You are not married and are expecting a child, or the child has already been born? Without marriage, each parent-child link is established separately. Recognition is the act by which a parent officially declares that he or she is the father or the mother. The Civil Code allows it before or after the birth (article 316).
What you need to know
- It is a voluntary and personal act: each parent can recognise the child without the other’s consent.
- If you are married, parentage is automatic: no recognition is needed.
- A French father alone can recognise his child at any time.
- A foreign father alone can only do so at the consulate once the French maternal parentage has been established, and must prove the mother’s French nationality.
- For a French or Senegalese mother, parentage in principle results from her being named in the birth certificate.
- If the father can attend the birth declaration at the consulate, recognition before birth is unnecessary: he recognises the child that day.
Documents that often cause delays
Before the birth, the consulate requires an original medical certificate of pregnancy. After the birth, you need the original full copy of the child’s birth certificate, less than 3 months old. Senegalese records are required as literal copies; any incomplete file is refused. The appointment is requested by email, with a precise subject line and information.
How we help
A badly handled recognition can delay the transcription of the birth, the child’s passport or proof of his or her French nationality. Legal Field Avocats reviews your situation, prepares the file and advises you on the consequences for the child’s surname and nationality.
Want to recognise your child? Call us on +221 33 844 29 16.
Sources: French Consulate General in Dakar – Recognition of a child (in French); French Civil Code, article 316.
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
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Phone: +33 9 85 40 18 64
Email: contact@legalfb-avocat.fr