Your divorce was granted by a Senegalese court? As far as France is concerned, you remain married until the divorce is recorded in the margin of your French civil status records. This can block a remarriage, an inheritance or a residence application.
Who to contact?
Senegal is outside the European Union. The divorce must therefore undergo a check of enforceability by the public prosecutor:
- marriage celebrated in France: the public prosecutor of the place of marriage;
- marriage celebrated abroad: the public prosecutor in Nantes (civil service of the prosecutor’s office).
If the prosecutor finds the decision enforceable, he has the divorce recorded on your French records.
Documents required
- Full copy of the decision, original or certified (and the originating application if the decision states no reasons).
- Proof that the decision is final: certificate of no appeal or equivalent.
- Proof of the spouses’ domicile and nationalities on the date the proceedings were brought.
- Translation by a sworn translator where necessary.
- Full copy of the French records to be updated.
Beware: if the marriage was celebrated abroad since 1 March 2007, it must first have been transcribed in France. Otherwise, you must start with the transcription of the marriage.
How we help
An incomplete file or a decision with insufficient reasons can lead to a refusal of enforceability. Legal Field Avocats, which practises family law in Senegal, works with its correspondent law firm in France to check the decision, gather the documents and refer the matter to the competent prosecutor.
Divorced in Senegal but still married in France? Call us on +221 33 844 29 16.
Source: French Consulate General in Dakar – Divorce (in French).
See also: French civil status in West Africa, country by country · French visa refusal lawyer
LEGAL FIELD AVOCATS
14 rue Woro Fila, Fann Hock, Dakar, Senegal
Phone: +221 33 844 29 16
Email: contact@fbavocat-sn.com
Our correspondent law firm in France:
FB AVOCAT
11 rue Galin, 33100 Bordeaux, France
Phone: +33 9 85 40 18 64
Email: contact@legalfb-avocat.fr