A Court Rules That She Is Not French, but This Woman Born in Morocco Overturns Everything on Appeal
A woman born in Morocco had been denied French nationality by the Nantes Judicial Court, which notably questioned her civil status and parentage. Three years later, the Court of Appeal completely overturns the decision: she is indeed French through her father.
Born in 2002 in Casablanca, the young woman claimed French nationality through parentage. Her father, born in Mauritania in 1964, had acquired French nationality by declaration on 15 October 1996, several years before her birth.
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The case nevertheless became complicated because of her Moroccan civil status. Her birth certificate had been drawn up in May 2009 following a declaratory judgment by the Casablanca Court of First Instance. It was subsequently transcribed into the French civil registry and had enabled French identity documents to be issued.
But in December 2023, the Nantes Judicial Court found her civil status insufficiently certain. It noted, in particular, discrepancies in several documents and translations, as well as difficulties concerning her mother’s identity and her parents’ marriage. The court dismissed her claim and expressly ruled that she “is not of French nationality.”
The Court of Appeal reexamines the Moroccan documents
The young woman appealed. In its ruling of 6 July 2026, the Rennes Court of Appeal held that the differences identified between the translations of the Moroccan judgment were not sufficient to cast doubt on its authenticity. A copy of that decision also bore several stamps, an original signature and an apostille issued in August 2025.
The court also dismissed the doubts concerning the mother’s identity. The documents mentioned the same date and place of birth, as well as the same parents. According to the judges, the differences in names could be explained by the transliteration of Arabic into French and by the naming rules used in Mauritania.
The judges therefore considered that the young woman had established a certain civil status and her parentage from her French father. They also noted that her parents’ marriage had been the subject of annulment proceedings in France, which confirmed its existence.
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The Rennes Court of Appeal therefore entirely overturned the judgment of first instance and declared the woman born in Morocco French through parentage. The costs of the proceedings at first instance and on appeal were assigned to the State, which must also pay her 2,000 euros for her legal costs.
