French consular registration: the Registre des Français

The Registre des Français établis hors de France is the consular register of French citizens living abroad.

Registering is not mandatory, but the network strongly recommends it for anyone settling abroad for more than six months: it speeds up paperwork, lets the consulate reach you in a crisis, and is required for some services.

How to register

Registration is free, done online on Service-Public.fr and valid for five years. You give your civil status, your contact details abroad and, if you wish, one or two people to call in an emergency, and you upload a French passport or ID card, proof of residence and a recent photo.

The consulate covering your address validates it and notifies you by email.

You can then download a certificate of registration and residence, a consular card and a statement of registration from your Service-Public space.

Keeping it up to date

When your situation changes, you update it online; if you move to another district, the file goes to the new consulate automatically. You renew every five years, with a reminder three months before, and when you leave the country for good you ask to be struck off and download the certificate.

What it unlocks

Registration is what lets a consulate mail your new passport home. Outreach missions for passports are open to people on the Registre, several fees are lower for registered citizens, and a registered teenager is automatically recorded for the citizen census at 16.

If you choose, it also puts you on the consular electoral list.

Proof of address in the US

The network accepts one of these, showing your name and current address, less than a year old except for the ID, which must simply be valid:

If you live with a relative or a friend, you send three documents instead: a copy of your host's ID, a dated and signed statement from the host that you live there steadily or have for more than three months, and a recent proof of address in the host's name.

If the online process gets stuck, the consulate that covers your address is the one to contact.

When you apply online you can attach your registration to someone already on the Registre or applying, such as a spouse, and the consulate you depend on contacts you within a few days to validate it.

Official sources: Inscription au registre des Français établis hors de France; Service-Public.fr, registre des Français établis hors de France; Recensement citoyen à l’étranger - Journée Défense et Citoyenneté (JDC).

Details checked against the official pages on October 6, 2026.