken. It seems like getting married under these circumstances is really complicated—has anyone been in a similar situation and could share some advice on the administrative side or the steps to take?
Thanks!
Hopefully I can find some answers here!
Our best friend, who is Moroccan/French, wants to marry an Algerian woman. They’ve already met, and the first steps have been taken. It seems like getting married under these circumstances is really complicated—has anyone been in a similar situation and could share some advice on the administrative side or the steps to take?
Thanks!