Stripping of French nationality: conditions, procedure and appeal

Stripping of French nationality remains a rare but heavy sanction. It takes French citizenship away from someone who acquired it, after serious offences. The Government decides it by decree, under the control of the Conseil d'État. If you receive a letter announcing it, every day counts: a lawyer calls you back within 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

Stripping of French nationality: what the law says

Two articles of the Civil Code govern the stripping of French nationality. Article 25 lists the conduct concerned. Article 25-1 then sets the time limits.

The decision takes the form of a decree, issued after a binding opinion of the Conseil d'État. The Government therefore cannot override an unfavourable opinion. The Constitutional Council upheld the scheme on 23 January 2015 (decision no. 2014-439 QPC).

The measure is a sanction. That sets it apart from the other ways of ceasing to be French, which our guide to the loss of French nationality explains.

Who can face stripping of French nationality?

Only someone who became French can face it. The measure therefore targets people naturalised by decree. It also targets people who became French by declaration, for example after a marriage or a childhood in France.

Two safeguards apply without exception, though. First, a person French from birth always escapes the stripping of French nationality, even with a second nationality. Second, the measure can never leave a person stateless.

In other words, without a second nationality, no stripping of French nationality can go ahead. In 2016, a constitutional reform sought to extend it to dual nationals born French. The President of the Republic abandoned it in March 2016.

The conduct that can lead to it

Article 25 covers four situations:

• A conviction for terrorism, or for a serious offence against the fundamental interests of the Nation (treason or espionage, for example).
• A conviction for an offence against the public administration committed by someone holding public office, such as corruption by a public official.
• Evading the obligations of the national service code.
• Acts carried out for a foreign State that are incompatible with being French and harmful to the interests of France.

The first case also covers taking part in a terrorist criminal conspiracy. The urgent applications judge of the Conseil d'État accepted this in five orders of 20 November 2015. By contrast, an ordinary criminal conviction, however heavy, is not enough.

Time limits for stripping of French nationality: 10 or 15 years

A double time limit applies. First, the conduct must predate the acquisition of nationality, or fall within the ten years that follow it. Second, the decree must come within ten years of the conduct.

For terrorism and offences against the fundamental interests of the Nation, both limits rise to fifteen years. A law of 23 January 2006 introduced this extension. The urgent applications judge of the Conseil d'État accepted in 2015 that it also applies to older conduct.

Take an example. A person naturalised in 2012 commits corruption as a public official in 2020. The conduct falls within ten years of acquisition. Stripping of French nationality therefore remains possible until 2030.

The procedure, step by step

Everything starts with a letter from the Interior Minister. It sets out the legal and factual grounds for the planned measure. You then have one month to submit written observations.

If your address is unknown, a notice appears in the Journal officiel. The one-month period then runs from that publication. So never let the administration lose track of your address.

Use that month to say everything. Describe your background, your family in France, your rehabilitation and your real ties with the other country. The file then goes to the Conseil d'État, which gives its opinion. If the opinion is favourable, the Prime Minister signs the decree, which appears in the Journal officiel.

Challenging stripping of French nationality before the Conseil d'État

The appeal goes straight to the Conseil d'État. It rules on decrees at first and last instance. You have two months from notification of the decree to bring your case.

However, the appeal does not suspend the decree. In an emergency, an urgent suspension application (référé-suspension) asks for a quick stay. It requires serious doubt about the lawfulness of the measure.

The judge checks the facts, the regularity of the procedure and the time limits. It also reviews the assessment of how serious the conduct was. In addition, the European Court of Human Rights accepted in 2020 a stripping of nationality ordered for terrorism (Ghoumid and Others v. France). It looks mainly at the effect on private and family life.

Finally, legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) can cover lawyer's fees if your income is modest.

The consequences for your residence and family

The decree only works for the future. From its date, you become a foreign national again, with your other nationality. Your past acts, such as a marriage or a contract, remain valid.

On the other hand, your right to stay is no longer automatic. You must apply for a residence permit at the prefecture, which may refuse it. A removal order then becomes possible, or even expulsion if your presence seriously threatens public order. Against an obligation to leave France, deadlines are very short: see our guide to appealing an OQTF.

What is more, the measure is personal. It does not take French nationality away from your spouse or from your children who are already French.

Stripping, revocation or opposition: three distinct measures

Three measures remove or block nationality, each with its own rules.

Measure	Who	Ground	Time limit	Effect
Stripping of nationality (art. 25 and 25-1)	Acquired French, dual national	Serious conviction or acts for a foreign State	10 years, or 15 for terrorism	For the future
Revocation of the decree (art. 27-2)	Naturalised or reinstated by decree	Legal conditions not met, lies or fraud	2 years after publication, or 2 years after the fraud comes to light	Retroactive
Opposition (art. 21-4)	Spouse of a French national making a declaration	Unworthiness or lack of assimilation	2 years after the receipt	Nationality never acquired

Revocation targets a decree obtained through lies or fraud. For example, the person hid a first spouse or children living abroad. Unlike stripping of French nationality, it erases nationality from the outset, after an adversarial procedure and a binding opinion of the Conseil d'État.

For a registered declaration, the public prosecutor can challenge the registration before the tribunal judiciaire, within the same two-year limits. Opposition, for its part, comes before acquisition: our article on French nationality by marriage covers it. The original conditions of French naturalisation show what the ministry can check afterwards.

What the 2024 immigration law did not change

In late 2023, Parliament voted for an extra ground for stripping nationality. It covered intentional homicide, even attempted, against a police officer, a gendarme or another person holding public authority.

The Constitutional Council struck it down on 25 January 2024 (decision no. 2023-863 DC, article 24 of the law). The reason was procedural: the addition had no link with the original bill. Law no. 2024-42 of 26 January 2024 was therefore published without it. To our knowledge, as of 10 October 2026, the list in article 25 is unchanged.

In practice, the measure remains rare, but it is growing. According to Interior Ministry figures reported by Le Monde in August 2024, close to fifty people convicted of terrorist offences have lost their nationality this way since 2015.

Can you become French again after stripping of French nationality?

The route exists in theory, but it is very narrow. Reinstatement in French nationality goes through a decree, which the administration grants at its discretion.

Yet article 21-27 of the Civil Code bars any reinstatement after a conviction for terrorism or for an offence against the fundamental interests of the Nation. The same applies after a sentence of at least six months of immediate imprisonment. Only rehabilitation, or the removal of the conviction from bulletin no. 2 of the criminal record, lifts this obstacle.

When to see a lawyer

See a lawyer as soon as the minister's letter arrives. The one-month period for observations passes very quickly, and it is often the best chance to influence the Conseil d'État's opinion. For example, a file documenting rehabilitation, work and children changes how proportionality is read.

A foreign nationals lawyer also checks the time limits in article 25-1, which sometimes rule out the measure. They then prepare the appeal before the Conseil d'État and, if needed, your residence permit application. The official page on cancellation, revocation or stripping of nationality (in French) sums up the rules.