Marriage to a Cambodian woman: issue with the certificate of custom

Hi everyone,

My husband and I have just gone through this stage of a Franco-Togolese marriage—he’s Togolese, and I’m French. Given how complicated things can get with the administration, I thought I’d leave this post here. If you’d like advice or want to learn from our experience, don’t hesitate to ask...

Good luck to all of you in the same situation!!

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!

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.

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,

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

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!

Bonjour à tous. Je suis nouvelle dans le forum. Ça fait exactement 4 mois et quelques jours que ma transcription a été déposée. Félicitations à celles qui l'ont eu. Nous autres mettons de l'eau dans le vin car c'est pesant. Par ailleurs à l'ambassade il conseille d'aller sus France visa pour les infos. Carole 08

Bonjour la famille, svp je sors de la mairie , pour l'acte vérifié depuis le 20 février 2020 , ça fait 7 mois aujourd'hui pas de nouvelles rien les mails ils voient ils lisent sans réponse aucune. Venez tous m'aider svp . Dites moi quelque chose svp . Pourquoi donner le ccam et bloquer la transcription! !!!

Bonjour,

Mon amie et moi souhaitons nous marier car nous n'en pouvons plus de vivre séparés. J'ai lu tous les posts sur le forum, et je dois bien avouer que je suis un peu perdu. Je crois comprendre que la solution la plus "simple" serait de se marier en indonésie. Je précise qu'elle est de confession musulmane, et moi non. je ne peux pas faire des aller retour perpétuels entre la France et l'Indonésie, raison financière, mais bon j'ai de l'argent de côté. quelle visa a telle besoint pour venir en france Merci à vous de vos conseils précieux. je compte sur vous tous.

Bonjour j’ai Avoir des renseignements concernants notre dossier pour mariage en fait je suis française et mon compagnon est résident Camerounais nous sommes déjà en attente de la capacité à mariage la publication étant faite depuis le 21 juin 2019 dans ma ville et j’aimerais savoir quand je pourrais recevoir la capacité à mariage merci pour votre réponse LYSYL

Bonsoir à tous svp J'ai déjà envoyé mes documents à mon fiancé et en remplissant le papier de renseignements communs il a coché la case de contrat de mariage chose qu'on a pas pensé à faire à temps Peut il mettre le corrector à cette endroit? Les gens du consulat ne vont pas poser de problème ? Merci de me repondre

Bonjour

Merci de votre forum, c'est une mine d'or

J'ai rencontré une vietnamienne et nous souhaitons nous marier

Je me suis renseigné à ma mairie il est tout à fait possible de me marier lors d'un de ses séjours en France.

Cependant, il est difficile d'obtenir un visa plus d'une fois dans l'année depuis le vietnam pour venir en France

D’après ma mairie, Il y a 3 étapes ou elle doit être présente en France:

-> Dépôt du dossier en France -> Audition en France -> Signature du mariage en France

Entre le dépôt du dossier et l'audition il peut s'écouler 2 mois Elle me dit qu'il est difficile d'obtenir un visa de 2 mois.

Avez vous des conseils ? Nous souhaitons faire toutes les démarches depuis la France. C'est plus rapide et moins "compliqué"

Merci du temps que vous allez prendre pour répondre

John

Bonjour à tous jai une préoccupation je suis camerounaise et mon fiancé est français nous avons déposé un dossier de ccam à l'ambassade de france au cameroun en octobre 2019 et l'ambassade à renvoyer un courrier de réception du dossier à mon fiancé en notifiant de prendre un rendez vous pour mon audition chose qui as été faite .le rendez vous devrais avoir lieu le 6août passé mais avec le covid l'ambassade à renvoyer à une date ultérieure sans toute fois spécifier le jour.mon problème est le suivant j'aimerais savoir s'il ya d'autres personnes dans ce groupe qui ont eu le même problème ? Vous avez été finalement reçu ? Si oui comme se passe une audition quels sont les documents à fournir? .merci de me répondre vite car je suis perplexe.

Bonjour je suis française d’origine camerounaise mon mari est camerounais, nous avons déjà tout fait au niveau dossier mariage tout est ok nous sommes au niveau de l’attente de la transcription j’ai déposé le dossier de demande de transcription le 22 août 2019 est ce que quelqu’un peut me donner les délais d’attente de transcription pour l’obtention de visa de mon mari svp ? Et est ce qu’on demande encore quelque chose encore pour sa demande de visa merci pour vos réponses je vous souhaite une bonne journée

Bonsoir je suis nouvelle dans le forum je dépend le douala

Voilà l'histoire dossier déposé en septembre audition nous 2auditions en actobres depuis pas de réponse o mails et lorsque monsieur appel toujours dossier en cour de traitement Le dernier appel ils lui répondu d'attendre que ce n'est pas sur qu'il auras une réponse favorable Voilà j'aimerais savoir si le dossier peut être envoyé a Nantes sans que le consulat ne vous informé.

Merci de me répondre

Bjr tout le monde J ai une amie qui est passée à l ambassade de France à ydé pour complément de dossier, qui m a dit que les auditions ont repris...je veux savoir si l une d entre vous est déjà passée ou à reçu un mail à propos. Merci Hortyane

Bjr, je suis camerounaise et mon conjoint est francais, nous aimerons connaitre comment proceder pour obtenir la capacite a mariage , en ce moment ou le covid 19 bat son plein, de plus comment il le fera puisqu, il est en france en ce moment?, est ce que je peux le faire ici?. Merci pour une eventuelle intervention ca nous sauvera la vie

Bsr svp j'ai besoin d'un renseignement. Combien avez vous payer pour faire votre publication des bans et le certificat de non opposition dans votre mairie pour la CCAM ? Que ce soit a dla ou a yde. G sais que les prix sont différents mais je veux avoir un bref aperçu. Merci de me répondre

Bonsoir à vous Svp je voudrais être éclairée En ce qui concerne le certificat de domicile qu’on demande dans le dossier du CCAM Étant donné que je vis chez mes parents les facture sont au nom de ma mère je doi fournir la copie de sa carte et quelle attestation? Il n’ont pas préciser Aidez moi svp merci

Bonsoir svp dans la fiche de renseignement que je dois remplir on demande ma profession et actuellement je n’ai pas encore d’emploi si je met étudiante sa pose un problème? Sachant que sa fai pratiquement 4 ans que j’ai arrêté l’université Nb: sur ma CNI c’est ecri élève et sur ma publication de bans c’est ecri étudiante

Bonjour a tous je me présente je m'appelle Delphine je vais me marier avec un algérien qui réside en algérie et on a fait la fameuse étape du CCAM que nous avons obetnu. suite a ca on a demarrer la procedure de l'enquete de police sa fait 2 mois qu'on a envoyer le dossier et la il nous le renvoie soit disant il faut des document en plus alors que quelqu'un de la mairie de la ville de mon futur epoux nous a préciser que c'était juste pour nous embeter pour rester correct alors l'algérie on veut laisser tomber. 🙁

Alors voila ma principale question est : est ce que mon futur mari peut demander un visa court sejour en vue de se marier en france ? quel document a fournir et est ce que il y a des chances qu'il l'obtienne ?

Je compte sur vous pour m'aider svp on désespère vraiment

MERCI D'AVANCE 😊

Bonsoir ma fiancée et moi avons déposé le dossier de demande de CCAM depuis août 2019 et on n'a toujours pas de réponse du consulat de Douala y'a t'il des gens dans cette situation

Bonjour !

C'est encore moi, désolée avec toutes mes questions, j'ai trop peur de faire une erreur et faire traîner mon dossier.. Alors, a quelle adresse dois je envoyer mon dossier ccam ? (je suis en France). L'adresse sur le papier est : mbassade de France au Cameroun - Section consulaire de Yaoundé – Service état civil S/C Valise Diplomatique – 13 rue Louveau, 92438 CHATILLON Cedex

Mais du coup.... C'est en France ? Je ne comprends pas trop. Je dois seulement écrire exactement cette adresse ici ? Et ensuite eux le transmettent à Yaoundé ? Je suis un peu confuse...

Merci d'avance !

Bonjour !

J'ai une petite question en ce qui concerne l'envoie du dossier de CCAM depuis chez moi--France--pour Yaoundé. Mon copain a utilisé DHL pour me faire parvenir ses document et même si c'est cher ça a bien marché, seulement pour moi le point dhl le plus proche est pas facile d'accès du tout car je n'ai pas de voiture (et qu'est ce que c'est que ces histoires de point dhl qui se retrouvent seulement dans des endroits perdus ?!) ... Du coup je me demandais si avec chronopost c'est aussi bien sécurisé ? Et est-ce rapide également ? Parceque comme il y a son acte de naissance original dedans je ne veux pas prendre de risque que son courrier se perde.

Voilà merci !

Bonne journée