In Mauritania, French civil status is handled by the French Embassy in Nouakchott. Two practical rules apply to all files: only original records less than 3 months old are accepted, and files are submitted on Wednesdays from 8.30 am to 12 noon.
Birth
- Declaration within 30 days, to be arranged by email.
- For a transcription: Mauritanian certificate in its French version and a delivery certificate or birth judgment.
- If the birth was not declared within the local time limit (60 days since 2011), a translated judgment is required; an adult must provide a certificate of French nationality.
Marriage: beware of religious marriage
- After a religious marriage, no CCAM can be issued any more. The marriage must then be registered by the Mauritanian authorities before any transcription.
- Banns for 10 days, interview possible; marriage at the embassy is reserved for two French nationals.
PACS, first name and other procedures
- A PACS requires prior contact with the embassy by email.
- For a change of first name, a dual national provides a foreign certificate less than 6 months old, translated and legalised or apostilled.
- A Mauritanian divorce must be declared enforceable by the public prosecutor in Nantes.
Visa for France from Mauritania
- Applications are decided by the visa section of the French Embassy in Nouakchott, where files are submitted directly: there is no external service provider.
- To obtain an appointment, you must buy a code at the BCI bank, then call the call centre. The announced waiting time for an appointment is four to six weeks.
If your visa is refused, the appeal is the same for every country: within 30 days, before the CRRV for a long-stay visa or before the Deputy Director for Visas for a short stay, then before the Administrative Court of Nantes. See our page French visa refusal lawyer and our pages on visas for spouses of French nationals, family reunification and students.
Source: France-Visas, accessed on 4 November 2026.
How we help
Legal Field Avocats advises families living in Mauritania or originating from the country in their civil status procedures with the French authorities: checking records, preparing files, follow-up with the consulate or the Central Civil Status Service in Nantes, and appeals in the event of a refusal or an objection by the public prosecutor. Our correspondent law firm in France, FB AVOCAT, takes over for proceedings before the French courts.
A civil status file in progress? Call us on +221 33 844 29 16.
Sources: French Embassy in Mauritania – civil status, marriage, birth, accessed on 4 November 2026 (in French).
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LEGAL FIELD AVOCATS
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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