As of 1 May 2026, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) will require a legalisation or affixing an apostille to foreign documents for some civil status procedures relating to refugees. This will be the case for the registration of marriages celebrated abroad and the registration of a child born abroad in the OFPRA family record book.
Depending on the country issuing the document, legalisation, an apostille or an exemption from formalities may apply. The list of countries concerned and those exempted are available on the website of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
This requirement does not apply to civil status documents submitted as part of an asylum application or in connection with the issuance of civil status documents by OFPRA.
The procedures for having a document legalised must never require the protected person to contact the authorities in their country of origin.
- French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons | Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (22 April, 2026), Evolution de démarches d’état civil à l'Ofpra [Changes to civil registration procedures at OFPRA],