Pour établir un PACS : RDV à l'ambassade américaine de paris

It was a mess. I waited two hours in order to have two simple documents signed, stamped and certified by a notary in the American Embassy in France.

In order to be PACSed or married in France, one must provide the French government with numerous documents*, including an attestation de célibat et d'identité and a certificat de coutume, both of which are attainable at the American Embassy or consulates in France. One only needs to provide one's passport and pay the fee of 50 dollars per page (amounting to exactly 76 euros for the two pages as of today).

I thought that the process would be smooth, that I would only have to spend half an hour waiting for my turn to have the notary sign my documents. No. It was a two hour wait. People were confused; they hadn't read the site or done enough research to know, for example, that one can only obtain a birth certificate in one's state of birth. I really wish that people would do some research before holding people up in line. And surprise! The cash register wasn't working, so there was a momentary delay even to make my payment.

In the end, I came home with two documents. The notary was very attentive and made sure that all of the details matched the information I had previously provided him, because he wanted to be sure that I would not have to come back and pay a second time for either of the two certificates. He even informed me that next year I would be able to request a family residency permit. Two certificates that will enable me to prove to the French government that I am permitted by my government to enter into a PACS with Anthénaume.

* 1) Une copie integrale de l'acte de naissance de moins de trois mois, 2) un certificat de NON PACS inférieur  à trois mois, 3) un certificat de célibat, 4) un certificat de coutume, 6) la copie intégrale de l'acte de naissance légalisé (apostille), ...